Emaciated Roe Doe

[Sako Hunter]

I shot a Roe doe last night, down here in South Devon. On inspection she was extremely emaciated, little meat on her haunches and shoulders, sunken across here spine etc. On eviceration everything appeared normal, lungs, liver, kidneys spleen etc all okay, teeth, tongue lymph nodes all clear. She had been scoring heavily, her rump was covered in faces (dark green). Once dressed out there was barely anything left of her. I decided to dispose of the carcass as a precaution.

The land is grassland, all our pheasant hoppers are now in apart from one or two, so little wheat about. There is a small amount of Kale from our cover crop, left but nothing else about. Any ideas guys, as to the potential cause of her poor state. We've found one or two dead roe about the place over the last year, so a little confused!

A local farmer grazes a few sheep and cattle over the summer and autumn months, all clear of TB.

 

[TringSaint]

Any sign of liver fluke?

 

[Sako Hunter]

No liver looked okay.

 

[User00056]

It's been an absolute hell of a couple of years for haemonchus (Barber pole worm) We've lost a significant number of our goats to them. Little bastards cause anaemia in the first instance, then reduce the hosts resistance to other parasites, and eventually destroy the intestine to prevent the host being able to metabolise nutrients. Could be a possibility in this case, especially if the doe has been grazing

 

[Moose67]

a mercy to take a Doe in this condition

 

[Sako Hunter]

It's been an absolute hell of a couple of years for haemonchus (Barber pole worm) We've lost a significant number of our goats to them. Little bastards cause anaemia in the first instance, then reduce the hosts resistance to other parasites, and eventually destroy the intestine to prevent the host being able to metabolise nutrients. Could be a possibility in this case, especially if the doe has been grazing

I'll do some more investigation thank you. It is quite damp ground, especially this and last winter.

 

[User00056]

I'll do some more investigation thank you. It is quite damp ground, especially this and last winter.

Yep. The warmer temperatures and heavy rain have created a plague of the bastard things over the last couple of years. Usually roe aren't too badly affected as they forage rather than graze one particular pasture.

 

[TringSaint]

I shot an older male cwd last week and he was in poor nick. Could feel every vertebrae in his spine and haunches were thin and weedy for a buck of his age.
Had been scrapping as big hair patches were missing on his neck which were pretty much healed but hairless.
Left him for the foxes, badgers and raptors to enjoy!

 

[Rake Aboot]

Age ? Did you have a look at the teeth ? A few hard winters can have them in bad nick

 

[Sako Hunter]

Yes, teeth were okay. I would have said she was a couple of yrs old.

 

[sikamalc]

I have shot two Roe does with very similar condition on an area in West Sussex. This was about 4 years apart, and the last time about 8 years back.

Both of them were in terrible condition. They were not carrying any weight, and the hair was patchy and in bad condition. Their back ends were covered in faeces and they were walking head down for most of the time.
On inspecting the gralloch, everything appeared normal, although the lower intestines were not looking right, very pale and almost liquid like. Needless to sya neither were put in the food chain.

As for the cause, it was never really identified, although having spoken to a now departed member of this site, who was a vet from South Africa, he concluded that it might have been Chrone disease.
Both animals were taken off the same ground, but several years apart and in late winter/early spring. In fact one was taken into the Buck season. I remember that instance well, as some mindless idiot on here questioned why it was shot, when it was bucks only

 

[WW.]

Johne's is possible based on the signs although round this way I believe there was also a bout of deer being very emaciated recently which was put down to intestinal parasites, can't remember which but Haemonchus may have featured.

 

[Buchan]

I was about to say that Haemonchus isn't a concern in der, but thought I'd check and found this very recent paper: Helminth Prevalence in European Deer with a Focus on Abomasal Nematodes and the Influence of Livestock Pasture Contact: A Meta-Analysis So roe do get Haemonchus, however the high levels that kill off sheep are unlikely to be seen and as they suck blood, unlikely to be the cause of the scour.
Johnes (related to Crones) or Yersinia are possibles, or it's just starved and the scour was end stage.

 

[Sako Hunter]

Thanks guys, glad I managed to take her, and end her eventual suffering.

 

[Koenig]

I had one very similar to this last year. I shot her prone - she could barely raise her head. Led in her own poop / painfully thin / bald patches. Couldn’t find a thing wrong with her on opening her up. Kept out of the food chain obviously but never could explain it.

 

[User00056]

I was about to say that Haemonchus isn't a concern in der, but thought I'd check and found this very recent paper: Helminth Prevalence in European Deer with a Focus on Abomasal Nematodes and the Influence of Livestock Pasture Contact: A Meta-Analysis So roe do get Haemonchus, however the high levels that kill off sheep are unlikely to be seen and as they suck blood, unlikely to be the cause of the scour.
Johnes (related to Crones) or Yersinia are possibles, or it's just starved and the scour was end stage.

I've seen end stage scour in my goats due to Haemonchus. Or rather, I put it down to a massive secondary burden due to reduced resistance through anaemia and generally lethargy. I've tried everything from copper oxide wire particle bolus to Ivermectin, with very little success. I wonder what a FEC would've shown had it been possible?

 

[WW.]

Double checked with the local farm vet, the ones round here were intestinal parasites, assumed Trichostrongylus spp. but they weren't identified.

 

[VSS]

Double checked with the local farm vet, the ones round here were intestinal parasites, assumed Trichostrongylus spp. but they weren't identified.

Trichostrongylus is a bastard of a thing.
Over the course a just a few days an animal can go from fit and healthy to emaciated with liquid scour to dead.

 

[VSS]

Johne's is possible based on the signs although round this way I believe there was also a bout of deer being very emaciated recently which was put down to intestinal parasites, can't remember which but Haemonchus may have featured.

Johnes, like other diseases, would have to be confirmed by testing, but on examination of the gralloch in the field the thickened and corrugated intestines that are caused by the disease would be noticeable if you knew what you were looking for. I have seen it in sheep post mortem, and it's quite obvious. On its own it's not sufficient to give a diagnosis, but it's a good indication of the likely problem.

 

[Buchan]

I've seen end stage scour in my goats due to Haemonchus. Or rather, I put it down to a massive secondary burden due to reduced resistance through anaemia and generally lethargy. I've tried everything from copper oxide wire particle bolus to Ivermectin, with very little success. I wonder what a FEC would've shown had it been possible?

The paper suggests relatively low FEC from roe deer, which in a way I would expect as it is a spill over parasite and FEC tend to be lower in these. So FEC of fluke in red deer is lower than in cattle or sheep. Goats are a nightmare for parasites, probably as a result of being pure browsers and never evolving a strategy for coping with pasture based parasites. They also metabolise th drugs faster so you need higher doses