Reindeer Health Aide Manual Prepared by Robert A. Dieterich, D.V.M. Jamie K. Morton, Ph.D. First Edition 1981 Second Edition 1990 Illustrated by Susan L. Kraft AFES Misc. Pub 90-4 CES 100H-00046 Agricultural and Forestry Experiment Station, Cooperative Extension Service, University of Alaska Fairbanks and U. S. Department of Agriculture cooperating TABLE OF CONTENTS Page 1 ANATOMY OF REINDEER The skeleton........................................................................................................................ 1 Skull .................................................................................................................................... 1 Vertebrae............................................................................................................................. 1 Ribs ..................................................................................................................................... 1 Limbs .................................................................................................................................. 1 The organs .......................................................................................................................... 3 2 PHYSIOLOGY OF REINDEER Circulation .......................................................................................................................... 5 Respiration .......................................................................................................................... 5 Digestion & Nutrition ......................................................................................................... 8 Urogenital System ............................................................................................................ 10 Antler Growth ...................................................................................................................13 Body Heat Control ............................................................................................................ 13 Determination of Age by Tooth Wear ............................................................................... 14 3 DISEASES OF REINDEER Bacteria and Viruses ......................................................................................................... 16 Immunity to Disease ......................................................................................................... 17 Brucellosis ........................................................................................................................ 21 Rabies ............................................................................................................................... 26 Respiratory Diseases......................................................................................................... 27 Foot Rot ............................................................................................................................ 28 Mandibular Lesions .......................................................................................................... 28 Setaria ............................................................................................................................... 28 Fibropapillomas ................................................................................................................ 29 Keratitis (White-Eye) ....................................................................................................... 29 Abortion ............................................................................................................................ 29 Broken Antlers ..................................................................................................................29 4 PARASITOLOGY OF REINDEER Parasites ............................................................................................................................ 30 Warbles ............................................................................................................................. 30 Nasal Bots ......................................................................................................................... 33 Internal Parasites............................................................................................................... 35 Page 5 COMMON MEDICAL TREATMENTS FOR REINDEER First Aid ............................................................................................................................ 42 Castration .......................................................................................................................... 42 Aid in Fawning ................................................................................................................. 43 6 NECROPSY OF REINDEER Necropsy Procedures and techniques ............................................................................... 47 Specimen Preparation ....................................................................................................... 47 Tissue Collection .............................................................................................................. 50 Causative Agents .............................................................................................................. 51 APPENDICES Appendix I Tissue Collection ........................................................................................... 52 Appendix II Serum Collection.......................................................................................... 53 Appendix III Whole Blood Collection for Complete Blood Count.................................. 54 Appendix IV Care and Use of Syringes ........................................................................... 55 Appendix V Label and Use of Ivermectin ........................................................................ 59 Appendix VI Specimen Submission for Rabies Assay ..................................................... 60 Appendix VII Raising Orphan Reindeer Fawns ............................................................... 63 Appendix VIII Nutrition ................................................................................................... 68 Appendix IX Normal Blood Values for Reindeer ............................................................ 64 Appendix X Glossary ....................................................................................................... 85 LIST OF FIGURES Page Anatomy OF REINDEER Figure 1. Skeleton of the reindeer ........................................................................................... 2 Figure 2. Internal organs of the reindeer ................................................................................. 4 PHYSIOLOGY OF REINDEER Figure 1. Structure of the heart ............................................................................................... 6 Figure 2. Structure of the lungs............................................................................................... 7 Figure 3. Ruminant stomach of the reindeer ........................................................................... 9 Figure 4. Female urogenital system in reindeer .................................................................... 11 Figure 5. Male urogenital system in reindeer ....................................................................... 12 Figure 6. Age determination of reindeer by tooth wear ........................................................ 15 DISEASE OF REINDEER Figure 1. Natural disease response ........................................................................................ 18 Figure 2. Vaccination ............................................................................................................ 19 Figure 3. Overwhelming infection ........................................................................................ 20 Parasites OF REINDEER Figure 1. Warble flies ............................................................................................................ 31 Figure 2. Nasal bots .............................................................................................................. 34 Figure 3. Roundworms.......................................................................................................... 35 Figure 4. Lungworms ............................................................................................................ 36 Figure 5. Tapeworms.............................................................................................................37 Figure 6. Wild carnivore-wild ruminant tapeworms ............................................................. 38 Figure 7. Echinococcus ......................................................................................................... 40 Figure 8. Sarcocystis ............................................................................................................. 41 COMMON MEDICAL TREATMENTS FOR REINDEER Figure 1. Normal presentation of fawn at birth ..................................................................... 44 Figure 2. Some abnormal presentations of the fawn ............................................................. 44 NECROPSY OF REINDEER Figure 1. Skinning the upper half of the body ...................................................................... 48 Figure 2. Disarticulating the left hip joint ............................................................................. 49 Figure 3. View of chest and abdomen