cloprostenol and Syndrome

A description is given of the symptoms, frequency and mode of inheritance of a lethal genetic defect in Galloway cattle known as the tibial hemimelia syndrome. Plans for the control of the defect are described, and the role of the Galloway test herd identified. Investigations in the test herd demonstrate that it is possible to detect the tibial hemimelia syndrome characteristics in 90-day-old fetuses and that those fetuses can be regularly and readily obtained undamaged by pregnancy termination using prostaglandin F2 alpha. The role of pregnancy termination in the control of the tibial hemimelia problem is discussed and ideas for its development presented.

Topics: Abortion, Induced; Animals; Cattle; Cattle Diseases; Cloprostenol; Female; Male; Pregnancy; Syndrome; Tibia

In a herd of sows 106 sows having 4.3 litters on aver., were over a period of 10 weeks treated on Thursdays with 0.175 mg of cloprostenol on the 111th to 114th day of gestation; 93--95% of the sows treated on the 112th and 113th day farrowed within 33 hours after treatment, 73% after treatment on the 111th day (Table I); the mean period of gestation after treatment was 113.4 +/- 0.9 days. 8 sows that only farrowed 2--5 days after the treatment, had on 21 previous farrowings proved to have significantly longer mean periods of gestation, 115.6 days, than the 112 sows in the control group, having 3.6 litters on average, that farrowed in the same period and section of the piggery as the sows treated with cloprostenol. In total 32 weekend-farrowings occurred in the observation period including 7 farrowings after a period of gestation of 110--113 days, 6 cases of unsuccessfully induced parturition and 19 farrowings on the 114th to 119th day that could have been programmed to occur on Fridays; the number of weekend-farrowings, which for this herd in connection with the weaning procedure normally accounted for about 40--45% of farrowings, could thus be reduced to 7% of farrowings (Table II). Cloprostenol treatment on the 111th day resulting in farrowing on the 112th day leads to a significantly higher rate of piglet mortality after 3 weeks compared with the results after farrowing for control sows that farrowed on the 112th day (Table III); this category of control sows had on previous farrowings proved to have a significantly shorter mean period of gestation, 112.7 days, than that of the sows in the cloprostenol group farrowing on the 112th day which had been 114.3 days on previous farrowings. Farrowing and weaning results after induced parturition resulting in farrowing on the 113th to 115th day showed no significant differences from the results for control sows farrowing spontaneously on the 112th to 115th day of gestation. The incidence of MMA (Table II) was not influenced by the cloprostenol treatment, nor by the number of litters, the length of the period of gestation, or by the piling of farrowings on Fridays.

Topics: Animals; Cloprostenol; Female; Labor, Induced; Lactation Disorders; Mastitis; Metrial Gland; Pregnancy; Prostaglandins F, Synthetic; Puerperal Disorders; Swine; Swine Diseases; Syndrome