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pregnant without details on stage of pregnancy. A small number of these animals showed gross necropsy evidence of concurrent diseases including more generalised septicaemia
and respiratory disease.
There were 13 animals with a gross necropsy diagnosis of misadventure. A number of these animals had suffered from inadvertent or accidental deaths from circumstances such as
being caught in a rail or gate or trampled in a race. A number of animals showed gross necropsy evidence of concurrent diseases including myocarditis, rumenitis, liver disease and
respiratory disease.
There were 10 animals with a gross necropsy diagnosis of enteric disease. These included animals with gross necropsy records of gastrointestinal tract obstruction, enteritis, peritonitis,
rumen indigestion, bloat and enterotoxaemia.
The 4 animals with a gross necropsy diagnosis of anaesthetic complications had all been sedated in order to allow a more detailed inspection and treatment of limb conditions
associated with lameness and the animals failed to recover successfully from the anaesthetic. Deaths were attributed to complications arising from anaesthesia in
compromised animals.
There were 4 animals with a gross necropsy diagnosis of metabolic disease. All of these animals appeared to show varying levels of gait abnormalities and tetanic spasms that were
considered suggestive of hypomagnesaemia. Necropsy changes on these animals were relatively unremarkable.
There were 2 animals with a gross necropsy diagnosis of cardiovascular disease. One of these animals was diagnosed with traumatic reticuloperitonitis hardware disease at gross
necropsy and the other animal showed gross necropsy evidence of pericarditis inflammation of the sac enclosing the heart and often involving the outer surface of the heart itself.
One animal with a gross necropsy diagnosis of encephalitis had been noticed with neurological signs prior to death.
One animal with a gross necropsy diagnosis of neurogenic lameness had been euthanased as a result of chronic lameness with muscle wasting over the shoulder that was not
responding to treatment.
There were 22 animals with a gross necropsy diagnosis of no significant lesions and a further 21 animals that were necropsied and had samples collected from tissues, but no
report or record of necropsy findings was completed.
7.6.1 Association between gross necropsy findings and clinical category record
There was general agreement in many cases between the information recorded about clinical signs or syndromes displayed by animals before death or euthanasia. However,
there were a number of cases where gross necropsy findings indicated pathology in organ systems other than those that might be considered to be most directly related to the clinical
category record for that animal.
These occurrences were not unexpected. It can be difficult to observe all clinical signs in animals suffering from one or multiple disease conditions during a voyage. Many animals
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may be compromised by one initial condition that may result in increased susceptibility to a variety of additional conditions and then develop additional secondary diseases. An initial
inciting event may then be obscured by secondary or opportunistic diseases that may in turn develop into more serious and potentially life threatening diseases.
This section reviews the records of animals by clinical category and provides a brief summary of the gross necropsy findings within each category of clinical record. Some of this
information will be repeating what has been described previously in the summary of gross necropsy findings but in a different presentation order. This is considered justified because
this information does shed light on the range of necropsy findings in animals with various clinical syndromes.
There were 31 animals with a clinical syndrome recorded of lameness. The diagnoses recorded for these animals at gross necropsy included:
Seventeen of the 31 55 had a gross necropsy diagnosis of inflammation of joints andor muscle;
Four of the 31 13 were sedated to treat a musculoskeletal condition and subsequently did not recover from the anaesthetic;
Three of the 31 10 had respiratory disease; Two of the 31 6 had broken legs and were euthanased;
Two of the 31 6 had neurogenic lameness with muscle wasting and weakness and were euthanased; and
Three animals had gross necropsy diagnoses of no lesion n=1, no necropsy performed n=1 and metabolic disease n=1.
There were 31 animals with a clinical syndrome recorded of recumbency or weakness. The diagnoses recorded for these animals at gross necropsy included:
Thirteen of the 31 39 had a gross necropsy diagnosis of respiratory disease; Eleven of the 31 35 had a gross necropsy diagnosis of no significant lesion;
Five of the 31 16 had a gross necropsy diagnosis of inappetence and two of these were noted to have fatty liver; and
Two animals had a gross necropsy diagnosis of enteric disease n=1 and urinary tract disease n=1.
There were 23 animals that had a clinical syndrome of ill thrift or shy feeder recorded. The diagnoses recorded for these animals at gross necropsy included:
Seven of the 23 30 had a gross necropsy diagnosis of inappetence and five of these animals were recorded with fatty liver;
Thirteen of the 23 52 had a gross necropsy diagnosis of respiratory disease; Two animals 9 had a gross necropsy diagnosis of no significant or no recorded
lesions; and One animal had a gross necropsy diagnosis of enteric disease.
There were 10 animals that had a clinical syndrome of neurologic disease recorded. The diagnoses recorded for these animals at gross necropsy included:
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Three of the 10 30 had a gross necropsy diagnosis of metabolic disease with a note of suspected hypomagnesaemia;
Two of the 10 20 had a gross necropsy diagnosis of enteric disease; Two of the 10 20 had a gross necropsy diagnosis of no significant lesion; and,
Three animals had a gross necropsy diagnosis of encephalitis n=1, misadventure trauma n=1 and respiratory disease n=1.
There were eight animals that had a clinical syndrome of misadventure recorded. The diagnoses recorded for these animals at gross necropsy included:
Six of the 8 75 had a gross necropsy diagnosis of misadventure including animals that had been trapped in a rail or gate, trampled in a race and miscellaneous trauma
leading to severe preputial bruising; One animal 12.5 had a gross necropsy diagnosis of respiratory disease; and.
One animal 12.5 had a gross necropsy diagnosis of no lesion.
7.7 Histology
