A study examining the role of wildlife species as sentinels for rat lungworm suggests an expanded distribution of the parasite, and the need for pet owners and wildlife carers to take precautions in order to minimise transmission of the disease to animals in care. Rat lungworm, or Angiostrongylus cantonensis, was […]
Genome search identifies cause of hypokalaemia in Burmese cats
An international research team has identified the gene associated with primary hypokalaemia in Burmese cats. Hypokalaemia, or subnormal serum potassium ion concentration, is typically a secondary disorder but may occur as a primary problem, most notably as hypokalaemic periodic paralysis in humans and horses, and feline hypokalaemic polymyopathy, also known […]
Crisis? What Crisis?
Although their behaviour may not equate with some of the clichéd lifestyle changes associated with human midlife crises, a paper published recently in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences suggests emotional highs and lows may also be an inherent characteristic in chimpanzees and orang-utans. An international team […]
Cruelty footage fires further VALE-DAAF stoush
The war of words between Vets Against Live Export (VALE) and the Department of Agriculture, Fisheries and Forestry (DAAF) has intensified after the December broadcast of footage showing cattle being cruelly treated by an Israeli abattoir on the ABC’s 7.30 Report. An investigation by an Israeli journalist revealed that animals […]
Role of KCNQ2 and KCNQ3 genes in juvenile idiopathic epilepsy in Arabian foals
Juvenile idiopathic epilepsy (JIE) in Arabian foals resembles benign-familial neonatal convulsion (BFNC) syndrome, a rare idiopathic epilepsy of new-born humans. BFNC syndrome exhibits genetic heterogeneity, as has been hypothesised to occur in Arabian foals, and is known to be caused by mutations in the voltage-gated potassium channel subunit KCNQ2 and […]