vet did a pre-ejac and semen culture, was not fast enough to get a post-ejac culture. Growth showed moderate growth of small, flat, round, grey colonies non-hemo w/ no smell(according to vet) she also said that they were cocci, not rods. Suggested Tx is 6 weeks of Tucoprim and reculture... with limited sexual activity. This stallion has mares booked. I extend him in E-Z Mixin BFT(ticarcillin) he is never live covered. Looking for ideas and advice, you can email me privately at tommystopgun@earthlink.net Thanks in advance!
Posted on Wednesday, February 22, 2006 - 12:15 am:
It is perfectly normal to find pathogens in the penile surface and pre-ejaculatory urethral fossa swabs. These are usually environmental in origin, and it is therefore essential to take a third swab post-ejaculation from the urethra (the one that was missed), which - if there are more pathogens - will indicate that the previously identified pathogens were internal in origin, or - if fewer or no pathogens - that they were external. This is because if there is a higher number, it indicates that they are being stored internally in the reproductive tract, whereas if the last swab is clear, then the ejaculate will have washed away the contaminations that originated externally.
Before treating - possibly unnecessarily - if it were my stallion, I would want to have a proper (complete) evaluation performed...
Posted on Wednesday, February 22, 2006 - 08:57 am:
I second the motion about having a very thorough exam before treating. Remember you are NOT working with anything close to a sterile environment When I shipped my mares and stallions from the UK, the tests they went thru was something else( every orifice swabbed... 2-3 times. They aren't "clean ", then they get tested, if it's treatable... fine treat. If it's a "breeding disease ..they don't travel into the US at all.
And for the life of me... ... IF she got ONLY a Pre ejac specimen... did your stallion follow thru of full ejac??... she wasn't fast enough- fast enough for what ?????? a collection is a collection if it was performed right and makes NO sense to me to get a POST ejac specimen culture???esp if he possibly didn't follow thru( like it was 3 different episodes.??)
Posted on Wednesday, February 22, 2006 - 10:06 am:
Explanation: A pre-breeding season examination for a stallion should include bacteriology swabs of the penis. One performs 3 swabs, one of the surface of the penis, one of the urethral orifice pre-ejaculation, and one of the urethral orifice post-ejaculation. As I note above, it is usual to find pathogens on cultures of the first two swabs, but the question is raised as to whether they are "normal" environmental pathogens, or if they actually originated from within the stallion. The third sample - the post-ejaculatory urethral swab sample - is the one that will give you the most information, as if there is increased pathogenic presence in that sample, then the pathogens are originating in the secondary sex glands or other portion of the interior reproductive tract of the stallion.
The "fast enough" relates, in this case I believe, to the speed with which the vet moved in to capture the penis for the post-ejaculatory swab before retraction of the penis. The only trouble is that without that swab, the results of the cultures of the others are meaningless. The stallion should have been teased up and swabbed when he "dropped" again at the very least.
My recommendation is that the entire swabbing process be performed again in entirety (and therefore correctly) before commencing treatment on the currently identified pathogen that right now may well just be an environmental contaminant.
Posted on Wednesday, February 22, 2006 - 11:30 am:
Thank you for the input!!! My gut was telling me not to treat yet. I will re-swab completely and reculture. Thanks again for the advice!
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