Doenças do sistema digestivo de caprinos e ovinos no Semiárido Paraibano.

Abstract

The disorders of the digestive system in ruminants cover a group of important diseases and are responsible for great economic losses. In the routine of the veterinary hospital of the UFCG is observed a big casuistry of digestive disorders in small ruminants thus creating the need for a more detailed study of them in order to identify their importance as a cause of morbidity and mortality in semiarid. This paper aims, through a retrospective study, determine the main digestive disorders diagnosed in small ruminants between January 2000 to December 2009 in the Veterinary Hospital of UFCG. We reviewed all the records of goats and sheep diagnosed with digestive disorders treated at the clinic of large animals. Some diagnoses were elucidated by information obtained at the Animal Pathology ward after necropsy of the animals that came to death. In the period studied 45 animals were treated with digestive disorders. The most prevalent disease and higher mortality in both species was the ruminal acidosis. The supply of corn bran in large quantity at times that the supply of forage was scarce correlate with the disease, as well as providing food scraps for small producers. The simple indigestion and frothy bloat were diagnosed and caused by sudden changes in feeding management. A male sheep Boer presented Hoflund syndrome due to adhesions in the abdominal cavity in places where they had abscesses suggestive of lymphadenitis. The diseases of the digestive system are a major cause of morbidity and mortality in the region and are mostly related to the scarcity of fodder. The control and prevention of diseases of the digestive system are possible if production technologies and storage of forage would be adopted by local herders.