A compactação dos pré-estômagos é um transtorno digestório pouco frequente. E pode ter origem primária ou secundária. Os autores descrevem o primeiro relato de compactação ruminoabomasal causado pela ingestão de caule de bananeira (Musa sp.) em bovinos. Os casos ocorreram em duas vacas, mestiças de aptidão leiteira, com idades de 5 e 4 anos respectivamente, oriundas de uma propriedade rural no município de Araguaína, Estado do Tocantins (TO). O histórico, os achados clínicos, os resultados dos exames hematológicos e a análise do fluido ruminal permitiram o diagnóstico, que foram confirmados por necropsia e laparotomia exploratória. O uso de caule de bananeira (Musa sp.) como única fonte de volumoso favoreceu a ocorrência da compactação ruminoabomasal. No entanto, essa fonte de alimento pode ser considerada uma boa opção para a alimentação de bovinos, desde que seja fornecido em proporções adequadas na dieta.

The study evaluated the effect of transportation over long distances on cattle muscle tissue of submitted to emergency slaughter in slaughterhouses in northern Tocantins, Brazil. The evaluations consisted in pH, muscle and liver glycogen, muscle histopathology and creatine kinase (CK), alanine aminotransferase (ALT) and aspartate aminotransferase (AST) activity. Animals were placed into two groups: Experimental Group (EG), consisting of 19 bovines intended for immediate emergency slaughter, and Control Group (CG), composed of 24 bovines slaughtered in accordance with the normal flow. CK and ALT levels were high in EG. AST did not differ between groups. EG showed higher muscle pH and mean of degenerate fibers, mainly on the intercostal. However, muscle and liver glycogen did not differ between groups. In conclusion, cattle transported over long distances and subjected to immediate emergency slaughter showed markedly stress condition, with changes in biochemical parameters in the muscle tissue, determined by cellular degeneration.

Ependymoma is a rare tumour of the central nervous system that can vary in anatomical location and produce a broad range of clinical signs. Sporadically described in dogs, cats, cattle and horses, this disease has never previously been reported in a mule. This report describes a case of a 12-year-old mule showing neurological signs, including blindness, dysphagia, incoordination, sternal recumbency, depression, apathy and emaciation. Because of the worsening health conditions, the animal was subjected to euthanasia for humane reasons. At necropsy, an area of malacia in the right subcortical region of the frontoparietal area of the cerebrum and an ovoid, firm, grey, 2.4 × 1.0 × 0.7 cm nodule in the right lateral ventricle was observed. Histopathology revealed that the nodule was a densely cellular mass with cells arranged in nests and cords, formations of pseudorosettes with perivascular deposition of fibrillar eosinophilic material and the presence of a few lymphocytes. The cells had rounded and moderately hyperchromatic nuclei, punctate chromatin, distinct nucleoli, and indistinct cytoplasmic margins. Based on the histopathological features, the nodule was diagnosed as an ependymoma, a tumour considered rare, but that may be included in the differential diagnosis for diseases with neurological signs.