Medical management of captive adult and geriatric giant pandas

Protracted Reproductive Seasonality in the Male Giant Panda (Ailuropoda melanoleuca) Reflected by Patterns in Androgen Profiles, Ejaculate Characteristics, and Selected Behaviors1

“…The anesthetic protocol involved using 10-12 mg/kg ketamine hydrochloride (Sinceta International Trading Co.) delivered by intramuscular injection [21]. Isoflurane gas (Ningbo Samreal Import and Export Co.) was delivered via a face mask or intubation, as necessary, to increase depth and/or duration of anesthesia.…”

“…Recent advances in giant panda propagation and the availability of the state-of-the-art Chengdu Research Base of Giant Panda Breeding have eliminated this impediment. Improved anesthetic protocols [21] now allow safe, hands-on assessment of body [22] and testes morphometry [14] and semen collection [14]. Emergence of fecal hormone metabolite monitoring for the giant panda also has permitted the noninvasive tracking of gonadal endocrine activity [19,20].…”

Enhancing captive breeding in giant pandas (Ailuropoda melanoleuca): maintaining lactation when cubs are rejected, and understanding variation in milk collection and associated factors

“…As milk production is closely related to the nutritional state of the female, the pre-mucus excretion period was defined as one day before the first signs associated with mucus excretion were observed (e.g. lying on the abdomen with legs splayed laterally, being anorexic and lethargic [Janssen et al, 2006]). The mucus excretion period was defined as the day(s) on which the signs of mucus excretion were observed until the last mucous stools were excreted, which usually took about four hours (this study).…”

“…Mucus excretion has not been observed in wild pandas [Edwards et al, 2006;Hemin Zhang personal communication]. The duration of periods of mucus excretion varies greatly with pandas' gender, age, physical condition and the facility in which they are kept [Zhu and Guo, 1999;Janssen et al, 2006]. Mucus excretion is proceeded by reduced food intake and changes in behavior, including reduced mating behavior [Zhu and Guo, 1999;Liu et al, 2006a,b], but there is no clear cytological or pathological evidence to show that mucus excretion is correlated with clinical disease [Janssen et al, 2006;Loeffler et al, 2006].…”

MANAGEMENT OF OSTEOARTHRITIS IN A GIANT PANDA (AILUROPODA MELANOLEUCA) WITH MULTIMODAL THERAPY INCLUDING AMANTADINE SULPHATE

“…The amantadine sulphate dose was then Osteoarthritis is a chronic and debilitating disease affecting a broad range of taxa including giant pandas (Ailuropoda melanoleuca). 8 In human and veterinary medicine it has been demonstrated that multimodal therapy is often more effective in the management of osteoarthritis 5,6 and that these regimes minimize the potential side effects of single agent therapy, especially those associated with NSAID drugs. Glutamate is a major neurotransmitter in the central nervous system that exerts its effect on a variety of receptors, including N-methyl-D-aspartate (NMDA) receptors (NMDAR).…”