Ophthalmic Parameters of Blue-and-yellow Macaws (Ara Ararauna) and Lear's Macaws (Anodorhynchus Leari)

Abstract

Our aim was to determine the ophthalmic parameters and describe the eye histology of Blue-and-yellow Macaws ( Ara ararauna) and Lear's Macaws ( Anodorhynchus leari) kept at the Triage Center for Wild Animals (CETAS) and in Getulio Vargas Zoobotanic Park (Salvador, northeastern Brazil), respectively. Thirty four clinically healthy macaws (28 Blue-and-yellow Macaws and six Lear's Macaws) were studied. The investigation included culture of the conjunctival bacterial flora, evaluation of tear production by endodontic absorbent paper point tear test (EAPPTT) and phenol red thread test (PRTT), measurement of palpebral fissure length (PFL), corneal touch threshold (CTT) and intraocular pressure (IOP), as well as characterisation of conjunctival cytology samples, B-mode ultrasonography, and eye histology of one Blue-and-yellow Macaw. There was a predominance of Gram-positive bacteria in the samples analysed and the microorganism colonies were resistant to tetracycline and oxacillin. Blue-and-yellow Macaws had significantly higher EAPPTT than Lear's Macaws, but there were no differences in PFL and IOP. Conjunctival cytology revealed predominance of squamous and columnar epithelial cells. The pecten, a pleated structure located on the optic nerve and projecting into the vitreous, was composed of several large blood vessels and capillaries. The ophthalmic parameters determined in this study may help in the diagnosis of ocular diseases in Blue-and-yellow and Lear's Macaws.

Conjunctival bacterial flora and antimicrobial susceptibility of captive and free‐living sea turtles in Brazil

“…Gentamicin gave consistent susceptibility results for the isolated microorganisms, mainly the Gram‐negative bacteria, similar to previous studies . Treatment inefficacy, as well as possible bacterial resistance mediated by plasmids has been documented .…”

“…Antibiotic susceptibility reports of conjunctival flora in free‐living animals are scarce. Ciprofloxacin and tobramycin are routinely used antibiotics in veterinary ophthalmology; moreover, these antibiotics are used to treat sick animals by technical staff (TAMAR Project). The microorganisms isolated in the present study showed high sensitivity in 95.96% and 94.59% of the antibiograms performed for tobramycin and ciprofloxacin with these drugs suggesting these as first choice drugs until culture and sensitivity is available.…”

“…Gentamicin gave consistent susceptibility results for the isolated microorganisms, mainly the Gram-negative bacteria, similar to previous studies. 22,[38][39][40][41] Treatment inefficacy, 12 as well as possible bacterial resistance mediated by plasmids has been documented. 42 It should be noted that aminoglycosides, such as gentamicin, neomycin, and tobramycin, have lower efficacy at temperatures below 30°C, 40 and it is recommended that the ambient temperature be raised when treating diseases in reptiles with this drug group.…”

Evaluation of tear production in juvenile opossum using three different methods

“…There have already been reported different methods of tear production quantification, in rabbits (Lima et al 2015), parrots (Monção-Silva et al 2016a), macaws (Monção-Silva et al 2016b) and green-iguanas (Araújo et al 2017). In addition, the present study reports the use of different methods of measuring tear production in animals with small palpebral fissure length, such as marmoset and tortoise (Lange et al 2012, Oriá et al 2015b.…”

Avian ophthalmic peculiarities

“…Cornea of most bird species is thinner than that of mammals (WILLIS & WILKIE, 1999), except for some diurnal birds of prey and waterfowl (WILLIAMS, 2012). It has five layers, with Bowman's membrane below the epithelium (WILLIS & WILKIE, 1999;MONÇÃO-SILVA et al, 2016).…”