Important Definitions and Information

from

Joseph W. Burkett III, DVM

White Deer Preserve

198 Jockey House Lane

Fredericksburg, Texas 78624

Telephone (830) 990-4367

Fax (830) 990-8386

E Mail  -  drburkett@whitedeerpreserve.com

Anthelminthics - Anthelmintics are drugs that expel parasitic worms (helminths) from the body, by either killing or stunning them. A traditional remedy of this type is often called a vermifuge or vermicide.

Examples of drugs used as anthelmintics include:

Many members of the piperazine family are successful anthelmintics.

Natural anthelmintics include black walnut, wormwood (Artemisia absynthium), clove (Syzygium aromaticum), tansy tea (Tanacetum vulgare), Hagenia (Hagenia abyssinica), kalonji (Nigella sativa) seeds, and the male fern (Dryopteris filix-mas). In Brazilian folk medicine, Plumeria P. acutifolia or P. rubra is also an anthelmintic. ^[1] Please note that many natural vermifuges or anthelmintics are poisonous and, in improper dosages, dangerous to humans as well as parasites.

Colostrum (also known as beestings or first milk) - Colostrum is a form of milk produced by the mammary glands in late pregnancy and the few days after whelping.

Colosturm is thick and yellowish and has high concentrations of nutrients and immunities, but it is small in quantity. Colostrum is high in carbohydrates, protein and antibodies, and low in fat. Newborns have very small digestive systems, and colostrum delivers its nutrients in a very concentrated low-volume form. It has a mild laxative effect, encouraging the passing of the pups first stool, which is called meconium. This clears excess bilirubin, a waste product of dead red blood cells which is produced in large quantities at birth due to blood volume reduction, from the pups body.

Colostrum contains large numbers of antibodies called "secretory immunoglobulin" (IgA) that help protect the mucous membranes in the throat, lungs, and intestines of the neo-natal pup. Leukocytes are also present in large numbers; these begin protecting the pup from harmful viruses and bacteria. Ingesting colostrum also establishes beneficial bacteria in the digestive tract.

Gravid (Pregnant) - Carrying developing young or eggs: a gravid uterus; a gravid female.

Immunization, or immunisation - Is the process by which an individual is exposed to an agent that is designed to fortify his or her immune system against that agent. The material is known as an immunogen. Immunization is the same as inoculation and vaccination in that inoculation and vaccination use a viable infecting agent like immunization does. When the human immune system is exposed to a disease once, it can develop the ability to quickly respond to a subsequent infection. Therefore, by exposing an individual to an immunogen in a controlled way, their body will then be able to protect itself from infection later on in life.

Meconium - Meconium is the first stool of an neo-natal (newborn) mammal, composed of materials ingested during the time the infant spends in the uterus: Intestinal epithelial, lanugo, mucus, amniotic fluid, bile, and water. Meconium is sterile, unlike later feces, is viscous and sticky like tar, and has no odor. It should be completely passed by the end of the first few days of postpartum life, with the stools progressing toward yellow (digested milk). The term Meconium derives from meconium-arion, meaning "opium-like", in reference either to its tarry appearance or Aristotle's belief that it induced sleep in the fetus.

Meconium is normally stored in the fetus's intestines until after birth, but sometimes it is expelled into the amniotic fluid prior to birth or during whelping.

For More Information, Questions, or to Purchase Your Hound or Jack Russell Terrier Please Contact:

Joe or Courtney Burkett at

White Deer Preserve

198 Jockey House Lane

Fredericksburg, Texas 78624

Telephone (830) 990-4367

Fax (830) 990-8386

E Mail  -  plott@whitedeerpreserve.com

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