By Lauren Gough – Special to the Sydenham Current
The 4H Veterinary club met recently at the Ridgetown Campus of the University of Guelph.
The topic of discussion for the evening was the nervous system.
Leaders Marcia Vermey and Maureen McKerrall presented information to club members about the different parts of the nervous system, how nerves transmit messages, and common nervous system diseases of animals.
The nervous system is divided into parts depending on its role in the animal.
There is the central nervous system is the control center and the “thinking” containing the brain and the spinal cord.
Club members demonstrated the role of cerebrospinal fluid with an egg representing the brain and the container representing the skull.
When shaken, the egg is damaged and cracked.
It was demonstrated again adding water to represent the spinal fluid.
The container was shaken and the damage to the egg was minimal.
The cerebrospinal fluid cushions the brain inside of the skull.
The peripheral nervous system is the “sensing and action” center containing the nerves running throughout the body.
In animals this is the fight or flight response that we see.
When horses sense danger they spook and run away. The autonomic nervous system is the “auto pilot” looking after actions needed for life such as breathing, blood pressure, and digestion.
Club members learned about common nervous system diseases such as tetanus and rabies. Tetanus is a caused by the clostridium tetani bacteria while rabies is a virus.
Rabies is an extremely dangerous virus for both humans and animals. It is transmitted by one animal to another or from animal to human usually through a bite.
Farm animals can contract rabies through contact from wild animals such as a raccoon, possum, or fox.
Symptoms include drooling, aggressive behaviour, lameness, and restlessness. A common symptom of rabies is abnormal behaviour such as a nocturnal creature running around during the day.
It is extremely important to vaccinate animals for rabies to prevent the disease in your farm animals.
– Story by Lauren Gough
