Alejandro Ulloa1, Lies Vedder1, Jan van der Kamp1, Thijs Kuiken2
Intestinal volvulus cases were extracted from the archive of the Seal Rehabilitation
and Research Centre, Pieterburen, The Netherlands, which contains contains records
of 471 harbour seals (Phoca vitulina), 70 grey seals (Halichoerus grypus), and
35 individuals of 7 other phocid species, necropsied between 1975 and 2001.
The overall relative incidence of intestinal volvulus was 5 % (23 cases) in
harbour seals, 3% (2 cases) in grey seals, and 0 % in the other species. The
relative incidence was higher in males than in females, and increased with age.
Cases of intestinal volvulus in adult male harbour seals had the highest relative
incidence, 19 % (6/31), occurred mainly during the mating season, and may have
resulted from inter-male aggression behaviour. Clinical signs included anorexia,
vomiting, abdominal distention and pain, and constipation. Lesions were limited
to the small intestine, and consisted of rotation around its mesenteric axis,
dark red to black discolouration, and distension with bloody fluid. Four harbour
seals had concurrent disease: jejunal stricture (n = 2), pyometra (n = 1), and
water aspiration (n = 1). This study indicates that intestinal volvulus is an
important non-infectious disease of harbour and grey seals, particularly of
adult males during the breeding season.
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