Jaguar (
Panthera onca)
Care Manual
46
Association of Zoos and Aquariums
Chapter 7. Veterinary Care
7.1 Veterinary Services
Veterinary services are a vital component of excellent animal
care practices. A full-time staff veterinarian is recommended;
however, in cases where this is not necessary, a consulting/part-
time veterinarian must be under contract to make at least twice
monthly inspections of the animal collection and to attend any
emergencies (AZA Accreditation Standard 2.1.1). Veterinary
coverage must also be available at all times so that any
indications of disease, injury, or stress may be responded to in a
timely manner (AZA Accreditation Standard 2.1.2). All AZA-
accredited institutions should adopt the guidelines for medical
programs developed by the American Association of Zoo
Veterinarians (AAZV), available at the AAZV website under
“Publications”, at
http://www.aazv.org/displaycommon.cfm?an=1&subarticlenbr=83
9
(AZA Accreditation Standard 2.0.1).
The period between routine examinations should be based on
the veterinarian’s risk [of anesthesia] vs. benefit [of gathering data
on sub-clinical health concerns] evaluation, and the
signalment/health status of the individual animal. Most AZA
accredited zoos perform routine examinations on large felids at
one- to three-year intervals. Quarterly fecal examinations are
recommended to check for internal gastro-intestinal parasites.
Additional information on veterinary care for jaguars may be
obtained by contacting the AZA Jaguar SSP Veterinary Advisor
Sharon Deem, DVM, PhD, Dipl. ACZM, or the
AZA Felid TAG
Veterinary Advisor Ellen Bronson, DVM, Dipl. ACZM. This
chapter was written by the AZA Jaguar SSP Veterinary Advisor
with support from the SSP Management Group and other
advisors.
Protocols for the use and security of drugs used for veterinary
purposes must be formally written and available to animal care
staff (AZA Accreditation Standard 2.2.1). Procedures should
include, but are not limited to: a list of persons authorized to
administer animal drugs, situations in which they are to be
utilized, location of animal drugs and those persons with access
to them, and emergency procedures in the event of accidental
human exposure. The AZA Jaguar SSP recommends that each
institution’s veterinarian(s) lead the formulation of their own institutional protocols for the storage and use
of drugs to be applied in the care and management of jaguars.
Veterinary recordkeeping is an important element of animal care and ensures that information about
individual animals and their treatment is always available. A designated staff member should be
responsible for maintaining accurate animal veterinary record keeping. All pertinent health information for
jaguars should be recorded per institutional protocols in a currently available and recognized medical
record-keeping software.
7.2 Transfer Examination and Diagnostic Testing Recommendations
The transfer of animals between AZA-accredited institutions or certified related facilities due to AZA
Animal Program recommendations occurs often as part of a concerted effort to preserve this species.
These transfers should be done as altruistically as possible and the costs associated with specific
examination and diagnostic testing for determining the health of these animals should be considered.
AZA Accreditation Standard
(2.1.1) A full-time staff veterinarian is
recommended. In cases where such is
not necessary because of the number
and/or nature of the animals residing
there, a consulting/part-time veterinarian
must be under written contract to make at
least twice monthly inspections of the
animals and to respond as soon as
possible to any emergencies.
AZA Accreditation Standard
(2.1.2) So that indications of disease,
injury, or stress may be dealt with
promptly, veterinary coverage must be
available to the animals 24 hours a day, 7
days a week.
AZA Accreditation Standard
(2.2.1) Written, formal procedures must
be available
to paid and unpaid animal
care staff for the use of animal drugs for
veterinary purposes, and appropriate
security of the drugs must be provided.
AZA Accreditation Standard
(2.0.1) The institution should adopt the
Guidelines for Zoo and Aquarium
Veterinary Medical Programs and
Veterinary Hospitals, and policies
developed or supported by the American
Association of Zoo Veterinarians (AAZV).
The most recent edition of the medical
programs and hospitals booklet is
available at the AAZV website, under
“Publications”, at
http://www.aazv.org/displaycommon.cfm?
an=1&subarticlenbr=839, and can also be
obtained in PDF format by contacting
AZA staff.
Jaguar (
Panthera onca)
Care Manual
47
Association of Zoos and Aquariums
Medical history should be sent to and reviewed by the receiving institution’s veterinary staff prior to
shipment. Pre-shipment examination should include a complete physical examination, complete blood
count (CBC), chemistry profile, fecal parasite examination, enteric pathogen screen, thyroid
screening,
and thoracic and abdominal radiographs. Serology to screen for calicivirus, canine distemper virus,
Dirofilaria immitis, feline immunodeficiency virus, feline infectious peritonitis, feline leukemia virus, feline
panleukopenia, herpesvirus,
Leptospira interrogans spp., and
Toxoplasma gondii should also be
completed. If not already properly identified, the jaguar should also be permanently identified with a
transponder chip. The animal should be current on all recommended vaccinations (see Section 7.4,
below), which minimally should include rabies and Fel-O-Vax
®
(panleukopenia, rhinotracheitis, and
calicivirus).
7.3 Quarantine
AZA institutions must have holding facilities or procedures for
the quarantine of newly arrived animals and isolation facilities or
procedures for the treatment of sick/injured animals. Quarantine
duration should be assessed and determined by the pathogen
risk and best practice for animal welfare (AZA Accreditation
Standard 2.7.1). All quarantine, hospital, and isolation areas
should be in compliance with AZA standards/guidelines (AZA
Accreditation Standard 2.7.3; Appendix E). All quarantine
procedures should be supervised by a veterinarian, formally
written and available to paid and
unpaid staff working with
quarantined animals (AZA Accreditation Standard 2.7.2). If a
specific quarantine facility is not present, then newly acquired
animals should be kept separate from the established collection
to prohibit physical contact, prevent disease transmission, and
avoid aerosol and drainage contamination. If the receiving
institution lacks appropriate facilities for quarantine, pre-shipment
quarantine at an AZA or American
Association for Laboratory
Animal Science (AALAS) accredited institution may be applicable.
Local, state, or federal regulations that are more stringent than
AZA Standards and recommendations have precedence.
AZA institutions must have zoonotic disease prevention
procedures and training protocols established to minimize the risk
of transferable diseases (AZA Accreditation Standard 11.1.2) with
all animals, including those newly acquired in quarantine.
Keepers should be designated to care only for quarantined
animals if possible. If keepers must care for both quarantined and
resident animals of the same class, they should care for the
quarantined animals only after caring for the resident animals. Care should be
taken to ensure that these
keepers are “decontaminated” before caring for the healthy resident animals again. Equipment used to
feed, care for, and enrich animals in quarantine should be used only with these animals. If this is not
possible, then all items must be appropriately disinfected, as designated by the veterinarian supervising
quarantine before use with resident animals.
The AZA Jaguar SSP recommends that veterinarians at each institution develop their own specific
disinfection protocols for animal management equipment and environmental enrichment provided in
quarantine. These protocols should take into consideration the material to be disinfected, and should
ensure that disinfectants are thoroughly rinsed off or neutralized before the equipment or enrichment is
used again.
The quarantine period should last for a minimum of 30 days but is recommended to avoid running
longer than 45 days. This range is suggested in order to accomplish quarantine goals while minimizing
time the animals spend in housing that is usually not appropriate as a long-term habitat for jaguars. If
additional jaguars, or other carnivores, are introduced into their corresponding quarantine areas, the
AZA Accreditation Standard
(2.7.2) Written, formal procedures for
quarantine must be available and familiar
to all paid and
unpaid staff working with
quarantined animals.
AZA Accreditation Standard
(11.1.2) Training and procedures must be
in place regarding zoonotic diseases.
AZA Accreditation Standard
(2.7.1) The institution must have holding
facilities or procedures for the quarantine
of newly arrived animals and isolation
facilities or procedures for the treatment
of sick/injured animals. Quarantine
duration should be assessed and
determined by the pathogen risk and best
practice for animal welfare.
AZA Accreditation Standard
(2.7.3) Quarantine, hospital, and isolation
areas should be
in compliance with
standards/guidelines contained within the
Guidelines for Zoo and Aquarium
Veterinary Medical Programs and
Veterinary Hospitals developed by the
American Association of Zoo
Veterinarians (AAZV), which can be
obtained at:
http://www.aazv.org/displaycommon.cfm?
an=1&subarticlenbr=839.