The development of safe and effective rehabilitation protocols for horses

Rehabilitation has become an important aspect of equine practice. Unfortunately, there is limited knowledge or awareness of the general principles and methods used to develop safe and effective rehabilitation programmes. By following a few basic principles, appropriate rehabilitation programmes can be developed for individual horses with a wide range of injuries and sources of musculoskeletal pain or dysfunction. This article provides an outline of general guidelines to help practitioners interested in developing rehabilitation programmes or working with sports medicine and rehabilitation experts to provide the best possible treatment for individual horses with injuries at different stages of healing.     

北京警犬厉兵秣马备战奥运安保札记

2008年8月,中国将让全世界所有的心灵随着“北京”的节奏跳动,这是中华民族13亿炎黄子孙的骄傲,是中国的自豪,同时也是对全国警犬技术力量防爆安检能力的挑战!首都带犬民警,作为肩负重任的一支警犬技术队伍,正厉兵秣马全力备战奥运安保。     

Masitinib is safe and effective for the treatment of canine mast cell tumors

Background: Activation of the KIT receptor tyrosine kinase is associated with the development of canine mast cell tumors (MCT). Hypothesis/Objective: To evaluate the efficacy of masitinib, a potent and selective inhibitor of KIT, in the treatment of canine MCT. Animals: Two hundred and two client‐owned dogs with nonmetastatic recurrent or nonresectable grade II or III MCT. Methods: Double‐blind, randomized, placebo‐controlled phase III clinical trial. Dogs were administered masitinib (12.5 mg/kg/d PO) or a placebo. Time‐to‐tumor progression (TTP), overall survival, objective response at 6 months, and toxicity were assessed. Resulsts: Masitinib increased overall TTP compared with placebo from 75 to 118 days (P= .038). This effect was more pronounced when masitinib was used as first‐line therapy, with an increase in the median TTP from 75 to 253 days (P= .001) and regardless of whether the tumors expressed mutant (83 versus not reached [P= .009]) or wild‐type KIT (66 versus 253 [P= .008]). Masitinib was generally well tolerated, with mild (grade I) or moderate (grade II) diarrhea or vomiting as the most common adverse events. Conclusions and Clinical Importance: Masitinib is safe and effective at delaying tumor progression in dogs presenting with recurrent or nonresectable grade II or III nonmetastatic MCT.     

Appraisal of the Australian Veterinary Prescribing Guidelines for antimicrobial prophylaxis for surgery in dogs and cats

The Australian Veterinary Prescribing Guidelines for antimicrobial prophylaxis for surgery on dogs and cats are evidence‐based guidelines for veterinary practitioners. Validation of these guidelines is necessary to ensure quality and implementability. Two validated tools, used for medical guideline appraisal, were chosen to assess the guidelines. The terminology from the GuideLine Implementability Appraisal (GLIA) and the Appraisal of Guidelines for Research and Evaluation version 2 (AGREE II) were adapted for use by veterinarians. A two‐phase evaluation approach was conducted. In the first phase of the evaluation, the GLIA tool was used by two specialist veterinary surgeons in clinical practice. The results of this phase were then used to modify the guidelines. In the second phase, the AGREE II tool was used by 6 general practitioners and 6 specialists to appraise the guidelines. In phase 1, the specialist surgeons either agreed or strongly agreed that the guidelines were executable, decidable, valid and novel, and that the guidelines would fit within the process of care. The surgeons were neutral on flexibility and measurability. Additional clarity around one common surgical procedure was added to the guidelines, after which the surgeons agreed that the guidelines were sufficiently flexible. In phase 2, 12 veterinarians completed the assessment using the AGREE II tool. In all sections the scaled domain score was greater than 70%. The overall quality of the guidelines was given a global scaled score of 76%. This assessment has demonstrated that the guidelines for antimicrobial prophylaxis for companion animal surgery are valid and appear implementable.     

兽用合成抗菌药的安全使用

抗菌药物在保障畜禽健康、促进畜禽生长、提高经济效益方面起了积极的作用。然而长期使用,具有危害性。首先,导致细菌产生耐药性;其次,敏感菌得到了控制,不敏感菌或耐药菌乘机大量繁殖,产生新的致病菌,     

Oral N-acetyl-L-cysteine is a safe and effective precursor of cysteine

Relative bioavailability and toxicity of N-acetyl-l-Cys (NAC) were evaluated in 9-d chick growth assays. The bioavailability of NAC relative to Cys was determined by feeding young chicks a highly purified crystalline AA diet singly deficient in Cys. Bio-availability estimates were obtained using standard slope-ratio methodology. N-Acetyl-l-cysteine was shown to be as effective as Cys in supporting chick growth, and was assigned a relative bioavailability value of 100%. To assess toxicity, a nutritionally adequate corn-soybean meal diet was supplemented with graded concentrations of NAC (isomolar to 10, 20, 30, or 40 g/kg of Cys, as-fed). When NAC supplied 10 or 20 g/kg of Cys, chick growth performance was unaffected, but NAC supplying 30 or 40 g/kg of Cys reduced (P < 0.05) BW gain by 13 and 34%, respectively, relative to the unsupplemented control diet. Only plasma-free NAC was substantially increased (P < 0.05) because of excess dietary NAC; plasma-free Cys was unaltered. We concluded that dietary NAC is efficacious in supplying Cys in support of chick growth, and only large excesses of NAC are growth depressing. Hence, the human clinical benefits of oral NAC likely result from its ability to deliver Cys safely and effectively to the portal circulation.     

使用非甾体类抗炎药治疗炎症、疼痛和发烧

炎症、疼痛和发烧经常一起出现.然而,出于成本高、害怕残留和惯例,在养猪场生产中使用消炎药、镇痛和退烧药物的情况很少.关于成本,我们必须牢记,发生疼痛和发热的动物其生产率力可能很低,因它们会减少采食量.例如,慢性疼痛不利于动物新陈代谢.这可能会引发母猪的应激,进而会导致泌乳量和繁殖率下降.此外,猪场内的大部分疾病都会引发炎症,如胸膜肺炎、支原体肺炎、支气管炎、出血性败血症、猪繁殖与呼吸道综合症、猪瘟、口蹄疫等.所以,由不使用镇疼药和消炎药节约的成本并不明显.     

Guidelines for the identification, evaluation, and management of systemic hypertension in dogs and cats

Consensus Statements of the American College of Veterinary Internal Medicine (ACVIM) provide veterinarians with guidelines regarding the pathophysiology, diagnosis, or treatment of animal diseases. The foundation of the Consensus Statement is evidence-based medicine, but if such evidence is conflicting or lacking, the panel provides interpretive recommendations on the basis of their collective expertise. The Consensus Statement is intended to be a guide for veterinarians, but it is not a statement of standard of care or a substitute for clinical judgment. Topics of statements and panel members to draft the statements are selected by the Board of Regents with input from the general membership. A draft prepared and input from Diplomates is solicited at the ACVIM Forum and via the ACVIM Web site and incorporated in a final version. This Consensus Statement was approved by the Board of Regents of the ACVIM before publication.     

Median effective dosage of propofol for induction of anesthesia in dogs.

The median effective dosage (ED50) of propofol for induction of anesthesia was determined in 25 dogs premedicated with acepromazine, 0.05 mg/kg of body weight, and in 35 unpremedicated dogs. The ED50 was found to be 2.2 mg/kg in premedicated dogs and was 3.8 mg/kg in unpremedicated dogs. The mean +/- SD total dosage of propofol required to induce anesthesia in premedicated animals was 2.8 +/- 0.5 mg/kg and was 4.7 +/- 1.3 mg/kg in unpremedicated animals. Signs of excitement were observed in 5 of the unpremedicated dogs, but in none of those that were premedicated.     

Toxicology of newer pesticides for use in dogs and cats.

The past 10 years have witnessed the development of several new insecticides that have been specifically designed to exploit physiologic differences between insects and mammals. This has resulted in products that seem to have a wide margin of safety when used in dogs and cats. Compared with the more acutely toxic organophosphorous, carbamate, and heavy metal insecticides as well as with the environmental problems of bioaccumulation associated with some of the organochlorine insecticides, these newer insecticides such as fipronil, imidacloprid, selamectin, lufenuron, and nitenpyram seem to alleviate these known problems while still providing satisfactory insecticidal activity.