Pre-operative fibrous osteodystrophy and severe,refractory, post-operative hypocalcemia following parathyroidectomy in a dog

A 13-year-old dog exhibited dramatic, radiographic osteopenia consistent with fibrous osteodystrophy secondary to primary hyperparathyroidism. Following parathyroidectomy, the dog developed severe, prolonged hypocalcemia, but was successfully treated and discharged 32 d after surgery. A variety of factors may have contributed to this dog’s hypocalcemia including hypoparathyroidism and hungry bone syndrome.     

Treatment of diplomonad intestinal parasites with magnesium sulphate at a commercial rainbow trout (Oncorhynchus mykiss) facility

Rainbow trout (average weight of 2 g) in fresh water experienced high mortality and were infected with a diplomonad intestinal parasite. Tanks of fish experienced an immediate reduction in mortality after an in-feed treatment with 3% Epsom salts for 2 d. Treatments had to be applied several times, but in each case there was a similar reduction in mortality.     

Anatomical Variations of the Blood Vascular System in Veterinary Medicine

Traditional veterinary anatomical models describe the branches of the caudal gluteal artery as the iliolumbar, cranial gluteal, lateral caudal, satellite of the ischiatic nerve and dorsal perineal arteries. However, some classical veterinary anatomy textbooks often indicate variations the general organization of the arterial tree, without giving any pattern of origin or illustrations of the different branching. The aim of this study was to investigate the presumptive variability of the caudal gluteal artery. Two hundred and thirty‐two pelvic halves from 116 adult dogs were examined. Twelve anatomical variations were found, nine occurring in more than 5% of the dogs, and three in <5%. A ‘long‐type’ internal iliac artery, which means short caudal gluteal and internal pudendal arteries, was identified, while a ‘perineal trunk’ was observed as an interesting arterial variation. If the caudal segment alone is taken into consideration, identical vascular patterns in both hemi‐pelvises are found in 17% of the dogs. Significant statistical correlation was found for four different types of anatomic variations and gender, two types of variations and body size, one type of variation for body side and one type of variation for head shape.     

Voluntary acceptance and consumption of two oral ciclosporin formulations in dogs: two randomised,controlled studies

Background

Atopic dermatitis (AD) is the most common canine allergic skin disease and can significantly affect the quality of life of affected dogs. Treating canine AD with ciclosporin has been a subject of great interest in recent years. Many studies have provided substantial evidence of ciclosporin efficacy and safety in canine AD management, and for several years ciclosporin has been recognised as a major component of canine AD multimodal therapy. As a chronic condition, canine AD requires life-long medical management and treatment success relies in large part on product ease of administration. Two studies were conducted to assess the comparative voluntary acceptance and consumption of Cyclavance® (Virbac), a new oral liquid formulation of ciclosporin, and Atopica® (Novartis) either added to a small quantity of kibbles (study 1) or administered directly into the dog’s mouth (study 2).

Results

Over the course of the two studies 70 dogs assessed each of the ciclosporin formulations and 320 individual tests were performed for each tested product. Immediate prehension (in less than 2 seconds) occurred significantly more often with Cyclavance® (90.6% of the tests) than with Atopica® (14.4% of the tests) when products were mixed with 30 grams of dry food (p < 0.001). Moreover, Cyclavance® was significantly more often easily accepted than Atopica® (99.3% vs 27.1% of the tests, respectively) when products were administered directly into the dogs’ mouth (p < 0.0001). Cyclavance® was also more often totally consumed (98.3% of the tests) than Atopica® (2.2% of the tests) when mixed with a small amount of food (p < 0.001). However, both products were totally consumed once administered directly into the dogs’ mouth.

Conclusions

By facilitating cicloporin administration and consumption, Cyclavance® liquid formulation offers an interesting alternative to capsules that may improve dosing compliance and therefore the ability to benefit from the therapeutic effects in the long-term treatment of canine AD.     

Prevalence of internal parasites in beef cows in the United States: Results of the National Animal Health Monitoring System’s (NAHMS) beef study, 2007–2008

During the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) National Animal Health Monitoring System’s (NAHMS) 2007–2008 beef study, 567 producers from 24 US States were offered the opportunity to collect fecal samples from weaned beef calves and have them evaluated for the presence of parasite eggs (Phase 1). Participating producers were provided with instructions and materials for sample collection. Up to 20 fresh fecal samples were collected from each of the 99 participating operations. Fresh fecal samples were submitted to one of 3 randomly assigned laboratories for evaluation. Upon arrival at the laboratories, all samples were processed for the enumeration of strongyle, Nematodirus, and Trichuris eggs using the modified Wisconsin technique. The presence or absence of coccidian oocysts and tapeworm eggs was also noted. In submissions where the strongyle eggs per gram exceeded 30, aliquots from 2 to 6 animals were pooled for DNA extraction. Extracted DNA was subjected to genus level polymerase chain reaction (PCR) identification for the presence of Ostertagia, Cooperia, Haemonchus, Oesophagostomum, and Trichostrongylus. In this study, 85.6% of the samples had strongyle type, Nematodirus, and Trichuris eggs. Among the samples evaluated, 91% had Cooperia, 79% Ostertagia, 53% Haemonchus, 38% Oesophagostomum, 18% Nematodirus, 7% Trichuris, and 3% Trichostrongylus. The prevalence of coccidia and tapeworm eggs was 59.9% and 13.7%, respectively.