Successful Treatment for Subinvolution of Placental Sites in the Bitch with Low Oral Doses of Progestagen

Subinvolution of placental sites (SIPS) is the major cause of persistent sanguineous vaginal discharge after parturition in the bitch. Spontaneous remission is common but may take several months, and hence, medical therapy to end the discharge is often requested. In this retrospective study, we evaluated the effect of treatment for SIPS with low oral doses of a progestagen. Nine bitches with SIPS, but otherwise clinically healthy, were found in the computer database of the Department of Clinical Sciences of Companion Animals. Seven of these bitches were treated with low oral doses of a progestagen (megestrol acetate, 0.1 mg/kg body weight (bw) once daily for the 1st week, then 0.05 mg/kg bw once daily for the 2nd week). The other two bitches were untreated. Treatment results were evaluated by a telephone questionnaire. Progestagen treatment was successful in all of the treated dogs; sanguineous vaginal discharge stopped within the treatment period. One of the two untreated dogs remained symptomatic until the next oestrus, approximately 120 days after parturition, and the other remained symptomatic until 6 weeks before the start of the next pro‐oestrus, 270 days after parturition. No side effects of the progestagen treatment were observed. Subsequent gestations, parturitions and puerperal periods of 5 mated bitches were uneventful. One bitch did not become pregnant after mating. In conclusion, the results of this study indicate that oral administration of low doses of progestagen for 2 weeks is effective in stopping persistent sanguineous vaginal discharge in bitches with SIPS, with neither side effects nor reduced subsequent fertility.     

Demography of the Namibian cheetah, Acinonyx jubatus jubatus

Namibian cheetahs have suffered, and continue to suffer, high levels of removal due to conflict with local farmers, and it is important to understand the demography of this population in order to determine its likely persistence. Examination of cheetahs reported live-trapped or killed by local farmers, combined with subsequent information from radio-telemetry, allowed demographic parameters such as sex ratios, age and social structure, litter size, interbirth intervals and survivorship to be estimated for cheetahs on Namibian farmlands. Cub mortality was relatively low, but adult mortality was high, particularly for males, and peaked at 5-6 years of age. Neither marking nor relocating cheetahs seemed to affect survivorship, and there was no difference in survivorship between the sexes. Time spent in captivity did not appear to affect survival after release. These findings will be useful in formulating recommendations regarding the conservation and sustainable utilization of cheetah populations outside protected areas.     

An immunohistochemical study of canine disseminated aspergillosis

An immunohistochemical study of 25 lesions from 7 dogs with disseminated aspergillosis (Aspergillus terreus) is presented. All had multiple fungal granulomas in many viscera, with centres of necrotic tissue and hyphal elements surrounded by a mixed infiltrate of predominantly mononuclear cells. Within these lesions, hyphae coated with immunoglobulin (IgG, IgM, IgA) and complement (C3, C4) were identified, together with peri-lesional mononuclear cells that reacted with antisera directed towards either IgG, IgM, IgA or a T lymphocyte marker (MUII). A conspicuous feature was the prominent hyphal fluorescence seen with IgA and C3 antisera. The IgA reagent also marked large numbers of mononuclear cells both around lesions and scattered throughout interstitial tissue, suggesting an abnormality of IgA production or regulation as a factor predisposing to this condition.     

The pathogenesis of the nervous syndrome of Phalaris aquatica toxicity in sheep

The clinical signs displayed by 96 sheep affected by the nervous syndrome of Phalaris aquatica toxicity and 10 normal sheep injected intravenously with the phalaris alkaloid, 5-methoxy dimethyltryptamine (dose range 0.01 to 5.0 mg/kg), were observed. The distributions of phalaris indole-like cytoplasmic pigments in nuclei of the brains and spinal cords of 9 naturally affected sheep were determined microscopically. Based on the relationship between clinical signs and the central nervous system nuclei involved in their production, the distribution of phalaris indole-like pigments, and the pharmacology of dimethylated tryptamines, it is suggested that the nervous syndrome induced by Phalaris aquatica results from a direct action of phalaris alkaloids upon serotonergic receptors in specific brain and spinal cord nuclei.