Effect of Short-Term Restricted Food Intake on Canine Pseudopregnancy

A non-pharmaceutical, dietary option may be useful to manage clinical pseudopregnancy (PSP). To describe the effect of short-term food restriction on canine PSP, 16 privately owned, overtly pseudopregnant bitches were randomly assigned to one of the following groups: Limit-fed (increasing amounts of a restricted maintenance: 50%, 40%, 30% restriction for 2, 3 and 2 days respectively) during 7 days (n = 8) or Maintenance-fed of the same food and period (n = 8). The bitches were physically examined and blood samples were taken for prolactin and progesterone determinations on days 2, 5 and 8. By day 8, none of the bitches had completely regressed the condition although all (8/8) the animals of the Limit-fed and two (25%) of the Maintenance-fed group improved in condition decreasing mammary size and secretion (p < 0.05). No day or group effects were observed for serum prolactin and progesterone concentrations (>0.05). It is concluded that although an 8-day food restriction did not cure PSP, it seemed to hasten PSP signs involution in these bitches. No endocrine change was related to these clinical findings.     

Proliferative thyroid lesions in three diplodactylid geckos: Nephrurus amyae, Nephrurus levis, and Oedura marmorata

Over a 5-mo period, three diplodactylid geckos housed at the National Aquarium were diagnosed with proliferative thyroid lesions: a rough knob-tail gecko (Nephrurus amyae), a smooth knob-tail gecko (Nephrurus levis), and a marbled velvet gecko (Oedura marmorata). Clinical signs included an intraoral mass or ventral throat swelling (or both), oral bleeding, and weight loss. Both of the knob-tail geckos died. The histologic diagnosis for the rough knob-tail gecko was thyroid carcinoma with metastases to the liver and lungs, and thyroid carcinoma with no metastases was reported in the smooth knob-tail gecko. A thyroidectomy was performed on the marbled velvet gecko with a histologic diagnosis of adenomatous hyperplasia. Postoperative weight loss and bradycardia resolved following oral supplementation with levothyroxine. The animal is in normal health 10 mo post-surgery. Five other diplodactylid geckos in the collection remain unaffected, giving a 38% prevalence of proliferative thyroid lesions (3/8). The etiology remains undetermined. This is the first report of a cluster of proliferative thyroid lesions in geckos.     

COMPARISON OF RADIOGRAPHIC AND COMPUTED TOMOGRAPHY LYMPHANGIOGRAPHY FOR IDENTIFICATION OF THE CANINE THORACIC DUCT

Standard radiographic lymphangiograms and computed tomography (CT) lymphangiograms were performed on 10 female dogs without intrathoracic disease. Positive contrast lymphagiography was performed by injection into a catheterized mesenteric lymphatic vessel, and lateral thoracic radiographs, ventrodorsal thoracic radiographs, and thoracic CTs were obtained. The number of visible ducts was recorded for each image at the midbody of the ninth thoracic vertebra (T9) through the first lumbar vertebra (L1). Data were combined for all dogs at each data acquisition point. Data were analyzed by comparing data from all three images independently, and then by combining data for the radiographs and comparing the study with the highest number of visible duct branches to the CT. Significant differences in numbers of branches were found at T11 and L1. This study suggests that CT may be able to quantify branches of the thoracic duct more accurately than standard radiographic lymphangiography.