Clinical course, diagnostic findings and necropsy diagnosis in dyspneic cats with primary pulmonary parenchymal disease: 15 cats (1996–2002)

Objective: Correlate the necropsy diagnosis with the history, diagnostic findings, and clinical course of dyspneic cats with primary lung parenchymal disease. Design: Retrospective study. Setting: Matthew J. Ryan Veterinary Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania. Animals: Client‐owned cats over 6 months of age hospitalized in the Intensive Care Unit (ICU) with a primary problem of respiratory distress that had pulmonary parenchymal disease on thoracic radiographs, and a complete necropsy. Interventions: None. Measurements and main results: Cats included were assigned into 2 groups based on the pulmonary histopathology: inflammatory (n=8) and neoplastic (n=7) disease. No statistical difference was found between the groups with regard to age, body weight, clinical signs, duration of clinical signs, physical examination findings, thoracic radiography, duration of hospitalization, treatment, and outcome. Cats with neoplasia had a statistically higher mean total white blood cell count (26.60 k/μL±10.41) than those with inflammatory lung disease (11.59 k/μL±4.49; P=0.026). Cats with bacterial or viral pulmonary disease had a significantly shorter median duration of illness (5 days, range 1–7 days) than all other cats (30 days, range 7–365 days; P=0.0042). Ultrasound guided pulmonary fine‐needle aspiration (FNA) provided an accurate diagnosis in 5/5 cases. Conclusions: Forty‐seven percent of cats with pulmonary parenchymal disease had neoplasia. The clinical diagnosis was difficult to obtain ante‐mortem; lung FNA appeared to be the most helpful diagnostic tool in these cases.     

Estimation of the ideal ratio of true ileal digestible sulfur amino acids:lysine in 8- to 26-kg nursery pigs

Four experiments were conducted to determine the ideal ratio of true ileal digestible (TID) sulfur AA to Lys (SAA:LYS) in nursery pigs at two different BW ranges using both DL-Met and 2-hydroxy-4-(methylthio)-butanoic acid (HMTBA) as Met sources. In Exp. 1, 1,549 nursery pigs (Triumph 4 x PIC Camborough 22; initial BW 8.3 +/- 0.08 kg) were allotted to one of nine dietary treatments. The basal diet (Diet 1) was a semicomplex corn-soybean meal-based diet (1.32% TID Lys) with no supplemental HMTBA or DL-Met (47.7% TID SAA:LYS). Diets 2 to 9 consisted of the basal diet supplemented with four equimolar levels of DL-Met or HMTBA (52.7, 57.7, 62.7, and 67.7% TID SAA:LYS). In Exp. 2, 330 nursery pigs (Triumph 4 x PIC Camborough 22; initial BW 11.4 +/- 0.10 kg) were allotted to one of nine dietary treatments. The basal diet (Diet 1) was a corn-soybean meal-based diet (1.15% TID Lys) with no supplemental HMTBA or DL-Met (49% TID SAA:LYS). Diets 2 to 9 consisted of the basal diet supplemented with four equimolar levels of DL-Met or HMTBA (54, 59, 64, and 69% TID SAA:LYS). In Exp. 3, 1,544 nursery pigs (Triumph 4 x PIC Camborough 22; initial BW 12.4 +/- 0.13 kg) were allotted to one of nine dietary treatments as in Exp. 2. In Exp. 4, 343 nursery pigs (Genetiporc; initial BW 12.8 +/- 0.56 kg) were allotted to one of six dietary treatments. The basal diet (Diet 1) was a corn-soybean meal-based diet (1.05% TID Lys) with no supplemental DL-Met (49% TID SAA:LYS). Diets 2 to 5 consisted of the basal diet supplemented with four levels of DL-Met (54, 59, 64, and 69% TID SAA:LYS), and Diet 6 was the basal diet supplemented with one equimolar level of HMTBA to satisfy 59% TID SAA:LYS ratio. In all experiments, increasing the TID SAA:LYS ratio resulted in quadratic improvements in ADG (P < or = 0.09) and G:F (P < or = 0.05). Three different methods were used to estimate the optimal TID SAA:LYS ratio for each experiment. The two-slope broken-line regression model, x-intercept value of the broken-line and quadratic curve, and 95% of upper asymptote across the four experiments indicated that the average optimal TID SAA:LYS ratios were 59.3, 60.1, and 57.7% for ADG and 60.6, 61.7, and 60.1% for G:F, respectively. Thus, the optimal TID SAA:LYS ratio for 8- to 26-kg pigs based on the average value of these three estimates was 59.0% for ADG and 60.8% for G:F.     

Retrospective evaluation of episodic collapse in the horse in a referred population: 25 cases (1995-2009)

Background: Episodic collapse in horses has equine welfare and human safety implications. There are, however, no published case series describing this syndrome. Objectives: To characterize the cause and outcomes for horses referred for investigation of episodic collapse. Animals: Twenty‐five horses referred for investigation of single or multiple episodes of collapse. Methods: Retrospective study. Clinical records from the Dick Vet Equine Hospital, University of Edinburgh from November 1995 to July 2009 were searched using the following keywords: collapse, collapsing, fall, syncope. Collapse was defined as an incident in which the horse lost postural tone with or without progression to recumbency and with or without loss of consciousness. Long‐term follow‐up information was obtained by telephone conversation with the owner. Results: A final diagnosis was reached in 11 cases, namely cardiac arrhythmia (4), right‐sided heart failure (1), hypoglycemia (2), generalized seizures (2), and sleep disorder (2). A presumptive diagnosis was reached in 8 cases, namely neurocardiogenic syncope (5), exercise‐induced pulmonary hemorrhage (2), and generalized seizures (1). No diagnosis was reached in 6 cases despite comprehensive investigations. Three horses were euthanized at presentation. Treatment was attempted in 9 horses with 6 cases having successful outcome before discharge. Follow‐up information was available for 14 of 19 horses discharged from the hospital. Only 1 of these horses was observed to collapse after discharge. Conclusions and Clinical Importance: Definitive diagnosis was more likely to be reached in cases with multiple episodes of collapse. Horses in which 1 episode of collapse occurred did not necessarily collapse again.     

Electrocardiography of the normal domestic pet rabbit

To establish a well-tolerated technique for recording electrocardiograms (ECGs) and a reference range for the normal pet rabbit ECG, 46 healthy pet rabbits were studied. The following reference ranges were calculated. Heart rate was 198 to 330 bpm. P waves had a duration of 0.01 to 0.05 seconds and an amplitude of 0.04 to 0.12 mV. The P-R interval was 0.04 to 0.08 seconds and the duration of the QRS complex was 0.02 to 0.06 seconds. The amplitude of the R wave was 0.03 to 0.39 mV. The Q-T interval was 0.08 to 0.16 seconds. The amplitude of the T wave was 0.05 to 0.17 mV. Mean electrical axis was found to be -43° to +80°. Evidence of variation due to breed or bodyweight was not found to be significant, except for a quadratic relationship between R wave amplitude and bodyweight. The ECG recording technique used in this study for pet rabbits was well tolerated and shown to be both reliable and repeatable.     

Ulnocarpal arthrodesis in a cat

A nine-year-old cat was presented with non-weight-bearing lameness of the right forelimb subsequent to an old fracture of the antebrachium previously treated by external stabilisation. Radiography showed severe atrophic non-union of the distal third of the radius and carpal luxation. Ulnocarpal arthrodesis was performed using a uniplanar external fixator. Follow-up radiography showed that bone fusion was slow but without complication. After 16 weeks, the external fixator was removed, and a Robert-Jones bandage was applied for one month. From postoperative week 2 onwards, the animal progressively made use of the limb in a weight-bearing capacity. At the last examination, one year postoperative, no lameness was observed.     

Cellulase Supplementation Does Not Improve the Digestibility of a High-Forage Diet in Horses

Six mature Arabian geldings were used in a two-period crossover study to investigate the effects of cellulase supplementation on fiber digestion. Horses were randomly assigned to either a control (CO; n = 3) or a cellulase (CE; n = 3) treatment for the first period and then treatments were switched for period 2. Each period consisted of a 10-day diet adaptation followed by a 3-day total fecal collection. The enzyme mixture contained 40,000 cellulase units/g and was fed at a rate of 3 g/day split evenly between two feedings. During the diet adaptation period, horses had ad libitum access to timothy hay and were also fed 165 g whole oats as a carrier for the supplement. When eating the CO treatment, horses consumed 16% more hay than when on the CE treatment (P = .004). Fecal output also tended to be greater when horses consumed the CO treatment as compared with CE treatment (P = .07). No differences were found between treatments for fecal percent dry matter (DM%), fecal neutral detergent fiber (NDF), fecal acid detergent fiber (ADF), fecal nitrogen (N), or fecal gross energy (GE). There was a trend for horses consuming the CO treatment to digest more NDF than when consuming the CE treatment (34.6% ± 1.5 vs 31% ± 1.5; P = .07). Horses also digested a greater %ADF, %N, and Mcal of energy when consuming the CO treatment than when consuming the CE treatment (P < .05). Cellulase addition to a hay-based horse diet decreased digestion of fiber components.