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.     

The Breed and Season Effects on Scrotal Circumference and Semen Characteristics of Hair Sheep Rams Under Tropical Conditions

The aim of the present work was to evaluate the breed and season effects on scrotal circumference (SC) and semen characteristics of 28 mature hair sheep rams kept under tropical conditions. SCs, sperm concentration (SPC) and abnormal sperm were significantly affected by breed effect (p < 0.001). The season effect was significant in SPC (p < 0.0001) while ejaculate volume, mass motility and SPC were affected by breed × season interaction effect (p < 0.001). It can be concluded that the magnitude of the breed and season effects were not sufficient to affect the reproductive capacity of hair sheep rams throughout the year.     

Antigenic stability of fimbriae of Bacteroides nodosus

Successful vaccination of sheep against footrot and attempts to eradicate the disease depend on there being a limit to the antigenic diversity of the causative bacterium, Bacteroides nodosus. Fimbrial antigenic variation was therefore investigated in vivo, both under conditions of chronic infection and under the pressure of a vaccine-induced immune response, to ascertain whether this represented an obstacle to such goals. Material was available from 5 experiments and although B. nodosus appeared to have undergone changes in its fimbrial antigens in one of these, the possibility that superinfection was responsible for the variation detected could not be ruled out because all sheep in this case were maintained at pasture. Overall, the results provided no evidence of fimbrial antigenic shift in B. nodosus in vivo and in conclusion, the survival of the organism in the sheep's foot, both in long-term natural infection and following vaccination, must therefore be related to factors other than the ability to undergo antigenic variation in order to evade the host's immune response.     

Two Methods of Vitrification Followed by In Vitro Culture of the Ovine Ovary: Evaluation of the Follicular Development and Ovarian Extracellular Matrix

The aim of this study was to evaluate the influence of two vitrification techniques on the extra cellular matrix (ECM) and ovarian follicular development. The ovarian cortex was fragmented (9 mm³) and divided into six groups, viz. fresh control, cultured control, vitrified by the Ovarian Tissue Cryosystem (OTC) method, conventional solid surface vitrification (SSV) method, OTC/cultured and SSV/cultured. Follicles from all the fragments were analysed for morphology, development and viability. The ECM was evaluated based on the condition of collagen and reticular fibres and the immunolocalization of type I collagen and fibronectin. After 7 days of culture, the tissue vitrified by OTC revealed a higher percentage (p < 0.05) of morphologically normal (30.66%) and viable (60.00%) follicles when compared with those vitrified using the SSV technique (21.33% and 23.00%). In all the fragments cultured, regardless of the vitrification method, a significantly higher percentage of developing follicles was observed when compared with the non‐cultured tissue. Analysis of the type I collagen showed increased immunostaining after the in vitro culture in the vitrified fragments. In conclusion, the OTC is better for preserving the follicular viability and morphology and maintaining the integrity of the extracellular matrix components of the ovine ovary.     

FLUOROSCOPIC STUDY OF THE NORMAL GASTROINTESTINAL MOTILITY AND MEASUREMENTS IN THE HISPANIOLAN AMAZON PARROT (AMAZONA VENTRALIS)

Contrast fluoroscopy is a valuable tool to examine avian gastrointestinal motility. However, the lack of a standardized examination protocol and reference ranges prevents the objective interpretation of motility disorders and other gastrointestinal abnormalities. Our goals were to evaluate gastrointestinal motility in 20 Hispaniolan Amazon parrots (Amazona ventralis) by contrast fluoroscopy. Each parrot was crop‐fed an equal part mixture of barium sulfate and hand‐feeding formula and placed in a cardboard box for fluoroscopy. Over a 3‐h period, 1.5 minute segments of lateral and ventrodorsal fluoroscopy were recorded every 30 min. The gastric cycle and patterns of intestinal motility were described. The frequency of crop contractions, esophageal boluses, and gastric cycles were determined in lateral and ventrodorsal views. A range of 3.4–6.6 gastric cycles/min was noted on the lateral view and 3.0–6.6 gastric cycles/min on the ventrodorsal view. Circular measurements of the proventriculus diameter, ventriculus width, and length were obtained using the midshaft femoral diameter as a standard reference unit. The upper limits of the reference ranges were 3.6 and 4.7 femoral units for the proventriculus diameter in the lateral and ventrodorsal view, respectively. Two consecutive measurements were obtained and the measurement technique was found to have high reproducibility. In this study, we established a standardized protocol for contrast fluoroscopic examination of the gastrointestinal tract and a reliable measurement method of the proventriculus and ventriculus using femoral units in the Hispaniolan Amazon parrot.     

Cryptococcosis in seven horses

The clinical, radiographic and post-mortem findings in 6 horses with cryptococcal pneumonia and one horse with an abdominal cryptococcal granuloma are described. In pulmonary cryptococcosis, the lesions were either diffuse and multiple, with bilateral lung involvement, or localised mainly to the dorsocaudal region of one lung. The cases of diffuse multiple cryptococcosis were thought to be associated with haematogenous spread of the fungus after gastrointestinal infection and dissemination from regional lymph nodes. The localised form of the disease was thought to have been associated with inhalation of cryptococci. In all cases of pulmonary cryptococcosis, encapsulated yeast-like organisms were demonstrated in Wright's-stained sediment of tracheal washes. In the horse with the abdominal granuloma, cryptococci were present in a fine needle aspirate sample. Isolates of Cryptococcus neoformans var gattii were recovered from 2 of the 5 horses in which cultures were attempted. In addition to a history of previous illness that may have predisposed to infection, most horses in this report had been in areas in which Eucalyptus camaldulensis, or the closely related E rudis, were growing. In humans, an epidemiological relationship between E camaldulensis and infection with C neoformans var gattii has been suggested. Cases of equine cryptococcosis carry a poor prognosis and treatment was not attempted in any of these cases.