Inflammatory middle ear disease of the dog: the clinical and pathological features of cholesteatoma, a complication of otitis media

During a study of inflammatory middle ear disease in the dog cholesteatoma was found to accompany otitis media in seven of the 62 ears examined (11 per cent). The clinical, radiological and pathological findings in these animals imply that cholesteatoma in the dog is an aggressive lesion which must be differentiated from uncomplicated otitis media.     

The isolation of salmonella from kangaroos and feral pigs processed for human consumption

A total of 154 feral pig carcases and 81 kangaroo carcases were examined for the presence of Salmonella, coliforms and total aerobic counts. Approximately 34% of pig carcases yielded one or more serotypes of Salmonella, while about 11% of kangaroo carcases were contaminated with salmonella. The results differed widely between sampling occasions. A total of 13 serotypes were isolated from feral pigs with S. anatum (31 isolates) and S. typhimurium (9 isolates) being the predominant serotypes. Coliforms were isolated from approximately 90% of carcases. The mean log10 coliform count on feral pigs was 4.39 +/- 1.45/g and the mean log10 total count was 6.15 +/- 1.15/g. About 21% of carcases were contaminated with more than 100,000 coliforms/g. A total 3 serotypes were isolated from kangaroos (S. bahrenfeld, S. binza, and S. onderstepoort). The mean log10 coliform count on kangaroos was 3.54 +/- 1.04. More than 50% of kangaroo carcases were contaminated with less than 100 coliforms/g. About 15% of carcases were contaminated with more than 10,000 coliforms/g. The mean log10 total count was 5.2 +/- 1.01/g.     

Pelvic fractures in horses: 19 cases (1974-1984)

The clinical features of 19 horses with pelvic fractures were reviewed. The most common problem was a grade III or IV unilateral hind limb lameness. The prevalence of fractures was greater in females and horses less than 4 years old. All horses were treated with a combination of analgesic administration and stall rest for 2 to 6 months. Seven of 11 horses (64%) available for long-term follow-up evaluation recovered and 4 of 11 (36%) had no lameness when being ridden. Five of seven (71%) horses with fractures that involved the acetabulum recovered, and 4 (57%) had complete resolution of lameness. No correlation was found between the long-term outcome of the horses and the bone fractured, age of horse, or duration of injury before admission.     

Reproductive anatomy and physiology of the stallion.

Examination of the stallion's reproductive tract involves assessments of external and internal anatomy. External examinations are performed by visual inspection, palpation, or ultrasonography and include the scrotum, testes, epididymides, penis, and prepuce. Internal examinations may be performed by rectal palpation, transrectal ultrasonography, or endoscopy and include the accessory sex glands, pelvic urethra, and inguinal rings. A fertile stallion must produce, transport, store, and deliver viable spermatozoa to the mare. The physiologic processes involved include neuroendocrine control, spermatogenesis, sperm maturation, semen delivery, and fertilization.     

An evaluation of tympanometry, otoscopy and palpation for assessment of the canine tympanic membrane

Three techniques for the assessment of the integrity of the canine tympanic membrane were evaluated experimentally. Tympanometry, an objective technique, was shown to be very accurate for the evaluation of the integrity of the ear drum. Otoscopic examination by experienced personnel was shown to be moderately accurate under controlled conditions when the external ear canal was not inflammed. However, under field conditions when otitis externa was present, visual inspection of the tympanic membrane was seldom possible even after lavage of the ear. Palpation of the tympanic membrane with a blunt probe was shown to be very inaccurate and led to rupture of the tympanic membrane in a high proportion of cases. These results imply that two widely used techniques for the examination of the canine tympanic membrane are unsatisfactory. Furthermore, they suggest that previous reports of the prevalence of ear drum perforations in dogs may need reappraisal. Tympanometry is a non-invasive, objective and practical technique for the assessment of ear drum integrity which is worthy of further evaluation.     

Use of a hospital database for the evaluation of clinical biochemistry results

A database of the clinical chemistry results from unwell animals referred to Glasgow University Veterinary School, by general practitioners, was studied. This database contains over 60,000 records, from more than 25,000 animals, obtained over a period of 18 years. A four-year period was selected during which the instruments and methods used for these analyses were unchanged. The biochemical analyses made on plasma from those dogs when first presented to the veterinary school were scrutinised in detail. These data have been summarised in a tabular form using the first, fifth, 10th, 25th, 50th, 75th, 90th, 95th and 99th percentiles. The distributions of these values differ for different analytes and in particular do not conform to a normal curve. These data can be used to provide estimates of rarity to indicate the frequency with which extreme values associated with disease can be expected. Thus an individual datum can be flagged as high*, high**, high***, or high**** depending on whether it lies in the top 25 per cent, top 10 per cent, top 5 per cent or top 1 per cent, respectively, of cases in the hospital database. Low values can be flagged in the same way. This approach can complement the use of reference ranges from healthy animals to aid the interpretation of clinical biochemistry results from a new patient.     

Phosphorus content of bovine rib: influence of earlier biopsy of the same rib

Serial sampling of bovine rib is undertaken experimentally to monitor changes in the degree of skeletal mineralisation. The validity of this approach depends on the assumption that the previous sampling of a bone does not influence the composition of a sample obtained subsequently. To test this, the effect of a prior biopsy sampling on phosphorus content of the remaining bone was determined at various times after the initial sampling. A preliminary biopsy sample was taken with a 1.5 cm diameter trephine from the left 12th rib of 40 cattle; experimental samples were taken from the same rib of 10 of the cattle at three, six, nine and 12 months later, for comparison with similar samples taken concurrently from the right 12th rib. The phosphorus content of the second left rib was significantly lower than that of the right (control) rib at the three-month interval, particularly where the sampling site was ventral, rather than dorsal, to the site from which the initial biopsy was obtained. No effects of previous biopsy sampling were observed after six, nine or 12 months.