Risk factors and clinical presentation of cats with feline idiopathic cystitis

Feline idiopathic cystitis (FIC) is the most common cause of feline lower urinary tract disease (FLUTD). This retrospective, case-controlled study evaluated possible risk factors associated with FIC and compared different clinical presentations in 64 cats with FIC. Several risk factors known to be involved in FLUTD were identified as playing a role in FIC. Of the stressful situations considered, most did not occur with increased frequency in cats with FIC compared to controls, except for a house move. The presence of pyuria, haematuria and an increased urine protein:creatinine ratio were significantly higher in obstructed males compared with non-obstructed males. An obstruction was significantly more likely in cats with struvite crystalluria compared with cats without struvite crystalluria. These findings suggest that urethral plugs might be an important cause or contributing factor of obstruction in FIC. Episodes of FIC seem to occur mainly in susceptible cats in combination with a deficient environment.     

Changes in the Avifauna of a region, district and remnant as a result of fragmentation of native vegetation: the wheatbelt of western Australia. A case study

The wheatbelt of Western Australia is an area of about 140 000 km² which has undergone massive changes since European settlement in 1827. Clearing of native vegetation for agricultural development has removed up to 93% of the original vegetation in some areas and replaced it with exotic grasses, cereal crops and frequent watering points. The remaining vegetation is made up of thousands of remnants of various sizes, shapes and degreees of isolation scattered across the landscape.

The avifauna of the wheatbelt is examined at the regional level, the district level and at the level of the individual remnant and changes over the last 80 years or so are described. Two species of bird have gone extinct in the wheatbelt out of 148 species of land birds recorded in the region over the last 80–90 years. At the district level, more species have become extinct, the numbers depending on the extent of the removal of native vegetation and length of time since clearing took place. There is demonstrable loss of bird species at the level of the individual remnant; in the example cited (81 ha) three species have gone extinct over the last 10 years.

This rapid loss of species from district avifaunas means that remnant vegetation needs to be retained intact and conservation agencies should develop assessment techniques to identify reserve networks which include the species that have declined so that management can concentrate on them. Priorities for management should then be developed and local communities involved in the management of their local conservation systems or networks.     

Changes in a remnant of salmon gum Eucalyptus salmonophloia and York gum E. loxophleba woodland, 1978 to 1997. Implications for woodland conservation in the wheat-sheep regions of Australia

The condition of salmon gums Eucalyptus salmonophloia with large hollows in them in a 15-ha patch of remnant salmon gum-York gum E. loxophleba woodland in the northern wheatbelt of Western Australia was examined in 1978. The patch was an important breeding area for six species of cockatoo, including two endangered species. The patch was revisited in 1981 when the condition of all 682 salmon gums and York gums in the patch was examined and each was measured and photographed. A further visit was made in 1997 when the condition of the surviving trees was examined and each was again measured and photographed. The condition of the trees at each visit was classified as “good”, “staghorn”, “broken top”, “dead” or “fallen.” Over the period of the study there was a serious decline in the condition of the trees, with few large trees in the “good” category by 1997. The decline was particularly marked between 1978 and 1981 after a period of well-below average annual rainfall. Using data based on the rate of decline over the period 1978-1997, predictions were made of the fate of the trees in the patch. By 2125 only 46 (11% of the 1981 total) salmon gums were predicted to be alive with only one in the “good” category. Only 16 (17%) York gums were predicted to be alive by 2125, with only one in the “good” category. There was no evidence of any regeneration of woodland trees since 1929 when the patch was isolated by clearing for agriculture, and domestic livestock allowed to graze the patch. This deterioration of the dominant trees in the patch is symptomatic of remnant native vegetation over vast areas of Australia's extensively cleared wheat-sheep regions. The future of woodland patches like the one studied is bleak, as is the future of animals dependent on them for food, breeding sites and shelter. Active management, including fencing to exclude domestic livestock and measures to encourage regeneration of native plant communities, is necessary to counter the present regime of benign neglect that characterises most of Australia's management of native vegetation in agricultural landscapes.     

VERTEBRAL OSTEOSCLEROSIS IN A CAT SECONDARY TO RHABDOMYOSARCOMA

A 5–year–old cat was presented for pelvic limb weakness. Sclerosis of the vertebral body of T–10 was visible on thoracic radiographs. A compressive lesion at this area was noted on myelography. A tumor was partially removed at surgery, but the cat was killed because of poor postoperative response. Rhabdomyosarcoma was diagnosed at necropsy, with bone marrow necrosis and myelofibrosis, and new bone proliferation of the body of T–10. Causes of bone necrosis are discussed.     

Pulmonary clearance of Haemophilus pleuropneumoniae and Serratia marcescens in mice

Bacterial counts (per lung) were made from Swiss White and/or C3H mice, inoculated intranasally with either Haemophilus pleuropneumoniae or Serratia marcescens and killed at specific times. The percentages of bacterial survival and clearance at each time were determined. Serratia marcescens was cleared progressively, but not completely, from the lungs of C3H and Swiss White mice. The overall pulmonary clearance of S marcescens by Swiss White mice was significantly greater than that of C3H mice (P less than 0.01). The pulmonary clearance pattern of H pleuropneumoniae in C3H mice differed according to the dose inoculated. With a larger H pleuropneumoniae median lethal dose (0.1 LD50), the organism multiplied consistently up to 25 times by 12 hours after the inoculations were done, when clinical signs and lesions appeared in a few of the mice. The clearance rates at 24 and 48 hours after inoculations were 60.65% and 10.3%, respectively. Mice given 0.04 LD50 H pleuropneumoniae showed a 10-fold increase of H pleuropneumoniae in the first 4 hours, with clearances reaching 33%, 66%, and 99% at 8, 12, and 24 hours, respectively.