The use of chance-corrected agreement to diagnose canine compulsive disorder: an approach to behavioral diagnosis in the absence of a 'gold standard'.

This study assessed the diagnostic accuracy of formal diagnostic criteria for canine compulsive disorder (canine CD). Canine CD is a syndrome of abnormal behaviors that are believed to result from conflict or frustration. Differential diagnoses include normal conflict behavior and learned behavior. In studies of canine CD, confidence in the diagnosis comes with knowing the accuracy of the diagnostic method. This accuracy may be quantified as the chance-corrected agreement between the diagnostic method and a 'gold standard' diagnostic test. The present study examined the agreement between diagnoses of canine CD made by an expert (the 'gold standard') and by using formal diagnostic criteria. The owners of 84 dogs suspected of having CD received 2 telephone interviews. The first utilized a detailed, pre-tested questionnaire; a dog was then diagnosed with CD if the behavioral history met 7 diagnostic criteria. The second interview was given by a behavioral expert whose diagnosis was based on personal experience. The interviewers were blind to each other's diagnoses. The chance-corrected agreement between diagnoses was minimal (kappa = 0.02) and disagreement was associated with 3 of the formal criteria: a history of conflict or frustration, an increase in the number of contexts that elicit the behavior, and an increase in the daily frequency of the behavior. Reasons for the disagreement include the order of the interviews, response biases, the setting of the interviews, and, possibly, the diversity of the behaviors associated with canine CD. To the authors' knowledge, this type of study is the first in clinical ethology to address validation of the diagnostic method. The results indicate 3 developmental aspects of canine CD that should be examined in future work.     

Eosinophilic leukaemoid reaction in a dog

A haematological disorder in a dog characterised by a massive leucocytosis, mainly composed of eosinophils and their precursors is reported here. The normal composition of cells in the bone marrow was displaced in favour of the eosinophils and their precursors. No apparent cause for the pronounced eosinophilia could be determined by clinical, haematological, clinical-chemical, radiological or pathological examinations. A diagnosis of eosinophilic leukaemoid reaction was suggested as the criteria for the diagnosis of eosinophilic leukaemia in the dog but this was not firmly established.     

Comparing oral and intramuscular administration of medetomidine in cats

Medetomidine (200 μg/kg) was administered orally and, on a seperate occasion, im to 7 cats. Peak serum drug concentrations were reached more slowly after oral (43.6 ± 14.3 min) than after im administration (21.6 ± 10.0 min). The onset of sedation and recumbency lagged after oral administration. There were no statistically significant differences between the 2 routes of administration in peak serum concentrations, systemic drug availability or extent of sedation. However, there was considerable variation in these parameters between individuals after oral administration. The extent of salivation correlated negatively with systemic drug availability after oral administration. Where excessive salivation did not occur, systemic drug availability and the depth of sedation were comparable to, or even higher than, were obtained after the corresponding im administrations. In conclusion, oral administration of medetomidine induced a clinical sedation but, when accurate dosing is a necessity, the oral route may not be very reliable due to possible drug losses through salivation.