Progressive renal disease in Soft-coated Wheaten Terriers: possible familial nephropathy

Clinical and pathological features are described in seven young Soft-coated Wheaten Terriers with chronic renal disease. The oldest dog was 21/2 years; in the other six, ages at death ranged from one to 15 months. Two of the puppies were littermates: one died at 4 weeks, the other at 12 months. Two of the dogs were examined at intervals up to 14 months, during which time there was progressive deterioration in renal function. All seven dogs had abnormal kidneys with cortical narrowing. The histological features were not consistent and included: tubular dilatation and basement membrane thickening; an unusually large proportion of immature glomeruli; persistence of interstitial connective tissue resembling foetal mesenchyme. Inflammatory change was minimal except in two dogs with super-imposed pyelonephritis. The clinical and laboratory data suggest that these dogs had dysplasia of the kidneys that progressed to chronic renal disease during early life. In three dogs there was a familial relationship.     

Testicular neoplasia in an intersex dog

A 9-year-old male, pseudohermaphrodite Labrador had intermittent urinary incontinence and haematuria. Laparotomy revealed two neoplastic intra-abdominal testes and a uterus which communicated with the urethra. Seminoma and Sertoli cell tumours were found in the testes.     

Congenital microphthalmia and other developmental ocular anomalies in the Dobermann

Congenital total blindness in three related litters of Dobermann puppies is reported. The relationship of the parents indicates an autosomal recessive mode of inheritance. The blindness resulted from a range of ocular lesions that included bilateral microphthalmia, aphakia, retinal dysplasia and detachment.     

Exogenous paraoxonase‐1 during oocyte maturation improves bovine embryo development in vitro

Paraoxonase‐1 (PON1) is an enzyme found in serum and follicular fluid that protects cell membrane and circulating lipids against oxidative damage. The aims of this study were to measure the direct effects of recombinant PON1 (rPON1) on bovine oocyte maturation at the molecular level (gene expression) and to measure the carry‐over effects of PON1 on pre‐implantation embryo development in vitro. COCs were submitted to IVM with the addition of 0.0, 0.02, 0.04 and 0.08 mg ml^?1 of rPON1, corresponding to an average PON1 arylesterase enzyme activity of 2.2 ± 0.4, 15.5 ± 1.5, 30.2 ± 3.0 and 57.9 ± 5.0 U ml^?1, respectively. The results indicated that addition of rPON1 during IVM improved embryo development in a dose‐dependent manner as D7 embryo development was 22.2%, 29.4%, 32.2% and 37.0% for the treatment groups, respectively (p = 0.02). In conclusion, addition of PON1 enzyme during IVM exerted dose‐related positive effects on embryo development rates to blastocysts.     

Density and carrying capacity in the forgotten tigerland: Tigers in the understudied Nepalese Churia

While there are numerous wildlife ecology studies in lowland areas of Nepal, there are no in‐depth studies of the hilly Churia habitat even though it comprises 7642 km² of potential wildlife habitat across the Terai Arc. We investigated tiger, leopard and prey densities across this understudied habitat. Our camera trapping survey covered 536 km² of Churia and surrounding areas within Chitwan National Park (CNP). We used 161 trapping locations and accumulated 2097 trap‐nights in a 60‐day survey period during the winter season of 2010–2011. In addition, we walked 136 km over 81 different line transects using distance sampling to estimate prey density. We photographed 31 individual tigers, 28 individual leopards and 25 other mammalian species. Spatial capture–recapture methods resulted in lower density estimates for tigers, ranging from 2.3 to 2.9 tigers per 100 km², than for leopards, which ranged from 3.3 to 5.1 leopards per 100 km². In addition, leopard densities were higher in the core of the Churia compared to surrounding areas. We estimated 62.7 prey animals per 100 km² with forest ungulate prey (sambar, chital, barking deer and wild pig), accounting for 47% of the total. Based on prey availability, Churia habitat within CNP could potentially support 5.86 tigers per 100 km² but our density estimates were lower, perhaps indicating that the tiger population is below carrying capacity. Our results demonstrate that Churia habitat should not be ignored in conservation initiatives, but rather management efforts should focus on reducing human disturbance to support higher predator numbers.     

Effect of Early Postpartum Ovulation on Fertility in Dairy Cows

Our objectives were to determine the effects of early ovulation on fertility and uterine health of dairy cows. Four hundred and forty‐five Holstein cows (185 primiparous and 260 multiparous) from five herds were used. Blood samples were collected at 21, 35 and 49 days in milk (DIM) and cows were considered to be cyclic at 21 DIM (Cyc21) if serum progesterone (P4) concentration was above 1 ng/ml, cyclic by 49 DIM (Cyc49) if P4 concentration was above 1 ng/ml at 35 or 49 DIM, or not cyclic (NotCyc) if P4 concentration was below 1 ng/ml at all sample times. Endometrial cytology for diagnosis of subclinical endometritis was examined at 49 DIM in a subset of 414 cows. Cows in the group Cyc21 had increased hazard of insemination, for the first service, compared with cows in Cyc49 [hazard ratio (HR) = 1.40; 95% CI = 1.10–1.79; p = 0.006] and NotCyc (HR = 2.07; 95% CI = 1.52–2.82; p < 0.001). Cows in the Cyc49 group also had increased hazard of insemination compared with cows in the NotCyc group (HR = 1.47; 95% CI = 1.13–1.93; p = 0.005). Median days to insemination were, respectively, 71, 76 and 96 for cows in Cyc21, Cyc49 and NotCyc groups. Cows in Cyc21 had greater first service pregnancy per AI than Cyc49 [38.6 vs 28.1%; adjusted odds ratio (AOR) = 1.67; 95% CI = 1.01–2.75; p = 0.04] and NotCyc (38.6 vs 23.6%; AOR = 2.08; 95% CI = 1.08–4.00; p = 0.03). Pregnancy per AI was similar in Cyc49 and NotCyc cows (28.1 vs 23.6%; AOR = 1.25; 95% CI = 0.70–2.24; p = 0.45). Cows in Cyc21 had increased hazard of pregnancy up to 300 DIM compared with Cyc49 (HR = 1.52; 95% CI = 1.17–1.96; p = 0.002) and NotCyc (HR = 1.98; 95% CI = 1.41–2.78; p < 0.001). Cows in Cyc49 tended to have increased hazard of pregnancy compared with NotCyc (HR = 1.31; 95% CI = 0.96–1.77; p = 0.09). Median days to pregnancy were, respectively, 103, 147 and 173 for cows in Cyc21, Cyc49 and NotCyc groups. Cows in the Cyc21 group had decreased prevalence of subclinical endometritis compared with cows in the NotCyc group (29.9 vs 43.7%; AOR = 0.53; 95% CI = 0.29–0.97; p = 0.04); however, the prevalence did not differ from the Cyc49 group (29.9 vs 39.1%; AOR = 0.68; 95% CI = 0.41–1.14; p = 0.15). Cyc49 cows had similar prevalence of subclinical endometritis compared with NotCyc cows (AOR = 0.77; 95% CI = 0.46–1.29; p = 0.32). Early postpartum ovulation was associated with improved uterine health and fertility.