Surgical removal of an intramedullary spinal cord foreign body granuloma in a dog

A 2-year-old, spayed female, mixed-breed dog was presented for evaluation of a progressive asymmetric tetraparesis and cranial nerve deficits with a 3-week duration. Computed tomography showed a contrast-enhancing lesion along the left side of the junction of the medulla and the cervical spinal cord. An exploratory surgery determined the presence of an intramedullary lesion of the first cervical spinal cord segment. The mass was removed through a dorsal midline myelotomy. Microscopic examination identified a foreign body granuloma that contained a dense, anisotropic outer wall, supporting the conclusion that the foreign body was of plant origin. The dog recovered to a more improved ambulatory status than prior to surgery.     

Multiple-center study of reduced-concentration triamcinolone topical solution for the treatment of dogs with known or suspected allergic pruritus

OBJECTIVE: To determine the efficacy of triamcinolone acetonide topical solution (TTS) in dogs for use in reduction of clinical signs of pruritic inflammatory skin diseases of a known or suspected allergic basis and to evaluate adverse effects associated with TTS administration. ANIMALS: 103 pruritic adult dogs with known or suspected allergic skin disease. PROCEDURE: Dogs were treated for 4 weeks with TTS or with vehicle solution (control dogs) in a multiple-center study. Clinical signs were scored by owners and by examining veterinarians before and after treatment. Blood samples obtained before and after treatment were subjected to routine hematologic and serum biochemical analyses. RESULTS: Treatment success, as defined by an improvement of at least 2 of 6 grades in overall clinical score, was evident in 35 of 52 (67%) TTS-treated dogs (mean improvement, 1.98) and 12 of 51 (24%) control dogs (mean improvement, 0.29). For several criteria, TTS was significantly more effective than vehicle in reducing clinical signs. Minor alterations in hematologic determinations in TTS-treated dogs were limited to slightly lower total leukocyte, lymphocyte, and eosinophil counts after treatment. Minor adverse effects were reported by owners in 6 of 52 (12%) TTS-treated and 9 of 51 (18%) control dogs. CONCLUSIONS AND CLINICAL RELEVANCE: Triamcinolone used as a spray solution at a concentration approximately one-sixth the concentration of triamcinolone topical preparations currently available for veterinary use is effective for short-term alleviation of allergic pruritus in dogs. Adverse effects are few and mild and, thus, do not preclude prolonged treatment with the solution.     

Diet and lifestyle variables as risk factors for chronic renal failure in pet cats

A case-control study examining diet and lifestyle variables to generate hypotheses of potential risk factors for chronic renal failure in pet cats was conducted in five private practices in Texas, USA and at the Texas A&M University Veterinary Medical Teaching Hospital. A telephone questionnaire was used to gather information from owners of 38 cats newly diagnosed with CRF between December 1994 and 1995 and from owners of 56 control cats. Factor analysis was used to determine whether composite variables should be constructed to summarize the nutritional predictors adequately. The composite variables and other lifestyle variables were analyzed with logistic-regression. Three final exploratory models were developed: ad libitum feeding with fiber; ad libitum with Factor-2 (a composite variable composed of fiber, magnesium, protein, sodium and ash); and fiber alone. Ad libitum feeding and increased ash intake were associated with increased odds of CRF; increased dietary fiber, magnesium, protein and sodium were associated with decreased odds of CRF.     

Effects of Infection by Mycosphaerella graminicola on Translocation of Fluquinconazole in Wheat Seedlings

ABSTRACT Translocation of (14)C-labeled fluquinconazole was measured using combustion analysis and radio thin-layer-chromatographic analysis in seedling wheat leaves uninfected and infected with Mycosphaerella graminicola. Two isolates were used with differing sensitivity to demethylation inhibitor fungicides. Fluquinconazole was translocated acropetally, but not basipetally. Fluquinconazole accumulated around infection sites within 6 days after treatment. Accumulation occurred before M. graminicola hyphae had colonized the host mesophyll further than one host cell around the invasion site. This suggested that the accumulation was caused by a host response to infection. Infrared gas analysis showed that rates of transpiration and stomatal conductance in inoculated leaves were significantly increased very soon after inoculation but net photosynthesis was decreased. The actual mechanism of fungicide accumulation was not determined.     

Effect of indole-acetic acid (IAA) on the development of symptoms caused by <Emphasis Type="Italic">Pythium ultimum</Emphasis> on tomato plants

The effect of indole-acetic acid (IAA) on the development of symptoms caused by Pythium ultimum on tomato plants was investigated using different bioassays. Application of IAA (5 μg ml⁻¹) on tomato seedlings inoculated with P. ultimum did not affect their emergence suggesting that IAA did not affect the severity of Pythium damping-off. However, IAA was shown to influence the development of P. ultimum symptoms on tomato plantlets. Low concentrations of IAA (0–0.1 μg ml⁻¹) within the rhizosphere of plantlets increased the severity of the symptoms caused by P. ultimum, while higher concentrations (10 μg ml⁻¹), applied either by drenching to the growing medium or by spraying on the shoot, reduced the symptoms caused by this pathogen. In addition, the study demonstrated that P. ultimum produces IAA in liquid culture amended with L-tryptophan, tryptamine or tryptophol (200 μg ml⁻¹) and in unamended culture.     

FACIAL FIBROSARCOMA IN TWO COWS

Fibrosarcoma is a common tumor affecting bone, but is uncommon in cows, Reported here are two bovine cases of facial fibrosarcoma that were very invasive.     

Effects of additives on in vitro ruminal fermentation: a comparison of monensin and bacitracin, another gram-positive antibiotic

Mixed ruminal bacteria (n = 4) were incubated in anaerobic media for 24 h in vitro with either hay, corn meal, protein hydrolyzate or hydrogen gas as the substrate. The ionophore monensin and the polypeptide antibiotic bacitracin were added to the incubation flasks at concentrations ranging from 0 to 10 or 40 mg/liter. As was expected, monensin decreased methane production, increased the ratio of propionate to acetate and decreased the deamination of amino acids. Monensin had little effect on methane production, however, if hydrogen gas was the fermentation substrate. Bacitracin, another gram-positive antibiotic with a distinctly different cellular target, was somewhat less potent than monensin, but it produced strikingly similar responses. This similarity of fermentation patterns suggested that monensin action in the rumen is probably due to its activity as a gram-positive antibiotic, and that any gram-positive antibiotic not suppressed by resistance may produce fermentation effects similar to those of monensin. The cellular action of monensin as an ionophore in membranes is probably little more than a means of inhibiting sensitive species. Many gram-positive antibiotics have little affect on ciliate protozoa or coccidia.