Retrospective evaluation of the use of small-bore wire-guided catheters for the management of peritoneal effusion in cats and dogs

Objective

To describe the use of small-bore wire-guided catheters in the management of peritoneal effusion in cats and dogs and to detail any associated adverse events.

Design

Retrospective study.

Setting

University teaching hospital

Animals

Forty-five client-owned animals that had peritoneal catheters placed for management of peritoneal effusion between July 2010 and June 2021.

Interventions

None.

Measurements and Main Results

Forty-five cases were included (25 dogs and 20 cats). Twenty-eight animals had the catheter placed to aid management of a uroabdomen, 8 of which recovered without surgical management, 11 had the catheter placed to allow autotransfusion of hemoabdomen, 3 had peritonitis, and 3 had ascites secondary to cardiac disease. Twenty-seven cases (15 dogs and 12 cats) received sedation (n = 24) or local anesthesia alone (n = 3) to facilitate catheter placement, and 6 cases had the catheter placed while under general anesthesia. Median length of catheter persistence was 24 hours (range: 2–144 h). The most common adverse events reported were impaired drainage (n = 7) and leakage at the insertion site (n = 4).

Conclusions

Peritoneal catheters can be inserted percutaneously for management of peritoneal effusion. Indications include stabilization and conservative management of uroabdomen, and autotransfusion. They can often be placed with minimal or no sedation and adverse events appear infrequent in occurrence.     

Current knowledge about the processes of luteolysis and maternal recognition of pregnancy in camelids

Camelids have many unique reproductive features that considerably differ from those of other domestic species. Females are induced ovulators with subsequent development of a corpus luteum (CL) with a short lifespan. Plasma progesterone concentration starts to increase on day 4, peaks on day 8–9 and, in non-pregnant animals, basal concentration is reached around day 10–11 post-induction of ovulation. Luteolytic pulses of prostaglandin F_2α (PGF_2α) are firstly detected on day 7 or 8 (approximately on day 5–6 after ovulation), with maximal luteolytic peaks observed between days 9 and 11 post-mating, in coincidence with a high endometrial expression of cyclooxygenase 2, a limiting enzyme in prostaglandins synthesis. Unlike other species, oxytocin seems not to be involved in the luteolytic process in these species. The CL is the main source of progesterone secretion, and its function is required to support pregnancy. Despite constant research efforts, aspects of reproduction and maternal recognition of pregnancy in camelids remain not fully understood. A transient decrease and subsequent recovery in plasma progesterone concentration are observed after day 9 post-mating in pregnant animals in association with a pulsatile release of PGF_2α and a transitory decrease in CL vascularization. Thus, embryo recognition should occur between days 8 and 12 post-mating. In camels, conceptus tissues exhibit aromatizing activity with the capacity to synthesize large amounts of oestradiol. Similarly, llama blastocysts secrete oestradiol-17β during the preimplantation stage, with a higher production during the elongation period. An increase in the endometrial expression of oestrogen receptor α is also observed on day 12 post-mating. All these evidences suggest that oestrogen could be the signal released by the embryo at the time of its recognition in camelids. Besides, nearly 98% of pregnancies are carried out in the left horn. A decrease in the endometrial expression of mucin 1 and 16 genes has been reported, suggesting that these changes are crucial for successful embryo implantation; however, no differences have been observed between horns. Thus, maternal recognition of pregnancy in camelids is a particularly complex process that must occur in a concise time to allow the rescue of the CL and embryo survival.     

Hexavalent Chromium Removal by Candida sp. in a Concentric Draft-Tube Airlift Bioreactor

The main purpose of this work was to conduct a kinetic study on cell growth and hexavalent chromium [Cr(VI)] removal by Candida sp. FGSFEP in a concentric draft-tube airlift bioreactor. The yeast was batch-cultivated in a 5.2-l airlift bioreactor containing culture medium with an initial Cr(VI) concentration of 1.5 mM. The maximum specific growth rate of Candida sp. FGSFEP in the airlift bioreactor was 0.0244 h^?1, which was 71.83% higher than that obtained in flasks. The yeast strain was capable of reducing 1.5 mM Cr(VI) completely and exhibited a high volumetric rate [1.64 mg Cr(VI) l^?1 h^?1], specific rate [0.95 mg Cr(VI) g^?1 biomass h^?1] and capacity [44.38 mg Cr(VI) g^?1 biomass] of Cr(VI) reduction in the airlift bioreactor, with values higher than those obtained in flasks. Therefore, culture of Candida sp. FGSFEP in a concentric draft-tube airlift bioreactor could be a promising technological alternative for the aerobic treatment of Cr(VI)-contaminated industrial effluents.     

Simultaneous determination of clofentezine,fenoxycarb and hexythiazox by HPLC on apples,pears and their pulps

The simultaneous HPLC determination of clofentezine, fenoxycarb and hexythiazox in apples, pears and their pulps is described. The method is based on a clean-up procedure carried out on a Seppak C18 cartridge followed by HPLC analysis on an RP-18 column using acetonitrile + water as mobile phase. Average recoveries were 85.0% for clofentezine, 84.8% for fenoxycarb and 75.6% for hexythiazox on apple matrix; recoveries from pear matrix were in the same range. UV detection limits at 240 nm were 0.07 mg kg^?1 for clofentezine, 0.064 mg kg^?1 for fenoxycarb and 0.08 mg kg^?1 for hexythiazox.     

Influence of pesticides on the activity and kinetics of invertase,urease and acid phosphatase enzymes

The effects of four pesticides (three herbicides, atrazine, paraquat, glyphosate, and an insecticide, carbaryl) on the activity and kinetics of an invertase (from yeast), a urease (from jack bean) and an acid phosphatase (from potato) were investigated. Glyphosate and paraquat showed a marked activation effect on invertase activity. From the dependence of V_max and K_m parameters on pesticide concentrations, a mixed-type activation mechanism was suggested. The kinetic behaviour of urease and acid phosphatase appeared to be uninfluenced by both pesticides. Methanol, used as solvent for both carbaryl and atrazine, inhibited invertase, urease and acid phosphatase with, respectively, competitive, non-competitive and uncompetitive mechanisms. The extent of the inhibition was different, as estimated by the values of the inhibition constant K₁. An additional inhibition effect of urease and invertase activities was achieved in the presence of carbaryl, whereas no influence was detected on the activity and kinetics of acid phosphatase. Finally, atrazine was shown to alter the kinetics of the enzymes only at higher concentrations.     

Component population study of Acanthocephalus tumescens (Acanthocephala) in fishes from Lake Moreno,Argentina

Seasonal samples of all fish species from Lake Moreno were taken in order to determine the presence of paratenia, to evaluate the status of the hosts and to characterise the transmission of Acanthocephalus tumescens (von Linstow, 1896) at the component population level. Prevalence, mean abundance, mean intensity, numbers of gravid females, relative abundance of the different fish species, relative output of eggs and relative flow rates for each host species were computed. Acanthocephalus tumescens showed low host specificity, successfully parasitizing six out of eight fish species present in the lake. No paratenic infection was registered. If prevalence, mean abundance, and number of gravid females are considered, host species can be placed in a continuum from the most to least suitable as follows: Galaxias platei Steindachner, Diplomystes viedmensis (Mac Donagh), Oncorhynchus mykiss (Walbaum), Salvelinus fontinalis (Mitchill), Percichthys trucha (Cuvier et Valenciennes) and Galaxias maculatus (Jenyns). However, when parasite flow rates and egg output were calculated, including relative abundance of each fish species, the continuum was rearranged as follows: P. trucha, O. mykiss, G. platei / G. maculatus, S. fontinalis and D. viedmensis. The first four species would be the main contributors to the population of A. tumescens in this lake, P. trucha being the major one. Different regulatory and non-regulatory mechanisms are suggested.     

Congenital arthrogryposis: an inherited limb deformity in pedigree Suffolk lambs

Thirty of 52 pedigree Suffolk lambs (58 per cent) were born with arthrogryposis characterised by bilateral flexion rigidity of the metacarpophalangeal and carpal joints. The recent introduction of a breeding ram was identified as the only significant risk factor in the flock, and embryo transfer was used to test the hypothesis that the arthrogryposis was an inherited disorder associated with the introduction of this ram. Two adult ewes that had previously produced lambs with arthrogryposis by the ram and four of its affected daughters were available as donors, and 20 crossbred ewes were used as recipients. Ten Suffolk-crossed ewes that had no known familial relationship with the ram were also mated by the ram as controls and they produced 10 normal lambs. Following embryo transfer, 19 lambs were born, of which seven were stillborn; arthrogryposis was evident in 10 of the 12 live lambs. Analysis of the data suggested that in the population under study, arthrogryposis was inherited as an autosomal recessive condition.     

The effects of plastic slatted floor or straw bedding on performance, liver weight and liver copper concentrations in intensively reared lambs

One hundred and eight Texel sired lambs were weaned at 37 days old and allocated three days later to one of two treatments, using two pens per treatment, in order to evaluate lamb hepatic copper (Cu) values. In Treatment 1 (T1) the lambs were confined to pens having recycled plastic slatted flooring, while in Treatment 2 (T2) the lambs were confined to pens having straw bedded floors, with fresh straw added on alternate days. The lambs had ad libitum access to a coarse lamb concentrate. The crude protein (g/kg DM), crude fibre (g/kg DM), total zinc (mg/kg) and background levels of copper (Cu) (mg/kg) and molybdenum (Mo) (mg/kg) of the diet were 17.2, 10.9, 152, 9.7 and 0.92, respectively. The lambs were slaughtered when they reached about 39 kg live weight. Following slaughter, the liver was removed and weighed and the caudal lobe frozen for subsequent Cu analysis. The livers of lambs on the plastic floor treatment had higher liver weights (843 vs. 804 g, S.E.M. 11.0; P < 0.05) and higher hepatic copper (396 vs. 315 mg/kg DM, S.E.M. 18.2; P < 0.05) than those from lambs that were bedded with straw. The Cu accumulation per kg of liver DM per week was estimated to be 8.4 and 13.7 mg for lambs on the straw bedding and plastic slated treatments, respectively. It is concluded that when lambs are housed on plastic slatted flooring, relative to straw bedding, there is a higher accumulation of hepatic copper levels likely to result in a greater risk of Cu toxicity when lambs are reared on all concentrate diets.