In this issue – September 2009

The authors of this report suggest that irradiated dry pet food should not be fed to cats. Details are reported of 87 cats in Australia that developed symmetrical hindlimb ataxia and paraparesis, with the worst affected developing tetraparesis, paraplegia or tetraplegia.1 Most were reported to have eaten Origen® dry cat food in the months before onset of signs. The amount eaten was not able to be correlated with the severity of the signs, although no other cats were seen with similar signs that had not eaten the food over the same time. The cat food was irradiated as part of the import regulations for foods that did not pass the usual regulations. Neurological examination suggested an upper motor neurone abnormality. Of the affected cats, 22 improved, 7 recovered completely, 21 were euthanased and another 3 died. No abnormalities were found in those that had diagnostic tests performed. Treatment included changing to another diet, nursing care and physiotherapy. No gross abnormalities were seen on necropsy and histopathological lesions were most consistent with acquired demyelination. A follow-up to this study is reported in the accompanying letter.2 The authors of this case report speculate that prednisone and cyclosporin A contributed to insulin resistance in a dog.3 The dog had immune-mediated haemolytic anaemia, which was treated with prednisone and cyclosporin A, and it subsequently developed transient hyperglycaemia and glucosuria that required insulin therapy. After short-term therapy with insulin and cyclosporin A, the dog remained on prednisone therapy, but required no further insulin therapy for 12 weeks, at which time it became permanently diabetic. The authors suggest that this dog was prediabetic with suboptimal endogenous insulin concentration. Treatment with prednisone and cyclosporin A contributed to the development of insulin resistance and the degree of insulin resistance decreased when cyclosporin A therapy was discontinued. Colonic resection and anastomosis including ligation of the caudal mesenteric artery can be performed without dehiscence of the anastomotic site, this report suggests.4 Surgery of the terminal colon is relatively uncommon in the dog. The caudal mesenteric artery provides most of the blood supply and because of the general, although untested, belief that ligation of the arteries will cause dehiscence, ligation is usually discouraged, even though this procedure is regularly performed in cats. This case study reports two dogs that were presented to the University Veterinary Centre, Sydney, for investigation of long-standing tenesmus and dyschezia. Both underwent an exploratory laparotomy and in each dog an annular adenocarcinoma was found at the colorectal junction. The affected portion of the large intestinal were removed by resection and anastomosis. Because of the close approximation of the caudal mesenteric artery, it was ligated and transected in both dogs. The authors report that both dogs recovered well from surgery, although they were euthanased 8 and 10 months, respectively, after surgery because of clinical signs relating to metastatic disease. The authors report the first recorded case of a canine vascular hepatic hamartoma that was treated surgically and had a successful long-term outcome. Hamartomas are rare malformations that consist of excessive overgrowth of mature normal cells and tissues in an organ. Most are vascular and the prognosis is poor. In this case, a 2-year-old male Labrador Retriever was presented for sudden abdominal distension.5 Ultrasonography revealed abdominal fluid and a hepatic mass, which was removed by total lobectomy. Histological examination demonstrated a vascular hepatic hamartoma with characteristic features that distinguished it from the other differential diagnoses of peliosis hepatitis and haemangioma. The authors suggest that because the lesion was limited to one lobe in this dog, uncomplicated total lobectomy was possible, whereas in previously reported cases multiple lobar involvement or adhesions had made surgery complicated and ultimately unsuccessful. Treating wounds involving the pastern and foot with a phalangeal cast has a good prognosis for soundness and cosmetic healing, a retrospective study suggests. In this study of 50 wounds in 49 horses, treatment consisted of wound debridement, lavage, wound closure (in 28 wounds), cast application and antibiotics (in 84% of cases).6 The authors report that applying the cast was easy with the horses either standing or under general anaesthetic and there were minimal complications. At follow-up, the majority of horses were sound, three horses were still lame, one was euthanased because of persistent lameness and another three horses were lost to follow-up. The authors found no difference in outcomes if horses were treated within 24 h or after a 24-h delay. In contrast to a previous study, the involvement of synovial structures in the wound did not significantly influence outcome, although numbers were small, and the authors suggest that caution should be used when advising owners of the likelihood of soundness after penetration of the synovial structure and that each case should be evaluated on its merits. The Metricheck™ device was developed to make diagnosis of vaginal pus easier and faster than the standard visual vaginoscopic (VV) method. It is a stainless steel probe with a semi-spherical rubber cup attached at one end and is used to sample the contents of the anterior vagina. The study included 423 cows that had calved between 7 and 28 days.7 The diagnosis of pus in the vagina was compared by scoring both techniques. Half of the cows that had a positive discharge score by either examination method were then treated with an intrauterine infusion of 500 mg of cephapirin. Results showed that cows that were positive with either method had inferior reproductive performance than cows with a score of zero. The authors conclude that the Metricheck device was quicker and easier to use than the VV method and had a similar sensitivity. Treatment of cows diagnosed with vaginal purulent or mucopurulent discharge with cephapirin improved reproductive performance in both the VV and Metricheck groups. The authors propose the use of the term ‘bovine reproductive tract inflammatory disease’ for cases diagnosed without histopathological or microbiological confirmation, similar to the human term ‘pelvic inflammatory disease’. Results of this study show the fetal characteristics at different gestational ages and the authors suggest that transcutaneous ultrasonography may prove a useful method of estimating gestational age in the absence of accurate breeding records.8 Ageing of bovine fetuses by transrectal ultrasound uses tables up to day 20 of gestation, but after this the fetus moves into the abdominal cavity, making clear imaging and ageing difficult. The aim of this study was to determine the bovine fetal characteristics associated with increasing gestational age as measured by right flank transcutaneous ultrasonography in 224 dairy cows. The length of gestation at date of pregnancy diagnosis by transcutaneous and transrectal ultrasonography was compared using subsequent calving dates. Abdominal diameter was the most frequently observed fetal characteristic. Gestational age at pregnancy diagnosis was significantly associated with the fetal thoracic, abdominal, and umbilical diameters when measured by transcutaneous ultrasound. Sire breed, dam breed, dam age and/or calf sex were also significantly associated with gestational age. Gestational age at pregnancy diagnosis was not significantly associated with placentome height or length. The authors conclude that the fetal thoracic diameter, abdominal and umbilical diameters are significantly associated with gestational age between approximate days 73 to 190 of gestation. A measurable characteristic could only be visualised in 67.2% of cases, but the authors suggest that as the study was performed during routine herd pregnancy diagnosis, more examination time may be needed to further evaluate each visible pregnancy.

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