Evaluation of haematological and biochemical changes after short term tramadol usage in healthy dogs

Tramadol is a synthetic, centrally acting opioid analgesic that has the best analgesic efficacy without excessive sedation and significant side effects in the postoperative pain relief in dogs. In this study, hematological and biochemical changes due to short usage of tramadol were assessed in clinically healthy dogs. For this purpose, eighteen male mongrel dogs aged 14 to 22 months were used in three equal groups. In the first and second groups respectively [2 and 5 mg/kg] intramuscular tramadol and in control group distillate water was given once a day for five consecutive days. Complete cell blood count [CBC] and biochemical evaluation were done to measure aspartate amino-transferase [AST], alanine aminotransferase [ALT], lactate dehydrogenase [LDH], creatinin [Cr], and blood urea nitrogen [BUN] levels, before the intervention [day 0] and on days 6 and 13, post-treatment. Thirteen days post treatment, Red blood cell [RBC] and white blood cell [WBC] count and ALT, AST, ALP, Cr, BUN and packed cell volume [PCV] level was measured as 6.75 +/- 0.03, 3.86 +/- 0.13, 40.00 +/- 7.98, 43.67 +/- 8.62, 57.00 +/- 17.03, 0.90 +/- 0.27, 25.00 +/- 5.48 and 40.13 +/- 2.88 respectively which showed that short-term injection of even high doses of tramadol creates no significant change on hematological, liver, and kidney parameters in dogs. The present study suggests that tramadol could be a safe postoperative analgesic for control of acute pain in dogs referred for routine surgical procedures

[Seroepidemiology of canine visceral leishmaniasis in Kerman city, 2011]

Visceral leishmaniosis [VL] is a sporadic disease in many provinces of Iran, while it is considered endemic in other parts. This study was designed to assess the seroprevalence of canine VL in the Kerman city. Samples were randomly selected from the referred household dogs to the veterinary hospital of Shahid Bahonar university, Kerman, Iran and stray dogs, euthanized by Kerman municipality. Blood samples were taken after complete clinical examination. All collected sera were tested by a commercial indirect ELISA kit for the presence of anti Leishmania infantum antibodies. In addition, complete blood count tests were performed in all dogs to detect hematological alterations. Collected data were analyzed through SPSS software and using chi[2] and fishers' exact tests. The overall seroprevalence was 7.03%, which was calculated 11.1% in stray dogs. Seroprevalence of disease was significantly higher in dogs over 5 years old in comparison to younger dogs [P<0.01]. Seroprevalence had no significant relationship with sex and hematological alterations. Although the seroprevalence of canine VL in Kerman city was less than that in endemic parts, stray dogs could be a potential risk factor for public health in this area. Further complementary ecological studies on vectors and reservoirs in different areas of Kerman province seem to be necessary

[Gastro-subcutaneous fistula due to penetrating foreign body in a dog]

A five-year-old, male Great Dane was referred to the Veterinary Hospital of Shahid Bahonar University of Kerman for treatment of a painful swelling mass at the left upper part of the chest wall, between 9[th] till 12[th] intercostals space. Lethargy, depression, vomiting and abdominal pain in palpation of the mass were the main clinical observation with no response to antibiotic and anti-emetic treatment. Following radiographic and endoscopic examinations, a foreign body in stomach was diagnosed. In surgical exploration, skin incision was carried out on the swelling mass and a sinus tract with a wooden sharp foreign body [20 cm length] was identified. After removing the foreign body and debridment of necrotic tissue in sinus tract, soft tissue and skin were sutured. One month later, since partial wound dehiscence of surgical site and fluid discharge was seen, therefore ventral midline exploratory laparotomy done and confirmed a gastrocutaneous fistula. Dissection of the fistula and surgical closure of the stomach, body wall and skin led to complete recovery

Comparision of the validity of different diagnostic methods in determining ghlo infections in cats

The aim of the present study was to compare different diagnostic methods in the determination of gastric helicobacter infection. 30 healthy stray and 27 domestic cats. were studied The procedure involved taking biopsy samples from antrum and body by pediatric gastroscope in off feed animals. Diagnosis of gastric helicobacter infection by cytology, rapid urease test, histopathology and PCR was also conducted. In all diagnostic methods, helicobacter infection was found to be more prevalent in domestic cats than the stray ones. None of the cats were infected with H. pylori and most of them had mixed infections with H. felis and H. heilmanii. Sensitivity and specificity of different diagnostic methods in comparison with PCR were 93 and 44%, respectively in rapid urease test, 97 and 92% respectively in histopathology and 98 and 94%, respectively in cytology. Based on result of the study most of the cats may be infected with helicobacter spp without any significant clinical signs. Cytology was the most simple and fastest screening methods in the diagnosis of helicobacter infection. With respect to morphologic similarities of H. felis and H. heilmanii and inability to culture H. heilmanii, PCR can be considered as one of the best methods in the identification of infecting helicobacter strains in cats