Transarticular pinning for repair of hip dislocation in the dog: a retrospective study of 40 cases.

Transarticular pinning was used for the repair of hip dislocation in 40 dogs. The mean follow-up period was 18.4 months. Satisfactory results were achieved in 80% of the cases. Body weight, ipsilateral femoral head fracture, and hip dysplasia appeared to affect long-term prognosis. The most frequent complication was pin breakage, but this did not affect final outcome and could be avoided by using pins of larger diameter. Osteonecrosis was observed in two cases.

Relationship of hypothyroidism to diabetes mellitus, renal amyloidosis, and thrombosis in purebred beagles.

Review of 484 records for colony Beagles revealed an association between hypothyroidism and diabetes mellitus. The average time between first notation of hypothyroidism and later development of diabetes mellitus was 2.8 years. An association was also made with hypothyroidism, renal amyloidosis, and thrombosis. Hypothyroidism was significantly related to thrombosis, thrombosis was significantly related to renal amyloidosis, but hypothyroidism and renal amyloidosis were not significantly related. Of 62 hypothyroid dogs, 11 were diabetic and 7 others had thrombosis. Six hypothyroid dogs had renal amyloidosis, 4 of which had thrombosis. One dog had renal amyloidosis and thrombosis in the absence of hypothyroidism. There does not appear to be an association with any of the lesions and previous low-dose, whole-body gamma, or sham irradiation.

Fetal heart failure in a poodle due to widespread metastatic malignant haemangioendothelioma.

An elderly male Poodle was presented with haematuria, syncopy, a heart murmur and varying other symptoms which were all treated unsuccessfully. They were linked on post-mortem examination to a widely disseminated metastatic malignant haemangioendothelioma.

Platelet and fibrinogen kinetics in canine tumors.

Fifty-three dogs with spontaneously occurring tumors were evaluated for abnormalities in the concentration and in vivo survival of platelets and fibrinogen. Thrombocytopenia occurred only in animals with extensive tumor involving spleen or marrow. Platelet survival was shortened in 6 of 15 (40%) dogs with localized tumor [mean 4.4 days +/- 0.3 (S.E.); normal 5.4 days +/- 0.1] and 30 of 35 (80%) dogs with metastatic tumor (mean 3.2 days +/- 0.2). Platelet survival progressively shortened during studies performed in dogs with ongoing disease. Fibrinogen concentration was increased (mean 420 +/- 30 mg/dl) in 44 of 53 (83%) of tumor-bearing dogs (normal 210 +/- 10 mg/dl). Neither history nor extent of disease, including presence of hepatic metastases, appeared to influence fibrinogen concentration significantly. Fibrinogen survival was below the normal range in 3 of 15 (20%) dogs with localized tumor and in 9 of 34 (26%) dogs with metastatic tumors. Thus, platelet consumption appeared to be the most significant hemostatic abnormality in tumor-bearing dogs. This model may be useful in evaluating the efficiency of antithrombotic therapy in preventing tumor-related hemostatic abnormalities.

Myopathy associated with hyperadrenocorticism in the dog.

Naturally occurring or iatrogenic hyperadrenocorticism was associated with myopathy in six dogs. One dog had muscle weakness and muscle atrophy but normal electromyographic findings. Five dogs had muscle stiffness, proximal appendicular muscle enlargement, and myotonic discharges on electromyography. Histologic, electron microscopic, and histochemical findings in the musculature of dogs that were examined were characteristic of noninflammatory degenerative myopathy. Clinical signs of the myopathy improved to varying degrees in five dogs that were treated for the hyperadrenocorticism.

Neurologic complications of IgA multiple myeloma associated with cryoglobulinemia in a dog.

A diagnosis of vertebral multiple myeloma, based on radiographic evidence of osteolytic lesions and the finding of monoclonal paraprotein and large numbers of plasma cells in bone marrow biopsies, was made in a mature Doberman Pinscher. The abnormal serum paraprotein was a cryoglobulin of the immunoglobulin A class. Neurologic signs associated with the tumor included pain, progressive pelvic limb paresis, and paraplegia that developed during a 6-week period.

Pulmonary vascular response of dogs with heartworm disease.

Heartworm diseases in dogs is an infectious disease that produces pulmonary hypertension. Dogs with the early vascular changes of heartworm disease, but without the clinical cardiopulmonary signs and pulmonary hypertension, were studied. Dogs with early heartworm were identified that had an exaggerated hypertensive response to hypoxia and to postaglandin F2alpha as compared to those of normal dogs. The pulmonary hypertensive response of dogs with spontaneous heartworm disease varied widely between individuals.

Outbreak of a Brucella canis infection in a beagle colony in West Germany.

Brucella infections in dogs were caused by the more frequent strains of brucellae i.e. Br. abortus, Br. suis, and Br. melitensis. Since 1966 it is known that in dog colonies, mostly beagle, in the United States, a new brucella species caused infections. This species was called Br. canis. The infection showed similar effects with dogs as the other brucellae with other domestic animals. With the dogs abortions occurred on the 40th to 50th day of gestation and the infection often resulted in sterility. In 1973 the author detected Br. canis for the first time in Europe; shortly afterwards the same bacteria was isolated in Japan. It is known how the disease spread to Japan, but how it came to Europe is still a mystery. Here it was first detected in a beagle colony with approximately 200 animals used for breeding. Within a few months the disease spread in the colony and finally the birthrate of inseminated bitches was only 29%; 50% had abortions and the rest had not conceived. In this communication characteristics of Br. canis are discussed.