Vacuum-assisted wound closure following urine-induced skin and thigh muscle necrosis in a cat.

Vacuum-assisted closure (VAC) is a relatively new technique for wound management in dogs and cats. It was successfully used in this cat to treat severe urine-induced skin and thigh muscle necrosis, resulting from a traumatic urethral rupture. No complications were encountered with application of the VAC technique and production of a healthy granulation bed, suitable for wound reconstruction, was achieved after only five days of VAC treatment. The marked wound contraction (40.3%) obtained after eight days of treatment, was sufficient to allow closure of the defect using a simple, rotational subdermal plexus flap. This was a safe, effective and efficient treatment for a challenging wound in a difficult anatomical location.

Evaluation of creatine kinase (CK) and aspartate aminotransferase (AST) activities after laparoscopic or conventional ovariectomy in queens.

Creatine kinase (CK) and aspartate aminotransferase (AST) are mainly muscle-specific enzymes, which can be associated with muscle tissue damage. The aim of this study was to assess the activities of CK and AST during the postoperative period, after conventional (G1) and videolaparoscopic ovariectomy (G2), in queens. A further group (G3) was subjected to anaesthesia only. Results demonstrate that there were significant differences between groups. The highest levels of CK were recorded in G1, however at a confidence level of p<0.05 there was no significant difference between groups during the first 6 hours after surgery. A significant (p<0.05) increase of CK values was identified between 0 h and 3 h in both groups (G1 and G2). Regarding AST activity there was no significant variation between groups, but again there was a significant difference between values at 0 h and 3h after surgery. In conclusion, ovariectomy performed by videolaparoscopy seems to cause less muscle damage when compared to the conventional method.

Extensive bilateral odontogenic cysts in the mandible of a dog.

A 5-year-old female neutered Boxer dog was diagnosed with extensive odontogenic cysts that affected the left and right mandibles. Rostral mandibular swelling was detectable clinically, and bilateral cystic mandibular lesions were identified radiographically. The dog's owners elected for euthanasia. A full postmortem was performed. Cystic cavities were confirmed in the body of each mandible, extending from the incisor teeth to the mid premolar region. Incisor, canine, and premolar tooth roots indented each cavity. Histologic examination of the cystic cavities reflected an inner lining of attenuated stratified squamous epithelium overlying a fibrous layer infiltrated by a mixed, predominantly mononuclear, inflammatory infiltrate.

Comparison of flank and midline approaches to the ovariohysterectomy of cats.

In a survey of uk veterinary practitioners, 96 per cent indicated that they performed ovariohysterectomy on cats via flank laparatomy rather than a midline coeliotomy. At a veterinary teaching hospital 32 cats were spayed by the midline approach and 34 by the flank approach, by undergraduate students under the continuous supervision of a veterinary surgeon. The duration of each part of the procedures was recorded and information was obtained from the students, the supervisors and the owners of the cats by means of questionnaires. The total duration of the surgery and the students' assessment of the difficulty of the surgery were not significantly different between the two groups. The time taken from the skin incision to entering the peritoneum was significantly longer with the flank approach, but finding the uterus took significantly longer with the midline approach. There was a high incidence of wound complications, in the form of swelling, redness or discharges, but the only statistically significant difference between the groups was a greater incidence of discharges in the cats spayed via the flank (five cases) than in the cats spayed via the midline (one case).

Prostatopexy as a treatment for urethral sphincter mechanism incompetence in male dogs.

OBJECTIVES: The incidence of urinary incontinence due to urethral sphincter mechanism incompetence (USMI) in male dogs is relatively rare compared with the incidence in bitches, but the medical management of USMI in male dogs is less rewarding than in bitches. Attempts have been made to manage this condition surgically using either urethral bulking agents such as Teflon or by relocating the intrapelvic bladder neck to an intra-abdominal position by vas deferentopexy. This paper reports the response to prostatopexy in male dogs with USMI. METHODS: The response to prostatopexy was determined in nine severely incontinent male dogs with USMI that were followed up for periods ranging from 10 months to five years (mean 2.3 years). RESULTS: One dog was cured, four were improved, and no improvement in the frequency or degree of urinary incontinence occurred in the remaining four animals. No complications were seen in any of the dogs. CLINICAL SIGNIFICANCE: Prostatopexy may provide a further method of treating male dogs with USMI that do not respond to medical therapy.

Questionnaire study of canine neutering techniques taught in UK veterinary schools and those used in practice.

OBJECTIVES: To gather information about the different techniques employed in general practice and to compare this with current undergraduate teaching. This would provide an insight into any areas of discrepancy and influences on technique in practice. METHODS: A questionnaire was composed and distributed to 407 practices throughout the UK, using a commercial mailing list. Fifty further questionnaires were distributed by final-year students to their foster practices and five were sent to practices on request. A second questionnaire was composed and sent to the members of staff responsible for teaching surgical neutering techniques at each of the UK veterinary schools. RESULTS: Completed questionnaires were received from 183 respondents. These were compared with seven questionnaires from university teachers. Only areas in which the teachers reached a consensus of opinion were directly compared. CLINICAL SIGNIFICANCE: Several areas of discrepancy between current teaching and techniques in practice were identified. A study of complications compared with technique would provide further information. There is a lack of published material or an evidence base in many aspects of surgical neutering to support one technique over another.

Investigation of nasal disease in the cat--a retrospective study of 77 cases.

A retrospective study was undertaken to determine the prevalence of different diseases in cats referred for investigation of chronic nasal disease, to identify historical, clinical and diagnostic features which may assist in making a diagnosis, and to provide information pertaining to outcome in these cats. Diagnoses included neoplasia (30 cases), chronic rhinitis (27), foreign body (8), nasopharyngeal stenosis (5), Actinomyces infection (2), nasal polyps (2), stenotic nares (2), and rhinitis subsequent to trauma (1). The most common neoplasia was lymphosarcoma (21 cases), with a median survival of 98 days for cats treated with multiagent chemotherapy. Cats with neoplasia were older on average than the other cats, and were more likely to be dyspnoeic and have a haemorrhagic and/or unilateral nasal discharge than cats with chronic rhinitis. Cats with neoplasia were more likely to have radiographic evidence of nasal turbinate destruction, septal changes, or severe increases in soft tissue density than cats with chronic rhinitis. It was unusual for cats with diseases other than neoplasia to be euthanased as a result of their nasal disease.

Sterile nodular panniculitis and pansteatitis in three weimaraners.

The clinical and pathological findings in three unrelated weimaraners with pyrexia and multiple subcutaneous nodules are reported. Abdominal pain was an additional feature in two of the dogs and clinical investigations revealed inflammation of subcutaneous, mesenteric and falciform fat. Histopathological findings were consistent with pansteatitis. In the third dog, lesions were apparently limited to the subcutis and, hence, a diagnosis of nodular panniculitis was made. Microbiological examination of tissues was negative in all dogs, and there was no evidence of pancreatic disease. This report thus describes a presumed sterile and idiopathic panniculitis/pansteatitis complex in weimaraner dogs. Although the aetiology is unknown, this may represent an immune-mediated disorder.

Syncope associated with paroxysmal atrioventricular block an ventricular standstill in a cat.

A four-and-a-half-year-old neutered male shorthair cat was presented with a three-week history of episodic fainting. Twenty-four hour electrocardiographic (Holter) recording revealed frequent prolonged episodes of complete atrioventricular (AV) block with ventricular standstill. The fainting episodes coincided with the longest periods of ventricular inactivity. A permanent transjugular pacemaker was placed to prevent further life-threatening episodes of syncope. Three months after discharge, the patient was re-presented with sudden onset dyspnoea associated with chylothorax and electrocardiography showed a third degree (complete) AV block. The pacemaker was reprogrammed in view of the third degree AV block and the chylous effusion was successfully treated by repeated thoracocentesis and long-term diuresis. However, the patient's general condition deteriorated progressively and the cat was euthanased five and a half months after implantation of the pacemaker.

Influence of hepatic ammonia removal on ureagenesis, amino acid utilization and energy metabolism in the ovine liver.

The mass transfers of O2, glucose, NH3, urea and amino acids across the portal-drained viscera (PDV) and the liver were quantified, by arterio-venous techniques, during the last 4 h of a 100 h infusion of 0 (basal), 150 or 400 mumol NH4HCO3/min into the mesenteric vein of three sheep given 800 g grass pellets/d and arranged in a 3 x 3 Latin-square design. Urea irreversible loss rate (ILR) was also determined by continuous infusion of [14C]urea over the last 52 h of each experimental period. PDV and liver movements of glucose, O2 and amino acids were unaltered by NH4HCO3 administration, although there was an increase in PDV absorption of non-essential amino acids (P = 0.037) and a trend for higher liver O2 consumption and portal appearance of total amino acid-N, glucogenic and non-essential amino acids at the highest level of infusion. PDV extraction of urea-N (P = 0.015) and liver removal of NH3 (P < 0.001), release of urea-N (P = 0.002) and urea ILR (P = 0.001) were all increased by NH4HCO3 infusion. Hepatic urea-N release (y) and NH3 extraction (x) were linearly related (R2 0.89), with the slope of the regression not different from unity, both for estimations based on liver mass transfers (1.16; SE 0.144; P(b) not equal to 1 = 0.31) and [14C]urea (0.97; SE 0.123; P(b) not equal to 1 = 0.84). The study indicates that a sustained 1.5 or 2.4-fold increase in the basal NH3 supply to the liver did not impair glucose or amino acid supply to non-splanchnic tissues; nor were additional N inputs to the ornithine cycle necessary to convert excess NH3 to urea. Half of the extra NH3 removed by the liver was, apparently, utilized by periportal glutamate dehydrogenase and aspartate aminotransferase for sequential glutamate and aspartate synthesis and converted to urea as the 2-amino moiety of aspartate.