Effect of lidocaine, fentanyl, or dexmedetomidine on minimum infusion rate and cardiorespiratory variables in dogs undergoing ketofol total intravenous anesthesia.

Background: It has been proposed that dose reduction via co-administration of other agents might ameliorate respiratory depression associated with ketofol. Aims: The present study was designed to evaluate the effects of adding lidocaine, fentanyl, or dexmedetomidine on the required dose and cardiorespiratory variables in dogs undergoing total intravenous anesthesia (TIVA) with ketofol. Methods: In phase I, twelve dogs (six per each treatment) were induced and maintained with two out of four anesthetic regimens of (1) ketofol (4 mg/kg and 0.3 mg/kg/min, respectively; KET), (2) ketofol and lidocaine (1.5 mg/kg and 0.25 mg/kg/min, respectively; KLD), (3) ketofol and fentanyl (5 µg/kg and 0.1 µg/kg/min, respectively; KFN), and (4) ketofol and dexmedetomidine (2 µg/kg and 2 mg/kg/h, respectively; KDX) with at least one-week interval. The minimum infusion rate (MIR) of ketofol was determined. In phase II, the other twelve dogs were given the same anesthetic regimens for 60 min with the determined infusion rate of ketofol, and cardiorespiratory variables were recorded. Results: Mean MIR of ketofol for KET, KLD, KFN, and KDX were 0.35, 0.23, 0.15, and 0.08 mg/kg/min, respectively. In phase II, the times of recovery events were shorter in KFN and KDX than KET and KLD. The heart rate was significantly higher than baseline in KET and KLD, which was also significantly lower than KFN and KDX at several time points. In all treatments, respiratory depression was detected. Conclusion: Despite the decrease in the dose of ketofol, none of the added drugs attenuated respiratory depression caused by this agent.

Molecular Detection of Chlamydia felis in Cats in Ahvaz, Iran.

Chlamydiae are obligate generally Gram-negative intracellular parasites with bacterial characteristics, including a cell wall, DNA, and RNA. They have a worldwide distribution in different animal species. Chlamydia felis (C. felis) is an important agent with zoonotic susceptibility often isolated from cats with chronic conjunctivitis. The aim of the present survey aimed to determine the molecular occurrence of C. felis in cats in Ahvaz, Iran. In this regard, a total of 152 cats (126 households and 26 feral) were included in the current study. After recording their history information, two swabs were taken from the oropharyngeal cavity and eye conjunctiva of the investigated cats. The extraction of DNA was followed by PCR targeting the pmp gene of C. Felis. In the next step, the positive samples were sequenced based on the Gene Bank. Out of 152 samples, 35 (23.03%) were positive using polymerase chain reaction technique (95% CI: 16.30-29.70). Regarding infection with Chlamydiosis, the obtained results showed a significant difference between cats suffering from ocular or respiratory diseases (44.64%; 25 out of 56) and the healthy ones (10.42%; 10 out of 96; P=0.01). The prevalence of infection was significantly higher in cats younger than 1 year (34.12%; 29 out of 85), compared to those older than 1 year (8.96%; 6 out of 67; P=0.02). No significant difference was noted in terms of gender (25.45% in males and 21.65% in females), breed (23.81% in DSH and 19.23% in Persian), and lifestyle (22.22% companions [28 out of 126] and 26.92% ferals [7 out of 26]; P>0.05). It can be concluded that a significant number of cats are infected with C. felis in Ahvaz. The use of molecular tests, such as PCR, has revolutionized the diagnosis of chlamydial infections.

A Serological Survey of Neospora caninum Infection in Urban and Rural Dogs in Ahvaz District, Southwest of Iran.

Dogs are important in the epidemiology of Neospora caninum because they act as definitive hosts, shedding oocysts in the environment. The aim of the present survey was to evaluate the serological prevalence of Neospora caninum infection in urban and rural dogs in Ahvaz district, southwest of Iran. In this study, blood samples were taken from 100 rural dogs and 50 urban dogs. The dogs were categorized into two age groups (i.e., ≤ 3 and > 3 years). Neospora agglutination test (NAT) was performed for the detection of infection. Among 150 samples, 30 (20%) showed infection in 1:50 to 1:800 dilutions by NAT (confidence interval 95%: 13.60-26.40). The antibody titers were as follows: 1:50 (n=1), 1:100 (n=14), 1:200 (n=3), 1:400 (n=10) and 1:800 (n=2). The highest serum dilution was 1:100 in 46.67% of the infected dogs and the lowest serum dilution was 1:50 in 3.33% of them. The obtained results showed a significant difference in seroprevalence between urban (10%) and rural (25%) dogs (P=0.03). Although the seroprevalence was higher in dogs above three years of age (23.33%) than below three years (17.78%), there was not a significant difference among different age groups in this regard (P>0.05). The possibility of infection in dogs above the age of three years was 1.3 more than those below three years of age (confidence interval 95%: 0.58-2.9). It can be concluded that a relatively considerable percentage of dogs in Ahvaz district are infected with N. caninum. These infected dogs can play an important role in the transmission of neosporosis to other animals.

A Survey on Ectoparasite Infestations in Companion Dogs of Ahvaz District, South-west of Iran.

BACKGROUND: The objective was to determine the prevalence of ectoparasite infestations in referred companion dogs to veterinary hospital of Shahid Chamran University of Ahvaz, from 2009 to 2010. METHODS: A total of 126 dogs were sampled for ectoparasites and examined by parasitological methods. The studied animals were grouped based on the age (<1 year, 1-3 years and >3 years), sex, breed and region RESULTS: Thirty six out of 126 referred dogs (28.57%) were positive for external ectoparasites. The most common ectoparasites were Heterodoxus spinigera, which were recorded on 11 dogs (8.73%). Rhipicephalus sanguineus, Sarcoptes scabiei, Otodectes cynotis, Xenopsylla cheopis, Cetenocephalides canis, Cetenocephalides felis, Hippobosca sp. and myiasis (L3 of Lucilia sp.) were identified on 9 (7.14%), 7 (5.56%), 6 (4.76%), 3 (2.38%), 3 (2.38%), 2 (1.59%), 2 (1.59%) and one (0.79%) of the studied dogs respectively. Mixed infestation with two species of ectoparasites was recorded on 8 (6.35%). Prevalence was higher in male dogs (35.82%; 24 out of 67) than females (20.34%; 12 out of 59), age above 3 years (31.81%; 7 out of 22) and in the season of winter (30.95%; 13 out of 42), but the difference was not significant regarding to host gender, age and season (P> 0.05). CONCLUSION: Apparently this is the first study conducted in companion dogs of Ahvaz District, South-west of Iran. Our results indicated that lice and ticks were the most common ectoparasites in dogs of this area. The zoonotic nature of some ectoparasites can be regard as a public health alert.

Prevalence of Giardia duodenalis Infection in Household Cats of Ahvaz District, South-West of Iran.

BACKGROUND: The occurrence of Giardia duodenalis in cats is of potential significance from both clinical and public health perspectives. The object of this study was antigenic detection of G. duodenalis in household cats of Ahvaz district, South-West of Iran. METHODS: The prevalence of G. duodenalis was determined in fecal samples by two techniques: centrifugation-flotation and a commercial Giardia Antigen Test Kit (immunochromatography assay) in 150 household cats of different ages among referred cases to Veterinary Hospital of Ahvaz University from January 2008 to February 2010. RESULTS: Five out of 150 fecal samples (3.33%) were positive for antigen of G. duodenalis by immunochromatography assay. The prevalence was significantly higher in young cats less than 6 months (15.79%) compared with adult cats 6 months - 3 years (1.37%) (P=0.027) and above 3 years (1.72%) (P=0.044). The infection had more prevalence in diarrheic cats (17.39%) compared with non-diarrheic cats (0.79%) and the difference was significant (P=0.02) as well. The prevalence was higher in male cats (3.41%) than females (3.23%) and in the season of autumn (6.06%), but the difference was not significant between the prevalence of infection relative to host gender and season (P>0.05). Microscopy examination on fecal samples showed that 2% of the studied cats were positive. CONCLUSION: The parasite antigen was present as a zoonotic infection in Ahvaz district, South-west of Iran. More sensitive techniques, such as immunochromatography assay, might yield more reliable results, in the detection of low levels of Giardia in fecal samples of cats.

Prevention of shedding and re-shedding of Toxoplasma gondii oocysts in experimentally infected cats treated with oral Clindamycin: a preliminary study.

This work aimed to evaluate the effects of preventive oral Clindamycin in cats infected with Toxoplasma gondii. Twelve short hair cats were divided into two groups (group 1 and group 2). No titres of T. gondii antibodies were detected in these cats before the experiment. The animals from group 1 were infected with tissue cysts of T. gondii and group 2 were infected and treated with Clindamycin (20 mg/kg/day). The infection was done with almost 40-50 tissue cysts for each cat on day 0. The cats from group 2 were treated with Clindamycin by oral rout for 24 days (from day -3 to day 21). At day 45, the groups 1 and 2 were divided into two subgroups with three animals each. Subgroups 1A and 2A were immunosuppressed with dexamethasone (1 mg/kg/day) for30 days and subgroups 1B and 2B were not immunosuppressed. Faecal exam looking for oocyst shedding was made by 30 days after T. gondii infection, and for 30 days after immunosuppression. All kittens from group 1 shedding oocysts after infection, while animals from group 2 did not shed. After immunosuppression period, all animals from group 1A re-shed oocysts and animals from group 2A remained without shed. However, 2 (66.6%) of the kittens from subgroup 2B shed oocysts 19-20 days after re-challenge. Based on this preliminary study, Clindamycin had a complete inhibitory effect on shedding of oocysts by cats, even under severe immunosuppression, which is a new finding not reported elsewhere.