Companion Animal Clinics Research Articles

Bleeding time in healthy dogs sedated with morphine and medetomidine

Veterinary RecordVolume 169, Issue 18 p. 470-470 Research Bleeding time in healthy dogs sedated with morphine and medetomidine M. E. Mylonakis DVM, PhD, Corresponding Author M. E. Mylonakis DVM, PhD...

Stakeholder position paper: Companion animal veterinarian

The total quantity of use in companion animals is generally believed to be relatively small in comparison with antimicrobial use in food animals. Use in companion animals is principally for treatment, whereas the greater proportion of use in food animals is for prophylaxis, metaphylaxis and growth promotion. Therefore, it is important to collect data on end use in companion animals so that overall estimates of use in companion animals can be generated and separated from estimates for food animals. However, data from antimicrobial use in companion animals are extremely limited and no serious attempts to collect such data have ever been made in the United States. The lack of usage data in is concomitant with the dearth of information on antimicrobial resistance in companion animals. Companion animals have been involved in the transmission to humans of, or become infected with, foodborne zoonotic bacteria such as Salmonella and Campylobacter. Companion animals are an integral part of the ecology of antimicrobial resistance through their contact with food animals and exposure to antimicrobials for disease treatment and through contact with humans and the environment. In the practice of companion animal medicine, antimicrobial use data are important for understanding the potential impact on companion animal heath posed by antimicrobial resistance transferred from food animals, humans and the environment, and the threat to humans and other companion animals posed by antimicrobial use in companion animals. Basic information on the patterns and quantities of antimicrobial use in combination with resistance surveillance data, could help companion animal veterinarians understand the potential for development, or evidence of, an antimicrobial resistance problem in their practices, the role of companion animals in the overall epidemiology of antimicrobial resistance, and for comparison with local, regional, or national data. The combination of data from either a sentinel site system of clinics or a use survey with national data from the pharmaceutical industry should provide sufficient data to credibly estimate the total volume and patterns of antimicrobial use in companion animal medicine. The time and effort for use monitoring or to complete a survey would likely become burdensome. Practice management software now utilized at most companion animal clinics could be used to generate antimicrobial use data as well as patient population data as surrogate for the true population at risk for patient encounters in a companion animal practice.

Acquired Portosystemic Shunting in 2 Cats Secondary to Congenital Hepatic Fibrosis

Case 1. A 2-year-old female crossbred cat was referred to Utrecht University Companion Animal Clinic with a 2-month history of episodic vomiting, constipation, decreased appetite, apathy, and decreased activity. The vomiting was treated successfully with cisapride (0.25 mg/kg PO q8h). Physical examination disclosed no abnormalities and a full CBC and serum biochemistry tests were performed. These evaluations showed a leukocytosis (18.6 3 109/L; reference range, 4.3–16.2 3 109/L), increased bile acid concentration (132 mmol/L [53.88 mg/mL]; reference range, 1– 13 mmol/L) and a low BUN concentration (3.6 mmol/L [10.08 mg/dL]; reference range, 6.1–12.8 mmol/L). The combination of high bile-acid concentration and low BUN concentration indicated possible portosystemic shunting. Fasting venous blood ammonia concentration was measured and was increased (196 mmol/L [354 mg/dL]; reference range, ,50 mmol/L). Abdominal ultrasonography was performed for the further diagnosis and identification of portosystemic shunting. Abdominal ultrasonography revealed several small cortical cysts in both kidneys compatible with polycystic kidney disease (PKD). Otherwise, the size and structure of both kidneys and the liver were considered normal. An anomalous tortuous vessel with hepatofugal flow was seen originating from the portal vein in the region where the splenic vein enters the trunk of the portal vein. It was not possible to follow the shunting vessel to its termination. The direction of blood flow was hepatofugal in the portal vein cranial to the origin of the anomalous vein and was hepatopetal caudal to it. The left ovarian vein was dilated. A very small amount of free abdominal fluid was seen. The spleen was ultrasonographically normal. The tortuous anomalous vein was suspected to be an acquired portosystemic collateral, therefore ultrasound-guided core biopsiesa of the liver were taken. The liver biopsies were processed routinely and stained with hematoxylin-eosin, Von Gieson, and a reticulin stain according to the method of Gordon and Sweet. Histological