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Serotonin has been implicated in several canine diseases, including myxomatous mitral valve disease, pulmonary hypertension and dilated cardiomyopathy, but direct measurement in blood is challenging because of its short half-life in serum.
In humans, urinary 5‑HIAA is considered a more accurate marker of serum serotonin concentration.
However, whilst urine 5-HIAA has previously been measured in dogs using gas chromatography mass spectrometry and high-performance liquid chromatography with electrochemical detection, these techniques are expensive and not widely available.
For the study, which was funded by BSAVA PetSavers and published in the Journal of Small Animal Practice, researchers collected urine samples from 26 dogs undergoing routine diagnostic evaluation at a referral hospital.
Each sample was analysed using both a commercially available ELISA testing kit, BA-E-1900 from Immusmol, and liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry, the current gold standard method.
The ELISA was found to be reliable with acceptable precision and repeatability, particularly at low concentrations, although it had a slightly higher observed error at higher concentrations.
The researchers recommended further validation work to improve understanding of the various preanalytical factors that may influence measurement of 5-HIAA concentrations.
They also said further work should investigate whether measuring urinary 5-HIAA will be a good surrogate marker for physiologically active circulating serotonin in dogs, and whether it will be useful in studying disease pathogenesis.
Dr Penny Watson, senior author of the study, said: "I am very hopeful that, after further validation, this ELISA will prove to be a reliable, simple and cheap test for 5-HIAA in the urine, facilitating further research into the role of serotonin in the pathogenesis of canine diseases.
"We have long suspected that some individual dogs and breeds may have higher circulating serotonin than others and that this might predispose them not only to heart disease but also some common diseases such as chronic pancreatitis and kidney disease.
"They would also be more susceptible to serotinergic syndrome when medicated with drugs such as tramadol or trazadone.
"Further research in this area would thus be directly relevant to small animal practitioners."
https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/jsap.70123
The study assessed contamination across 13 small animal practices using adenosine triphosphate (ATP) testing before and after delivery of a staff training session and standardised cleaning protocols.
Eleven practices were re-tested 70 days later and five practices were re-tested an average of 128 days later.
Samples were taken from reception areas, consulting rooms, preparation and diagnostic areas, wards, theatres, kitchens, laboratories, and staff areas, using Hygiena EnSURE Touch & UltraSnap Surface ATP Swabs.
The cleaning protocol involved the removal of biofilms using a degreasing agent, followed by routine cleaning with a standard veterinary disinfectant cleaner and fogging application of a certified veterinary disinfectant.
Before the intervention, average contamination levels in practices were 14.7 times higher than recommended thresholds.
Following the 45-minute staff training session and implementation of the standardised cleaning protocol, contamination levels reduced by 61% within 70 days and by 71% within 128 days.
Fomite surfaces — including door handles, kettles, and keyboards — showed the greatest improvement, with contamination levels reduced by 80%. General surfaces recorded a 56% reduction.
These findings indicate that a combination of staff training, refined cleaning protocols, and scheduled hygiene testing can significantly reduce contamination levels in practices and improve practice-level infection control.
Dr Neil Forbes, author of the study, said: “Once identified, most hygiene issues are readily addressed.
"Reservoirs of contamination, or indications of poor working practices, once detected, can be resolved.
"Longitudinal studies in human hospitals demonstrate that ATP reduction correlates with decreased nosocomial infection rates, ranging from 45–75% over 18 months to 5 years.”
The study recommends that practices appoint an Infection Control Champion, implement routine - ideally monthly - ATP testing, raise awareness with the whole team about infection sources, transmission routes, and risk management, and use two-step sanitation comprising cleaning followed by disinfection.
Reference
The study was a randomised controlled trial of client-owned dogs and cats presenting as emergencies and requiring intravenous catheterisation.
Patient signalment and mentation score were recorded.
Patients were randomly allocated to either a swab saturated with vapocoolant spray or a swab saturated with saline applied to the clipped area before intravenous catheterisation.
Indirect application of vapocoolant spray via a swab before catheterisation was not found to significantly reduce the reaction of dogs and cats, nor to improve placement success rates.
The study did demonstrate a significantly greater adverse response to vapocoolant spray application to the skin via a swab when compared with the saline control in canine patients; feline patients demonstrated adverse responses to both vapocoolant spray and saline swabs.
It is unclear if the technique of application used in this study provided sufficient cooling effect to provide the required cryoanaesthesia to influence patient reaction.
The authors say future studies should be used to determine optimal vapocoolant spray application technique in dogs and cats, as well as examine its application in other populations and procedures.
Nicola Di Girolamo, Editor of JSAP concluded: “Pragmatic, adequately-powered, randomised controlled trials like the one presented here are essential to evaluate whether an intervention is not only efficacious in a controlled environment, but also effective during clinical practice.”
Full article: https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10.1111/jsap.13504
Trinder, R, Humm, K, Phillips, S, and Cole, L (2022) The efficacy of vapocoolant spray for the improved tolerance of catheter pain in emergency patients in dogs Journal of Small Animal Practice, Available at: https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10.1111/jsap.13504
For the research1, 190 faecal samples were collected from dogs in 140 households (114 samples from raw fed dogs and 76 from non-raw fed dogs).
Salmonella species was detected in 4% of the samples (all raw fed) and antimicrobial-resistant E. coli was detected in 40% of all dogs, but in 62% of raw fed dogs.
The authors say that statistical analysis confirmed that this represented a significantly higher prevalence of AMR E. coli, including multidrug resistance and third generation cephalosporin resistance, and Salmonella species in dogs fed raw compared to non-raw meat diets.
The authors concluded that strategies should be implemented to increase the awareness of the risks of feeding raw meat diets to dogs, to reduce any potential risk to owners, their families, and their pets.
Nicola Di Girolamo, Editor of JSAP says: “In this study, an association between raw meat diets in dogs and faecal carriage of potentially dangerous enteric bacteria has been observed.
"Readers should keep in mind that cross-sectional studies such as this one lay the basis for additional research more suited to prove causality.”
In the study1, records from a large commercial diagnostic laboratory were searched for canine skin masses submitted for histopathology from dogs aged between 0-12 months from practices based in the UK and Europe.
For each case, data on the breed, age and sex of the dog, the body location of the sample, and the diagnosis made by the original reporting histopathologist were recorded.
For the purposes of the study, masses were included which were cystic, hyperplastic or neoplastic, but not inflammatory.
Submissions of samples from the eyes, anal glands and nails were excluded and only MCTs submissions that were cutaneous were included.
Risk factor analysis using multivariable binary logistic regression modelling was carried out for skin masses with at least 30 submissions.
Professor Ken Smith, corresponding author for the paper, said: “A total of 2553 submissions for a skin mass were included in the study.
"Across all the skin masses, the majority (94.3%) were neoplastic in nature.
"Of the neoplastic lesions, 98.5% were considered benign.
"Almost all of the benign neoplastic lesions were of round cell origin (94.0%), whereas most of the non-neoplastic lesions were derived from the epithelium (93.8%).
“The most common histopathological diagnoses for skin masses were histiocytoma (86.6%), papilloma (3.5%), dermoid cyst (3.3%), follicular cyst (1.7%) and MCT (1.4%).
"Multivariable analysis revealed that Labrador retrievers, Boxers and Golden retrievers had reduced odds of histiocytoma compared to crossbreed dogs.
"Male neutered dogs had lower odds of dermoid cyst compared with female entire animals.
"Dogs aged 9 to 12 months had significantly higher odds of follicular cyst compared with dogs aged under 6 months, whilst dogs aged over 6 months showed significantly higher odds of MCT than dogs under 6 months of age.”
Nicola Di Girolamo, Editor of JSAP, said: “Retrospective studies that include a large number of cases such as this one are an invaluable resource for clinicians working in any setting.
"The findings of this study corroborate those of previous research, suggesting that a skin mass in a young dog is very likely to be a histiocytoma.
"However, the risk factor analysis in this paper identified a number of different predilections to those previously recognised, indicating a need for continued research in this area.”
The full article can be found in the January issue of the Journal of Small Animal Practice and can be read online here: https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10.1111/jsap.13418
In the study titled “Safety of early postoperative hydrotherapy in dogs undergoing thoracolumbar hemilaminectomy”, the medical records of a single referral hospital in Sweden were retrospectively reviewed to identify dogs that had been treated with hemilaminectomy for acute or chronic thoracolumbar IVDE and had commenced hydrotherapy within five days after surgery.
Information collected from the medical records included signalment, presenting clinical signs, severity of neurological signs, initiation and duration of hydrotherapy, postoperative complications and follow-up.
Postoperative complications were considered major if there was a need for hospitalisation, surgery or if the dog died or was euthanised as a direct consequence of the complication.
A complication was deemed minor if outpatient medical treatment was sufficient to rectify it.
A total of 83 dogs were included in the study.
Hydrotherapy was started within a mean of 2.7 (one to five) days after surgery and consisted of swimming without underwater treadmill (UWTM) in dogs with severe paraparesis or paraplegia.
With neurological improvement, and when supported ambulation was possible, UWTM was initiated.
Ninety-six percent of the dogs used swimming as postoperative hydrotherapy, starting with a mean of 2.7 days after surgery, fifty-seven percent of the dogs used UWTM as the postoperative hydrotherapy, starting with a mean of 13 days after surgery.
Forty-five percent of dogs used both hydrotherapeutic modalities.
Dr Abtin Morjarradi, corresponding author for the paper, said: “A total of 10 minor complications were recorded during the study period, including surgical site infection (SSI) (n=5), diarrhoea (n=4) and urinary tract infection (n=1).
Major complications were recorded in 26 dogs during the study period and included euthanasia (n=13), acute dermatitis (n=1), spinal abscess (n=1) and disc extrusion (n=1).
Reasons for euthanasia were urinary incontinence (n=5), lack of neurological improvement (n=2), clinical suspicion of progressive myelomalacia (PMM) (n=2), persistent pain (n=1), aggression (n=1) and widespread cellulitis with an abscess caudal to the right stifle without known cause (n=1).”
Abtin added: “Follow-up visits for 71 dogs were performed at a mean of 15.3 (9 to 30) days, and 68 dogs at a mean of 45.9 (30 to 111) days, after surgery.
"At the first follow-up visit 68% of the dogs were ambulatory with Modified Frankel Score (MFS) 4 or higher.
"At the last follow-up visit 97% of the dogs were ambulatory with MFS 4 or higher, with 34% demonstrating normal neurological function. None of these dogs deteriorated after the initiation time of hydrotherapy.”
Nicola Di Girolamo, Editor of JSAP, said: “Whilst previous studies indicate that early rehabilitation may be beneficial after acute spinal cord injury, the optimal timing to start hydrotherapy is unclear.
“Despite a high number of complications being recorded in the present study, it is not clear how many of these complications were directly related to the initiation time of hydrotherapy and therefore further research is required.”
The full article can be found in the December issue of the Journal of Small Animal Practice: https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10.1111/jsap.13412.
The researchers hope that the study will help to increase a veterinary surgeon’s index of suspicion of a particular liver disease, particularly if a biopsy-confirmed diagnosis is not possible.
In the study titled “Histopathological frequency of canine hepatobiliary disease in the United Kingdom”, histopathology reports from canine liver tissues submitted to a commercial veterinary laboratory by UK first and second opinion practices were retrospectively reviewed.
Data collected included breed, age, sex, gross and histological descriptions, diagnosis and additional comments.
Data were then grouped into 23 categories according to WSAVA histological criteria for canine hepatobiliary diseases using the four main morphological groups of vascular, biliary, parenchymal and neoplastic disorders. Breed analysis was then performed on the top five ranking breeds within each individual category.
A total of 4584 histopathology reports of canine liver tissue were included in the analysis.
The most common histopathological diagnoses were reactive hepatitis (16.8%), chronic hepatitis (16.0%) and reversible hepatocellular injury (RHI) (12.9%).
Labrador retrievers were found to have increased odds for reactive hepatitis (OR 1.57, 95%CI 1.23-1.99), whilst crossbreeds demonstrated reduced odds (OR 0.65, 95%CI 0.54-0.79).
Breeds with increased odds of chronic hepatitis included the Labrador retriever (OR 4.14, 95%CI 3.47-4.93), springer spaniel (OR 6.30, 95%CI 5.10-7.79), cocker spaniel (OR 2.78 95%CI 2.20-3.53) and West Highland White Terrier (OR 3.23, 95%CI 2.24-4.65).
Within the RHI group, the schnauzer (OR 8.06, 95%CI 5.77-11.26) and Bichon Frise (OR 5.19, 95%CI 3.63-7.42) had increased odds of disease.
Dr Yuvani Bandara, corresponding author for the paper, said: “This is the first study to report the histopathological frequency of hepatobiliary diseases and to identify possible breed predispositions in a large cohort of dogs in the UK.
“Despite multivariable analysis not being performed to account for confounding factors, we hope that this information informs and supports future investigations for hepatic disease in particular breeds and potential predispositions.”
The full article can be found in the September issue of the Journal of Small Animal Practice and can be read online here: https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/jsap.13354.
The study, titled “Development and progression of proteinuria in dogs treated with masitinib for neoplasia: 28 cases (2010 – 2019)”, also suggests that a urine protein: creatinine greater than 0.5 should prompt reassessment within one week.
For the study, the clinical records of 38 dogs referred to a single university teaching hospital between 2010 and 2019 for treatment of neoplasia with masitinib were retrospectively evaluated.
Data was collected at masitinib initiation and at various timepoints following the start of treatment.
Data gathered included the masitinib dose given and any changes to medication administration or dosing since the previous visit, presence of gross disease and the results of haematology and biochemistry profiles, urinalysis and urine cultures.
Urinalysis results were only included if they were performed at a reference laboratory.
At each timepoint, the urine was classified as non-proteinuric (UP:C ≤0.5) or proteinurinc (UP:C >0.5). Proteinuria was then categorised as likely pre-renal, post-renal, physiological renal or pathological renal.
Dogs were grouped based on the presence or absence of proteinuria at baseline. Non-proteinuric dogs were further divided, based on whether proteinuria developed following treatment during the study.
Of the 28 dogs in the study, five were being treated for epitheliotropic lymphoma, one for vulval lymphoma, one for malignant melanoma and 21 for mast cell tumours.
Twenty-two (79%) dogs were non-proteinuric and six were proteinuric at baseline.
Of the dogs that were non-proteinuric at baseline, four (18.2%) developed proteinuria within one month of treatment initiation. Median time to first detection of proteinuria was 14.5 days (range: 13 to 31).
Of the dogs with pre-treatment proteinuria (n=6), masitinib treatment was discontinued due to lack of efficacy in three dogs, and three were euthanased during treatment, two for disease progression and one for an unknown reason.
Dr Margaux Kuijlaars, corresponding author for the paper, said: “Patients developing proteinuria should be investigated to exclude non-renal causes. This should allow for more informed recommendations on the monitoring and management of proteinuria and further masitinib treatment in these patients to be made. Masitinib treatment can be considered in patients with pre-treatment proteinuria and does not inevitably cause worsening of proteinuria.
“The findings of this study add to the evidence base for the use of masitinib in treating neoplasia in small animal patients. The use of masitinib in dogs in this study was off-licence as C-KIT MCT expression was not determined, and many dogs were treated for other tumours.”
Nicola Di Girolamo, Editor of JSAP, said: “Little is known about which dogs are predisposed to becoming proteinuric following treatment with masitinib for neoplasia. Due to the small number of dogs in this study that developed proteinuria, conclusions about predisposing factors cannot be definitely drawn.
"The findings of this study add to the evidence base and demonstrate the need for larger, prospective trials including a control population and longer period of follow-up.”
The full article can be found in the August issue of the Journal of Small Animal Practice and can be read online here: https://www.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/jsap.13305. It is open access and can be freely accessed by anyone.
The study titled “Diagnosis and treatment of gastro-oesophageal junction abnormalities in dogs with brachycephalic syndrome” included thirty-six client-owned brachycephalic dogs (French bulldogs, pug and English bulldogs) in a prospective, randomised trial.
Antacid treatment (omeprazole (1mg/kg PO q24 hours) and magaldrate (5-10mL/dog PO q8-12 hours)) was randomly prescribed in 18 dogs before and after surgery, while the other 18 dogs did not receive any gastrointestinal medical treatment.
Digestive clinical signs and gastro-oesophageal junction abnormalities (GJA) were assessed and scored at presentation, at the time of surgery and at recheck. GJA were assessed during endoscopy in standard conditions, as well as during endotracheal tube obstruction. All endoscopic procedures were recorded and reviewed by a single, blinded reviewer.
In order to assess whether endotracheal tube obstruction manoeuvre accurately detects GJA, the procedure was also performed during the examination of the gastro-oesophageal junction in a group of 10 control dogs. Control dogs were healthy or had diseases that were not expected to interfere with gastro-oesophageal junction dynamics, and were anaesthetised for independent purposes.
Dr Emilie Vangrinsven, corresponding author for the paper said: "Although results of multivariate analysis failed to demonstrate a direct effect of antacid treatment, a significant interaction between antacid treatment status and improvement of digestive clinical score throughout the endoscopies was present, meaning that treated animals seem to improve faster and have lower clinical scores after surgery than untreated animals. Furthermore, a significant improvement in GJA-obstruction score was present in the treatment group only.
"In contrast to standard endoscopy, the obstruction manoeuvre during endoscopy allowed detection of GJA in dogs, even in the absence of clinical signs. We were concerned that the obstruction manoeuvre may induce false positive results for the diagnosis of dynamic GJA; in the control group, GJA during obstruction manoeuvre were found to be negligible suggesting that this technique does not significantly overestimate the presence of GJA.”
Nicola Di Girolamo, Editor of JSAP said: "Based on this study, antacid treatment administered to brachycephalic dogs undergoing surgery may be beneficial. It should be noted that a direct influence of antacid treatment on digestive clinical and lesion scores could not be significantly demonstrated, which may have been because of the lack of an actual difference, or as a result of the small sample size.”
The full article can be found in the March issue of the Journal of Small Animal Practice and can be read online here: https://www.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/jsap.13279
Photo: Professor Ian Ramsey
The study, titled “The utility of combined urine dipstick analysis and specific gravity measurement to determine feline proteinuria”, assessed the utility of the urine dipstick alone and combined with the urine-specific gravity (USG) for detecting proteinuria in cats.
For the study, the clinical records of cats presenting to a referral hospital between January 2011 and January 2017 were reviewed retrospectively.
To be eligible for inclusion, feline urine samples had to have undergone a complete urinalysis including dipstick evaluation, USG and urine protein-to-creatinine (UPC) measurement.
A total of 121 urine samples were included and diagnostic agreement and test accuracy were calculated for the dipstick test alone and in combination with the USG, using different cut-off values for proteinuria. Receiver-operating characteristic (ROC) curves were also calculated.
Jorge Pérez-Accino, corresponding author for the paper, said: “The diagnostic agreement between the urine dipstick and UPC ratio was poor and did not improve if the USG was considered together with the dipstick.
"A dipstick result of equal or greater than “Trace” (0.1-0.3g/L) had a sensitivity of 81% and a specificity of 31% to detect proteinuria.
"With regards the ROC curves, the area under the curve (AUC) of the urine dipstick alone was poor (0.57). When combined with the USG results, this improved to fair (0.78) but the specificity and negative predictive value (NPV) were still low.”
Nicola Di Girolamo, Editor of JSAP said: “These findings indicate that clinicians should not rely on the results of the urine dipstick test in combination with USG in cats for detecting proteinuria. Instead other quantitative methods, such as UPC ratio, should always be performed to detect proteinuria in cats.”
The full article can be found in the September issue of the Journal of Small Animal Practice which is free for BSAVA members. It can also be read online here: https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/jsap.13184
The BSAVA has put together a collection of resources relating to urinalysis and proteinuria, available here: https://www.bsavalibrary.com/content/urinalysis--160
For the study, titled “RHDV2 epidemic in UK pet rabbits. Part 1: clinical features, gross post mortem and histopathological findings”1, veterinary surgeons were encouraged to submit case histories and the results of post mortem examinations of pet rabbits that died suddenly. Samples taken during the post mortem were sent for histopathological examination.
Frances Harcourt-Brown, corresponding author for the paper, said: "Case histories, macroscopic findings and histopathology results were available from 300 rabbits that died suddenly.
"Of these, 185 (62%) died from RHD and showed characteristic histopathological features of RHD including apoptosis and variable lytic and coagulative hepatocellular necrosis, with varying distribution.
"Interestingly, macroscopic evidence of disease was not present in all cases – for example, gross liver abnormalities were only reported in 30% of cases, despite all cases showing hepatocellular necrosis on microscopic examination.
"Rapid death and death of other rabbits in the household were common features of RHD.
"Histopathology was also useful in yielding valuable information about other causes of death in the rabbits that did not die from RHD.”
Nicola Di Girolamo, editor of JSAP said: “This is a terrible disease that is currently spreading in areas of the world that were free from it until recently. Having more evidence on the type of clinical presentations and lesions that should be expected with this disease in rabbit patients is going to be of tremendous value for clinicians. Given that there is not always macroscopic evidence of RHD, histopathology is key for the diagnosis of RHD in pet rabbits.”
The full article can be found in the July issue of the Journal of Small Animal Practice which is free for BSAVA members.
It can also be read online here: https://www.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10.1111/jsap.13141
Photo: BSAVA
The article looks at the practice, rationale and motivation for raw feeding before evaluating the existing evidence on both the benefits and risks of such diets.
The recent trend away from heat-treated, manufactured pet food for dogs and cats towards raw diets has been driven by suspicion of the former and perceived health benefits of the latter.
However, feeding raw diets, even commercially-prepared ones, does have risks: a recent paper described 13 cats in the UK that appeared to have been infected by Mycobacterium bovis2 by feeding Natural Instinct Wild Venison, a commercial raw mince for cats.
The leader of the investigation, Professor Danièlle Gunn-Moore from the University of Edinburgh said: "Feeding raw food was the only conceivable route of infection in most cases; this outbreak of tuberculosis has now affected more than 90 individuals in over 30 different locations, with more than 50 of the cats developing clinical disease."
One of the authors of the review, Dr Andrew Wales, said: "Formal evidence does exist for claims by raw‐feeding proponents of an altered intestinal microbiome and (subjectively) improved stool quality. However, there is currently neither robust evidence nor identified plausible mechanisms for many of the wide range of other claimed benefits.
"There are documented risks associated with raw feeding, principally malnutrition (inexpert formulation and testing of diets) and infection affecting pets and/or household members. Salmonella has been consistently found and there is also a risk of introducing antimicrobial-resistant bacteria."
The full review article can be found in the June issue of the Journal of Small Animal Practice which is free for BSAVA members. It can also be read online here https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/jsap.13000
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