Age-related trends in urine specific gravity in apparently healthy cats.

Objectives: Urine specific gravity (USG) is the most common method for the estimation of urine concentration in cats. Utilization of USG as a screening tool is easily accessible and is of low cost to the client if strategically utilized in settings of higher diagnostic value. There is currently minimal population information regarding how USG changes across ages in cats.

Evaluating urine volume and host depletion methods to enable genome-resolved metagenomics of the urobiome.

Background: The gut microbiome has emerged as a clear player in health and disease, in part by mediating host response to environment and lifestyle. The urobiome (microbiota of the urinary tract) likely functions similarly. However, efforts to characterize the urobiome and assess its functional potential have been limited due to technical challenges including low microbial biomass and high host cell shedding in urine.

Commercially available wearable health monitors in dogs only had a very strong correlation during longer durations of time: a pilot study.

Objective: To compare a commercially available accelerometer, FitBark 2 (FitBark 2nd Generation; FitBark) with a previously validated accelerometer, Actical (Actical; Respironics Inc) during periods of activity and rest. We hypothesized that the FitBark 2 would correlate strongly with the Actical during periods of activity and rest.

Methods: 20 dogs between the ages of 1 and 9 years of variable sex, breed, and body weight were enrolled from April through August 2022 in a 1-week pilot trial.

Gastrointestinal release site for delayed release and gelatin capsules in healthy dogs.

Gelatin capsules deliver their contents to the stomach, while delayed-release (DR) capsules are designed to allow delivery to the small intestine. This study evaluated the gastrointestinal release site of DR capsules in six healthy adult dogs compared to gelatin capsules. Both gelatin and DR capsules were filled with barium-impregnated polyethylene spheres (BIPS™), and following enteral administration, release site was assessed using abdominal radiographs at baseline, immediately after ingestion, 15 min post-ingestion, 30 min post-ingestion, and then every 30 min thereafter.

Ionized hypercalcemia can resolve with nutritional modification in cats with idiopathic hypercalcemia or chronic kidney disease.

Case Series Summary: Cats with ionized hypercalcemia that were fed diets with either more than 200 mg calcium per 100 kilocalories (kcal), a calcium:phosphorus (Ca:P) ratio greater than 1.4:1 or both, based on diet history, were included in this case series. Ionized hypercalcemia was documented at least twice in all cats before enrollment.

Commercially available wearable health monitor in dogs is unreliable for tracking energy intake and expenditure.

Objective: Assess the accuracy of predicted daily energy requirement (pDER) reported by a triaxial accelerometer and activity monitor for dogs (FitBark 2; FitBark Inc) and determine whether the activity monitor accurately estimates the observed daily energy requirement (oDER). We hypothesized that the activity monitor would accurately estimate oDER in dogs and meet standards established for human devices.

Animals: 23 dogs between the ages of 1 and 10 years and variable sex, breed, and body weight were enrolled from May 5, 2021, through July 23, 2021.

Longitudinal examination of urine pH, specific gravity, protein, culture, and antimicrobial resistance profiles in healthy dogs.

Background: Urine is routinely evaluated in dogs to assess health. Reference ranges for many urine properties are well established, but the scope of variation in these properties over time within healthy dogs is not well characterized.

Objectives: Longitudinally characterize urine properties in healthy dogs over 3 months.

Clinician prescribing practices for managing canine idiopathic acute diarrhea are not evidence based.

Objective: To characterize clinician preferences and justification for preferred methods for managing canine idiopathic acute diarrhea (IAD) and compare results to evidence-based literature.

Sample: 284 surveys from veterinarians in small animal first-opinion practice.

Methods: Veterinarians were asked to complete a survey (61 questions) including background demographic information, practice type and location, duration in practice, and management questions for canine IAD pertaining to nutritional, probiotic, antimicrobial, antidiarrheal, benign neglect, and other therapies.

The use of Escherichia coli strain Nissle 1917 shows promise for improving gastrointestinal and urinary health in dogs.

Objectives: To investigate the probiotic Escherichia coli Nissle 1917 (EcN) in canine idiopathic diarrhea and urinary tract infections.

Animals/samples: The utility of EcN was explored in a 3-phase study from March 2017 to June 2020. Eighty-nine dogs with idiopathic diarrhea were included in phase 1, 3 healthy dogs were included in phase 2, and uropathogenic E coli (UPEC) isolates from 38 dogs with urinary tract infections were included in phase 3.

Measuring 25-hydroxyvitamin D in cats: comparison of a whole-blood lateral flow assay, 2 dried-blood-spot tests, and serum LC-MS/MS.

Measuring 25-hydroxyvitamin D (25D) can be a challenge in veterinary medicine because of laboratory accessibility and required sample volume. We compared 2 dried-blood-spot (DBS) tests and a lateral flow assay (LFA) to the gold standard, liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry (LC-MS/MS). We hypothesized that there would be good agreement among the tests, within a clinically significant limit of agreement of ± 25 nmol/L.

Fecal identification markers impact the feline fecal microbiota.

Fecal diagnostics are a mainstay of feline medicine, and fecal identification markers help to distinguish individuals in a multi-cat environment. However, the impact of identification markers on the fecal microbiota are unknown. Given the increased interest in using microbiota endpoints to inform diagnosis and treatment, the objective of this study was to examine the effects of orally supplemented glitter and crayon shavings on the feline fecal microbiota (amplicon sequencing of 16S rRNA gene V4 region).

Synbiotic-IgY Therapy Modulates the Mucosal Microbiome and Inflammatory Indices in Dogs with Chronic Inflammatory Enteropathy: A Randomized, Double-Blind, Placebo-Controlled Study.

Chronic inflammatory enteropathy (CE) is a common cause of persistent gastrointestinal signs and intestinal inflammation in dogs. Since evidence links dysbiosis to mucosal inflammation, probiotics, prebiotics, or their combination (synbiotics) may reduce intestinal inflammation and ameliorate dysbiosis in affected dogs. This study's aim was to investigate the effects of the synbiotic-IgY supplement on clinical signs, inflammatory indices, and mucosal microbiota in dogs with CE.

Laboratory Diagnosis of Pancreatitis.

Acute pancreatitis is one of the most common diseases in dogs and cats, but diagnosis is challenging. The gold standard for diagnosis of pancreatitis is pancreatic biopsy, which has many limitations. As such, clinical diagnosis of pancreatitis based on a consistent clinical picture (eg, signalment, clinical signs, physical examination findings), supportive laboratory screening diagnostics, pancreatitis-specific laboratory testing, consistent imaging findings, and thorough diagnostic evaluation ruling out alternate differential diagnoses is most often used in clinical patients.

Dietary fiber aids in the management of canine and feline gastrointestinal disease.

Dietary fiber describes a diverse assortment of nondigestible carbohydrates that play a vital role in the health of animals and maintenance of gastrointestinal tract homeostasis. The main roles dietary fiber play in the gastrointestinal tract include physically altering the digesta, modulating appetite and satiety, regulating digestion, and acting as a microbial energy source through fermentation. These functions can have widespread systemic effects.

Randomized controlled trial demonstrates nutritional management is superior to metronidazole for treatment of acute colitis in dogs.

Objective: To describe the outcome of dietary management of canine noninfectious acute colitis with or without concurrent oral administration of metronidazole using a randomized controlled clinical trial.

Animals: 59 client-owned dogs with noninfectious acute colitis.

Procedures: Dogs with acute noninfectious colitis were enrolled in a 30-day diet trial after exclusion of parasitic infectious etiologies (fecal centrifugation floatation, Giardia/Cryptosporidium antigen testing) and systemic disease (CBC, biochemistry, urinalysis).

Home-cooked diets cost more than commercially prepared dry kibble diets for dogs with chronic enteropathies.

Objective: Nutrition plays a fundamental role in the management of canine chronic enteropathies (CCEs). Dog owners may elect to feed home-cooked diets (HCDs) rather than veterinary commercially prepared diets (CPDs) because of perceived lower costs. There is a paucity of data comparing costs of these options.

Escherichia coli probiotic exhibits in vitro growth-limiting effects on clinical feline uropathogenic E coli isolates.

Objective: To characterize uropathogenic Escherichia coli (UPEC) in cases of clinical feline urinary tract infection (UTI) and subclinical bacteriuria and investigate the in vitro effects of E coli strain Nissle 1917 on isolate growth.

Animals: 40 cats with positive E coli culture results for urine collected during routine evaluation.

Procedures: Characterization of UPEC isolates was performed by PCR-based phylotype analysis and serotyping.

Escherichia coli pathotype contamination in raw canine diets.

Objective: To investigate the prevalence of Escherichia coli contamination and E coli virulence gene signatures consistent with known E coli pathotypes in commercially available conventional diets and raw-meat-based diets (RMBDs).

Sample: 40 diets in total (19 conventionally cooked kibble or canned diets and 21 RMBDs) obtained from retail stores or online distributors.

Procedures: Each diet was cultured for E coli contamination in 3 separate container locations using standard microbiological techniques.

Suspected Primary Spontaneous Asymptomatic Pneumothorax in a Cat.

Spontaneous pneumothorax (SPT) is a documented emergency of the respiratory tract condition classified as either primary or secondary based on the presence of underlying pulmonary conditions. All reported SPT in the feline literature are evaluated for respiratory clinical signs. Primary SPT without underlying pathology or without clinical signs is not reported in cats.

Novel Multicentric Hepatic Lymphoma with Extrahepatic Biliary Obstruction Associated with Duodenal Perforation in a Cat.

An 11-year-old male castrated domestic shorthair cat was presented for evaluation due to clinical deterioration and potential extrahepatic biliary obstruction (EHBO). Further investigations confirmed EHBO and revealed severe and previously unreported comorbidities. On initial examination, the cat was markedly icteric with a poor body condition score and severe muscle wasting.

Risk factors and impact of COVID-19-related clinic closures on the detection of gastrointestinal parasites in dogs, a cross-sectional study.

Infections with endoparasites, especially gastrointestinal helminths, are a common finding in client-owned dogs. The Community Practice section at the Ohio State University Veterinary Medical Center (OSU-VMC) follows Companion Animal Parasite Council, American Animal Hospital Association, and American Veterinary Medical Association guidelines for parasitology by recommending annual fecal analyses for dogs and prescribing year-round, broad-spectrum parasite preventatives. There is increasing interest in determining if parasite occurrence is changing in client-owned dogs.

Short-term efficacy of epidural pain management in dogs undergoing cystoscopy.

Background: The effects of epidural anesthesia in dogs undergoing cystoscopy are unknown.

Objective: To investigate the effect of epidural analgesia on postcystoscopy pain in dogs.

Animals: Twenty-six dogs undergoing routine cystoscopy for lower urinary tract disease.

Transanal access port (TrAAP) technique: the use of a single incision laparoscopic surgical port during canine colonoscopy (a cadaveric study).

Background: Transanal colonoscopy using the single-incision laparoscopic surgical port is routinely used in human patients but has not been described in veterinary literature. The purpose of this study was to describe a novel access technique elucidating its endoscopic clinical potential and benefits. Additionally, its challenges, limitations, and clinical usability will be discussed and critiqued.