Clinical efficacy and safety of propofol or ketamine anaesthesia in dogs premedicated with medetomidine.

Combinations of medetomidine with either propofol or ketamine were compared for the sedation and induction of anaesthesia in dogs undergoing a variety of surgical (60 per cent) and non-surgical (40 per cent) procedures. Eighty-four dogs were used at four sites. Medetomidine was administered intramuscularly at a dose of 1000 micrograms/m2 body surface area 10 to 15 minutes before the induction of anaesthesia by the administration of propofol (n = 44) or ketamine (n = 40) dosed to effect.

Disturbed release of growth hormone in mature dogs: a comparison with congenital growth hormone deficiency.

An acquired defect in growth hormone secretion in mature dogs has been associated with some forms of generalised alopecia. In an attempt to elucidate the pathogenesis of the disturbance in growth hormone release, the plasma concentrations of growth hormone and insulin-like growth factor I (IGF-I) were measured in two seven-year-old poodles with alopecia and, for comparison, in two young German sheperd dogs with congenital hyposomatotropism (pituitary dwarfism). In the poodles the basal concentrations of growth hormone were low, although often above the detection limit of the assay.

[Occipital dysplasia in a Pomeranian dog].

Occipital dysplasia, a congenital malformation of the foramen magnum, was diagnosed in a 4-year-old Pomeranian dog. The diagnosis was made by clinical and radiographic findings. Caudal displacement of the cerebellum and hydrocephalus were diagnosed postmortem, using a radiographic contrast study of the subarachnoid space.