Developing a predictive model for spinal shock in dogs with spinal cord injury.

Background: Reduced pelvic limb reflexes in dogs with spinal cord injury typically suggests a lesion of the L4-S3 spinal cord segments. However, pelvic limb reflexes might also be reduced in dogs with a T3-L3 myelopathy and concurrent spinal shock.

Hypothesis/objectives: We hypothesized that statistical models could be used to identify clinical variables associated with spinal shock in dogs with spinal cord injuries.

Risk of environmental exposure to small coccidia from wild canid feces in rural Ohio.

OBJECTIVE To determine the extent of environmental exposure to heteroxenous coccidia from wild canid feces in southeastern Ohio. SAMPLE 285 presumed wild canid fecal samples collected across an ecological system in southeastern Ohio. PROCEDURES Morphological classification and molecular analysis were used to determine the canid genus for collected fecal samples.

Comparison of field surveillance methods for and assessment of factors potentially associated with the presence of free-roaming cats in a mixed-urban environment.

OBJECTIVE To evaluate 2 methods of surveying free-roaming cats (Felis catus) and identify factors potentially associated with the presence of such cats in a mixed-urban environment. ANIMALS Free-roaming cats on and near The Ohio State University campus. PROCEDURES The university campus and surrounding areas were divided into zones classified by land-use category; 100 zones were selected for surveillance of free-roaming cats by the line-transect method (with visual observation).

Use of a combination of routine hematologic and biochemical test results in a logistic regression model as a diagnostic aid for the diagnosis of hypoadrenocorticism in dogs.

OBJECTIVE To assess the discriminatory value for corticosteroid-induced alkaline phosphatase (CiALP) activity and other variables that can be measured routinely on a CBC and biochemical analysis for the diagnosis of hypoadrenocorticism in dogs. SAMPLE Medical records of 57 dogs with confirmed hypoadrenocorticism and 57 control dogs in which hypoadrenocorticism was suspected but ruled out. PROCEDURES A retrospective case-control study was conducted.

Antioxidant activity and phytochemical constituent of two plants used to manage foot and mouth disease in the Far North Region of Cameroon.

Aim: Plants used in the Far North Region of Cameroon by livestock farmers to manage foot and mouth disease (FMD) in cattle and the phytochemical composition and antioxidant potentials of two of them (Boscia senegalensis [BS] and Tapinanthus dodoneifolius [TD]) were investigated in this study.

Materials And Methods: Ethno veterinary data were collected from 325 livestock farmers using semi-structured interviews from September 2011 to April 2012. The 2,2-diphenyl-picrylhydrazyl radical scavenging activity and total phenolic content (TPC) were first performed with five different solvents to choose the best extract of each plant based on these two factors.

On Not Knowing Zoonotic Diseases: Pastoralists' Ethnoveterinary Knowledge in the Far North Region of Cameroon.

In this article, we consider the implications of Murray Last's (1981) for the study of ethnoveterinary knowledge of mobile pastoralists in the Far North Region of Cameroon. Specifically, we ask two interrelated questions: (1) what is the nature of this knowledge, and (2) what is the best way to study it? We conducted a study of pastoralists' knowledge of human and animal infectious diseases to evaluate the claim that mobile pastoralists in the Chad Basin do not have a concept for zoonotic diseases. We used a combination of free lists and semi-structured interviews to study pastoralists' knowledge.

What to do with chronically sick animals? Pastoralists' management strategies in the far north region of Cameroon.

While the goal of African pastoralists is health and longevity of herd and household, some of their management strategies appear to counter this long-term goal. Pastoralists in the far north region of Cameroon, for example, do not always remove chronically sick animals from their herds, even though chronic diseases, such as brucellosis, are contagious and have the potential to cause fertility problems in the herd. We used ethnographic and epidemiologic methods to understand why pastoralists do not remove chronically sick animals and whether their management strategies have an impact on herd fertility.

Evaluation of a bench-top coagulation analyzer for measurement of prothrombin time, activated partial thromboplastin time, and fibrinogen concentrations in healthy dogs.

Objective: To evaluate a bench-top coagulation analyzer for determination of prothrombin time (PT), activated partial thromboplastin time (APTT), and fibrinogen concentration in healthy dogs.

Animals: 55 healthy adult dogs.

Procedures: PT, APTT, and fibrinogen concentration were determined by use of the coagulation analyzer.