Diagnosis and management of Cryptococcus neoformans var. grubii detected in an oral mass in a pink-tongued skink (Cyclodomorphus gerarrdii).

Cryptococcus is an encapsulated yeast that is found in both yeast and hyphal forms. Cryptococcus neoformans and C. gattii are the most medically important species, causing disease in both immunocompromised and immunocompetent individuals.

Assessment of the inter-rater agreement of corneal cytology and culture findings in canine ulcerative keratitis.

Objectives: To assess the inter-rater agreement of corneal cytology findings in canine ulcerative keratitis by veterinary surgeons of different training levels and the agreement of corneal cytology with culture.

Materials And Methods: Dogs with progressive ulcerative keratitis were prospectively recruited for corneal cytology and culture. Corneal cytology slides were reviewed by veterinary surgeons of different training levels (three general practitioners, three ophthalmologists and three pathologists).

Ocular histiocytic sarcoma in a cat.

A 13-year-old male neutered British blue cat presented with uveitis, hyphema, and dyscoria in the right eye. Light microscopic examination revealed that the ciliary body, iris root, drainage angle, and adjacent choroid were infiltrated by sheets of large neoplastic mononuclear and multinucleate round to polygonal cells. Neoplastic cells stained immunopositive for CD18 and HLA-DR (MHC class II) and were immunonegative for CD3, CD79a, MUM-1, CD117 (c-Kit), and S100.

Corneolimbal squamous cell carcinoma with intraocular invasion in two cats.

Unilateral corneolimbal squamous cell carcinoma associated with intraocular invasion is described in two unrelated cats. The diagnosis was made on histopathological examination of the enucleated globes in both cases. Findings revealed squamous cell carcinoma infiltrating the limbus, adjacent cornea, and sclera with associated intraocular invasion at the level of the limbus.

Unilateral facial myokymia in a dog with an intracranial meningioma.

A 23-month-old castrated male Cavalier King Charles spaniel was evaluated because of a 6-month history of unusual rippling/undulating movements of the right facial muscles that were continuous and persisted during sleep. Neurological examination revealed narrowing of the right palpebral fissure and unilateral right-sided facial myokymia that was characterised by myokymic, and to a lesser degree, neuromyotonic discharges on concentric needle electromyographic examination. After persisting unchanged for almost 2.

Ataxia and paralysis in cats in Australia associated with exposure to an imported gamma-irradiated commercial dry pet food.

Between June 2008 and March 2009, 87 cats in Australia developed symmetrical hindlimb ataxia, paraparesis, tetraparesis, paraplegia or tetraplegia in association with eating an imported, irradiated dry pet food. This communication reports the clinical signs and outcomes of those cats.

The prevalence of feline A/B blood types in the Sydney region.

Objective: To determine the distribution of A/B blood types in pedigree and crossbred cats in the Sydney region, and to estimate the associated risk of administering incompatible blood in an unmatched random transfusion.

Design: A prospective/retrospective study of blood specimens collected from both sick and healthy cats.

Materials And Methods: Blood was collected from 355 cats from the Sydney region over a 12-year period from 1992 to 2003.

Redescription of Besnoitia bennetti (Protozoa: Apicomplexa) from the donkey (Equus asinus).

Besnoitia bennetti tissue cysts were found in four naturally-infected donkeys (Equus asinus) from the USA. Infectivity of its bradyzoites and tachyzoites to animals and cell culture was studied. The bradyzoites were not infectious to out-bred Swiss Webster mice, rabbits or gerbils.

Comparison of the effects of Clostridium perfringens type D culture supernates in ligated intestinal loops of goats and sheep.

The effects of Clostridium perfringens type D culture supernates were compared in ligated loops of the small intestine (ileum) and colon of four goat kids and four lambs, the loops being examined histopathologically and electron microscopically 7 h after inoculation. No lesions were observed in the small intestine of any animal, or in control colonic loops. In the caprine and ovine colonic loops treated with culture supernates, most goblet cells were empty and the lumina contained a layer of mucus, polymorphonuclear leucocytes, bacteria and sloughed epithelial cells.