Hair and Claw Dehydroepiandrosterone Concentrations in Newborn Puppies Spontaneously Dead within 30 Days of Age.

The latest intrauterine fetal developmental stage and the neonatal period represent the most challenging phases for mammalian offspring. Toward the term of pregnancy, during parturition, and after birth, the hypothalamic−pituitary−adrenal axis (HPA) is a key system regulating several physiologic processes, through the production of cortisol and dehydroepiandrosterone (DHEA). This study was aimed to assess DHEA concentrations in hair and claws of 126 spontaneously dead newborn puppies, classified as premature puppies (PRE-P), stillborn puppies (STILL-P) and puppies that died from the 1st to the 30th day of life (NEON-P).

A survey on bacterial involvement in neonatal mortality in dogs.

Bacterial infections represent the second cause of neonatal morbidity and mortality in dogs, so the present study aimed to investigate the bacterial involvement in canine neonatal mortality and to evaluate the antibiotic susceptibility of the isolated bacteria. Fifty-one newborn purebred puppies, born dead or dead within 28 days of age, belonging to 36 different litters, were enrolled and the following procedures were performed on their fresh dead bodies: necropsy, collection of swabs by liver, kidney, lung, small bowel, and possible thoracic and/ or abdominal effusion, for both bacteriological examination and antimicrobial susceptibility testing, and collection of samples by the same organs for histology. About 47% of total swabs were positive at bacteriology (pure bacterial culture or bacterial association).

IGF-I and NEFA concentrations in fetal fluids of term pregnancy dogs.

Insulin-like growth factor-I (IGF-I) and non-esterified fatty acids (NEFA) play an essential role in fetal growth and development. To date, fetal fluids IGF-I and NEFA levels at term canine pregnancy are unknown and could be related to the neonatal development and breed size. For these reasons, the aims of the present study were as follows: (1) to evaluate IGF-I and NEFA concentrations in fetal fluids collected from normally developed and viable newborn puppies born at term of normal pregnancies; (2) to assess possible differences between IGF-I and NEFA levels in amniotic compared with allantoic fluid; (3) to detect possible relationship between breed body size and IGF-I and NEFA amniotic and allantoic concentrations; (4) to evaluate possible differences in IGF-I fetal fluids levels between male and female puppies; and (5) to assess possible correlations between the two hormones in each type of fluid.