Topics in the routine assessment of newborn kitten vitality: Apgar score, reflexes and complementary assessments.

Objectives: The aim of this study was to perform neonatal clinical assessments at birth to identify newborn kittens at risk according to type of delivery, thus allowing immediate intervention and increasing their chances of survival.

Methods: This study compared Apgar scores, reflexes and clinical parameters (temperature, weight, blood glucose and peripheral oxygen saturation [SpO2]) between eutocic neonates and those delivered by emergency cesarean section. The animals were evaluated at birth and after 10 and 60 mins.

Use of cardiac troponin I (cTnI) levels to diagnose severe hypoxia and myocardial injury induced by perinatal asphyxia in neonatal dogs.

Prolonged perinatal asphyxia and subsequent severe hypoxia are the main causes of mortality in neonatal dogs in the first days of life. In medicine, specific cardiac biochemical markers, such as troponin I, are used to diagnose ischemic and nonischemic myocardial injury in asphyxiated newborns after birth. Thus, the objectives of this study were to compare the levels of cardiac troponin I (cTnI) between asphyxiated and nonasphyxiated newborn dogs and evaluate the correlations of cTnI levels with the modified Apgar score, the levels of oxygen saturation, blood glucose, and lactatemia, and blood gas parameters.

Neonatal sepsis in dogs: Incidence, clinical aspects and mortality.

The neonatal period in dogs remains associated with high mortality rates. Sepsis is the main cause of neonatal losses during the first three weeks of life. Additionally, failure in the clinical assessment and early diagnosis of sick newborns is still common, leading to inadequate care, which contributes to a high mortality rate.