Retrospective Study

The available literature on the activities of the small animal veterinarian in Flanders is limited. Inthis research, information was collected on the working conditions, the most frequently performedclinical activities and the importance of the different disciplines in veterinary practice. Log filerecorded by fifth-year veterinary students during their externship at a small animal practice were usedfor this research. The dog was the most presented species in practice. In the study, it was shownthat preventive medicine definitely plays an important role in veterinary medicine as vaccination wasperformed during 28% of all consultations. The most important clinical disciplines were dermatology,gastroenterology, wound care, general illness and orthopedics. Neutering and spaying were the mostfrequently performed surgical procedures by the small animal veterinarian. The collected informationcould be used in order to improve the training of veterinary students.

The objective of this study was to find the most significant parameters to identify horses withlarval cyathostominosis, caused by infection with small strongyles. A retrospective study with 307horses, that were presented at the Faculty of Veterinary Medicine (Ghent University) between 2008and 2018, was performed. Horses older than three months with diarrhea, of which feces was examinedat the Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, were included in this study. The definitive diagnosis of larvalcyathostominosis was determined by the presence of L4/L5 larvae in the feces. Clinical examinations,blood and fecal analyses were performed in all cases and compared to determine positive predictivevalues for larval cyathostominosis. Blood albumin concentration appeared to be the most significantvalue. Albumin concentrations less than 20 g/L had the highest significance (<0.004) to predict apositive fecal sample. The combination of an albumin concentration less than 20 g/L, sex (female),body temperature (>38.2°C), neutrophilia (>67%) and season (October-March) was the most accurate(72%) in predicting the presence of larval cyathostominosis. Due to the moderate significance of thismodel, fecal examination remains essential to confirm larval cyathostominosis suspicion.

Injuries to the structures within the digital flexor tendon sheath (DFTS) can be the primarycause of non-infectious tenosynovitis, for which diagnostic and therapeutic tenoscopy canbe performed. In this retrospective study, the medical records of fifty horses that underwenttenoscopic treatment of non-infectious tenosynovitis of the DFTS from 2008 to 2016 at theFaculty of Veterinary Medicine (Ghent University), were evaluated. Telephonic follow-up informationwas obtained for forty horses.In jumping horses, front limbs were significantly more often involved, whereas in non-jumpinghorses, the hind limbs were affected more frequently (P=0.01). Lesions of the deep digitalflexor tendon (DDFT) were observed in 45% of the cases and lesions of the manica flexoria (MF)in 39% of the cases. Ultimately, 27.7% of horses with lesions of the DDFT and 53% of horses withlesions of the MF returned to their original level of performance, with a mean follow-up periodof 4.6 ± 2.5 years.

In this article, the use of desoxycorticosterone pivalate is retrospectively reviewed in eightdogs with primary hypoadrenocorticism, presented at the Small Animal Department of GhentUniversity. The results showed that desoxycorticosterone pivalate provided adequate mineralocorticoidreplacement in all cases, also in the dogs that had previously been treated with fludrocortisoneacetate. A starting dosage of 1.5 – 2.2 mg/kg SC was used, with a fixed dosing interval of28 days in most of the cases. Each time, prednisolone was added to the therapy as glucocorticoidsupplementation. No side effects related to desoxycorticosterone pivalate therapy were notedand all owners were satisfied with the treatment consisting of desoxycorticosterone pivalate andprednisolone.

While mature coastal bermudagrass hay is strongly associated with ileal impaction in theSoutheastern United States, stabling on flax bedding has anecdotally been associated with thiscondition in Europe. The aim of this retrospective study was to investigate the association betweenileal impaction and the use of flax shives compared to straw as bedding in horses withcolic. Medical records of 2336 referral cases evaluated for abdominal pain between January 2008and May 2017 at the Department of Large Animal Internal Medicine, Ghent University werereviewed. Diagnosis, date of admission, age, breed, gender, body weight and stable bedding wererecorded. Conditional logistic regression analysis was used to assess the association between ilealimpaction and each individual variable. Odds ratios (OR) and 95% confidence intervals (CI)were determined. Predictors with a value of P < 0.2 were included in a multivariable Cox regressionmodel and Wald’s test was used to assess parameter estimate significance. Further, the associationbetween survival to discharge and type of bedding or type of treatment (medical versussurgical) was analyzed for horses with ileal impactions. The proportion of colic cases stabled onflax bedding at home was 11.3%. The overall prevalence of ileal impaction was 4.2%. In the flaxgroup, the prevalence of ileal impaction was 9.4% as opposed to 3.6% within the straw group.The OR of 2.8 (95% CI 1.7-4.7; P < 0.001) in the multivariable logistic regression model indicatedthat horses stabled on flax shives were approximately three times more likely to have ileal impactionsthan horses stabled on straw. There was no significant association found between ilealimpaction and the period of admission, age, gender or body weight in a multivariable logisticregression model. The odds for having ileal impaction is approximately six times (OR 6.3; 95%CI 2.4-16.4; P < 0.001) higher in draft horses than in warmbloods in the multivariable logisticregression model. No significant association was found between survival to discharge and type ofbedding or treatment. These results suggest that horses with colic that were housed on flax beddingare more likely to present ileal impactions than horses housed on straw.

Distal sesamoidean ligament (DSL) injury is a recognized cause of lameness in horses. Thepurpose of this study was to describe the contrast-enhanced computer tomography (CE-CT)findings in horses with injury to the DSL compared to a control group without injury to the DSL.Medical records of horses referred for CE-CT between 2008 and 2015 were reviewed. Cases wereselected retrospectively based on a CE-CT imaging finding of injury to the DSL. Three horseshad DSL injury as the only finding, while the remaining horses had one or more concomitant injuries.DSL injury and fetlock trauma and/or suspensory branch desmitis were the most frequentinjury combinations. CE-CT can be of value in diagnosing DSL injury. The high number of concurrentDSL and fetlock and/or suspensory lesions suggests that further investigation should beconsidered when evaluating horses with injuries related to either of these structures.

Elbow dysplasia is an important cause of forelimb lameness in large breed dogs. The aim ofthis study was to report on the arthroscopic findings associated with medial compartment erosion(MCE) of the canine elbow joint. Retrospectively, records of 84 elbow joints from 66 dogsdiagnosed arthroscopically with MCE were retrieved from a medical records database (2008 -2012). The radiographic degree of osteoarthritis was determined. Arthroscopic images and videoswere evaluated in detail. In nine joints (10.7%), MCE was the only pathological finding (= group1). Group 2 (n = 50, 59.5%) consisted of elbows with MCE concomitant with medial coronoidprocess (MCP) pathology. In group 3 (n = 25 joints, 29.8%), MCE was diagnosed during a second-look arthroscopy in dogs presented with lameness after arthroscopic treatment for medialcoronoid disease. There was a significant age difference (p < 0.001) between the groups, with dogsin group 1 being the oldest. Complete erosion of the medial compartment was most commonlyfound in group 1, whereas focal cartilage erosion was mostly identified in group 2. Overall, additionalcartilage pathology of the lateral part of the humeral condyle and/or the radial head wasrecognized in 58.3% of the joints (49/84).

A descriptive retrospective analysis of 811 antibiograms in dogs and cats was carried out in orderto get a better insight into the prevalence of antimicrobial resistance against ‘critically important antimicrobialswith highest priority for human medicine’ in dogs and cats. A veterinary diagnostic laboratoryperformed antimicrobial susceptibility testing on 811 Escherichia coli isolates obtained fromveterinary clinical samples from dogs and cats in Flanders, Belgium. These isolates were mainly fromfecal (62.5%) or urogenital (30.5%) origin. A disk diffusion method with breakpoints provided by thesupplier of the antibiotic disks was used for antimicrobial susceptibility testing. The results indicatedthat 9.5% of the Escherichia coli isolates were resistant against or intermediate susceptible to marbofloxacine,16.7% to enrofloxacine and 15.7% to cefovecin. The unexpected difference in resistancebetween marbofloxacine and enrofloxacin may be, at least partially, explained by the different clinicalbreakpoints used to interpret the results of sensitivity tests for dog and cat isolates in both agents. Theobserved resistance in this study might be related to the regular use of fluoroquinolones and third generationcephalosporins. Therefore, the use of ‘critically important antimicrobials with highest priorityfor human medicine’ remains an important issue in small animal veterinary medicine.

Subcutaneous abscesses or granulomas in the lower extremities of dogs commonly occursecondary to the penetration and migration of vegetal foreign bodies (FBs). The aim of thisstudy was to describe the clinical presentation and ultrasonographic appearance of intact grassawn FBs in the lower extremities of dogs, and their ultrasound-guided retrieval with particularemphasis on the feasibility, effectiveness and prognosis associated with this technique. In thisretrospective study, 22 FBs were identified ultrasonographically in 19 dogs. The procedureresulted in the successful retrieval of the FB in 100% of dogs, and the clinical signs resolved in90% (n=17) in less than ten days. No complications or recurrence were encountered. This studyshows that ultrasonographic examination should be the first-choice modality when a vegetal FBis suspected within the distal extremity, as it allows both identification and removal of the FBwith a minimally invasive procedure, with short- and long-term effectiveness and good prognosis.

Meningoencephalitis of unknown etiology (MUE) is a frequently diagnosed and often fataldisease in veterinary neurology. The aim of this retrospective study was to assess the efficacy ofthree different sole prednisolone treatment schedules in dogs diagnosed with MUE. The dogswere diagnosed clinically with MUE based on previously described inclusion criteria, and treatedwith a three-, eight- or eighteen-week-tapering prednisolone schedule. Thirty eight dogs were includedin the study. Seventeen, fifteen and six dogs received the three-, eight- and eighteen-weektapering schedule, respectively. Overall, 37% of the dogs died or were euthanized because ofMUE, and a significant difference in survival time was seen between the three treatment schedules.Surprisingly, the highest number of dogs that died because of MUE was seen in the eightweektreatment schedule (56%), followed by the three-week (26%) and eighteen-week (0%)treatment schedule. Based on the results of this study, no definitive conclusions can be drawnregarding the ideal prednisolone dosing protocol for dogs diagnosed with MUE. However, a moreaggressive and immunosuppressive treatment protocol might lead to a better outcome.