2017 - 86 (2)

In this review article, a overview is given of the congenital pathologies of vertebrae in thedog. These pathologies are common in dogs and can be divided in two major groups: neural tubedefects or spinal dysraphism, such as spina bifida with or without meningocoele and dermal sinustract, and congenital anomalies of the vertebral column. The latter group can be subdivided inmalformations originating in the embryonic period of development, such as butterfly vertebra,mediolateral wedged vertebra and transitional vertebra, or in the foetal period, such as blockvertebra and dorsoventral wedged vertebra. Congenital vertebral anomalies can be incidentalfindings on radiographs or CT, but sometimes they can be the underlying cause of a clinical,mostly neurological problem. Due to pressure on the spinal cord, symptoms, such as pelvic limbataxia, paresis, loss of spinal reflexes, incontinence and atrophy of the pelvic limbs may occur.

A six-year-old, male Yorkshire terrier was presented with acute vomiting, anorexia, depression,watery diarrhea and sudden blindness. On the basis of a transabdominal ultrasonographicexamination, the presence of a prominent aortic aneurysm was established. The aneurysm of theaorta was confirmed at post-mortem examination. Unexpectedly, a pheochromocytoma of theleft adrenal gland was found to be involved with the aneurysm. In this case report, the unusualoccurrence of a large, unruptured abdominal aortic aneurism (AAA) concurrent with a pheochromocytomain a male Yorkshire terrier dog is discussed.

A ten-year-old European Shorthair cat was presented with complaints of progressively worseningdyspnea with open-mouth breathing and inspiratory and expiratory stridor. Histopathologicalexamination of a biopsy, collected during tracheoscopy, revealed that the mass was an intraluminaltracheal adenocarcinoma. Computed tomography (CT) revealed no metastases and the excision of thetumor was performed during the same anesthesia. Intravenous premedication was not possible due tothe behavior of the patient and induction of anesthesia was provided using intramuscular injection ofalfaxalone. The maintenance of anesthesia was initially provided by inhalation of isoflurane vaporizedin oxygen using a laryngeal mask and a circle rebreathing system, followed by total intravenousanesthesia (TIVA) with alfaxalone during the actual excision of the tumor. By removal of seventracheal rings, the tumor could be completely removed.

A ten-year-old European Shorthair cat was presented with complaints of progressively worseningdyspnea with open-mouth breathing and inspiratory and expiratory stridor. Histopathologicalexamination of a biopsy, collected during tracheoscopy, revealed that the mass was an intraluminaltracheal adenocarcinoma. Computed tomography (CT) revealed no metastases and the excision of thetumor was performed during the same anesthesia. Intravenous premedication was not possible due tothe behavior of the patient and induction of anesthesia was provided using intramuscular injection ofalfaxalone. The maintenance of anesthesia was initially provided by inhalation of isoflurane vaporizedin oxygen using a laryngeal mask and a circle rebreathing system, followed by total intravenousanesthesia (TIVA) with alfaxalone during the actual excision of the tumor. By removal of seventracheal rings, the tumor could be completely removed.

Inflammatory reactions in dogs are associated with systemic changes in serum, called the acutephase response; changes in the concentration of acute phase proteins in the serum take place.C-reactive protein (CRP) is a positive acute phase protein, which increases during inflammation.The role of inflammation in epilepsy remains unclear. In this study, the inflammatory responsein dogs with idiopathic epilepsy (IE) was investigated. The aims of the study were: 1. to measureserum CRP concentrations in dogs with IE and in healthy dogs, 2. to measure serum CRPconcentrations in dogs with acute cluster seizures and in dogs with isolated seizures and 3. toobserve the evolution of serum CRP concentrations in time after the last seizure. This studyshowed no significant differences in serum CRP concentrations between dogs with IE (7.8 mg/l)and dogs of the control group (8.3 mg/l). Furthermore, the results showed higher mean serumCRP concentrations in dogs with IE exhibiting cluster seizures (11,8 mg/l) than in dogs withisolated seizures (5.7 mg/l). However, these results were not statistically significant (P = 0.077).Finally, no statistically significant decrease in serum CRP concentrations was seen with timeafter the last epileptic seizure in dogs with IE (P = 0.077).

Gastric Helicobacter species are present in the stomach of more than 50% of dogs and cats. Thesebacteria have also been associated with severe gastric pathologies in humans. The route of transmissionbetween pets and from pets to humans remains unclear, but it has been suggested that direct contact mightplay a role. In order to determine whether transfer might occur through contact with saliva and feces, thepresence of Helicobacter DNA was determined in oral swabs and feces of dogs and cats.In this study, 155 saliva samples and141 fecal samples were collected from 106 dogs and 58 cats. From22 dogs, a gastric biopsy sample was also collected, aiming to investigate whether the same Helicobacterspecies found in saliva and/or feces could also be detected in the stomach of these animals. All sampleswere screened for the presence of DNA from gastric Helicobacter species associated with dogs and cats,using species-specific qPCRs and amplicon sequencing.In 43% of the dogs and 41% of the cats, one or more positive samples were found. Helicobacter DNAwas detected in 29 % of the saliva samples, 37 % of the fecal samples and 41% of the gastric biopsies.Several dogs and cats were infected with more than one Helicobacter species. No clear correlationbetween the presence of a Helicobacter species in the stomach of dogs and the detection of this speciesin their saliva and/or feces was shown. Moreover, the present study did not allow to determine whetherthe detected Helicobacter DNA originated from viable Helicobacter bacteria, highlighting the need ofadditional studies in order to determine the importance of saliva and feces in transfer of these gastricHelicobacter species between animals and from animals to humans.

The purpose of this literature review is to clarify how exercise capacity can be measured inhorses and which standardized exercise tests (SETs) exist. In this review, the measurement of theexercise capacity of horses is discussed and the standardized exercise tests (SET) are described.Two main types of SETs are used. Laboratory or treadmill tests are easy to standardize andprovide more options to use all kinds of measuring devices, since the horse stays on the treadmill.On the other hand, field tests are conducted under the natural conditions associated with thespecific sports discipline, and are easier to implement in the training schedule. However, field testsencompass interfering variables, such as weather conditions, ground surface conditions and therider or jockey. Several variables are measured in order to calculate the fitness level which may beexpressed by different parameters, such as V200 (speed at a heart rate of 200 beats per minute),Vla4 (speed at a blood lactic acid level of 4 mmol/L) and VO2max (maximum oxygen uptake).