COMMENTARY

SPECIAL REPORT

Telephone survey of the relationship between onychectomy or onychectomy technique and house soiling in cats

One of the purported complications of onychectomy in cats is house soiling secondary to postoperative litter box substrate aversion, but no studies have been done to evaluate whether onychectomy actually increases the prevalence of house soiling. In a telephone survey of 281 owners of 455 cats in Polk County, Iowa, cats that had undergone onychectomy and that lived in a multicat (3 to 5 cats) household were more than 3 times as likely to have house soiled as were single-housed cats with intact claws. Among cats that had undergone onychectomy, the proportion that had house soiled was significantly lower for cats in which a carbon dioxide laser was used than for cats in which any other onychectomy technique was used.

See page 638

Control of Giardia duodenalis in a colony of group-housed dogs at a veterinary medical college

Eliminating Giardia duodenalis infection from kennel-housed dogs is difficult; however, a protocol developed for use on a colony of dogs housed at the Virginia-Maryland College of Veterinary Medicine was successful in controlling the infection, despite exposure of dogs to a variety of environments and frequent handling by multiple individuals. Dogs were treated with fenbendazole on study days 1 through 10. On day 5, dogs were bathed and moved into clean, disinfected kennels to allow for disinfection and drying of their assigned kennels at 26.7°C (80°F) for 24 hours on day 6. Initially, all dogs in the colony shed G duodenalis cysts. During and immediately after treatment (days 8 and 13), no cysts were detected in any dogs.

See page 644

Effects of resveratrol administration in performance horses with lameness localized to the distal tarsal joints

Results of a randomized, controlled clinical trial involving 45 horses with distal tarsal joint lameness indicated that intraarticular injection of triamcinolone in both hind limbs followed by oral resveratrol administration for 4 months resulted in reduced lameness, compared with triamcinolone injection and placebo administration. Percentage of riders who reported that the horse's performance was better was significantly higher for the resveratrol group than for the placebo group after 2 (20/21 vs 14/20) and 4 (18/21 vs 10/20) months. Change in A1:A2 ratio was significantly better for horses in the resveratrol versus placebo group. However, subjective lameness scores and degree of pelvis movement asymmetry did not differ between groups.

See page 650

Comparison of horses with intestinal entrapment in the gastrosplenic ligament versus the epiploic foramen

A review of medical records for 43 horses with intestinal entrapment in the gastrosplenic ligament and 73 horses with intestinal entrapment in the epiploic foramen indicated that short-term survival rate was similar for the 2 groups (22/25 [88%] horses with gastrosplenic entrapment and 29/34 [85%] horses with epiploic foramen entrapment were discharged from the hospital) even though horses with epiploic foramen entrapment had higher mean heart rate and blood and peritoneal fluid lactate concentrations than did horses with gastrosplenic ligament entrapment. In addition, compared with the general population of horses with colic, middle-aged geldings appeared to be predisposed to intestinal entrapment.

See page 660

Cardiac electrophysiologic and hematologic effects of ractopamine and zilpaterol in finishing steers

Supplementation of the feed with the β-adrenoceptor agonists ractopamine hydrochloride and zilpaterol hydrochloride during the last 20 to 42 days of the feeding period has been used extensively in the cattle industry to improve weight gain and feed efficiency. In a study involving 30 Angus steers randomly assigned to receive diets containing ractopamine or zilpaterol at FDA-approved doses or with no additive (control), steers fed ractopamine or zilpaterol had greater mean heart rates than did those fed the control diet, but mean heart rates were within reference limits at all times, except on day 14 for the ractopamine group. No differences in arrhythmia rates were identified among the groups.

See page 668

Serologic responses in eight alpacas vaccinated with a large animal rabies vaccine

Rabies was identified in a female alpaca that had been kept at pasture with 12 other female alpacas, 2 crias, and 5 goats. The farm was placed under quarantine, restricting movement of animals on and off of the property for 6 months. To prevent further rabies cases, the 12 adult alpacas and 2 crias were vaccinated with a large animal rabies vaccine administered in an extralabel manner. Paired serum samples were obtained immediately before and 21 days after vaccination in 8 animals. All 8 had adequate serum antirabies antibody production in response to rabies vaccination; therefore, the quarantine period was reduced to 3 months. In the year after the index rabies case, no other animals on the farm developed rabies.

See page 678