Clinical and biochemical changes in 53 Swedish dogs bitten by the European adder - Vipera berus

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>Every year many dogs in Sweden are bitten by <it>Vipera berus</it>, the only venomous viper in Sweden. This prospective study investigated clinical signs, some biochemical parameters, treatment, and progress of disease after snakebite in 53 dogs. Effects of treatment with and without glucocorticoids were evaluated.</p> <p>Methods</p> <p>All fifty-three dogs bitten by <it>Vipera berus </it>were examined the same day the dog was bitten and the next day. Two more examinations during 23 days post snake bite were included. Creatinine, creatine kinase (CK), alanine aminotransferase (ALT), glutamate dehydrogenase (GLDH), alkaline phosphatase (ALP) and bile acid results were followed through 3 to 4 samplings from 34 of the dogs.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>All dogs had variable severity of local swelling in the bite area and 73 per cent had affected mental status. Initial cardiac auscultation examination was normal in all dogs, but six dogs had cardiac abnormalities at their second examination, including cardiac arrhythmias and cardiac murmurs. All dogs received fluid therapy, 36 dogs were given analgesics, 22 dogs were treated with glucocorticoids, and ten dogs were treated with antibiotics. Evidence of transient muscle damage (increased CK) was seen one day after the snake bite in 15 (54%) of 28 sampled dogs. Moderate changes in hepatic test results occurred in 1 dog and several dogs (22 of 34) had transient, minor increases in one or more hepatic test result. No dog died during the observation period as a consequence of the snake bite.</p> <p>Conclusions</p> <p>Snake bite caused local swelling in all dogs and mental depression of short duration in most dogs. Some dogs had transient clinical signs that could be indicative of cardiac injury and some other had transient biochemical signs of liver injury. Treatment with glucocorticoids did not have any clear positive or negative effect on clinical signs and mortality.</p

Chronic suppurative and pyogranulomatous disease ("Stövarsjuka") in hunting dogs : pathogenesis, diagnostics and treatment

Three conditions - thoracic/abdominal wall swellings, pleuritis with empyema and sublumbar lesions - were studied in a total of 39 adult, large-breed hunting dogs. Previously they were considered to be different diseases with poor prognosis. The aetiology and pathogenesis was obscure but filamentous microorganisms found on histopathological examination oftissue and exudate were identified as Nocardia asteroides by morphological criteria. Prodromal signs in the dogs of the present work included lethargy, low grade fever and respiratory signs. The dogs were subjected to as radical surgery as possible supported by chemotherapy. In the sublumbar cases the inflammatory lesions were located by imaging techniques including radiography, ultrasound, scintigraphy and magnetic resonance imaging. In the cases of pleuritis with empyema, pleural drainage was established by a special technique. The macroscopic appearance of the tissue changes in the three syndromes were uniform, showing new tissue masses of the pyogranulomatous type and varying amounts of viscous reddish-brown exudate, occasionally accompanied by white or yellowish granules. A "homogenous" type of nonspecific, mixed infection, composed of anaerobic bacteria including Actinomyces sp was found. Nocardia asteroides was not retrieved in any ofthe cases. In the majority, if not in all, of the cases, foreign bodies of grass origin were found in the inflammatory lesions in all three syndromes. It is proposed that aspiration of very small plant parts is the common denominator of the three conditions. According to this theory, the plant parts are aspirated, penetrate the lungs and are forced between the pleural layers in a caudal direction. The foreign bodies may remain in the pleural cavity or become trapped at the peripheral attachment of the diaphragm, and migrate further from this point into the intercostal, abdominal or sublumbar musculature, in the immediate vicinity, where local inflammatory changes occur. It is reasonable to believe that the infection arises from mucous membrane commensals, which seemingly colonise the plant parts as they penetrate the mucous membranes ofthe respiratory tract The prognosis after treatment by the proposed regime seems to be good as 34 of the 38 dogs treated returned to normal health