Pulmonary edema as a postoperative complication in two obese patients (a horse and a dog)

In this case series, the development and successful treatment of pulmonary edema are described in two obese animals (a horse and a dog) in the postoperative period. This rare but severe complication is normally fairly easy to diagnose, but the cause is usually multifactorial and difficult to determine. Potentially contributing factors are discussed. Both animals responded successfully to therapy and were discharged without further incidents

Paraprostaatcyste met urotheliale aflijning bij een hond

An infected paraprostatic cyst originating from the prostate parenchyma was diagnosed in a seven-year-old male American Staffordshire terrier with dysuria. The diagnosis was based on the history, the clinical and ultrasonographic findings, bacteriological culture, extensive histopathological examination and a DNA-test. Treatment consisted of the surgical removal of a great part of the cyst and the omentalization of the remnant, castration and antibiotic therapy. Immunohistochemistry demonstrated an urothelial lining of the cyst. A DNA-test excluded persistent Mullerian duct syndrome (PMDS). The cyst had an open connection with the urethra and probably originated from an embryonic remnant located in the prostatic gland. The dog had a prosperous recovery but the dysuria and urinary incontinence persisted. At four months postoperatively, a new paraprostatic cyst was diagnosed by ultrasound. Aspiration of its content revealed infected urine

Low Birth Weight Impairs Acquisition of Spatial Memory Task in Pigs

In commercial pig farming, an increasing number of low birth weight (LBW) piglets are born, due to selection for large litter sizes. While LBW piglets have a higher risk of pre-weaning mortality, a considerable number of these piglets survive to slaughter age. In humans, LBW is a risk factor for long-term cognitive impairments. In pigs, studies examining the post-weaning effects of LBW on cognition have reported contradictory results. Therefore, the current study aimed to assess the effects of LBW on cognitive development in pigs using an improved study design, by (1) testing a larger sample size than previous studies, (2) assessing acute and chronic stress responses to account for a potential altered stress response in LBW pigs, and (3) testing both female and male pigs to account for potential confounding effects of sex. Learning and memory of 20 LBW pigs and 20 normal birth weight (NBW) pigs, both groups consisting of 10 females and 10 males, were compared using a spatial holeboard task. In this task, pigs had to learn and remember the locations of hidden food rewards. After a pig had successfully acquired the task, it was presented with two successive reversal phases during which it was presented with a new configuration of reward locations. The holeboard allows for simultaneous assessment of working and reference memory, as well as measures of motivation, exploration, and behavioral flexibility. Mixed model ANOVAs revealed a transiently impaired reference memory performance of LBW pigs, implying they had more difficulty learning their reward configuration in the holeboard. Also, LBW piglets showed increased pre-weaning hair cortisol concentrations compared to their NBW siblings. No other effects of LBW were found. Sex had no direct or interaction effects on any measures of holeboard performance or stress. It is possible that the enriched housing conditions applied during our study had an ameliorating effect on our pigs' cognitive development. Overall, our results suggest LBW has a negative effect on post-weaning cognitive performance in pigs. This could have welfare consequences as cognitive skills are required for pigs to learn how to correctly respond to their environment

Quantifying resilience of humans and other animals

All life requires the capacity to recover from challenges that are as inevitable as they are unpredictable. Understanding this resilience is essential for managing the health of humans and their livestock. It has long been difficult to quantify resilience directly, forcing practitioners to rely on indirect static indicators of health. However, measurements from wearable electronics and other sources now allow us to analyze the dynamics of physiology and behavior with unsurpassed resolution. The resulting flood of data coincides with the emergence of novel analytical tools for estimating resilience from the pattern of micro-recoveries observed in natural time series. Such dynamic indicators of resilience (DIORs) may be used to monitor the risk of systemic failure across systems ranging from organs to entire organisms. These tools invite a fundamental rethink of our approach to the adaptive management of health and resilience

Health and Disease—Emergent States Resulting From Adaptive Social and Biological Network Interactions

Health is an adaptive state unique to each person. This subjective state must be distinguished from the objective state of disease. The experience of health and illness (or poor health) can occur both in the absence and presence of objective disease. Given that the subjective experience of health, as well as the finding of objective disease in the community, follow a Pareto distribution, the following questions arise: What are the processes that allow the emergence of four observable states—(1) subjective health in the absence of objective disease, (2) subjective health in the presence of objective disease, (3) illness in the absence of objective disease, and (4) illness in the presence of objective disease? If we consider each individual as a unique biological system, these four health states must emerge from physiological network structures and personal behaviors. The underlying physiological mechanisms primarily arise from the dynamics of external environmental and internal patho/physiological stimuli, which activate regulatory systems including the hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal axis and autonomic nervous system. Together with other systems, they enable feedback interactions between all of the person's system domains and impact on his system's entropy. These interactions affect individual behaviors, emotional, and cognitive responses, as well as molecular, cellular, and organ system level functions. This paper explores the hypothesis that health is an emergent state that arises from hierarchical network interactions between a person's external environment and internal physiology. As a result, the concept of health synthesizes available qualitative and quantitative evidence of interdependencies and constraints that indicate its top-down and bottom-up causative mechanisms. Thus, to provide effective care, we must use strategies that combine person-centeredness with the scientific approaches that address the molecular network physiology, which together underpin health and disease. Moreover, we propose that good health can also be promoted by strengthening resilience and self-efficacy at the personal and social level, and via cohesion at the population level. Understanding health as a state that is both individualized and that emerges from multi-scale interdependencies between microlevel physiological mechanisms of health and disease and macrolevel societal domains may provide the basis for a new public discourse for health service and health system redesign

Anaphylaxis after intravenous administration of amoxicillin/clavulanic acid in two dogs under general anesthesia

In this case series, the occurrence and successful treatment of anaphylaxis after the intravenous administration of amoxicillin/clavulanic acid are described in two dogs under general anesthesia. Within five to ten minutes after the administration of the antibiotic, a severe hypotension occurred in both dogs, accompanied by labial and periorbital swelling and erythema. Therapy consisted of counteracting the cardiovascular effects of anaphylaxis and preventing further release of inflammatory mediators. Both dogs recovered uneventfully from the drug-related anaphylaxis

Chemical immobilization of chimpanzees (Pan troglodytes) using a combination of detomidine and ketamine

Objective : To determine if a combination of detomidine and ketamine can be used for effective chemical immobilization of chimpanzees. Study design Observational study. Animals Twenty-one adult captive chimpanzees (12 males, nine females), age 846 years, weighing 40.468.4 kg. Methods : The chimpanzees were immobilized with intramuscular (IM) detomidine and ketamine by a darting system. Based on estimated weights, doses administered were 50 mu g kg-1 detomidine and 4 mg kg-1 ketamine in groups 1 and 2, and 60 mu g kg-1 and 5 mg kg-1 respectively in group 3. Eight minutes in group 1 and 15 minutes in groups 2 and 3 were allowed from the time of apparent immobilization before removing the animals from their enclosures. Body temperature, arterial haemoglobin saturation and pulse rate were measured. The time from injection to induction (recumbency and absence of voluntary movement), total anaesthetic and recovery times (with or without atipamezole) were recorded. Results : Immobilization occurred within 5 minutes after darting in most animals. Early handling of the chimpanzees often resulted in arousal and required further doses of ketamine IM. Most animals were hypoxaemic and hypothermic. Occasionally, bradycardia was observed. Atipamezole resulted in an acceptable quality of recovery 10 minutes after IM injection. The duration of immobilization varied widely when no antagonist was administered. Conclusions and clinical relevance : The combination detomidine (60 mu g kg-1) and ketamine (56 mg kg-1) can be used for the immobilization of chimpanzees for non- to minimally invasive procedures. A period of 15 minutes should be allowed before handling to avoid unwanted arousal. Oxygen administration is recommended to reduce hypoxaemia. Administration of atipamezole is justified to hasten recovery