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Background: Guidelines‐driven screening protocols for early cancer detection in dogs are lacking, and cancer often is detected at advanced stages. Hypothesis/Objectives: To examine how cancer typically is detected in dogs and whether the addition of a next‐generation sequencing‐based "liquid biopsy" test to a wellness visit has the potential to enhance cancer detection. Animals: Client‐owned dogs with definitive cancer diagnoses enrolled in a clinical validation study for a novel blood‐based multicancer early detection test. Methods: Retrospective medical record review was performed to establish the history and presenting complaint that ultimately led to a definitive cancer diagnosis. Blood samples were subjected to DNA extraction, library preparation, and next‐generation sequencing. Sequencing data were analyzed using an internally developed bioinformatics pipeline to detect genomic alterations associated with the presence of cancer. Results: In an unselected cohort of 359 cancer‐diagnosed dogs, 4% of cases were detected during a wellness visit, 8% were detected incidentally, and 88% were detected after the owner reported clinical signs suggestive of cancer. Liquid biopsy detected disease in 54.7% (95% confidence interval [CI], 49.5%‐59.8%) of patients, including 32% of dogs with early‐stage cancer, 48% of preclinical dogs, and 84% of dogs with advanced‐stage disease. Conclusions/Clinical Importance: Most cases of cancer were diagnosed after the onset of clinical signs; only 4% of dogs had cancer detected using the current standard of care (i.e., wellness visit). Liquid biopsy has the potential to increase detection of cancer when added to a dog's wellness visit. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: The relationship between the development of SHPT and ionized magnesium (iMg) concentrations in blood of dogs with chronic gastrointestinal (GI) disease and abnormally low 25(OH)D is undefined. Objectives: Evaluate relationships between ionized magnesium (iMg), PTH, ionized calcium (iCa), and 25(OH)D in dogs with chronic enteropathy (CE) with or without protein‐losing enteropathy (PLE) and abnormal 25(OH)D. Determine whether dogs with CE or PLE, decreased 25(OH)D and SHPT have differences in iMg, iCa, or 25(OH)D when compared to dogs that do not have SHPT. Animals: Fifty dogs with CE +/− PLE and abnormally low serum 25(OH)D. Methods: Retrospective search of submissions database at a veterinary diagnostic laboratory for vitamin D profiles submitted in years 2017 to 2020. Cases were excluded if supplemented with Ca, Mg, or vitamin D. Spearman correlation was performed to evaluate relationships between iMg, PTH, 25(OH)D, and iCa. Ionized Mg, iCa, and 25(OH)D concentrations were compared between dogs with SHPT and those with normal PTH concentrations. Results: Concentrations of iMg were weakly negatively correlated with PTH (rho, −.31; P =.03), and weakly positively correlated with serum 25(OH)D (rho,.34, P =.02) and iCa (rho,.42, P =.003). Ionized magnesium concentrations were lower in dogs with abnormally low 25(OH)D and SHPT compared to dogs with abnormally low 25(OH)D and normal parathyroid hormone concentrations (P =.01). Conclusions and Clinical Importance: Hypomagnesemia might contribute to alterations in iCa and parathyroid hormone in dogs with CE +/− PLE and abnormally low 25(OH)D. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Despite its importance, there is no agreed definition of recovery of ambulation in dogs with spinal cord injury. Objectives: To validate a new walking test in dogs recovering from thoracolumbar spinal cord injury. Animals: Two hundred twenty‐four dogs weighing <20 kg: 120 normally ambulatory dogs, plus 104 dogs undergoing decompressive surgery for acute thoracolumbar intervertebral disc herniation. Methods: Prospective cohort studies. The distance each freely‐ambulatory dog walked during 50 step cycles was regressed on ulna length. For each postsurgical dog, we recorded when the calculated 50‐step distance was completed without falling, or their inability to complete this distance by 4 months or more after surgery. Bayesian analysis compared outcomes for presurgical neurologic categories; association of recovery with several preoperative variables was explored using logistic and time‐to‐event regression. Results: For control dogs, 50‐step distance (m) = 1.384 × ulnar length (cm) + 2.773. In postsurgical dogs, the 50‐step test provided decisive evidence that deep pain‐negative dogs were less likely to recover ambulation than dogs with intact pain perception (12/29 recovered vs 71/75; Bayes factor [BF] = 5.9 × 106) and, if they did recover, it took much longer (median 91 days vs median 14 days; BF = 1.5 × 103). Exploratory analysis suggested that presurgical neurologic status (subhazard ratio [SHR] = 0.022; P <.001) and duration of presurgical anesthesia (SHR = 0.740; P =.04) were associated with rapidity of recovery. Conclusions and Clinical Importance: This straightforward 50‐step walking test provides robust data on ambulatory recovery well‐suited to large scale pragmatic trials on treatment of thoracolumbar spinal cord injury in dogs. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]