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Copyright of Canadian Veterinary Journal / Revue Vétérinaire Canadienne is the property of Canadian Veterinary Medical Association and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

Background: Cellular deterioration occurs with blood sample aging, impacting white blood cell (WBC) identification and differential accuracy. This may be exacerbated in samples from patients experiencing inflammation. Previously, bovine serum albumin (BSA) has been shown to improve cellular preservation of blood and other samples, but the effect on cell preservation in canine blood has not been assessed. Objectives: We aimed to determine the effects of BSA on neutrophil nuclear area when added to potassium ethylene diamine tetra‐acetic acid (K3‐EDTA)‐anticoagulated canine blood prior to blood smear preparation. We evaluated the impact of inflammatory leukograms, sample storage temperatures (4° and 20°C), and time on outcomes. Materials and methods: Canine K3‐EDTA‐anticoagulated blood samples stored at 4° and 20°C were used from unique patients, 10 with and 10 without inflammatory leukograms. Blood smears were prepared from aliquots with or without the addition of 22% BSA at 0, 4, 8, 24, 48, and 72 h. The nuclear area was measured for 25 randomly selected neutrophils per slide using Fiji software. Mixed‐effect linear regression modeling was performed (significance: P < 0.05). Results: Nuclear area increased over time with and without added BSA. Both sample storage temperatures and the presence or absence of an inflammatory leukogram significantly impacted neutrophil nuclear area. Samples with added BSA had slightly higher predicted nuclear areas than those without BSA, but this difference was not statistically significant. Conclusions: BSA did not significantly impact neutrophil nuclear area and did not improve neutrophil preservation in canine blood samples. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objectives: The aim of this study was to evaluate initial antimicrobial therapy in cats diagnosed with upper or lower bacterial urinary tract infections at veterinary practices in the USA and Canada. Methods: Electronic medical records from a veterinary practice corporation with clinics in the USA and Canada were queried between 2 January 2016 and 3 December 2018. Feline patient visits with a diagnosis field entry of urinary tract infection, cystitis and pyelonephritis, as well as variation of those names and more colloquial diagnoses such as kidney and bladder infection, and where an antimicrobial was prescribed, were retrieved. Results: Prescription data for 5724 visits were identified. Sporadic cystitis was the most common diagnosis (n = 5051 [88%]), with 491 (8.6%) cats diagnosed with pyelonephritis and 182 (3.2%) with chronic or recurrent cystitis. Cefovecin was the most commonly prescribed antimicrobial for all conditions, followed by amoxicillin–clavulanic acid. Significant differences in antimicrobial drug class prescribing were noted between practice types and countries, and over the 3-year study period. For sporadic cystitis, prescription of amoxicillin–clavulanic acid increased significantly and cefovecin decreased between 2016 and 2018, and 2017 and 2018, while fluoroquinolone use increased between 2017 and 2018. Conclusions and relevance: The results indicate targets for intervention and some encouraging trends. Understanding how antimicrobials are used is a key component of antimicrobial stewardship and is required to establish benchmarks, identify areas for improvement, aid in the development of interventions and evaluate the impact of interventions or other changes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Staphylococci are inhabitants of skin and mucous membranes with Staphylococcus pseudintermedius (SP) and Staphylococcus aureus (SA) serving as important pathogens for animals and people, respectively. Previous research has identified the environment as potentially important in hospital‐associated infections and zoonotic transmission in veterinary settings. The objective of this pilot study was to determine the longitudinal prevalence over repeated samplings of environmental coagulase‐positive Staphylococcus (CPS) in a new veterinary hospital and evaluate associations between contamination and environmental and clinical (caseload, cleaning checklists and staff numbers) factors. Cleaning and disinfection compliance, based on staff‐completed checklists, were reviewed for the three shifts immediately prior to sampling. We hypothesized that over time, environmental contamination would increase as the clinic developed and caseload increased and compliance to cleaning checklists would decrease with increasing caseload. Over 18 months, 351 environmental samples were collected at five sampling times (sampling occurred before opening the hospital and every 3 to 6 months thereafter). Overall contamination with CPS was 30.8% (108/351), with SA (16.8%) and SP (13.1%) identified from the contaminated surfaces. Overall, methicillin‐resistant strains (MRSA and MRSP) were infrequently recovered (combined n = 3; <1%). Point prevalence of CPS contamination was relatively stable over the study period (22.5%–28.4%), with the exception of an increase at the fourth sampling (52.9%). Cleaning compliance varied over the study period (57.9%–100%); the lowest reported cleaning coincided with the highest proportion of CPS contamination. The most commonly contaminated surfaces were chairs (7/15; 46.7%), examination tables (19/47; 40.4%) and computers (12/35; 34.3%); these items were infrequently included on cleaning lists. Surfaces not included in the checklist were 2.3 times more likely to be contaminated by CPS than those that were included (OR: 2.3, CI 95%: 1.02 –5.35, p‐value=.04). MRSA and MRSP were rarely isolated from the environment in the newly opened hospital, indicating it may take time for resistant strains to enter the environment and persist on surfaces. This study identified the possible utility of cleaning checklists for directing cleaning practices and reducing the environmental contamination. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objective: To visually evaluate and morphometrically describe a sample of abnormal hooves from Sable Island horses that died between 2007 and 2013., Animal: Equine., Procedure: An opportunistic sample of 356 abnormal hooves from horses inhabiting Sable Island National Park Reserve (Canada) was collected postmortem between 2007 and 2013 from 101 Sable Island horses. These hooves were assessed for abnormalities in conformation through visual and morphometric evaluation., Results: On visual and morphometric evaluation, 100% of horses (101/101) had abnormal hoof conformation when compared to a domestic horse hoof model. Specific abnormalities from visual evaluation included long heels (85%); medial, lateral, and dorsal flares (45, 78, and 46% of horses, respectively); and cracking (62%). Specific abnormalities determined from morphometry of the hooves included contracted heels (87%), hoof imbalances including mediolateral imbalance (61%), and hoof length greater than width (100%)., Conclusion: Sable Island horses had various hoof abnormalities such as hoof capsule flaring; long, contracted heels; and mediolateral imbalance. These abnormalities have been observed in other feral horse populations living on soft substrates. Given the potential impact of hoof abnormalities on the welfare status of the Sable Island horses, further studies are warranted, including estimation of the prevalence of hoof abnormalities and direct observation of horse gait and behavior., Clinical Relevance: The significance of the hoof abnormalities for the health of the Sable Island horses is difficult to determine but the issue highlights the importance of further study to investigate the impact on the horses' welfare., (Copyright and/or publishing rights held by the Canadian Veterinary Medical Association.)

Background: Cellular deterioration occurs with blood sample aging, impacting white blood cell (WBC) identification and differential accuracy. This may be exacerbated in samples from patients experiencing inflammation. Previously, bovine serum albumin (BSA) has been shown to improve cellular preservation of blood and other samples, but the effect on cell preservation in canine blood has not been assessed., Objectives: We aimed to determine the effects of BSA on neutrophil nuclear area when added to potassium ethylene diamine tetra-acetic acid (K 3 -EDTA)-anticoagulated canine blood prior to blood smear preparation. We evaluated the impact of inflammatory leukograms, sample storage temperatures (4° and 20°C), and time on outcomes., Materials and Methods: Canine K 3 -EDTA-anticoagulated blood samples stored at 4° and 20°C were used from unique patients, 10 with and 10 without inflammatory leukograms. Blood smears were prepared from aliquots with or without the addition of 22% BSA at 0, 4, 8, 24, 48, and 72 h. The nuclear area was measured for 25 randomly selected neutrophils per slide using Fiji software. Mixed-effect linear regression modeling was performed (significance: P < 0.05)., Results: Nuclear area increased over time with and without added BSA. Both sample storage temperatures and the presence or absence of an inflammatory leukogram significantly impacted neutrophil nuclear area. Samples with added BSA had slightly higher predicted nuclear areas than those without BSA, but this difference was not statistically significant., Conclusions: BSA did not significantly impact neutrophil nuclear area and did not improve neutrophil preservation in canine blood samples., (© 2023 American Society for Veterinary Clinical Pathology.)