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The aim of this study was to examine the safety and reliability of a research-grade implantable pump for controlled delivery of insulin glargine in cats. For this purpose, a small telemetrically controlled drug delivery pump with a refillable reservoir was implanted into the subcutaneous tissues of the dorsal neck in 10 clinically healthy cats. The reservoir was filled with insulin glargine, and the pump was programmed to deliver four boluses of 0.25 IU/kg, 2-3 weeks apart. As a control, insulin glargine (0.25 IU/kg) was injected SC. Blood glucose and plasma insulin glargine concentrations were measured before each bolus and SC injection and for 8 h afterward. Cats were monitored for signs of discomfort. Pumps were easily implanted and well tolerated by all cats. The experiment was completed in five of 10 cats. In four, the pump failed because of technical reasons; another cat developed severe hypoglycaemia attributable to insulin leakage. Overall, plasma insulin glargine increased after six of eight (75%) initial boluses and after one of 16 (6%) successive boluses. Glucose decreased after seven of eight (88%) initial boluses and after four of 16 (25%) successive boluses. Only the first bolus significantly increased plasma insulin glargine (P = 0.008) and decreased glucose (P = 0.008). Of 20 SC injections, 10 (50%) increased plasma insulin glargine (P <0.001) and 12 (60%) decreased glucose (P <0.001). The pump did not cause discomfort in cats, but life-threatening hypoglycaemia occurred in one. Frequent device problems suggest that the pump needs improvements. Because successive boluses did not increase plasma insulin glargine, this type of insulin may not be appropriate with the pump., (Copyright © 2016 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.)

The diagnostic accuracy of a smartphone electrocardiograph (ECG) in evaluating heart rhythm and ECG measurements was evaluated in 166 dogs. A standard 6-lead ECG was acquired for 1 min in each dog. A smartphone ECG tracing was simultaneously recorded using a single-lead bipolar ECG recorder. All ECGs were reviewed by one blinded operator, who judged if tracings were acceptable for interpretation and assigned an electrocardiographic diagnosis. Agreement between smartphone and standard ECG in the interpretation of tracings was evaluated. Sensitivity and specificity for the detection of arrhythmia were calculated for the smartphone ECG. Smartphone ECG tracings were interpretable in 162/166 (97.6%) tracings. A perfect agreement between the smartphone and standard ECG was found in detecting bradycardia, tachycardia, ectopic beats and atrioventricular blocks. A very good agreement was found in detecting sinus rhythm versus non-sinus rhythm (100% sensitivity and 97.9% specificity). The smartphone ECG provided tracings that were adequate for analysis in most dogs, with an accurate assessment of heart rate, rhythm and common arrhythmias. The smartphone ECG represents an additional tool in the diagnosis of arrhythmias in dogs, but is not a substitute for a 6-lead ECG. Arrhythmias identified by the smartphone ECG should be followed up with a standard ECG before making clinical decisions., (Copyright © 2016 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.)

Neoplastic or non-neoplastic masses are common findings in the oral cavity of cats and dogs. The aim of this prospective study was to compare the results of cytological examinations of lesions of the oral cavity following fine-needle aspiration (FNA), fine-needle insertion (FNI), and impression smear (IS) with histopathological results being considered as the diagnostic gold standard. In total, 85 dogs and 29 cats were included in the study. Cases were included when histology and cytology (FNA, FNI, and/or IS) were available from the same lesion; κ-agreement and accuracy between cytological and histopathological results were calculated. Eighteen cytological specimens were excluded, with a retrieval rate of 84.2%. Of the 96 samples analysed, FNA, FNI, and IS were available from 80, 76, and 73 animals, respectively. Overall, 60/67 (89.6%) and 21/29 (72.4%) lesions were neoplastic in dogs and cats, respectively, with the remaining being non-neoplastic. For all lesions, κ-values obtained by FNA, FNI, and IS were in dogs 0.83 (95% confidence interval [CI]: 0.77-0.90), 0.87 (95% CI: 0.81-0.93) and 0.75 (95% CI: 0.67-0.84), respectively, and in cats 0.92 (95% CI: 0.87-0.96), 0.92 (95% CI: 0.88-0.97) and 0.86 (95% CI: 0.79-0.92), respectively. The diagnostic accuracies of FNA, FNI, and IS in dogs with neoplasia were 98.2%, 98.1%, and 91.8%, respectively, and in cats with neoplasia were 95.6%, 95.6% and 95.8%, respectively. In conclusion, the high agreement with histopathology suggests that cytological examinations by FNI, FNA, and IS are all appropriate methods to correctly diagnose lesions of the oral cavity in dogs and cats., (Copyright © 2014 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.)

This review presents the consensus opinion of the Canine Leishmaniasis Working Group on the prognosis and monitoring of leishmaniasis in dogs. While the prognosis for both exposed and infected dogs is considered to be favourable, this changes if infection progresses to overt disease. For clinically affected animals undergoing treatment, the prognosis is dictated by the severity of the signs (and in particular the severity of renal dysfunction) when therapy is initiated; assessing the degree of proteinuria is useful in this context. Approximately 75% of dogs without evidence of renal involvement live for >4years if adequately treated. Monitoring the response to treatment includes ongoing clinical and clinicopathological assessment, as well as quantifying serological responses and the parasite load in the patient., (Copyright © 2013 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.)

The objective of this study was to investigate the relationship between the accumulation of black dust matter in lungs (anthracosis) and primary lung cancer in dogs. A retrospective study was carried out on material from 35 dogs with primary lung cancer and 160 controls. The amount, histological appearance and birefringence of anthracosis were assessed in pulmonary specimens by light microscopy, and the odds ratio (OR) calculated for dogs with primary lung cancer. The same factors were analysed to identify an association between tumour histotype, histological grade, and clinical stage. Papillary adenocarcinoma was most commonly diagnosed (45.7%). The majority of tumours were of histological grade II, and the lung cancer was more often localised (clinical stage I). An increased risk of lung cancer was observed in dogs with higher amounts of anthracosis (OR: 2.11, CI 95%: 1.20-3.70; P < 0.01), which suggests an association between anthracosis due to inhalation of polluted air and lung cancer in dogs., (Copyright © 2009 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.)

The cat has recently been proposed as a valuable model for type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM), because feline diabetes shares several similarities with the disease in humans. Impaired beta-cell function, decreased beta-cell mass, insulin resistance that is often related to obesity, and pancreatic amyloid deposition, are among these common features. In this study, and to further develop the cat as a model of T2DM, feline pancreatic islets were isolated and real-time PCR quantification of mRNA transcripts of genes central to beta-cell function and survival established. In particular, mRNA quantification systems were determined for insulin, the insulin enhancer pancreatic duodenal homeobox-1 (PDX-1), the insulin suppressor CCAAT/enhancer binding protein-beta (C/EBPbeta), glucose transporter isoform 2 (GLUT2), Fas receptor, the caspase-8 inhibitor FLIP (FLICE [caspase-8]-inhibitory protein) and two chemokines, interleukin (IL)-8 and monocyte chemoattractant protein-1 (MCP-1). Pancreatic islets were isolated by collagenase digestion from healthy cat donors. Partial feline mRNA sequences were determined for PDX-1, C/EBPbeta, GLUT2 and FLIP using primers identified from conserved regions of human, dog and rat mRNA. These novel and the previously available sequences (insulin, Fas receptor, IL-8 and MCP-1) were used to design feline-specific primers suitable for real-time PCR in isolated pancreatic islets. The adopted protocol of collagenase digestion yielded pancreatic islets that were frequently surrounded by acinar cells. Quantification of mRNA transcripts was simple and reproducible in healthy cats. Characterisation of genes related to insulin signalling in cats will prove useful to better understand the pathogenesis of feline diabetes and possibly of human T2DM., (2008 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.)

Impaired insulin sensitivity is increasingly recognised in cats, but sequences of genes involved in insulin-signalling are largely undetermined in this species. In this study, extended feline mRNA sequences were determined for the adiponectin, glucose transporter-1 (GLUT1), GLUT4, peroxisome proliferative activated receptor-gamma1 (PPARgamma1), PPARgamma2, plasminogen activator inhibitor-1 (PAI-1), monocyte chemoattractant protein-1 (MCP-1) and insulin receptor genes. Conserved dog-specific primers identified from human-dog mRNA alignments were used to amplify feline cDNA in the polymerase chain reaction (PCR). The feline sequences determined by this method were used to design feline-specific primers suitable for real-time PCR for quantification of gene expression in insulin sensitive tissues of healthy cats. Partial sequences of feline mRNAs had 86-95% identity with dog and human genes. Expression of adiponectin, GLUT1, GLUT4, PPARgamma1, PPARgamma2, PAI-1 and insulin receptor mRNA was detected and quantified in subcutaneous and visceral fat and skeletal muscle, whereas MCP-1 mRNA was detected in adipose tissue but not in skeletal muscle. Further characterisation of genes related to glucose metabolism in cats will provide additional insights into insulin-signalling mechanisms in this species.

Many viruses have been identified in pericardial fluid and in tissue samples from humans with pericarditis by means of molecular diagnostics. In canine idiopathic pericardial effusion there is as yet no conclusive evidence to support the involvement of an infectious agent. This study was designed to investigate a possible relationship between idiopathic pericardial effusion in dogs and viruses most commonly encountered in humans affected with viral pericarditis. Coxsackievirus B3 RNA, influenza virus type A RNA, human adenovirus type 2 DNA, human cytomegalovirus DNA, and parvovirus B19 DNA were investigated using PCR on pericardial effusion samples and pericardial tissue specimens collected from 14 dogs with idiopathic pericardial effusion. PCR was also used to test for two bacteria, Borrelia burgdorferi and Chlamydia pneumoniae. The same microorganisms were also looked for in pericardial effusions or pericardial washes from 10 dogs with neoplastic pericardial effusion, and in samples collected from 10 dogs which died of a non-cardiac disease. One pericardial effusion sample from a dog with the idiopathic form of the disease tested positive for influenza virus type A and sequencing of the amplicon confirmed the PCR result. In another dog from the same group a cytomegalovirus was detected by PCR in the effusion, but sequencing showed this to be a false-positive result. The genomes of the microorganisms investigated were not detected in neoplastic effusions or pericardial washes. The results indicate that viral and bacterial DNA/RNA of relevance for human pericarditis is rare in pericardial samples from dogs with idiopathic pericardial effusion. The finding of influenza type A viral RNA in pericardial fluid from one dog with the idiopathic form of the disease warrants further investigation.