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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.

Objectives A xenogeneic human tyrosinase DNA vaccine was developed for treatment of dogs with oral malignant melanoma (Oncept; Merial). No studies have evaluated the safety or efficacy of this vaccine in cats. The purpose of this study was to evaluate the safety of the canine melanoma vaccine in cats diagnosed with melanoma. Methods Medical records were reviewed from cats diagnosed with malignant melanoma and treated with the canine melanoma DNA vaccine (Oncept). Data regarding signalment, melanoma location, treatments received, vaccine adverse effects and cause of death were collected. Results A total of 114 melanoma vaccines were administered to 24 cats. Seven cats (11.4%) had clinical adverse effects from a total of 13 vaccines classified as grade 1 or 2 based on the Veterinary Cooperative Oncology Group's common terminology criteria for adverse events v1.1. These included pain on vaccine administration, brief muscle fasciculation, transient inappetence, depression, nausea and mild increase in pigmentation at the injection site. Nineteen cats were deceased at study close. The most common cause of death was melanoma (14 cats). Hematological and biochemical changes were observed in six cats, five of which had concurrent disease or treatments that likely caused or greatly contributed to the laboratory abnormalities found. Therefore, these adverse events were considered unlikely to be caused by the melanoma vaccine. One cat had transient grade 1 hypoalbuminemia, which was possibly caused by the vaccination but not thoroughly evaluated. Conclusions and relevance The canine melanoma DNA vaccine can be safely administered to cats, with minimal risk of adverse effects.

There is an increasing need for more accurate prognostic and predictive markers in veterinary oncology because of an increasing number of treatment options, the increased financial costs associated with treatment, and the emotional stress experienced by owners in association with the disease and its treatment. Numerous studies have evaluated potential prognostic and predictive markers for veterinary neoplastic diseases, but there are no established guidelines or standards for the conduct and reporting of prognostic studies in veterinary medicine. This lack of standardization has made the evaluation and comparison of studies difficult. Most important, translating these results to clinical applications is problematic. To address this issue, the American College of Veterinary Pathologists' Oncology Committee organized an initiative to establish guidelines for the conduct and reporting of prognostic studies in veterinary oncology. The goal of this initiative is to increase the quality and standardization of veterinary prognostic studies to facilitate independent evaluation, validation, comparison, and implementation of study results. This article represents a consensus statement on the conduct and reporting of prognostic studies in veterinary oncology from veterinary pathologists and oncologists from around the world. These guidelines should be considered a recommendation based on the current state of knowledge in the field, and they will need to be continually reevaluated and revised as the field of veterinary oncology continues to progress. As mentioned, these guidelines were developed through an initiative of the American College of Veterinary Pathologists' Oncology Committee, and they have been reviewed and endorsed by the World Small Animal Veterinary Association.

Many studies have evaluated various prognostic markers for canine melanocytic neoplasms either as primary or secondary goals; however, design, methodology, and statistical validation vary widely across these studies. The goal of this article was to evaluate and compare published canine melanocytic neoplasm studies in relation to the principals established in the Recommended Guidelines for the Conduct and Evaluation of Prognostic Studies in Veterinary Oncology. Based on this evaluation, we determined which parameters currently have the most statistically supported validity for prognostic use in canine melanocytic neoplasia. This information can also be used as part of evidence-based prospective evaluations of treatment regimens. Additionally, we highlight areas in which the current data are incomplete and that warrant further evaluation. This article represents an initiative of the American College of Veterinary Pathologists' Oncology Committee and has been reviewed and endorsed by the World Small Animal Veterinary Association.

No studies have yet examined whether there are prognostic factors for survival for cats undergoing splenectomies. The medical records of 19 cats that had complete splenectomy were reviewed for information on preoperative, intraoperative, and postoperative factors. The most common presenting signs were a palpable abdominal mass in 58% and anorexia in 47% of the cats. Mast cell tumors were the most common reason for splenectomy and were found in 10/19 cats (53%); followed by hemangiosarcoma in 4/19 (21%); and lymphoma in 2/19 (11%). The Kaplan-Meier median survival time (MST) was 197 days, with a range from 2 days to 1959 days. Three cats were noted to have preoperative weight loss, and this was the only factor that had prognostic significance for survival following surgery. For cats with weight loss the MST was 3 days, for cats with no weight loss noted the MST was 293 days (P=0.008)., (Copyright 2009 ISFM and AAFP. Published by Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.)

The prognosis of canine soft-tissue sarcomas (STS) has traditionally been based on histologic grading. We have recently demonstrated the prognostic value of cellular proliferation markers in canine STS. Another method of predicting the behavior of neoplasms is intratumoral microvessel density (IMD), which is a measure of tumor angiogenesis. The prognostic significance of IMD has been documented in many human neoplasms and in a limited number of canine and feline neoplasms. To evaluate the prognostic value of IMD in canine STS, we studied 57 STS and compared IMD with histologic features, histologic grade, cellular proliferation, metastatic propensity, and survival. Using immunohistochemistry, the STS were labeled with anti-factor VIII-related antigen (FVIII-RA) and anti-CD31 antibodies to determine 3 IMD parameters: mean microvessel density, high microvessel density, and microvessel area. Using FVIII-RA and CD31, increasing IMD was statistically associated with increasing histologic grade, necrosis scores, and mitotic scores. Higher FVIII-RA IMD values were significantly associated with higher median argyrophilic nucleolar organizing region (AgNOR) values (as previously investigated) and increased metastatic propensity. Fibrosarcomas appear to be the least vascularized of STS. There is no correlation between IMD and survival. Our results indicate that IMD is of prognostic value for histologic grade, histologic features, cellular proliferation (based on AgNOR), and metastatic propensity of canine STS, specifically when using FVIII-RA as the endothelial marker. Assessing histologic grading, cellular proliferation, and IMD of canine STS at the time of diagnosis could therefore provide better prognostic information for the veterinary clinician.

Ten dogs with neuroendocrine carcinoma of the liver were selected for inclusion in the study. Clinical signs were anorexia (7), vomiting (5), polydipsia/polyuria (3), icterus (2), lethargy (2), weight loss (2), paresis (1), ataxia (1), weakness (1), collapse (1), and urinary tract infection (1). Hematologic and biochemical abnormalities included anemia (2/8), leukocytosis (4/8), high liver enzyme activity (serum alkaline phosphatase, 7/9; alanine transaminase, 7/9; aspartate transaminase, 8/9), and high total bilirubin (6/9). Grossly, the tumors were diffuse, involving all liver lobes in six dogs, and two dogs had various-sized nodules in addition to diffuse involvement. Histologically, there were eight tumors with solid or trabecular pattern (group A), one tumor with cords or rows of neoplastic cells (group B), and one tumor with multiple rosette-like structures (group C). Immunohistochemical studies revealed that all 10 neoplasms were positive for at least one of the endocrine markers used: neuron-specific enolase (NSE; 8/10), synaptophysin (5/10), and chromogranin-A (3/10). A panel of NSE, chromagranin-A, and synaptophysin detected 100% of the tumors in our series. Electron microscopy confirmed the diagnosis by the presence of intracytoplasmic neurosecretory granules in the two examined cases. Our results show that neuroendocrine markers commonly used in humans can be used for the diagnosis of hepatic neuroendocrine carcinoma in dogs, preferably a panel of synaptophysin, chromagranin-A, and NSE because chromogranin-A alone is not as useful in dogs as in humans.