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Background: Glucocorticoids (GC) are commonly used for a long term to treat a multitude of immune‐mediated, inflammatory, and neoplastic diseases in dogs. Conflicting results of published studies on the effects of exogenous and endogenous GCs on serum canine pancreatic lipase immunoreactivity (cPLI) raise the question of whether cPLI concentrations can be reliably interpreted in patients receiving GCs. Objective: We sought to determine the effect of long‐term GC administration at supraphysiologic doses on serum cPLI concentrations in sick dogs. Methods: Serum samples were collected from 35 client‐owned dogs. Dogs were administered prednisone at a dose of ≥0.5 mg/kg per day for ≥3 weeks. Serum cPLI was measured prior to the initiation and after ≥3 weeks of GC therapy. Results: There was a significant increase in serum cPLI between baseline (median 101 μg/L; range 30‐1997 μg/L) and following the administration of ≥0.5 mg/kg/day of prednisone (median 173 μg/L; range 30‐2000 μg/L) in dogs (P = 0.025). However, the median change was small (31 μg/L). There was no suspicion of pancreatitis in any of the dogs. Diagnostic interpretation changed in 6/35 dogs, with no apparent dose‐response relationship. Conclusions: There was a statistically significant difference from baseline in serum cPLI measurements in sick dogs receiving long‐term prednisone. Although the change was small and often clinically insignificant, it could pose a clinical interpretation dilemma in some dogs. It is unknown whether these observations are coincidental due to subclinical pancreatitis or caused by another effect of GCs on pancreatic acinar cells. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objectives The objective of this retrospective study was to describe the clinical signs and diagnostic findings in cats with histopathologically confirmed adrenal neoplasms, and to assess correlations with survival data. Methods Study data were acquired by reviewing medical records for all cats diagnosed with adrenal neoplasms at seven referral institutions between 2002 and 2013. Inclusion criteria required a histopathologic diagnosis of an adrenal neoplasm (ante-mortem or on necropsy). Results Thirty-three cats met the inclusion criteria for the study. The most common presenting complaints included weakness (n = 12), respiratory signs (n = 4), blindness (n = 4) or gastrointestinal signs (n = 3). Laboratory abnormalities included hypokalemia (n = 18), alkalemia (n = 12), elevated creatine kinase (>3000, n = 5) and azotemia (n = 4). In addition, hypertension was noted in 13 cats. Thirty cats were diagnosed with cortical tumors (17 carcinomas, 13 adenomas) and three cats were diagnosed with pheochromocytomas. Twenty-five cats underwent tests to evaluate the function of the adrenal tumors; 19/25 cats had functional tumors (hyperaldosteronism [n = 16], hypercortisolemia [n = 1], high estradiol [n = 1], and hypersecretion of aldosterone, estradiol and progesterone [n = 1]). Twenty-six cats underwent adrenalectomy, one cat was medically managed and six were euthanized without treatment. Long-term survival postoperatively ranged from 4–540 weeks, with 20 (77%) cats surviving the perioperative period of 2 weeks. The only variable that was found to be negatively associated with survival was female sex. The most common complications noted during the perioperative period were hemorrhage and progressive lethargy and anorexia. Conclusions and relevance Surgical treatment for feline adrenal tumors (regardless of tumor type) resulted in good long-term survival. Given that pre- and postoperative hypocortisolemia was identified in this study, and, in addition, hypersecretion of more than one adrenal hormone occurred in one cat, adrenal panels prior to surgery may be beneficial as part of the preoperative work-up. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]