Comparing behavioural outcomes in children born extremely preterm between 2006 and 1995: the EPICure studies.

BACKGROUND: Children born extremely preterm (EP) are at increased risk of neurocognitive and behavioural morbidity. Here, we investigate whether behavioural outcomes have changed over time concomitant with increasing survival following EP birth. METHODS: Comparison of outcomes at 11 years of age for two prospective national cohorts of children born EP in 1995 (EPICure) and 2006 (EPICure2), assessed alongside term-born children. Behavioural outcomes were assessed using the parent-completed Strengths and Difficulties Questionnaire (SDQ), DuPaul Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder Rating Scale (ADHD-RS), and Social Communication Questionnaire (SCQ). RESULTS: In EPICure, 176 EP and 153 term-born children were assessed (mean age: 10.9 years); in EPICure2, 112 EP and 143 term-born children were assessed (mean age: 11.8 years). In both cohorts, EP children had higher mean scores and more clinically significant difficulties than term-born children on almost all measures. Comparing outcomes for EP children in the two cohorts, there were no significant differences in mean scores or in the proportion of children with clinically significant difficulties after adjustment for confounders. Using term-born children as reference, EP children in EPICure2 had significantly higher SDQ total difficulties and ADHD-RS hyperactivity impulsivity z-scores than EP children in EPICure. CONCLUSIONS: Behavioural outcomes have not improved for EP children born in 2006 compared with those born in 1995. Relative to term-born peers, EP children born in 2006 had worse outcomes than those born in 1995. There is an ongoing need for long-term clinical follow-up and psychological support for children born EP.

Comparable Outcomes for Bebtelovimab and Ritonavir-Boosted Nirmatrelvir Treatment in High-Risk Patients With Coronavirus Disease-2019 During Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome Coronavirus 2 BA.2 Omicron Epoch.

The effectiveness of bebtelovimab in real-world settings has not been assessed. In this retrospective cohort study of 3607 high-risk patients, bebtelovimab was used more commonly than nirmatrelvir-ritonavir for treatment of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) among older patients, immunosuppressed patients, and those with multiple comorbid conditions. Despite its use in patients with multiple comorbid conditions, the rate of progression to severe disease after bebtelovimab (1.4% [95% confidence interval, 1.2%-1.7%]) was not significantly different from that for nirmatrelvir-ritonavir treatment (1.2% [.8%-1.5%]). Our findings support the emergency use authorization of bebtelovimab for treatment of COVID-19 during the Omicron epoch dominated by BA.2 and subvariants.

Determination of Mammalian Deoxyribonucleic Acid in Commercial Canine Treats and Supplements.

Feeding an elimination diet exclusively is currently the only accurate diagnostic test for an adverse food reaction in dogs and cats. However, owner compliance has been identified as a challenge, and the inability to limit exposure to other items (including treats and supplements) is a remarkable reason for failure. The objective of the current study was to evaluate the presence of declared and undeclared mammalian deoxyribonucleic acid (DNA) in commercially available canine treats and supplements using polymerase chain reaction methodology. Eight treat products and 20 supplement products were analyzed for the DNA of 10 mammalian species (bison, cat, cow, dog, goat, horse, mouse, rat, pig, and sheep). The results showed that 88% (7/8) of treats and 40% (8/20) of supplements were found to contain at least one source of undeclared mammalian DNA. Undeclared pig and cow DNA were the most frequently identified, and there were only two instances of negative results for declared species. Because of the frequent finding of undeclared mammalian DNA in the assessed products, avoiding using treats and supplements during elimination trials is recommended.

Real-World Clinical Outcomes of Bamlanivimab and Casirivimab-Imdevimab Among High-Risk Patients With Mild to Moderate Coronavirus Disease 2019.

BACKGROUND: Bamlanivimab and casirivimab-imdevimab are authorized for treatment of mild to moderate coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) in high-risk patients. We compared the outcomes of patients who received these therapies to identify factors associated with hospitalization and other clinical outcomes. METHODS: Adult patients who received monoclonal antibody from 19 November 2020 to 11 February 2021 were selected and divided into those who received bamlanivimab (n = 2747) and casirivimab-imdevimab (n = 849). The 28-day all-cause and COVID-19-related hospitalizations were compared between the groups. RESULTS: The population included 3596 patients; the median age was 62 years, and 50% were female. All had ≥1 medical comorbidity; 55% had multiple comorbidities. All-cause and COVID-19-related hospitalization rates at 28 days were 3.98% and 2.56%, respectively. After adjusting for medical comorbidities, there was no significant difference in all-cause and COVID-19-related hospitalization rates between bamlanivimab and casirivimab-imdevimab (adjusted hazard ratios [95% confidence interval], 1.4 [.9-2.2] and 1.6 [.8-2.7], respectively). Chronic kidney, respiratory and cardiovascular diseases, and immunocompromised status were associated with higher likelihood of hospitalization. CONCLUSIONS: This observational study on the use of bamlanivimab and casirivimab-imdevimab in high-risk patients showed similarly low rates of hospitalization. The number and type of medical comorbidities are associated with hospitalizations after monoclonal antibody treatment.

Amino Acids in Dog Nutrition and Health.

The dog has assumed a prominent role in human society. Associated with that status, diet choices for companion dogs have begun to reflect the personal preferences of the owners, with greater emphasis on specialty diets such as organic, vegan/vegetarian, and omission or inclusion of specific ingredients. Despite consumer preferences and many marketing strategies employed, the diets must ensure nutritional adequacy for the dog; if not, health becomes compromised, sometimes severely. The most frequent consideration of consumers and dog food manufacturers is protein source and concentration with a growing emphasis on amino acid composition and bioavailability. Amino acids in general play diverse and critical roles in the dog, with specific amino acids being essential. This review covers what is known regarding amino acids in dog nutrition.

Evaluation of a dry therapeutic urinary diet and concurrent administration of antimicrobials for struvite cystolith dissolution in dogs.

BACKGROUND: Struvite urolithiasis with bacterial urinary tract infection (UTI) is commonly reported in dogs; few data exist to describe successful dissolution protocols in dogs with naturally occurring disease. We hypothesized that a dry therapeutic urinary diet combined with targeted antimicrobial therapy can effectively dissolve presumptive struvite cystolithiasis in dogs with naturally occurring urease-producing bacterial UTI. RESULTS: Ten dogs with presumed infection-induced struvite cystolithiasis based on lower urinary tract signs (LUTS), radiodense cystoliths, and urease-producing bacterial UTI were enrolled. At enrollment, antimicrobials and dry therapeutic urinary diet were dispensed. In addition to lack of radiographic resolution of urolithiasis, dogs with persistent clinical signs were considered non-responders. There was no significant difference in pH between responders and non-responders; USG was significantly higher in the responder group. Recheck visits continued until radiographic dissolution or failure was documented. Five of the 10 dogs achieved radiographic dissolution of cystolithiasis within a median of 31 days (range 19-103). In the other 5 dogs, surgical urolith removal was necessary due to persistent LUTS (3 dogs within 2 weeks) or lack of continued dissolution noted radiographically (1 dog with numerous cystoliths failed at day 91; 1 dog failed by day 57 with questionable owner compliance). CONCLUSIONS: Dissolution of urinary tract infection induced struvite cystoliths can be accomplished in some dogs fed this dry therapeutic urinary diet in conjunction with antimicrobial therapy. Case selection could increase the likelihood of successful dissolution; however, if calcium phosphate is present, this could also prevent stone dissolution. If clinical signs persist despite diet and antimicrobials, stone removal is advised.

Mountain Rescue Casualty Care and the Undergraduate Medical Elective.

Many UK medical curricula lack dedicated prehospital education other than first aid courses and basic life support training. In contrast, nonmedical mountain rescue team members receive advanced prehospital training addressing scene management and various clinical interventions. This article reports a condensed mountain rescue casualty care course designed for medical students by a mountain rescue team. The course was offered as part of a student-selected module during phase 3A at the University of Sheffield Medical School. Within the module, students also learned the relevant biomedical sciences and clinical skills to construct their knowledge of mountain rescue casualty care.

Imaging in low-grade glioma: a guide for neurologists.

The management of low-grade glioma (LGG) is shifting as evidence has emergedthat refutes the previously commonplace imaging-based 'watch and wait' approach, in favour of early aggressive surgical resection. This coupled with the recent 2016 update to the World Health Organisation Classification of Tumours of the Central Nervous System is changing LGG imaging and management. Recently in Practical Neurology the contemporary management of low-grade glioma and the changes to this grading system were discussed in detail. 1 In this complementary article, we discuss the role of imaging in the diagnosis, surgical planning and post-treatment follow-up of LGG. We describe the principles of imaging these tumours and use several cases to highlight some difficult scenarios.

A descriptive pilot study of cytokine production following stimulation of ex-vivo whole blood with commercial therapeutic feline hydrolyzed diets in individual healthy immunotolerant cats.

BACKGROUND: Hydrolyzed diets are used in companion animals for the diagnosis and treatment of adverse food reaction. Similarly, hydrolyzed formulas are used in human infants with severe inflammatory bowel disease or milk allergy, and these must meet the standard of hypoallergenicity through rigorous testing. Unfortunately, no standards are currently applied to hydrolyzed veterinary therapeutic diets, and data for the immunogenicity of feline diets is also not available. Therefore, the main aim of this pilot study was to determine if ex-vivo whole blood stimulation assays could be used to characterize the cytokine response to hydrolyzed commercial diets in a small number of individual healthy immunotolerant cats. This approach has also been used to investigate cytokine production in response to cow milk protein in humans and currently similar studies do not exist in companion animals. Nine healthy cats previously eating the same basal diet were divided into groups and fed one of three hydrolyzed diets exclusively for 6 weeks. Heparinized whole blood was collected from each cat before and after the feeding trial. Ex-vivo whole blood stimulation assays were performed using crude extracts of the basal diet as a positive control, as this diet contained the same proteins present in the hydrolyzed diet but were intact, saline as a negative control, and each cat's respective hydrolyzed diet. Supernatants were collected and analyzed for tumor necrosis factor-alpha, interleukin-10 (IL-10), and interleukin-4 using enzyme-linked immunosorbant assay. RESULTS: Seven cats produced detectable amounts of the anti-inflammatory cytokine IL-10 upon stimulation with the basal diet. Two cats produced detectable amounts of IL-10 upon stimulation with a hydrolyzed soy-based diet and one cat produced a detectable amount of IL-10 upon stimulation with a hydrolyzed chicken-based diet (>125 pg/mL). CONCLUSIONS: Results from this pilot study suggest that in some healthy immunotolerant cats, some hydrolyzed diets may elicit a similar cytokine response compared to their basal diet, which contained the same proteins intact. Therefore, animals may be able to recognize and react to some hydrolyzed forms of tolerated proteins, and may also suggest IL-10 as a target for investigation as a potential marker for dietary tolerance in cats, however further studies would be necessary to corroborate this. Further studies are also needed to determine if this would also be the same in immunologically naïve, sensitized and clinically hypersensitized cats.

Evaluation of dogs with genetic hyperuricosuria and urate urolithiasis consuming a purine restricted diet: a pilot study.

BACKGROUND: Urate urolithiasis is a common problem in breed homozygous for the mutation that results in hyperuricosuria. Low purine diets have been recommended to reduce purine intake in these dogs. METHODS: A higher protein, purine restricted diet with water added was evaluated in dogs with genetic hyperuricosuria and a history of clinical urate urolithiasis over a one year time period. Dogs were evaluated at baseline and 2, 6, and 12 months after initiating the test diet. Bloodwork, urinalysis, abdominal ultrasound, body composition, and 24-h urinary purine metabolite analyses were performed. RESULTS: Transient, mild, self-limited lower urinary tract signs were noted in only one dog on a single day, despite variable but usually mild and occasionally moderate amounts of echogenic bladder stones (<2-3 mm in size) in almost every dog at each visit. No significant differences were noted in urine specific gravity, urine pH, lean body condition score or body composition. Urinary uric acid concentration was lower on the test diet (p = 0.008), but 24-h uric acid excretions were similar (p = 0.220) compared to baseline. Significant differences between least squares mean plasma amino acid concentrations measured at the 0 and 12-month visits were found only for valine (p = 0.0119) and leucine (p = 0.0017). CONCLUSION: This study suggests the use of a low purine, higher protein diet with added water may be beneficial as part of the management of dogs with genetic hyperuricosuria and history of clinical urate urolithiasis.

Management of the hospitalized transplant patient.

Significant hyperglycemia is commonly observed immediately after solid organ and bone marrow transplant as well as with subsequent hospitalizations. Surgery and procedures are well known to cause pain and stress leading to secretion of cytokines and other hormones known to aggravate insulin action. Immunosuppression required for transplant and preexisting risk are also major factors. Glucose control improves outcomes for all hospitalized patients, including transplant patients, but is often more challenging to achieve because of frequent and sometimes unpredictable changes in immunosuppression doses, renal function, and nutrition. As a result, risk of hypoglycemia can be greater in this patient group when trying to achieve glucose control goals for hospitalized patients. Key to successful management of hyperglycemia is regular communication between the members of the care team as well as anticipating and rapidly implementing a new treatment paradigm in response to changes in immunosuppression, nutrition, renal function, or evidence of changing insulin resistance.

Factors influencing vitamin B6 status in domestic cats: age, disease, and body condition score.

Limited studies are available on vitamin B6 status in domestic cats. To this end, we evaluated glutamate-oxaloacetate transaminase (GOT) activity in hemolysates with and without pyridoxal 5'-phosphate addition in two feline populations: a cohort of 60 healthy, domestic (sexually intact and specific pathogen-free) cats maintained under strictly controlled conditions with appropriate diets housed at the Feline Nutrition and Pet Care Center, and a cohort of 57 cats randomly selected between December 2022 to January 2023 that visited the Veterinary Medicine Teaching Hospital to seek care under different circumstances. The GOT activity expressed as the ratio with and without pyridoxal 5'-phosphate addition (primary activation ratio; PAR) decreased significantly with age in the healthy cohort. The PAR values normalized to age established a cut-off for vitamin B6 deficiency in both cohorts, identifying 17 of 101 animals as vitamin B6 deficient. Using machine learning, a partition-based model (decision tree) was built to identify the most important factors that predicted vitamin B6 deficiency while using the resulting tree to make predictions for new observations. This analysis, performed with all 101 cats, revealed that the diagnosis of an infectious, chronic or acute condition (0.55) was the main contributor, followed by age (0.26), and body condition score (optimal-overweight; 0.19). Thus, our study supports that vitamin B6 supplementation may be indicated in junior to adult animals diagnosed with an infectious, chronic, or acute conditions or healthy cats with body weight ranging from optimal to overweight. In older cats, even if healthy, underweight to optimal cats appear to be at risk of vitamin B6 deficiency.

Exploring the impact of age, and body condition score on erythrocytic B1-Dependent transketolase activity in cats: A comprehensive analysis of thiamine status.

One of the key factors influencing aging and morbidity is the overall antioxidant status and regenerative capacity. In examining contributors to the antioxidant status, we analyzed the thiamine status in felines and the influence of age, gender, and body condition score. We measured erythrocytic B1-dependent specific transketolase (STKT) activity, an enzyme in the pentose phosphate pathway, in a group of 60 sexually intact, healthy, and specific pathogen-free felines (44 females, 16 males, aged 1-17 years) with thiamine diphosphate (TDP; 0.3 and 3 mM) and without it. Only two parameters (STKT activity with and without 0.3 mM TDP) decreased with age. After adjusting for age, statistical thresholds were established using these and other age-independent parameters, identifying 15 felines with subclinical thiamine deficiency. The red blood cell proteomics analysis revealed that the pentose phosphate shunt, glycolysis, and oxidative stress response were the most affected pathways in deficient felines, confirming the above diagnosis. Age emerged as the primary factor associated with thiamine deficiency, supported by the enrichment of neurodegenerative diseases with a proteotoxicity component; five young-adult felines showed marginal or acute B1 deficiency, and six were adult-mature with a more chronic deficiency, possibly linked to cognitive decline, all with an underweight to ideal body condition scores. Only three senior-adult felines were deficient and overweight-obese. Detecting thiamine deficiency emphasizes the need for more accurate reference values, the establishment of advanced preventive or therapeutic measures to enhance the well-being of aging companion animals, and potential extensions to human health, particularly concerning cognitive function.

Comparing the Prevalence of Psychiatric Disorders in Cohorts of Children Born Extremely Preterm in 1995 and 2006: The EPICure Studies.

Objective: This study aimed to identify the prevalence of psychiatric disorders in 2 population-based cohorts of children born extremely preterm (EP) 11 years apart to ascertain whether psychiatric outcomes have changed over time following improved survival of EP children. Method: In the EPICure2 study, 200 children born EP (22-26 weeks' gestation) in England in 2006 were assessed at 11 years of age alongside 143 term-born children. Children were assessed using the Developmental and Wellbeing Assessment (DAWBA). DSM-IV diagnoses were assigned by clinical psychiatrists for 145 EP and 98 term-born children. Outcomes were compared between a subsample of children from the EPICure2 cohort (2006, n = 76) and the earlier-born EPICure (1995, n = 161) cohort born at 22 to 25 weeks' gestation in England. Results: EP children in EPICure2 were significantly more likely than term-born children to have any psychiatric disorder (39.3% vs 3.1%; adjusted odds ratio [OR] = 15.1, 95% CI = 4.4-51.1), emotional disorders (14.6% vs 2.0%; OR = 7.3, 95% CI = 1.6-32.7), conduct disorders (6.3% vs 0.0%, p = .01), attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD, 21.9% vs 2.6%; OR = 7.2; 95% CI = 1.5-33.6), and autism spectrum disorder (ASD, 18.9%; vs 0.0%, p < .001). There was no significant difference in the rates of any psychiatric disorder between EP children in the EPICure2 and EPICure cohorts. Conclusion: EP children remain at increased risk for psychiatric disorders at 11 years of age compared with term-born peers. Increased survival has not translated into improved psychiatric outcomes. Health care professionals need to be aware of this ongoing risk when caring for children born preterm.

Medical advances have improved the survival of extremely preterm children, but whether long-term outcomes have also improved is unclear. This study compared rates of psychiatric disorders at age 11 years among 76 children born extremely preterm in 1995 and 161 children born extremely preterm in 2006, to identify trends in psychiatric outcomes. Results showed that children born extremely preterm in 2006 were more likely than term children to have psychiatric disorders (39.3% vs 3.1%). There was no difference in rates of disorders between children born extremely preterm in 2006 and 1995. These results suggest that there has been no improvement in psychological outcomes for extremely preterm children, and healthcare professionals should continue to monitor for psychiatric disorders in this population.

Comparable outcomes of outpatient remdesivir and sotrovimab among high-risk patients with mild to moderate COVID-19 during the omicron BA.1 surge.

Studies conducted prior to SARS-CoV-2 Omicron demonstrated that sotrovimab and remdesivir reduced hospitalization among high-risk outpatients with mild to moderate COVID-19. However, their effectiveness has not been directly compared. This study examined all high-risk outpatients with mild to moderate COVID-19 who received either remdesivir or sotrovimab at Mayo Clinic during the Omicron BA.1 surge from January to March 2022. COVID-19-related hospitalization or death within 28 days were compared between the two treatment groups. Among 3257 patients, 2158 received sotrovimab and 1099 received remdesivir. Patients treated with sotrovimab were younger and had lower comorbidity but were more likely to be immunocompromised than remdesivir-treated patients. The majority (89%) had received at least one dose of COVID-19 vaccine. COVID-19-related hospitalization (1.5% and 1.0% in remdesivir and sotrovimab, respectively, p = .15) and mortality within 28 days (0.4% in both groups, p = .82) were similarly low. A propensity score weighted analysis demonstrated no significant difference in the outcomes between the two groups. We demonstrated favorable outcomes that were not significantly different between patients treated with remdesivir or sotrovimab.

Outpatient remdesivir treatment program for hospitalized patients with coronavirus disease-2019: Patient perceptions, process and economic impact.

BACKGROUND: Remdesivir is FDA-approved for the treatment of hospitalized patients with severe COVID-19. Many patients improve clinically to allow for hospital dismissal before completing the 5-day course. In a prior work, patients who continued remdesivir in an outpatient setting experienced better 28-day clinical outcomes. Here, we assessed patients' perspectives and the economic impact of this outpatient practice. METHODS: Hospitalized patients who received remdesivir for COVID-19 at Mayo Clinic, Rochester, from 11/6/2020 to 11/5/2021 and were dismissed to continue remdesivir in the outpatient setting were surveyed. The cost of care was compared between those who remained hospitalized versus those who were dismissed. RESULTS: 93 (19.8 %) among 470 eligible patients responded to the electronic survey. Responders were older than non-responders. The majority (70.5 %) had symptoms resolved by the time of the survey. Ten (11.4 %) patients had persistent symptoms attributed to long COVID-19. The majority were satisfied with the quality of care (82.3 %) and overall experience (76.0 %) in the infusion clinic. After adjusting for gender, comorbidity score, and WHO severity scale, the predicted costs for the groups were $16,544 (inpatient) and $9,097 (outpatient) per patient (difference of $7,447; p < .01). An estimate of 1,077 hospital bed-days were made available to other patients as a result of this transition to outpatient. CONCLUSION: An outpatient remdesivir program that allowed for early dismissal was perceived favorably by patients. The program resulted in significant cost and resource savings, the latter in terms of the availability of hospital beds for other patients needing critical services.

Outpatient treatment with concomitant vaccine-boosted convalescent plasma for patients with immunosuppression and COVID-19.

Although severe coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) and hospitalization associated with COVID-19 are generally preventable among healthy vaccine recipients, patients with immunosuppression have poor immunogenic responses to COVID-19 vaccines and remain at high risk of infection with SARS-CoV-2 and hospitalization. In addition, monoclonal antibody therapy is limited by the emergence of novel SARS-CoV-2 variants that have serially escaped neutralization. In this context, there is interest in understanding the clinical benefit associated with COVID-19 convalescent plasma collected from persons who have been both naturally infected with SARS-CoV-2 and vaccinated against SARS-CoV-2 ("vax-plasma"). Thus, we report the clinical outcome of 386 immunocompromised outpatients who were diagnosed with COVID-19 and who received contemporary COVID-19-specific therapeutics (standard-of-care group) and a subgroup who also received concomitant treatment with very high titer COVID-19 convalescent plasma (vax-plasma group) with a specific focus on hospitalization rates. The overall hospitalization rate was 2.2% (5 of 225 patients) in the vax-plasma group and 6.2% (10 of 161 patients) in the standard-of-care group, which corresponded to a relative risk reduction of 65% (P = 0.046). Evidence of efficacy in nonvaccinated patients cannot be inferred from these data because 94% (361 of 386 patients) of patients were vaccinated. In vaccinated patients with immunosuppression and COVID-19, the addition of vax-plasma or very high titer COVID-19 convalescent plasma to COVID-19-specific therapies reduced the risk of disease progression leading to hospitalization.IMPORTANCEAs SARS-CoV-2 evolves, new variants of concern (VOCs) have emerged that evade available anti-spike monoclonal antibodies, particularly among immunosuppressed patients. However, high-titer COVID-19 convalescent plasma continues to be effective against VOCs because of its broad-spectrum immunomodulatory properties. Thus, we report clinical outcomes of 386 immunocompromised outpatients who were treated with COVID-19-specific therapeutics and a subgroup also treated with vaccine-boosted convalescent plasma. We found that the administration of vaccine-boosted convalescent plasma was associated with a significantly decreased incidence of hospitalization among immunocompromised COVID-19 outpatients. Our data add to the contemporary data providing evidence to support the clinical utility of high-titer convalescent plasma as antibody replacement therapy in immunocompromised patients.

Changes in diet and supplement use in dogs with cancer.

BACKGROUND: Many dog owners alter their dog's nutritional regimen after a diagnosis of cancer. There are limited data as to specific changes made and reasons behind these changes. HYPOTHESIS/OBJECTIVES: To collect updated and detailed data on changes made by owners to their dog's diet and supplements after a cancer diagnosis. ANIMALS: Responses were collected from a survey of dog owners who brought their dogs to the UC Davis Veterinary Medical Teaching Hospital's Oncology Service for the first time after a cancer diagnosis. Dogs with recurrence or presenting for a second type of cancer were excluded. METHODS: Eligible owners were surveyed between December 2020 and March 2022. The survey contained 62 questions regarding diet, supplement use, and treats, and how these were altered after a cancer diagnosis. Responses were matched to medical record data. RESULTS: One hundred twenty-eight surveys were retained for analysis, including 120 respondents that completed the survey. In response to a cancer diagnosis, 54.8% (95% CI; 45.7%-63.8%) of owners altered diets or supplements or both. The most common informational resource for dog diets was veterinarians (53.9%). Usage of home-prepared foods significantly increased after a cancer diagnosis (P = .03). There was no significant difference in commercial diet usage before or after a diagnosis (P = .25). Joint support products were the most common supplements given both before (37.4%) and after (35.0%) diagnosis. CONCLUSIONS AND CLINICAL IMPORTANCE: Many dog owners alter their dog's nutritional intake after a cancer diagnosis. These owners should be provided information relating to commonly observed alterations, including home-prepared foods and supplements.

Reproduction of Domestic Cats in Laboratories, Catteries, and Feral Colonies: A Review.

Cat reproduction is important for research and commercial cat breeding operations, as well as the control of feral cat populations. This review describes studies examining reproductive performance in laboratory cats, privately-owned breeding cats, and feral cats, including sexual maturity, the estrous cycle (timing, behavior, and hormonal changes), seasonal effects, gestation length, parturition (litter size, litter weight, and parity effects), mortality, and stillbirth. Because the studies highlighted in this review vary in the location where they were conducted and the region's management practices, these factors should be considered depending on the goal of the reader when interpreting these data. Furthermore, standard practices were lacking in some earlier studies of cat reproduction, so they should be considered for historical context only and may not reflect the actual reproductive potential of cats as described in the new studies due to advancements in husbandry practices and nutrition. The objective of this manuscript is to review scientific studies examining reproductive performance in laboratory cats, privately-owned breeding cats, and feral cats. The data sources for this manuscript included original research publications and scientific reviews from the veterinary literature. All reviews or studies that augmented the knowledge of the reproduction of domestic cats in laboratories, catteries, and feral colonies were included. Most studies on laboratory cats have been conducted under the conditions of controlled light cycles, temperature, and diet. The environmental effects on reproductive behavior are subtler than those in feral cat studies, but the effects are still distinguishable. Cat breeding studies focus on genetic effects and rely heavily on surveys or questionnaires from cat breeders. However, the reliability of these data can be variable, in part because the methodology of record-keeping and other protocols are generally not reported. In addition, laboratory animal management standards, specific pathogen-free cat colonies, and nutritional requirements for cats were not fully established until the 1970s. Reproductive outcomes of earlier studies may not be a true representation of the modern cat due to more advanced, regulated husbandry practices, including improvements in nutrition, resulting in diets formulated to meet feline requirements for every life stage.

An undernutrition screening score for dogs with protein-losing enteropathy: A prospective multicenter study.

BACKGROUND: The impact of undernutrition in dogs with protein-losing enteropathy (PLE) caused by inflammatory enteritis, intestinal lymphangiectasia, or both and which variables are most predictive of outcome are unknown. OBJECTIVES: Develop an undernutrition screening score (USS) for use at the time of diagnosis of PLE in dogs, which is predictive of outcome. ANIMALS: Fifty-seven dogs with PLE prospectively recruited from 3 referral hospitals in the United Kingdom. METHODS: An USS based on the presence and severity of 5 variables: appetite, weight loss, and body, muscle, and coat condition and scored out of 15, with higher scores reflecting worse undernutrition, was calculated at the time of diagnosis. Follow-up information was obtained for at least 6 months. RESULTS: Dogs that failed to achieve clinical remission within 6 months had higher USS at diagnosis compared with dogs that achieved remission (median, 7.5; range, 2-14 and median, 5; range, 0-14, respectively). The USS at diagnosis gave an area under the receiver operating characteristic curve (AUC) of 0.656 for predicting nonclinical remission within 6 months, whereas a score consisting of just epaxial muscle loss and coat condition resulted in a larger AUC of 0.728. CONCLUSIONS AND CLINICAL IMPORTANCE: Of the 5 variables assessed in the USS, a combination of epaxial muscle loss and coat condition was most predictive of not achieving clinical remission within 6 months in dogs with PLE. Additional studies will help determine the effect of changes in USS and the 5 associated variables after diagnosis on outcome variables in these dogs.