2021 AAHA Nutrition and Weight Management Guidelines for Dogs and Cats.

The guidelines discuss the components of a systematic approach to nutritional management of dogs and cats. A nutritional assessment, including a body condition score and muscle condition score, is a screening evaluation that should ideally be performed at every examination. Individualized nutritional recommendations, based on the nutritional assessment, should be designed to achieve and maintain an appropriate body weight and meet nutritional requirements. Communicating nutritional recommendations to clients is a challenging aspect of nutritional management because pet owners may interpret the practice team's guidance as advocacy for a particular pet food brand or a judgment of the client's ability to properly care for the pet or of the owner's own nutritional status. The guidelines discuss approaches for effective, nonjudgmental communication of dietary recommendations to clients and strategies to increase acceptance of and adherence to veterinary nutrition recommendations. Other pet nutrition topics of current interest include recommendations for particular pet life stages, breeds, and disease conditions; risk factors for nutritional deficiencies and obesity; and considerations for home-prepared diets.

Quantified water intake in laboratory cats from still, free-falling and circulating water bowls, and its effects on selected urinary parameters.

OBJECTIVES: The study objectives were to determine if the method of water presentation (still [S], circulating [C] or free-falling [FF] bowl systems) influences daily water consumption in cats in a controlled environment, and whether differences in water intake affect urine relative super saturation (RSS) for calcium oxalate and struvite, urine specific gravity (USG), urine osmolality (Uosmol) and urine volume. METHODS: Sixteen healthy laboratory cats fed a dry diet were individually housed with urine collection systems. Each cat underwent a randomized 2 week crossover period with all bowl systems, allowing a 1 week acclimation period between each crossover. Water intake was measured daily by bowl weight, accounting for spillage and evaporation. USG and urine volume were measured daily, whereas other urinary parameters were measured at various time points throughout each 14 day crossover period. RESULTS: Fourteen cats completed the study. Average daily water intake (ml/kg/day), urine volume, USG and urine RSS for struvite and calcium oxalate were not significantly different between water bowls. Uosmol was significantly higher in C compared with S and FF bowl systems (P = 0.009 for both). Three individual cats demonstrated a significant water bowl preference (Cat 4: C >S, P = 0.039; Cat 10: FF >C, P = 0.005; Cat 11: S >C, P = 0.037). CONCLUSIONS AND RELEVANCE: Overall, water bowl type had no appreciable effect on water intake. Uosmol was the only urinary parameter found to be significantly different, and was higher for the C bowl. The implication of this is unknown, considering water intake did not differ significantly between bowls. Alternative methods to increase water intake should be implemented beyond providing unique water bowls in patients where augmented water intake would be beneficial for disease management.

Body composition of lean outdoor intact cats vs lean indoor neutered cats using dual-energy x-ray absorptiometry.

OBJECTIVES: The objectives for this study were to compare the body composition of adult indoor neutered domestic cats with outdoor intact cats with an ideal body condition score using dual-energy x-ray absorptiometry, and to report the body composition findings of free-roaming cats, as this has not been previously reported. Most domestic house cats differ from free-roaming cats as they are confined indoors and neutered. Indoor neutered cats have reduced activity and hormonal alterations that may result in lower muscle mass and higher body fat percentages vs outdoor intact cats, despite similar body condition scores. METHODS: Twenty-one outdoor intact cats (10 male, 11 female) were selected from a trap-neuter-return program and 16 indoor neutered domestic cats (10 male, six female) were client-owned. Inclusion criteria included an estimated age between 1 and 6 years, complete blood count, biochemistry panel, urinalysis, total thyroxine, feline leukemia virus/feline immunodeficiency virus screening and a body condition score of 4-5/9. RESULTS: Indoor neutered cats had a higher body fat percentage (22.1% [range 17.3-28.2%]) than outdoor intact cats (17.3% [range 10.0-33.6%]; P = 0.002). Indoor neutered male cats had a higher body fat percentage ( P <0.001) than outdoor intact cats. No difference in body fat percentage was observed in female cats ( P = 0.159). Indoor neutered domestic cats had a higher bone mineral density than outdoor intact cats ( P = 0.023). CONCLUSIONS AND RELEVANCE: The results of this study suggest indoor confinement and neutering increase body fat percentage and bone mineral density in cats with an ideal body condition score.

Characterization of aminoaciduria and hypoaminoacidemia in dogs with hepatocutaneous syndrome.

OBJECTIVE To characterize aminoaciduria and plasma amino acid concentrations in dogs with hepatocutaneous syndrome (HCS). ANIMALS 20 client-owned dogs of various breeds and ages. PROCEDURES HCS was definitively diagnosed on the basis of liver biopsy specimens (n = 12), gross and histologic appearance of skin lesions (4), and examination of skin and liver biopsy specimens (2) and presumptively diagnosed on the basis of cutaneous lesions with compatible clinicopathologic and hepatic ultrasonographic (honeycomb or Swiss cheese pattern) findings (2). Amino acid concentrations in heparinized plasma and urine (samples obtained within 8 hours of each other) were measured by use of ion exchange chromatography. Urine creatinine concentration was used to normalize urine amino acid concentrations. Plasma amino acid values were compared relative to mean reference values; urine-corrected amino acid values were compared relative to maximal reference values. RESULTS All dogs had generalized hypoaminoacidemia, with numerous amino acid concentrations < 50% of mean reference values. The most consistent and severe abnormalities involved glutamine, proline, cysteine, and hydroxyproline, and all dogs had marked lysinuria. Urine amino acids exceeding maximum reference values (value > 1.0) included lysine, 1-methylhistidine, and proline. CONCLUSIONS AND CLINICAL RELEVANCE Hypoaminoacidemia in dogs with HCS prominently involved amino acids associated with the urea cycle and synthesis of glutathione and collagen. Marked lysinuria and prolinuria implicated dysfunction of specific amino acid transporters and wasting of amino acids essential for collagen synthesis. These findings may provide a means for tailoring nutritional support and for facilitating HCS diagnosis.

Hepatopathy following consumption of a commercially available blue-green algae dietary supplement in a dog.

BACKGROUND: Dietary supplement use in both human and animals to augment overall health continues to increase and represents a potential health risk due to the lack of safety regulations imposed on the manufacturers. Because there are no requirements for demonstrating safety and efficacy prior to marketing, dietary supplements may contain potentially toxic contaminants such as hepatotoxic microcystins produced by several species of blue-green algae. CASE PRESENTATION: An 11-year-old female spayed 8.95 kg Pug dog was initially presented for poor appetite, lethargy polyuria, polydipsia, and an inability to get comfortable. Markedly increased liver enzyme activities were detected with no corresponding abnormalities evident on abdominal ultrasound. A few days later the liver enzyme activities were persistently increased and the dog was coagulopathic indicating substantial liver dysfunction. The dog was hospitalized for further care consisting of oral S-adenosylmethionine, silybin, vitamin K, and ursodeoxycholic acid, as well as intravenous ampicillin sodium/sulbactam sodium, dolasetron, N-acetylcysteine, metoclopramide, and intravenous fluids. Improvement of the hepatopathy and the dog's clinical status was noted over the next three days. Assessment of the dog's diet revealed the use of a commercially available blue-green algae dietary supplement for three-and-a-half weeks prior to hospitalization. The supplement was submitted for toxicology testing and revealed the presence of hepatotoxic microcystins (MCs), MC-LR and MC-LA. Use of the supplement was discontinued and follow-up evaluation over the next few weeks revealed a complete resolution of the hepatopathy. CONCLUSIONS: To the authors' knowledge, this is the first case report of microcystin intoxication in a dog after using a commercially available blue-green algae dietary supplement. Veterinarians should recognize the potential harm that these supplements may cause and know that with intervention, recovery is possible. In addition, more prudent oversight of dietary supplement use is recommended for our companion animals to prevent adverse events/intoxications.

Perioperative physiology and pharmacology in the obese small animal patient.

OBJECTIVE: To review the available literature concerning the physiologic and pharmacologic alterations induced by obesity in canine and feline patients and their relevance to perioperative care. STUDY DESIGN: Literature review. DATABASES: PubMed, CAB, Web of Science. CONCLUSIONS: Obesity of cats and dogs is a chronic inflammatory condition that is increasingly prevalent. Similar to the situation in humans, small animal obesity may be associated with changes in endocrine, respiratory, and cardiovascular function. In addition, alteration of body composition in obesity can affect pharmacokinetic variables. Modifications in perioperative care may need to be made for obese dogs and cats, including attention to respiratory and cardiovascular supportive care and drug dose adjustments.

Familial Aggregation and Segregation Analysis of Snoring and Symptoms of Obstructive Sleep Apnea.

To investigate possible modes of inheritance that would explain familial aggregation in obstructive sleep apnea (OSA), familial correlation and segregation analyses were performed on data derived from 584 pedigrees with 2019 cases enrolled in the Tucson Epidemiologic Study of Obstructive Airways Disease (TESOAD) who were at least 10 years of age and who had information pertaining to snoring and daytime sleepiness. Data were obtained from the 9th (May 1984 to October 1985) and 12th (February 1990 to October 1992) surveys of the TESOAD, which is a random, stratified sample of the non-Hispanic Caucasian population of Tucson, Arizona. A snoring phenotype was considered present if it occurred on at least some nights. A "sleep apnea" phenotype was constructed if participants snored and experienced daytime sleepiness. Familial correlations for snoring showed significant mother-child and sibling correlations but not father-child correlations. For sleep apnea, significant parent-daughter but not parent-son or sibling correlations were observed. Segregation analyses for snoring with regressive familial effects and sibling, age, and obesity covariates showed no evidence for mendelian transmission. However, additional familial effects were present that suggested phenotype aggregation from polygenic or environmental factors, or both. For the sleep apnea phenotype, similar segregation analyses indicated that mendelian dominant or codominant models were possible. However, the analyses also suggested that a nongenetic model fit the data as well. In addition, consistent with the familial correlations, specific maternal- and sibling-related effects remained even after inclusion of age, gender, and obesity covariates. These data support the concept that inheritable or shared environmental factors contribute to the development of OSA and that maternal components may be more important than paternal ones.