The use of a sling suture for ventral orbital stabilization after inferior orbitectomy in three dogs.

OBJECTIVE: To describe a novel surgical technique for the ventral stabilization of the orbit after inferior orbitectomy by using a sling suture and report outcomes in three dogs. ANIMALS: A 7-year-old male neutered Swiss shepherd, a 4-year-old female neutered golden retriever and a 9-year-old female neutered Rhodesian ridgeback. STUDY DESIGN: Short case series. METHODS: All dogs presented with caudal unilateral maxillary masses. Surgical resection necessitated a caudal maxillectomy and inferior orbitectomy with a combined dorsolateral and intraoral approach. A sling suture was used to support the globe. A nylon suture was placed rostrally through the osteotomized maxilla and caudally through the osteotomized zygomatic arch via predrilled holes. The suture was tightened until the position of the globe subjectively appeared normal and was secured with a surgeon's knot. The periorbita was secured over the nylon suture with poliglecaprone suture material in a simple interrupted or continuous pattern. The surgical approach was routinely closed. RESULTS: Follow-up ranged from 7 to 63 days. The surgical wounds healed uneventfully, and no postoperative complications associated with the stabilization technique were noted. No orbital deviation was noted and the zygomatic regions appeared subjectively symmetrical. CONCLUSION: The nylon sling suture provided a quick, easy, safe and effective technique to stabilize the ventral orbit during a combined maxillectomy and orbitectomy in dogs.

Sublingual papillomas of cheetahs in southern Africa.

Nine distinct papillomaviruses (Lambdapapillomavirus) have been described in domestic and nondomestic cats, but not in cheetahs. These viruses have been associated with cutaneous papillomas or plaques, bowenoid in situ carcinomas, feline cutaneous squamous cell carcinomas (SCC), feline sarcoids, and oral (often sublingual) papillomas. Fourteen cheetahs from the AfriCat foundation (Namibia) and one from the Ann van Dyk Cheetah center (South Africa) presented with sublingual lesions reminiscent of sublingual papillomas. Two animals were biopsied and the histopathology revealed benign proliferative epithelial lesions with prominent thickening of the overlying squamous epithelium. Throughout the squamous epithelial layers were cells with nuclear enlargement, irregularity of the nuclear membranes and cell contours, focal hyperchromasia of the nuclei, and perinuclear halos, reminiscent of a virus-associated process as seen in papillomavirus infections. Thirteen more cheetahs were sampled and the tissue snap frozen for molecular characterization. Amplification and sequencing of the papillomavirus L1, E6, E7, and E1 gene regions was achieved with modified primers. Maximum likelihood phylogenetic analyses revealed all 15 cheetah papilloma samples were 99.99% genetically similar and closely related to, but genetically distinct from any known felinepapillomaviruses. All cheetahs were FIV and FeLV negative. The results suggest the samples identified in this study can be considered a previously undescribed or novel feline papillomavirus and the authors propose "Acinonyx jubatus papillomavirus type 1" (AjPV-1), within the Lambdapapillomavirus 1 genus (Family: Papillomaviridae).

Treatment of Canine Oral Melanomas: A Critical Review of the Literature.

Critical appraisal of the available literature for the treatment of canine oral malignant melanoma (OMM) is lacking. This critical review aimed to evaluate the current literature and provide treatment recommendations and possible suggestions for future canine OMM research. PubMed, Web of Science and Google Scholar were searched in June 2021, for terms relevant to treatment of OMM. Inclusion and exclusion criteria were applied and information on clinical response and outcome extracted. Eighty-one studies were included. The overall level of evidence supporting the various canine OMM treatment options was low. The majority of studies included confounding treatment modalities and lacked randomization, control groups and consistency in reporting clinical response and outcomes. Within these limitations, surgery remains the mainstay of therapy. Adjunctive radiotherapy provided good local control and improved median survival times (MST), chemotherapy did not offer survival benefit beyond that of surgery, while electrochemotherapy may offer a potential alternative to radiotherapy. Immunotherapy holds the most promise in extending MST in the surgical adjunctive setting, in particular the combination of gene therapy and autologous vaccination. Prospective, randomized, double-blinded clinical trials, with a lack of confounding factors and reporting based on established guidelines would allow comparison and recommendations for the treatment of canine OMM.

Immobilization, cardiopulmonary and blood gas effects of ketamine-butorphanol-medetomidine versus butorphanol-midazolam-medetomidine in free-ranging serval (Leptailurus serval).

OBJECTIVE: To compare ketamine-butorphanol-medetomidine (KBM) with butorphanol-midazolam-medetomidine (BMM) immobilization of serval. STUDY DESIGN: Blinded, randomized trial. ANIMALS: A total of 23 captures [KBM: five females, six males; 10.7 kg (mean); BMM: 10 females, two males; 9.6 kg]. METHODS: Serval were cage trapped and immobilized using the assigned drug combination delivered via a blow dart into gluteal muscles. Prior to darting, a stress score was assigned (0: calm; to 3: markedly stressed). Drug combinations were dosed based on estimated body weights: 8.0, 0.4 and 0.08 mg kg-1 for KBM and 0.4, 0.3 and 0.08 mg kg-1 for BMM, respectively. Time to first handling, duration of anaesthesia and recovery times were recorded. Physiological variables including blood glucose and body temperature were recorded at 5 minute intervals. Atipamezole (5 mg mg-1 medetomidine) and naltrexone (2 mg mg-1 butorphanol) were administered intramuscularly prior to recovery. Data, presented as mean values, were analysed using general linear mixed model and Spearman's correlation (stress score, glucose, temperature); significance was p < 0.05. RESULTS: Doses based on actual body weights were 8.7, 0.4 and 0.09 mg kg-1 for KBM and 0.5, 0.4 and 0.09 mg kg-1 for BMM, respectively. Time to first handling was 10.2 and 13.3 minutes for KBM and BMM, respectively (p = 0.033). Both combinations provided cardiovascular stability during anaesthesia that lasted a minimum of 35 minutes. Recovery was rapid and calm overall, but ataxia was noted in KBM. Stress score was strongly correlated to blood glucose (r2 = 0.788; p = 0.001) and temperature (r2 = 0.634; p = 0.015). CONCLUSIONS AND CLINICAL RELEVANCE: Both combinations produced similar effective immobilization that was cardiovascularly stable in serval. Overall, BMM is recommended because it is fully antagonizable. A calm, quiet environment before drug administration is essential to avoid capture-induced hyperglycaemia and hyperthermia.

A novel technique for ventral orbital stabilization: the masseter muscle flap.

Loss of the caudal maxilla and ventral orbit after tumor resections can have negative functional and esthetic influences on the eye involved. This article reports on a case of a caudal maxillary acanthomatous ameloblastoma involving the ventral orbit that was resected and stabilized with a masseter muscle flap. The masseter muscle flap was generated from the superficial belly of the masseter muscle in order to close a defect in the orbital rim, created by a caudal maxillectomy. None of the published complications such as enophthalmos, excessive lacrimation, globe deviation, or strabismus were noted, 8 months following the procedure. The only clinical sign present at the time of re-evaluation was mild lacrimation. The authors propose the use of a masseter muscle flap as a viable technique in stabilizing the ventral orbit after caudal maxillectomy and ventral orbitectomy, preventing the complications associated with this surgery.

Diagnosis and management of odontogenic myxoma in a dog.

A three-year-old Jack Russell terrier dog was presented with a large gingival mass of the right mandible extending from the fourth premolar to the first molar teeth. Radiographic examination of the expansile mass revealed moth-eaten, honeycomb-like lyses of the mandible and extended into the mandibular alveolar canal based on computed tomography. The histopathological diagnosis of the biopsy was odontogenic fibromyxoma. Mandibulectomy with resection of the associated soft tissues was performed. Surgical management was curative with no clinical signs of disease 2-years after treatment. These neoplasms are slow growing, locally destructive tumors of odontogenic origin that have been described in the jaw of only one dog. In this paper, the clinico-radiological and pathologic features, diagnostic modalities as well as the factors that might influence treatment outcome of odontogenic myxomas are discussed. These odontogenic tumors are currently excluded from the WHO classification of odontogenic tumors in domestic animals and inclusion in future classifications systems is proposed.

Oral biology and disorders of tusked mammals.

Tusked mammals can be terrestrial or aquatic. Many of these magnificent animals are kept in captivity all over the world. Functions of tusks vary as much as the species in which they occur. Dental anomalies and disorders of tusks and the rest of the dentition in these mammals were discussed, with an emphasis on the elephant. The tusk anatomy, with its large, conically-shaped pulp, makes it an ideal tooth for partial pulpectomy treatment in trauma cases where the pulp is exposed. Surgical techniques for tusks have been developed and were discussed. Oral tumors occur, but are rare.