ABSTRACT
BACKGROUND: Omeprazole and famotidine both reduce severity of exercise-induced gastritis, but administering famotidine is easier than administering omeprazole during racing competition. HYPOTHESIS: Famotidine is more efficacious than no treatment in reducing severity of exercise-induced gastritis; and high-dose famotidine is more efficacious than omeprazole in reducing severity of exercise-induced gastritis. ANIMALS: Experiment 1: Randomized placebo-controlled study, 36 sled dogs (3-8 years); Experiment 2: Randomized positive-control study, 52 sled dogs (2-8 years). METHODS: Experiment 1: Equal numbers of dogs randomly assigned to famotidine (20 mg q24h) or no treatment groups. Gastroscopy was performed 24 hours after the dogs ran 330 miles. Mucosal appearance was blindly scored by previously described scoring system. Experiment 2: Equal numbers of dogs randomly assigned to omeprazole (20 mg q24h) or high-dose famotidine (40 mg q12h) groups. Gastroscopy was performed 48 hours before and 24 hours after the dogs ran 300 miles. Mucosal appearance was blindly scored by previously described scoring system. RESULTS: Famotidine reduced the prevalence of clinically relevant, exercise-induced gastric lesions compared with no treatment (7/16 versus 11/16, P = .031). Compared with high-dose famotidine, omeprazole significantly decreased the severity (0.4 versus 1.2, P = .0002) and prevalence (2/23 versus 7/21, P = .049) of gastric lesions. CONCLUSIONS AND CLINICAL RELEVANCE: Although famotidine provides some benefit in the prevention of exercise-induced gastric lesions, omeprazole is superior to famotidine in preventing gastritis in dogs running 300 miles. Routine administration of omeprazole is recommended to prevent stress-associated gastric disease in exercising and racing Alaskan sled dogs.
Subject(s)
Dog Diseases/prevention & control , Famotidine/administration & dosage , Famotidine/therapeutic use , Gastritis/veterinary , Omeprazole/therapeutic use , Physical Conditioning, Animal/adverse effects , Animals , Dog Diseases/drug therapy , Dog Diseases/pathology , Dogs , Dose-Response Relationship, Drug , Female , Gastritis/drug therapy , Gastritis/etiology , Gastritis/pathology , Male , Stomach/pathologyABSTRACT
Hypokalemia and hyperkalemia are common problems that may be artifactual, iatrogenic, or due to altered body homeostatic mechanisms. ECG may help one to recognize hyperkalemia but not hypokalemia. Excessive K supplementation is a common iatrogenic cause of hyperkalemia whereas fluid therapy is a common cause of iatrogenic hypokalemia. The most common causes of spontaneous hyperkalemia are renal failure and hypoadrenocorticism whereas the most common causes of spontaneous hypokalemia are vomiting, diarrhea, and renal wasting. Symptomatic therapy is usually done until the underlying cause(s) is resolved.
Subject(s)
Cat Diseases , Dog Diseases , Hyperkalemia/veterinary , Hypokalemia/veterinary , Potassium/blood , Animals , Cat Diseases/etiology , Cat Diseases/physiopathology , Cat Diseases/therapy , Cats , Dog Diseases/etiology , Dog Diseases/physiopathology , Dog Diseases/therapy , Dogs , Electrocardiography/veterinary , Homeostasis , Hyperkalemia/etiology , Hyperkalemia/physiopathology , Hyperkalemia/therapy , Hypokalemia/etiology , Hypokalemia/physiopathology , Hypokalemia/therapyABSTRACT
Severe hypophosphatemia was found in 6 diabetic dogs and in one diabetic cat. The cat suffered from hemolysis, and one dog had seizures, both apparently as a result of the severe hypophosphatemia. Clinical signs were not determined solely by the serum concentration of phosphorus, as seen in 5 other patients that did not have signs of disease despite similar serum phosphorus concentrations.