Remission of diabetes mellitus after ovariohysterectomy in a guinea pig with ovarian cysts.

A 3-year-old intact female guinea pig was presented with a history of polydipsia, polyphagia, and hyperactivity combined with non-pruritic hair loss. The physical examination revealed bilateral alopecia mainly including the flanks and the ventral abdomen. Bilateral rounded masses just caudal to the kidneys were detected on abdominal palpation. Abdominal ultrasound examination confirmed bilateral ovarian cysts and an enlarged uterus with cystic lesions. Blood biochemistry revealed highly increased glucose and fructosamine concentrations. The final diagnoses were diabetes mellitus, bilateral ovarian cysts, and pathologic changes of the uterus. The guinea pig underwent ovariohysterectomy. After surgery, diabetes mellitus and all of the existing clinical signs were fully resolved. A causal relationship between hormonally active ovarian cysts and diabetes mellitus that commonly present independently from each other in the guinea pig can be strongly assumed in the present case. In suspicious cases of gestagen-induced diabetes mellitus ovariohysterectomy could be considered a potential treatment option in guinea pigs.

Thymomas in rabbits: clinical evaluation, diagnosis, and treatment.

Thymomas are rarely recorded in rabbits, and the literature includes comparatively few cases. Medical records were reviewed to identify all pet rabbits in which a mediastinal mass was diagnosed between Feb 2007 and Jan 2010. Signalment, history, clinical signs, diagnostic work-up (including laboratory data, diagnostic imaging, and ultrasound-guided fine-needle aspiration of the mediastinal mass), treatment modalities, survival time, and histologic findings were evaluated. Cytologic and/or histopathologic examinations revealed thymomas in all rabbits with mediastinal masses (n=13). Rabbits with thymomas showed clinical signs of dyspnea (76.9%), exercise intolerance (53.9%), and bilateral exophthalmos (46.2%). In seven rabbits the thymoma was removed surgically. Two rabbits were treated conservatively, and four rabbits were euthanized because of their poor clinical condition. The two rabbits that underwent surgery were euthanized 6 mo and 34 mo later. Mediastinal masses in rabbits appear to be more common than previously believed and consist primarily of thymomas rather than thymic lymphomas. Cytology of samples collected by ultrasound-guided fine-needle aspiration is an accurate diagnostic tool for the identification of thymomas in rabbits. Due to a high rate of perioperative mortality, intensive perioperative care and the provision of a low-stress environment are recommended for a successful thoracotomy.

Airway hyperresponsiveness to adenosine 5'-monophosphate in feline chronic inflammatory lower airway disease.

Airway hyperresponsiveness is a key feature of human asthma and chronic bronchitis and response to the indirectly acting agonist adenosine 5'-monophosphate (AMP) is thought to reflect underlying airway inflammation. To examine whether airway responsiveness testing (ART) with AMP may be used to differentiate healthy cats from those with asthma (FA) and chronic bronchitis (CB), 24 cats (9 FA, 6 CB, 9 controls) underwent ART with AMP at concentrations of 0.1, 1, 10, 100 and 500mg/mL using barometric whole body plethysmography. The defined endpoint of ART, an increase in enhanced pause (Penh) exceeding 300% of the post-saline value (baseline), was reached in 9/15 patients (7 FA, 2 CB), but in none of the controls. Mean Penh (±SD) at baseline (BL) was 0.49±0.16 for cases, and 0.54±0.16 for controls, and was significantly increased after AMP challenge in clinical cases (2.62±2.20), but not in controls (0.63±0.30, P<0.05). After separating responder (R) and non-responder (NR) cases, a more pronounced difference after challenge was found (R: 3.96±1.84, NR: 0.6±0.21, P<0.001). The provocative concentration of the agonist that increased Penh to 300% of BL (PC Penh 300) in R cases was 52.98±48.04mg/mL AMP. Age had no influence on the responder status or PC Penh 300. It was concluded that AMP challenge may offer a new method for the identification of cats with lower inflammatory airway disease, and possibly for monitoring disease progression or response to therapy.