[Cutaneous asthenia (Ehlers-Danlos syndrome) in a domestic rabbit]. / Kutane Asthenie (Ehlers-Danlos Syndrom) bei einem Hauskaninchen.

Cutaneous asthenia is a connective tissue disease primarily of dogs and cats, resembling Ehlers-Danlos syndrome in man. This is a description of the disorder in a rabbit. The one-year-old female animal was presented because of two large gaping wounds of the skin. Clinical examination revealed a hyperextensible, thin, and fragile skin. The degree of skin extensibility was evaluated by means of a skin extensibility index (SEI: 19.2%) and compared with those of 4 healthy rabbits (SEI: 8.3%-14.3%). Clinical diagnosis was confirmed by histopathological examination of a skin biopsy revealing reduced packing density of collagen fibers. In addition a decreased number of hair follicles was observed. No conclusion could be drawn regarding the etiology, but existing literature strongly suggests a genetic cause (mostly autosomal dominant inheritance) in humans as well as in animals.

Anthelmintic treatment to eradicate cutaneous capillariasis in a colony of South African clawed frogs (Xenopus laevis).

The nematode Capillaria xenopodis (Pseudocapillaroides xenopi), a skin parasite of South African clawed frogs (Xenopus laevis), is quite common in laboratory animal facilities. It causes serious skin changes and may further lead to wasting and death of affected frogs. Various treatment protocols, using the anthelmintics ivermectin and levamisole, were successively tested for practicability of elimination of the parasite from a colony of clawed frogs. Nematodes were reduced below diagnostic levels by various methods of application of ivermectin (orally or by injection into the dorsal lymph sac, twice at intervals of 10 to 14 days). However, nematodes were found again in the treated animals 1 to 3 months later. Treatment by use of ivermectin-medicated tank water is not feasible due to its low water solubility. Elimination of the parasite was reliably achieved by use of levamisole-medicated tank water. Relapses were not seen during the 18-month posttreatment observation period. Levamisole concentration was 12 mg/L of water, with 4.17, 5.00, or 6.25 L of tank water/frog, and 50, 60, or 75 mg of levamisole available/frog, for at least 4 days, with treatments repeated after 10 to 14 days. Results were reproducible in two trials each with five tanks containing, in turn, four or five frogs each. A treatment trial carried out with a group of 20 adult frogs exposed to 12 mg of levamisole/L of tank water, but with only 2.5 L of tank water/frog (i.e., only 30 mg of levamisole available/animal), was not effective in eradicating the parasites. Not only the drug concentration, but also the amount of drug available per animal seems to be of importance. In contrast to thiabendazole, which is often reported in literature as treatment for cutaneous capillariasis, negative side effects were not observed with use of levamisole.

Influence of feeding hay on the alopecia of breeding guinea pigs.

Animals with partial alopecia were seen frequently in a breeding colony of guinea pigs. No pathologic aetiology could be determined. An influence of nutrition on the density of the hair coat was considered. Breeding groups were fed one of the commercial guinea pig diets of differing composition, with or without the addition of hay. Observation occurred over a period of months and the quality of the hair coat was evaluated periodically using a semi-quantitative scoring system. More extensive and more frequent fur defects were found is guinea pigs receiving a breeding diet with a high content of crude protein (23%) and a low level of crude fibre (12%), offered hay only restrictively compared with animals receiving a diet with a lower content of crude protein (15.5%) and a higher level of crude fibre (19.5%), offered the same amount of hay. The amount of hay offered is of paramount importance. Animals fed only the diet with the higher level of crude fibre (19.5%), according to the manufacturer's instructions as a complete food, without the addition of hay, showed a less dense hair coat within 4 weeks. In our colony a group of five breeding animals and their young required 200 g of hay daily in order to improve their hair coat quality to normal. Conversely, animals receiving less hay had progressively deteriorating hair coat density. Not only the amount of hay offered, but also the accessibility for all animals plays a role in preventing alopecia in guinea pigs. In larger cages (twice the usual ground surface area) fur defects were seen when the same amount of hay (200 g) was offered in only one central area, rather than spread out evenly throughout the cage. Hair loss was observed to be the result of trichophagia between adult animals kept in the same cage. The need for crude fibre of breeding animals does not appear to be completely met by pellets rich in fibre segments.