Ultrasound guided electrochemotherapy for the treatment of a clear cell thymoma in a cat.

A twelve-year-old male castrated domestic shorthair cat was presented for rapidly progressing respiratory distress. The cat was depressed, tachypneic and moderately responsive. Ultrasonography showed a mediastinal mass associated with a significant pleural effusion that needed tapping every five to seven days. Ultrasound guided biopsy yielded a diagnosis of clear cell thymoma upon histopathology. After complete staging procedures, the owner elected to treat the cat with electrochemotherapy (ECT) using systemic bleomycin. Two sessions of ultrasound guided ECT were performed at two week intervals with trains of biphasic electric pulses applied using needle electrodes until complete coverage of the area was achieved. The treatment was well tolerated and resulted in partial remission (PR). Additional sessions were performed on a monthly basis. The cat is still in PR after fourteen months. ECT resulted in improved local control and should be considered among the available adjuvant treatments in pets carrying visceral tumors.

Surgery and electrochemotherapy treatment of incompletely excised mammary carcinoma in two male pet rats (Rattus norvegicus).

Two male rats (Rattus norvegicus; 18 and 24 months old), were referred for treatment of large masses located in the axillary area. Following total body radiography and hematological and serum biochemical analysis, the rats were anesthetized, and the masses were surgically removed. Both lesions were diagnosed as mammary carcinoma based on histopathological diagnosis. The tumor beds were treated with two sessions of electrochemotherapy (ECT), two weeks apart. ECT involved cisplatin administration in the tumor bed, followed by a series of eight biphasic electric pulses. The treatment was well tolerated, and the rats were disease-free after 10 and 14 months. Therefore, adjuvant ECT resulted in good local control of mammary carcinoma and can potentially be used for adjuvant treatment of pet rats with cutaneous and adnexal tumors.

Una crítica a la profesión veterinaria desde una perspectiva antiespecista / A critique of the veterinary profession from an antispeciesist viewpoint

La idea de que la profesión veterinaria tiene entre sus funciones el cuidado de los animales junto con la salvaguarda de sus derechos, pese a encontrarse difundida entre algunas personas, está totalmente desinformada. La profesión veterinaria se dirige básicamente a controlar el modo en el que los animales no humanos son usados y tratados, de manera que la salud y otros intereses de los seres humanos se vean protegidos. Solo se presta una cierta atención al llamado "bienestar animal", pero de una manera que no toma realmente en cuenta los intereses de los animales. Este artículo defiende que, si asumimos un punto de vista contrario al especismo, es necesario un enfoque distinto para la medicina veterinaria, que ponga los intereses de los animales no humanos en el centro y que, conforme a eso, promueva una investigación para el desarrollo de métodos de diagnóstico y terapéuticos que beneficien a estos (AU)

The idea that the veterinary profession has among its aims caring for nonhuman animals along with safeguarding their rights, although shared by a number of people, is totally uninformed. Veterinary profession is basically aimed at controlling the way in which nonhuman animals are used or treated, so human health and other interests are protected. Only some concern for what has been called "animal welfare" is considered, but in a way that does not really take animals’ interests seriously. If we accept an antispeciesist viewpoint, a different approach for veterinary medicine is needed. Such an approach should be focused on animal interests and promote the research for diagnosis and therapeutic methods that benefit them (AU)