Short Takes

Two specialists in veterinary emergency and critical care have teamed up to help produce the first evidence-based guidelines for cardiopulmonary resuscitation in cats and dogs. When a preliminary survey showed little consistency in the rate of chest compressions administered by veterinarians during CPR, Daniel J. Fletcher, DVM, Ph.D., at Cornell and Manuel Boller, DVM, MTR, at Penn initiated a plan to develop evidence-based guidelines for CPR for veterinary patients. Although more than 20 percent of human patients who suffer cardiac arrest in the hospital survive to go home, perhaps partially as a result of the variability in compression rate, only 6 percent of dogs and cats do, according to recent veterinary CPR research.

Biologists at the Royal Veterinary College in London may have discovered the reason for the cheetah’s record as the fastest living land mammal. Researchers at the college’s Structure and Motion Laboratory compared the cheetah’s gait to that of racing Greyhounds, whose speed tops out at 37 miles per hour. The big cats have been clocked at 64 miles per hour. “Cheetahs and Greyhounds are known to use a rotary gallop [in which the limbs fall in circular sequence around the body] and physically they are remarkably similar, yet there is this bewitching difference in maximum speed,” says researcher Alan Wilson, Bsc., Ph.d.

Lymphoma is the most common cancer diagnosed in cats, and while several prognostic factors have been documented, another factor recently considered to be important is weight loss. Body weight over time may be a simple, objective and useful marker of patient status.

Owners often bring their cats to the veterinarian due to a bout of constipation, which can have a variety of causes. Veterinary treatment includes determining and eliminating the cause, if possible, along with medical and sometimes surgical management. Medical therapy often includes the use of laxatives, enemas and prokinetic agents (like cisapride). Psyllium is a soluble fiber that produces a mucilaginous gel that helps to increase fecal bulk. It also adds to stool bulk by other water-holding properties. Psyllium has been found to increase stool frequency and consistency in humans with idiopathic constipation.

Diagnostic decision-making can sometimes present a challenge to veterinary clinicians when they are presented with an apparently healthy adult cat with a heart murmur. Murmurs can be associated with cardiac disease — though some studies have also identified benign causes of murmurs in cats. Auscultation alone will not differentiate the cause of the murmur and additional diagnostics will be required. Feline murmurs can be inducible (upon physical provocation such as stress, fear or pain) or non-inducible (continuously present). A high percentage of cats with inducible murmurs appear to have no evidence of structural heart disease.

In this recent study (“Prevalence of fecal-borne parasites detected by centrifugal flotation in feline samples from two shelters in upstate New York,” in Journal of Feline Medicine and Surgery, 2011), fecal samples from 1,322 cats from two shelters and foster homes in upstate New York were processed for parasite detection over three-and-a-half years. All samples were processed by zinc sulfate and sugar double centrifugal flotation.

Boxiecat is a new online subscription cat litter service that can help save trips to the grocery store, and puts an end to lugging heavy bags of litter. Considering that there are 86.4 million pet cats living in the United States, this service can certainly fill the necessity for litter in a new and more convenient way — especially for the elderly or the handicapped pet owner.

In shelter and rescue situations, it is extremely important for personnel to identify the most adoptable animals whose adoptions are unlikely to be delayed for medical reasons. This study (“Risk factors for delays between intake and veterinary approval for adoption on medical grounds in shelter puppies and kittens,” in Preventive Veterinary Medicine, 2011) was designed to identify risk factors for health-related delays from intake to approval for adoption in shelter puppies and kittens.

Chronic gingivostomatitis (FCGS) is a significant disease of cats causing ulcerative, painful lesions in the mouth. Unfortunately, the cause of this condition is not always clear, but feline calicivirus has been speculated to play a part in some cases. Medical treatment of this condition has largely remained unsuccessful. Interferon is a protein produced by animals to fight virus infections, and investigators examined the potential of this substance — which can be produced artificially and given orally — to treat FCGS.

Unfortunately, feline lower urinary tract diseases (FLUTDs) are common. Urethral obstruction (UO) is believed to occur more commonly in young cats and almost exclusively in male cats, although veterinary literature has limited information regarding the risk factors for UO. The most common etiology of UO in cats is urethral plugs, and the most common signs of UO include stranguria, dysuria and pain, and varying degrees of systemic signs.

Fish and flaxseed oil are excellent sources of n-3 polyunsaturated fatty acids (PUFA), and both have become popular dietary supplements. These fatty acids can modulate the immune response, and have been used to address canine skin conditions. However, the effects in cats have been relatively unknown. This study (“Dietary fish oil and flaxseed oil suppress inflammation and immunity in cats,” Veterinary Immunology and Immunopathology, 2011) investigates the responses in cats to fish or flaxseed oil.

Cytauxzoonosis — often a fatal infection in domestic cats — is a disease caused by the parasite Cytauxzoon felis, which is transmitted by the bite of a tick. Most affected cats are young adults with exposure to the outdoors and vague clinical signs of lethargy and anorexia. Treatment for cytauxzoonosis is usually imidocarb diproprionate, but a combination of atovaquone and azithromycin (A&A) has also been utilized as a treatment. (neither form of therapy has been prospectively evaluated for efficacy, however). Eighty acutely ill cats with Cytauxzoon felis infection were treated at various veterinary clinics. Of 53 cats treated with A&A, 32 (60 percent) survived to discharge.