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Noncardiogenic pulmonary edema (NCPE) in hunting dogs is an uncommon and poorly described condition for which no preventive treatment is available. Two dogs were presented for recurrent respiratory distress strictly associated with hunting activities. Diagnosis was based on bilateral, symmetrical, interstitial‐to‐alveolar pattern in the caudodorsal lung fields on thoracic radiographs, exclusion of other causes, and spontaneous clinical and radiographic improvement. Considering that the pathogenesis of exercise‐induced NCPE likely involves α‐ and β‐adrenergic overstimulation, treatment with sympathetic blockers was used in both dogs. The first dog no longer showed respiratory signs during hunting activities. However, treatment failed to prevent respiratory distress in the other dog. Based on the large number of red blood cells in the bronchoalveolar lavage fluid of the second dog, exercise‐induced pulmonary hemorrhage was suspected, as described in racing horses. The loop diuretic furosemide successfully prevented further hunting‐associated respiratory distress episodes in this dog. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Historically, positive bacterial cultures from the lower respiratory tract (LRT) have been considered clinically relevant when quantitative bacterial cultures of bronchoalveolar lavage fluid (BALF) were >1700 colony forming units (cfu)/mL. However, this threshold might not accurately predict a requirement for antibiotics. Objectives: To study whether quantitative BALF bacterial culture results were predictive of antibiotic requirement in dogs with LRT signs. Animals: Thirty‐three client‐owned dogs. Methods: Cross‐sectional study. Dogs with positive quantitative bacterial culture of BALF were included. Dogs were divided into 2 groups, depending on whether they had a LRT infection requiring antibiotics (LRTI‐RA) or LRT disease not requiring antibiotics (LRTD‐NRA), based on thoracic imaging features, presence of intracellular bacteria on BALF cytology, and response to treatment. Predictive effect of cfu/mL and BALF total nucleated cell count (TNCC) on antibiotic requirement, adjusting for ongoing or prior antibiotic therapy and age, were studied using logistic regression. Results: Twenty‐two and 11 dogs were included in the LRTI‐RA and LRTD‐NRA groups, respectively. The cfu/mL was not significantly predictive of antibiotic requirement, independent of ongoing or prior antibiotic treatment and age (LRTI‐RA: median, 10 000 cfu/mL; range, 10‐3 × 108; LRTD‐NRA: median, 10 000 cfu/mL; range, 250‐1.3 × 109; P =.27). The TNCC was not significantly predictive of antibiotic requirement when only dogs with bronchial disease were considered (LRTI‐RA: median, 470 cells/μL; range, 240‐2260; LRTD‐NRA: median, 455 cells/μL; range, 80‐4990; P =.57). Conclusion and Clinical Importance: The cfu/mL is an inappropriate measure for determining whether antibiotics are of benefit in dogs with LRT signs. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]