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Background: Prolonged slow expiration (PSE) and assisted cough (AC) are airway clearance techniques feasible and well tolerated in dogs., Objectives: To evaluate the effectiveness of PSE and AC as chest physiotherapy (CP) techniques in dogs with airway fluid accumulation., Animals: Thirty-one client-owned dogs hospitalized in an intensive care unit from October 2014 to May 2018., Methods: Prospective randomized controlled trial. Dogs presented with or developing acute dyspnea during hospitalization associated with airway fluid accumulation were assigned to CP group (medical treatment and CP, 15 dogs) or control group (medical treatment alone, 16 dogs). The arterial partial pressure of oxygen (PaO 2 ) to fraction of inspired oxygen (FiO 2 ) ratio (P/F ratio; PaO 2 /FiO 2 × 100) was calculated daily for the 1st 48 hours of hospitalization and using the last arterial blood gas performed before discharge or death. The ratio of days of hospitalization with oxygen/total number of hospitalization days (ratio of oxygen-free-days [O 2 Free]) was calculated., Results: During the 1st 48 hours, the P/F ratio increased significantly in the CP group compared to the control group (+ 35.1 mm Hg/day; 95% confidence interval [CI] = 0.4-57.5; P = .03). The (median; 1st quartile to 3rd quartile) difference between the P/F ratio at discharge and inclusion was significantly higher in the CP group (178 mm Hg; 123-241) than in the control group (54 mm Hg; -19 - 109; P = .001). Mean O 2 Free increased by 46.4% in the CP group compared with control group (95% CI = 16-59; P = .001). Mortality was 13% (2/15) in the CP group and 44% (7/16) in the control group (P = .07)., Conclusions and Clinical Importance: Prolonged slow expiration and AC improved P/F ratio within 48 hours and decreased need for oxygenation in dyspneic dogs with acute airway fluid accumulation., (© 2021 The Authors. Journal of Veterinary Internal Medicine published by Wiley Periodicals LLC on behalf of American College of Veterinary Internal Medicine.)

Background: Blood typing for the A and B antigens is essential and crossmatching testing is generally recommended before transfusing blood to cats., Objective: To evaluate 2 crossmatch (XM) tests., Animals: Forty-nine healthy domestic shorthair cats that had not received a blood transfusion., Methods: Prospective study. Blood samples were typed for AB using immunochromatographic and flow cytometric techniques. A gel column (GC) and a feline antiglobulin-enhanced gel column (AGC) XM tests were used for crossmatching., Results: The population included 34 type A, 13 B, and 2 AB cats, with concordant results (r = 1, P < .005) by flow cytometry and immunochromatographic strip kit. The plasma from type A cats had either no or weak anti-B alloantibodies. The plasma of 12 of 13 type B cats contained strong anti-A alloantibodies. For crossmatching, plasma to RBC pairings were prepared using the GC (n = 446) and AGC (n = 630) tests. Both methods showed compatibilities in 329 and incompatibilities in 102 pairings including all A-B mismatches. Additionally 15 pairings showed agglutination by the AGC but not GC method. Fourteen incompatibilities outside the expected A-B mismatches were only revealed by AGC., Conclusions and Clinical Importance: AB typing using immunochromatographic strip is as accurate as laboratory flow cytometry. The 2 XM methods had good agreement with additional incompatibilities being recognized by the AGC XM beyond A-B incompatibilities. In clinic, feline AB typing and sensitive XM test kits are available and recommended before each transfusion, although the clinical implications of incompatible XM test results and clinical benefits of such crossmatching have not been documented., (© 2018 The Authors. Journal of Veterinary Internal Medicine published by Wiley Periodicals, Inc. on behalf of the American College of Veterinary Internal Medicine.)