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A case-control study was conducted to identify exposure factors associated with gastrointestinal (GI) side effects (i.e., vomiting, diarrhea, or anorexia) in dogs after treatment with Chinese herbal medicine. Investigated exposure factors included age, gender, breed, spay/neuter status, body weight, presenting complaint(s) at admission, herbal treatment(s) used and duration of treatment, as well as other medication(s) and diet(s) used during treatment. A total of 34 case dogs and 34 control dogs were enrolled in the study. Using logistic regression analysis, short duration of treatment (≤ 5 days) was associated with a diagnosis of GI side effects in study dogs (p < 0.001). Although the frequency of dogs affected with side effects after treatment with Chinese herbal medicine is very low, traditional Chinese veterinary practitioners and dog owners are advised to monitor dogs for GI side effects during the first five days after treatment with Chinese herbal medicine. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Closantel is a halogenated salicylanilide with a potent anti parasitic activity. It is widely used in management of parasitic infestation in animals, but is contraindicated in humans. Case presentation: A 34-year-old man with depression was referred to our center with progressive loss of vision in both eyes 10 days after unintentional ingestion of three 500 mg tablets of Closantel. On fundus examination, left optic disc margin was blurred. His bilateral visual acuity was no light perception (NLP) despite prescribed IV erythropoietin injections 20,000 units daily for 3 days and 1gr intravenous methylprednisolone acetate for 3 days followed by 1 mg/kg oral prednisolone. On macular optical coherence tomography (OCT), a disruption in outer retina was observed. Electroretinogram and visual evoked potential tests showed visual pathway involvement. Conclusions: Destruction of neurosensory retina and visual pathways after accidental Closantel use is related to severe visual loss. This case alerts us about the destructive effect of this drug on humans even in low dosage which necessitates preventive efforts to reduce the chance of this morbid side effect. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

CASE REPORT An 11-year-old Poodle receiving chemotherapy for periprostatic haemangiosarcoma was accidently overdosed with 45 mg/m² of doxorubicin. The patient was hospitalised for 2 weeks for close monitoring and treatment. Treatment of the patient included gastroprotectant therapy, intravenous fluids, antiemetics, antibiotics, hepatoprotectants and granulocyte colony-stimulating factor. Adverse effects included in appetence, vomiting, haematuria, diarrhoea, neutropenia, thrombocytopenia and alopecia. There were no cardiac side effects. Te patient recovered fully from this accidental overdose and completed a full course of chemotherapy without developing any major adverse effects. CONCLUSION If a dosing error of chemotherapy agents does occur, supportive care may assist in the survival of the patient. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background The macroscopic appearance of cutaneous adverse drug reactions can be similar to a plethora of skin diseases and in particular may resemble autoimmune and immune-mediated disorders. The reaction can occur after single or multiple administrations, with the latter varying in durations of up to years of treatment. These reactions are mostly self-limiting with cessation of the offending drug. Objectives To report a cutaneous adverse drug reaction associated with chronic administration of imepitoin. Case report A 4-year-old, Jack Russell terrier dog was presented with progressive skin lesions of 1-week duration. The dog had a 6 month history of idiopathic epilepsy treated with imepitoin for the previous 5 months. Imepitoin is an anti-epileptic drug that acts as a low-affinity partial agonist of the benzodiazepine site at the GABAA receptor. The dosage of imepitoin was increased from 20 mg/kg twice daily to 30 mg/kg twice daily, 3 days before the onset of skin lesions, due to uncontrolled seizures. [Correction added on 15 February 2016 after first online publication: In the preceding sentence, the dosage of imepitoin was previously incorrect and has been amended in this current version.] Dermatological examination revealed erythema and exfoliation at the mucocutaneous junctions of the lips, lip folds, philtrum, ears, axillae and the ventral abdomen. Small erosions and depigmentation were visible on the oral mucosa, lip folds and philtrum. Histopathology was supportive of a lupoid drug reaction. Complete resolution of skin lesions was seen after discontinuation of imepitoin and low dose of prednisolone during a period of 4 weeks. No recrudescence of skin lesions was observed during a 6 month follow-up period. Conclusion and clinical importance Imepitoin may result in cutaneous adverse drug reactions in dogs. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

OBJECTIVE To determine the mydriatic effects of topical rocuronium bromide administration in Hispaniolan Amazon parrots (Amazona ventralis) and to identify any adverse effects associated with treatment. DESIGN Randomized crossover study. ANIMALS 8 healthy adult Hispaniolan Amazon parrots. PROCEDURES Rocuronium bromide (20 pL/eye; 10 mg/mL) or saline (20 pL/eye; 0.9% NaCI) solution was administered in both eyes of each bird with a 26-day washout period. The birds were manually restrained in lateral recumbency with the apex of the cornea positioned upward for 2 minutes following administration in each eye. Infrared pupillometry and direct pupillary light reflex measurements were used to evaluate the mydriatic effects. Pupillary measurements were recorded priorto administration and every 20 minutes for 2 hours after administration, then hourly for a total of 7 hours. A brief physical examination was performed, direct pupillary light reflex was tested, and fluorescein staining was performed on each eye of each bird 24 hours after administration. RESULTS A significant difference in pupillary diameter for the active versus control treatment group was noted from 20 to 360 minutes after drug administration, but not at 420 minutes. Minimal adverse effects were noted. Three birds had transient inferior eyelid paresis noted in both eyes after receiving rocuronium; 24 hours after the treatment, no differences in ocular measurements existed between the active and control treatments. CONCLUSIONS AND CLINICAL RELEVANCE Results suggested that topical rocuronium bromide administration may be safely used for pupillary dilation in Hispaniolan Amazon parrots and could be used for clinical evaluation, fundus imaging, and surgical in terventions involving the lens and posterior segment in this species. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objective--To determine incidence rates (IRs) and potential risk factors for owner-reported adverse events (AEs) following vaccination of dogs that did or did not receive a Leptospira vaccine. Design--Observational, retrospective cohort study. Animals--130,557 dogs. Procedures--Electronic records of mobile veterinary clinics from June 2012 to March 2013 were searched to identify dogs that received > 1 vaccine in a given visit. Signalment data, vaccinations received, medications administered, and owner-reported clinical signs consistent with AEs that developed < 5 days after vaccination were recorded. Associations between potential risk factors and owner-reported AEs were evaluated by logistic regression analysis. Results--The IR/10,000 dogs for owner-reported postvaccination AEs was 26.3 (95% Cl, 23.6 to 29.2), whereas that for dogs that received a Leptospira vaccine alone or with other vaccines was 53.0 (95% Cl, 42.8 to 64.9). Significant factors for increasing or decreasing risk of AEs were as follows: receiving a Leptospira vaccine (adjusted OR, 2.13), age at vaccination 1 to < 7 or > 7 years (vs a referent of < 6 months; adjusted OR, 0.54 and 0.44, respectively), and weight 13.6 to < 22.7 kg (30 to < 50 lb) and 22.7 to < 45.5 kg (50 to 100 lb [vs a referent of < 4.5 kg {10 lb}]; adjusted OR, 0.48 and 0.55, respectively). Hypersensitivity reactions were rare (IR, 6.5/10,000 dogs), and IRs for these events did not differ significantly between dogs vaccinated with or without a Leptospira component. Conclusions and Clinical Relevance--The overall IR for owner-reported postvaccination AEs was low. Results suggested vaccination against Leptospira (an organism that can cause fatal disease) is safe in the majority of cases, slightly increasing the risk of owner-reported AEs but not associated with a significant increase in hypersensitivity reactions, compared with other vaccinations administered. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Rational use of drugs in veterinary medicine has numerous benefits, such as increasing efficacy, decreasing the potential adverse effects, reducing risk of drug residue and combating development of microorganism's drug resistance. Methods: A retrospective study with the aim of evaluating the current rational use of veterinary drugs was conducted at college of veterinary medicine and agriculture veterinary teaching hospital and Ada district veterinary clinic, central Ethiopia. One thousand eight hundred and nineteen animal patients' encounters were randomly selected for the study from prescription papers and prescription registration books retrospectively. Results: The average number of drugs prescribed per encounter was 1.23 with maximum of five. The percentage of encounters in which antimicrobials and anthelmintics was prescribed were 54.4 % (1216/2235) and 38.9 % (869/2235), respectively. The percentages of drugs prescribed by generic name and from essential veterinary drug list were 90.1 % (2014/2235) and 99.7 % (2229/2235), respectively. The most commonly prescribed antimicrobials and anthelmintics were oxytetracycline 1016 (45.5 %), penicillin and streptomycin combination 168 (7.5 %), sulfa drugs 23 (1.0 %), and albendazole 732 (32.8 %) and ivermectin 137 (6.1 %). Among the 1819 animal-patient encounters, only 57 % (n = 1037) of the prescriptions were written adequately, 43 % (n = 782) incorrectly prescribed and 1179 cases of the adequately specified prescription were tentatively diagnosed. For 656 (53.9 %) and 233 (26.8 %) inadequately specified cases antimicrobials and anthelmintics were prescribed, respectively. Antibiotics were prescribed irrationally for cases which were tentatively diagnosed as parasitic 21.6 % (n = 262) and viral to prevent secondary bacterial complications 6.0 % (n = 73). Among all patients that were admitted to veterinary clinics, 96.6 % (1757) were treated empirically without getting correct laboratory-supported diagnosis. Chi Square test for trend analysis showed a statistically significant association between irrational drug usage and year (p = 0.000). Conclusions: The findings had shown problems in generic prescribing, incorrect diagnosis, and non-availability of standard veterinary treatment guideline and drug formulary in the study area. Therefore, veterinary drugs, specially, antimicrobial agents should be judiciously used; and a wide scale study to safeguard the public from drug residual effects and antimicrobial resistance development is recommended. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The quality of life for dogs with osteoarthritis can often be improved with nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs); however, the number of adverse drug events associated with NSAID use reported to the Federal Drug Administration Center for Veterinary Medicine is higher than that for any other companion animal drug. Of those events, adverse renal reactions are the second most reported. NSAIDs produce pharmacologic effects via inhibition of cyclooxygenase (COX), which decreases production of prostanoids. Prostaglandins are synthesized by both the COX-1 and COX-2 enzymes in the healthy kidney and influence renal blood flow, glomerular filtration rate, renin release, and Na excretion. There are important species differences in the renal expression of COX-1 and COX-2. For example, dogs have higher basal levels of COX-2 expression in the kidney compared with humans. In addition, in dogs with chronic kidney disease, an increase in COX-2 expression occurs and synthesis of prostaglandins shifts to the COX-2 pathway. For those reasons, NSAIDs that target COX-2 may be expected to adversely affect renal function in dogs, especially dogs with chronic kidney disease. The purpose of this review was to evaluate the literature to report the renal effects of NSAIDs in dogs. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background Ciclosporin is approved for the treatment of atopic dermatitis ( AD) in dogs and has been shown to be safe and effective. Placebo-controlled studies suggest that oclacitinib is a safe and effective alternative therapy. Hypothesis/Objectives To evaluate the efficacy and safety of oclacitinib, in comparison to ciclosporin, for the control of AD in a blinded, randomized clinical trial, incorporating a noninferiority test at day 28. Animals A total of 226 client-owned dogs with a history of AD from eight sites were enrolled. Methods Enrolled animals were randomized to receive oral oclacitinib (0.4-0.6 mg/kg twice daily for 14 days, then once daily) or oral ciclosporin (3.2-6.6 mg/kg once daily) for 12 weeks. Owners assessed pruritus using an enhanced visual analog scale ( VAS), and veterinarians assessed dermatitis using the Canine Atopic Dermatitis Extent and Severity Index ( CADESI)-02. Results On days 1, 2, 7, 14, 28, 56 and 84, the percentage reduction from baseline for owner-assessed pruritus changed from 25.6 to 61.0% in the oclacitinib group compared with 6.5 to 61.5% in the ciclosporin group; differences were significant at all time points up to day 28. On day 56, ciclosporin-treated dogs showed a similar decrease in pruritus to oclacitinib-treated dogs. On day 14, the percentage reduction from baseline CADESI-02 was significantly greater in the oclacitinib group (58.7%) than in the ciclosporin group (43.0%). Three times as many adverse events attributed to gastrointestinal signs were reported in the ciclosporin group compared with the oclacitinib group. Conclusions and clinical importance In this study of treatment for canine AD, oclacitinib had a faster onset of action and a lower frequency of gastrointestinal side effects compared with ciclosporin. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The aim of the study was to investigate the nephrotoxic effects of gentamicin in adult male sheep, and to identify the earliest signs of toxicity and the extent of clinical and biochemical changes. Twenty clinically healthy yearling male Iranian fattailed sheep were injected with gentamicin sulfate at a daily dose of 80 mg/kg for 9-10 d when nephrotoxicosis was induced. Blood samples were collected weekly before and after induction of nephrotoxicosis. Gentamicin-induced nephrotoxicity was characterised by increased creatinine and urea levels in serum, electrolyte imbalances, occurrence of albuminuria, and renal dysfunction. Significant elevation in respiratory and heart rates were observed one week after treatment (P < 0.05). There was a noticeable increase in water consumption, lethargy, and loss of appetite in treated sheep. There were significant correlations between serum creatinine and potassium (P = 0.004, r = 0.759), sodium (P = 0.017, r = 0.501), and urea (P = 0.021, r = 0.617) levels. Additionally, significant negative correlations between serum total protein and albumin and creatinine (P = 0.023, r = -0.484) and urea (P = 0.036, r = -0.381) were found. At necropsy, the kidneys were pale, swollen, and wet on the cut surface, especially perirenal tissues and ureters were oedematous. These findings confirmed the previous reports in other species. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article presents a study which compared the clinical toxicity and activity of orally administered high-dose intermittent and low-dose oral artemisinin drug in dogs with spontaneous tumors. Topics discussed include the occurrence of hematologic and biochemical adverse events in the subjects, the blood concentrations of the drugs artemisinin and dihydroartemisinin, and tolerance and bioavailability of the drugs.

A simple, rapid, reproducible and sensitive method based on HPLC with ultraviolet detection was developed for the determination of methimazole (MMI) in animal tissues and plasma samples. Under the optimum experimental conditions, the calibration curves for MMI were linear in the tested range 0.5-20 mg kg-1 tissue sample (mg l-1 plasma) with correlation coefficients better than 0.99. The performance of the proposed method was tested for the determination of MMI levels in brain, liver, thyroid gland and plasma of MMI-treated hens, as well as in their eggs and embryos. The proposed method reduces time and simplifies the sample preparation procedure. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objective--To determine whether tepoxalin alters kidney function in dogs with chronic kidney disease (CKD). Animals--16 dogs with CKD (International Renal Interest Society stage 2 or 3) and osteoarthritis. Procedures--Kidney function was assessed via serum biochemical analysis, urinalysis, urine protein-to-creatinine concentration ratio, urine γ-glutamyl transpeptidase-to-creatinine concentration ratio, iohexol plasma clearance, and indirect blood pressure measurement twice before treatment. Dogs received tepoxalin (10 mg/kg, PO, q 24 h) for 28 days (acute phase; n = 16) and an additional 6 months (chronic phase; 10). Recheck examinations were performed weekly (acute phase) and at 1, 3, and 6 months (chronic phase). Kidney function variables were analyzed via repeated-measures ANOVA. Results--There was no difference over time for any variables in dogs completing both phases of the study. Adverse drug events (ADEs) resulting in discontinuation of tepoxalin administration included increased serum creatinine concentration (1 dog; week 1), collapse (1 dog; week 1), increased liver enzyme activities (1 dog; week 4), vomiting and diarrhea (1 dog; week 8), hematochezia (1 dog; week 24), and gastrointestinal ulceration or perforation (1 dog; week 26). Preexisting medical conditions and concomitant drug use may have contributed to ADEs. Kidney function was not affected in the latter 5 dogs. Discontinuation of tepoxalin administration stabilized kidney function in the former dog and resolved the ADEs in 4 of the 5 latter dogs. Conclusions and Clinical Relevance--Tepoxalin may be used, with appropriate monitoring, in dogs with International Renal Interest Society stage 2 or 3 CKD and osteoarthritis. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article discusses a study of seven dogs presented with either a suspected or confirmed ingestion of large doses of pimobendan and the clinical signs associated with pimobendan toxicosis. The seven dogs were identified as having ingested presumptive toxic amounts of pimobendan ranging from 2.6 milligram (mg)/kilogram (kg)to 21.3 mg/kg. It indicates that prognosis for pimobendan toxicosis is excellent in healthy patients without cardiac arrest.

The authors reflect on the benzalkonium chloride (BAC) intoxication in cats. Topics discussed include the importance of the toxicosis, effect of intoxication to the behavioural predisposition of cats, and use of BAC as an environmental disinfectant. Also mentioned are the BAC toxidrome, adverse effects, and prevention of intoxication.

The article presents various reports on veterinary medicine published in periodicals as of January 2016. They include one by J. R. Hunt and colleagues in the "Veterinary Journal" about the adverse reactions of dogs and cats to non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs, another by I. H. Abdi and colleagues in "PLoS Neglected Tropical Diseases" on the Rift Valley fever in Kenya and one by S. Plevin and colleagues in "Equine Veterinary Journal" on sesamoiditis in yearling thoroughbred horses.

Ivermectin is a veterinary pharmaceutical generally used to control the ecto- and endoparasites of livestock, but its use has resulted in adverse effects on coprophilous insects, causing population decline and biodiversity loss. There is currently no information regarding the direct effects of ivermectin on dung beetle physiology and behaviour. Here, based on electroantennography and spontaneous muscle force tests, we show sub-lethal disorders caused by ivermectin in sensory and locomotor systems of Scarabaeus cicatricosus, a key dung beetle species in Mediterranean ecosystems. Our findings show that ivermectin decreases the olfactory and locomotor capacity of dung beetles, preventing them from performing basic biological activities. These effects are observed at concentrations lower than those usually measured in the dung of treated livestock. Taking into account that ivermectin acts on both glutamate-gated and GABA-gated chloride ion channels of nerve and muscle cells, we predict that ivermectin's effects at the physiological level could influence many members of the dung pat community. The results indicate that the decline of dung beetle populations could be related to the harmful effects of chemical contamination in the dung. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article discusses the updated marketing authorisations, issued by the European Medicines Agency in February 2015, for veterinary drugs in Great Britain, including the Activyl Tick Plus 900 milligrams (mg) + 2880 mg spot-on solution for extra large dogs, the Recuvyra 50 mg/milliliter (ml) transdermal solution for dogs and the Nerfasin 100 mg/ml solution for injection for cattle and horses. Details on the conditions that were added to the adverse reaction section of each product are given.

The article reports on an advisory issued by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA). In the notice, the FDA reminds horse owners and veterinarians of the potential dangers of compounded drugs. After found that two lots of compounded combination drug products containing pyrimethamine and toltrazuril were associated with adverse events in 10 horses in early May 2014, the agency issued the advisory.

A quiz concerning veterinary medicine topics is presented including seizures in cats, treatment of epilepsy in animals, and drug's side effects.