German Shepherd Dog pyoderma

Diascopy and histopathological evaluation of nonblanching erythematous dermatoses in dogs

BACKGROUND

Diascopy is a point-of-care diagnostic test used to differentiate skin erythema due to vascular dilation from haemorrhage. In the veterinary literature, only a handful of diseases have been described to be associated with a negative (nonblanching) diascopy result, and histological investigation of haemorrhage has been inconsistent.

OBJECTIVES

Retrospective study to undertake a histopathological investigation of canine, nonblanching erythematous dermatoses for the presence or absence of haemorrhage and vascular changes.

MATERIALS AND METHODS

Skin biopsies from dogs presented with moderate-to-severe nonblanching erythema were evaluated histologically. Additionally, clinical data about each patient were analysed.

RESULTS

Twenty cases were identified with nonblanching erythema. Diagnoses included vasculopathy (n = 6), canine eosinophilic dermatitis (n = 3), cutaneous epitheliotropic T-cell lymphoma (n = 2), and one case each of sterile granuloma and pyogranuloma syndrome, German shepherd dog pyoderma, multiple mast cell tumours, haemangiosarcoma, exfoliative cutaneous lupus erythematosus, canine leishmaniosis with sebaceous adenitis, sebaceous adenitis with concurrent dermatophytosis, calcinosis cutis and canine atopic dermatitis with insect-bite reaction. One or more vascular changes were present in all 20 cases and included perivascular oedema, endothelial swelling and neutrophilic infiltration of vessel walls. Haemorrhage was identified in 17 of 20 cases (85%). Three cases without dermal haemorrhage were calcinosis cutis, sebaceous adenitis with dermatophytosis and canine atopic dermatitis with insect-bite reaction.

CONCLUSIONS AND CLINICAL RELEVANCE

Negative diascopy was associated with haemorrhage and vascular pathological findings in the majority of cases, yet not all. Haemorrhage was identified histologically in all diseases previously reported as nonblanching as well as in a few additional diseases.

Corynebacteria of the diphtheriae Species Complex in Companion Animals: Clinical and Microbiological Characterization of 64 Cases from France

Corynebacteria of the diphtheriae species complex (CdSC) can cause diphtheria in humans and have been reported from companion animals. We aimed to describe animal infection cases caused by CdSC isolates. A total of 18,308 animals (dogs, cats, horses, and small mammals) with rhinitis, dermatitis, nonhealing wounds, and otitis were sampled in metropolitan France (August 2019 to August 2021). Data on symptoms, age, breed, and the administrative region of origin were collected. Cultured bacteria were analyzed for tox gene presence, production of the diphtheria toxin, and antimicrobial susceptibility and were genotyped by multilocus sequence typing. Corynebacterium ulcerans was identified in 51 cases, 24 of which were toxigenic. Rhinitis was the most frequent presentation (18/51). Eleven cases (6 cats, 4 dogs, and 1 rat) were monoinfections. Large-breed dogs, especially German shepherds (9 of 28 dogs; P < 0.00001), were overrepresented. C. ulcerans isolates were susceptible to all tested antibiotics. tox-positive C. diphtheriae was identified in 2 horses. Last, 11 infections cases (9 dogs and 2 cats; mostly chronic otitis and 2 sores) had tox-negative C. rouxii, a recently defined species. C. rouxii and C. diphtheriae isolates were susceptible to most antibiotics tested, and almost all of these infections were polymicrobial. Monoinfections with C. ulcerans point toward a primary pathogenic potential to animals. C. ulcerans represents an important zoonotic risk, and C. rouxii may represent a novel zoonotic agent. This case series provides novel clinical and microbiological data on CdSC infections and underlines the need for management of animals and their human contacts. IMPORTANCE We report on the occurrence and clinical and microbiological characteristics of infections caused by members of the CdSC in companion animals. This is the first study based on the systematic analysis of a very large animal cohort (18,308 samples), which provides data on the frequency of CdSC isolates in various types of clinical samples from animals. Awareness of this zoonotic bacterial group remains low among veterinarians and veterinary laboratories, among which it is often considered commensal in animals. We suggest that in the case of CdSC detection in animals, the veterinary laboratories should be encouraged to send the samples to a reference laboratory for analysis of the presence of the tox gene. This work is relevant to the development of guidelines in the case of CdSC infections in animals and underlines their public health relevance given the zoonotic transmission risk.

Wellbeing, quality of life, presence of concurrent diseases, and survival times in untreated and treated German Shepherd dogs with dwarfism

BACKGROUND

Pituitary dwarfism (PD) in German Shepherd dogs (GSD) is a rare endocrinopathy. Cause and inheritance of the disease are well characterized, but the overall survival time, presence of concurrent diseases, quality of life (QoL) and influence of different treatment options on those parameters is still not well investigated. The aim of this study was to obtain data regarding the disease pattern of GSD with PD and to investigate the impact of treatment.

METHODS

47 dogs with dwarfism (presumably PD) and 94 unaffected GSD serving as controls were enrolled. Data were collected via a standardized questionnaire, which every owner of a participating dog had completed. Dogs with PD were grouped based on three categories of treatment: Group 1 (untreated), group 2 (treated with levothyroxine), group 3 (treated with thyroxine and progestogens or with growth hormone (GH)). Groups were compared using One-Way-Anova, Kruskal-Wallis test or Wilcoxon-rank-sum test. Categorical analysis was performed using Two-Sample-Chi-Squared-test.

RESULTS

Dogs treated with thyroxine and gestagen or GH were significantly taller and heavier compared to all other dogs with PD. Quality of life was best in dogs with PD treated with thyroxine and similar to unaffected GSD. Treatment increased survival time in dogs with PD independent of the treatment strategy. Dogs receiving thyroxine and progestogens or GH did not develop chronic kidney disease (CKD).

CONCLUSION

GSD with PD should be treated at least for their secondary hypothyroidism to increase survival time. Additional treatment with progestogens or GH improves body size and seems to protect against the occurrence of CKD.

Risk factors for diskospondylitis in dogs after spinal decompression surgery for intervertebral disk herniation

OBJECTIVE To determine the incidence of and risk factors for development of postoperative diskospondylitis (POD) in dogs that underwent spinal decompression surgery for intervertebral disk herniation (IVDH). DESIGN Retrospective single cohort study. ANIMALS 372 dogs that underwent spinal decompression surgery for IVDH between January 2007 and January 2011. PROCEDURES Medical records of dogs were retrospectively reviewed. Data regarding signalment, type and anatomic site of IVDH, severity of neurologic signs, type of surgery, duration of anesthesia, esophageal temperature during surgery, and use of corticosteroid drugs were analyzed for associations with POD. RESULTS POD developed in 8 of 372 (2.2%) dogs. Univariate analysis revealed that German Shepherd Dogs had 9.8 times the odds of POD, compared with the odds for other breeds. In addition, dogs > 8.8 years of age, weighing > 20 kg (44 lb), or having disk protrusions were at higher risk of developing POD than were other dogs. The only factor that retained a significant association with POD after controlling for other factors in multivariate analysis was body weight > 20 kg. CONCLUSIONS AND CLINICAL RELEVANCE Factors identified in this study may be useful for prediction of POD, an apparently uncommon outcome, in dogs undergoing spinal decompression surgery for IVDH. Dogs at higher risk than others, particularly those weighing > 20 kg, should be monitored carefully in the immediate postoperative period, and signs of worsening neurologic condition after initial improvement should be promptly investigated.