Behavioral predictors of subsequent respiratory illness signs in dogs admitted to an animal shelter

Intake Vaccinations Reduced Signs of Canine Respiratory Disease During an Outbreak at an Animal Shelter

Animal shelters provide an ideal environment for the spread of disease. Dogs are often housed in close quarters with others of unknown vaccine histories, and experience high levels of sustained stress. As a result, Canine Infection Respiratory Disease (CIRD) is often prevalent and difficult to control. The aims of this study were to (1) identify specific pathogens responsible for CIRD in a city shelter in West Texas, USA, and (2) determine whether intake vaccinations decrease proportion of dogs exhibiting signs of CIRD even during an outbreak. A laboratory analysis of conjunctival, pharyngeal, and nasal swabs (n = 15 dogs) and fecal samples (n = 6 kennels) showed prevalence of various CIRD pathogens (e.g., canine adenovirus-2, canine parainfluenza virus, canine distemper virus). All fifteen dogs tested positive for at least one pathogen, with the most prevalent pathogen being Canine Distemper Virus (CDV; n = 12). All of the kennels (n=6) tested positive for Canine Distemper Virus. Health data on dogs (n = 1,258) over the age of 6 weeks were assessed from May to August 2017. Beginning in July, both stray and owner-surrendered dogs were vaccinated with Nobivac^® Canine 1-DAPPv 5 Way and Nobivac^® Intra-Trac^® 3 upon intake, which differed from the previous policy. For each day in the study, we calculated the proportion of dogs in each nasal discharge category, the proportion of dogs observed coughing, and the mean fecal score across all dogs. We conducted a linear regression between the proportion of the shelter vaccinated and the proportion of dogs coughing. At the beginning of the vaccination phase, ~25% of the dogs were coughing. However, as the proportion of the dogs vaccinated increased, the proportion of dogs coughing decreased. There was a significant decrease of 7% of the proportion of dogs coughing when vaccination was at least at 90% compared to when it was <90%. These data suggest that the shelter in this study was experiencing a CIRD outbreak, with CDV being primary pathogen, and that it is possible to substantially reduce illness by implementing a vaccination on intake protocol. The current study provides support for the importance of vaccination in animal shelter welfare.

Effects of calcitriol on oxidative burst, phagocytic function, and leukocyte cytokine production in shelter dogs

Background

The active metabolite of vitamin D, calcitriol, has been shown across many different species to augment innate immune responses and dampen aberrant proinflammatory cytokine production. Community acquired infections are common in shelters and consume limited shelter resources, impact adoption rates, and can result in unnecessary euthanasia. Prophylactic oral vitamin D supplementation decreases the incidence and severity of upper and lower respiratory tract infections in humans. Before a clinical trial investigating the clinical benefit of oral vitamin D supplementation in shelter dogs can be pursued, an in vitro study evaluating the immunomodulatory effects of calcitriol in blood from shelter dogs is warranted. Therefore, the objective of this study was to determine if incubation of whole blood obtained from apparently healthy dogs housed in a shelter for ≥7 days with calcitriol would alter granulocyte/monocyte (GM) oxidative burst and phagocytic function as well as pathogen-associated molecular pattern (PAMP)-stimulated leukocyte production of tumor necrosis factor (TNF)-α, and interleukin (IL)-6, and IL-10.

Results

Ten dogs housed in a shelter for ≥7 days were enrolled in a prospective cohort study. Whole blood from these dogs was incubated with calcitriol (10^− 7 M) or diluent (control) for 24 h. Subsequent to this incubation, phagocytosis of opsonized-Escherichia coli (E. coli) and E. coli-induced oxidative burst were evaluated via flow cytometry. In addition, leukocyte production of TNF-α, IL-6, and IL-10 were measured using a canine-specific multiplex bead assay. Calcitriol significantly decreased leukocyte TNF-α production (p = 0.009) and increased IL-10 production (p = 0.002). Tumor necrosis factor-α-to-IL-10 ratio was significantly decreased with calcitriol (p = 0.017), while IL-6 production as well as GM oxidative burst and phagocytic function were not significantly affected.

Conclusions

These data indicate that calcitriol attenuates proinflammatory immune responses without affecting GM oxidative burst or phagocytic function in vitro in whole blood obtained from apparently healthy shelter dogs.

Minor procedural variations affect canine behavior during sociability assessments

A growing number of studies make claims about canine sociability in both applied and basic contexts. Yet, there is currently no standard for measuring sociability in dogs. The purpose of this two-part study was to determine whether procedural differences among canine sociability tests would affect dogs' behavior. In Experiment 1, we used a mixed-subjects design to assess whether experimenter position (standing, sitting, or kneeling) and presence of affection (petting and praise or none) affected leashed dogs' social behavior. Mixed-effect logistic regression modeling showed statistically significant main effects and interactions between posture and social contact. On average, dogs were more social when the experimenter knelt and provided social contact. However, there were individual differences in how dogs were affected by changes in procedure. In Experiment 2, we examined correspondence between leashed and unleashed dogs' social behaviors including time in proximity, following patterns, eye gaze, body orientation, jumping, and touching. Individual differences were examined by calculating a binomial mixed-effect logistic regression with condition (leashed, off-leash, following) and subject ID as fixed effects. Interactions were statistically significant for all behaviors, indicating that individual differences were present. The results have implications for the validity of sociability tests.