Fluoroquinolones and the Feline Retina

A short while back someone emailed me to ask what my recommendations are when it comes to using fluoroquinolones in cats with respect to the potential for retinal damage and blindness. She had been discussing the issue with colleagues in her practice and there was no consensus which was not helped by the fact that the formularies and other book resources they had available did not entirely agree with each other – quelle surprise?!

Canine parvovirus infection - role for interferons?

We are all familiar with the potential for canine parvovirus (CPV) to cause severe morbidity and mortality. Treatment is symptomatic and supportive and antibiotics are used in many/all cases (there is more to say about this but that is for another blog some other time!). The ability to provide good intensive care can significantly impact on outcome but nevertheless some dogs will die. None of the medical therapies currently used are expected to have any effect on modulating or dampening down the actual pathology of the disease (although early enteral nutrition likely helps to ameliorate intestinal changes to some degree). A treatment that could reduce disease severity and even lower mortality is therefore something that is undoubtedly very desirable but does such an option exist?

Out-of-date adder antivenom: to use or not to use?

I am not going to go into any detail here suffice to say that when it comes to treating envenomation by the common adder (common European adder, Vipera berus), antivenom is the only therapy shown to have a beneficial impact on progression and outcome. It is true that mortality in dogs and cats from bites by this snake is (very) low but antivenom use can significantly reduce severity and duration of morbidity which attenuates suffering and saves pet carers money too! As I say, I am not going to get into any more about the treatment here – except to say NO STEROIDS and NO EMPIRICAL ANTIBIOTICS!

Inducing emesis in cats: what's to be done?

Cats do not tend to ingest poisons as often as dogs do, this we know, and therefore the scenario in which one may be considering inducing emesis in a cat is encountered less often. That said, the Veterinary Poisons Information Service (VPIS), based in the UK, gets more or less one telephone enquiry a day about a cat that has ingested a toxin (personal communication, 2014) so it is not totally unheard of! I am going to skip some of the other talking points about gastrointestinal decontamination, especially in cats, here and just consider the circumstance in which it has been decided to induce emesis in a cat. What are the options?

Journal bits 'n' pieces 001 Dog blood types and Methocarbamol CRI

These ‘journal bits ‘n’ pieces’ blogs are meant to be summaries of the background to and findings of interesting journal articles I come across without any intention to discuss the methodology or critique the papers.

Immunosuppressive drugs in canine primary IMHA: what's the evidence?

Background

In the treatment of immune-mediated haemolytic anaemia (IMHA), both primary (idiopathic) and secondary, immunosuppressive therapy is essential.