Owners' views of canine nutrition, weight and wellbeing and their implications for the veterinary consultation

OBJECTIVES

To investigate owners' views around canine nutrition and wellbeing, how these beliefs may differ according to the weight status of the dog and the implications for owner support approaches.

MATERIALS AND METHODS

A researcher-mediated questionnaire collected quantitative and qualitative data via structured interviews with dog owners (n=147) attending a country park in the East Midlands, UK, with a specific focus on views around canine nutrition and wellbeing.

RESULTS

Forty-four percent of owners cited "past experience" when determining what to feed, and only 9% of owners cited the veterinarian as a source of this information. When comparing chosen verbal description versus non-sequential body condition score images of the dog, only 22% of owners with overweight animals matched perceived verbal and visual appraisals, compared with 89% of owners of ideal weight dogs. Owners cited a good diet and regular exercise as important factors for canine wellbeing, but companionship with other dogs as the least important factor.

CLINICAL SIGNIFICANCE

Owners report being aware of the important association between canine nutrition and wellbeing, but their considered importance of factors influencing dog wellbeing may be influenced by their perceived weight status of the animal. Veterinarians may need to reframe owner discourse such that there is more routine discussion around weight and nutrition at every consultation. Furthermore, the use of non-sequential body condition score images could be a useful tool for a more considered opinion of canine weight status by owners.

Persister cells: formation, resuscitation and combative therapies

Persister cells, or superfits, have been strongly implicated in the recalcitrance and recurrence of chronic bacterial infection through the dormant (metabolically reduced) phenotype they display and the tolerance to antimicrobial agents this dormancy grants them. The complex biochemical events that lead to the formation of persister cells are not completely understood, though much research has linked the degradation of type II toxin/antitoxin systems and reduced cellular ATP levels to the rise in stress response molecules (where (p)ppGpp is of particular interest), which induce this dormant state. The equally complex mechanism of resuscitation is initiated by the cells’ ability to sense nutrient availability via chemotaxis systems. Levels of secondary messenger proteins (i.e., cAMP) within the cell are reduced to allow the resuscitation of ribosomes, by ribosomal resuscitation factor HflX, to reinstate protein synthesis and, therefore, growth to re-populate. Techniques of superfit eradication utilise one, or more, of three approaches (i) direct killing, (ii) re-sensitising persister cells to conventional antimicrobials, or (iii) prevention of persister formation though few laboratory findings have been translated to clinical practice. This work will outline current findings in the field with a critical approach, where possible.

Polybenzimidazoles/Phosphoric Acid Solid Polymer Electrolytes: Mechanical and Electrical Properties

Poly (2,2'-(m-phenylene) 5,5'-bibenzimidazole), PBI and poly (2,5-benzimidazole), ABPBI, were cast into films and doped with phosphoric acid. Their mechanical properties were studied as a function of inherent viscosity and phosphoric acid content. The commercial PBI with an I. V. of 0.8 to 0.9 had relatively low elongation at break. It was fractionated; the higher the inherent viscosity the higher the modulus and elongation. At low phosphoric acid doping the modulus rose because a crystalline phase developed, and then dropped as more phosphoric acid was added. A second doping method produced films with high crystallinity and higher conductivity (0.02-.03 vs. 0.06-.08 S/cm) but poorer elongation than those made by doping a cast film in phosphoric acid. In order to get higher molecular weight films that could have better mechanical properties, we decided to polymerize 3,4-diaminobenzoic acid to ABPBI, an AB polymer for which I. V.'s of∼16 have been reported. After learning how to purify and polymerize the monomer, I. V.'s of 6–8 were easily obtained. Conductivities of the doped ABPBI films were as high as those of the best PBI films. With their high viscosities, the ABPBI films were much tougher and had better elongation than the doped PBI films.

Experience and outcomes of nephroblastoma in Johannesburg, 1998 - 2003

INTRODUCTION

Outcomes for children with cancer in the developing world are compromised by the difficulties for patients in accessing health services and by competition for resources between oncological services and the myriad other health problems of emerging nations. The purpose of this study is to document and analyse our experience and the outcomes of children with nephroblastoma over recent years.

METHODS

This is a retrospective review of all patients who underwent combined oncological and surgical treatment for nephroblastoma in the Paediatric Oncology Unit between 1998 and 2003.

RESULTS

Sixty-three patients were treated for Wilms' tumour; the mean age was 3 years 8 months (range 4 months to 11 years). The majority of children presented with an abdominal swelling or mass. Preoperative chemotherapy was given in forty-six cases (73 %). The tumour stage distribution was 11/63 stage I (17 %), 11/63 stage II (17 %), 21/63 stage III (33 %), 16/63 stage IV (25 %) and 4/63 stage V (6 %). Postoperative chemotherapy and radiotherapy was given according to the SIOP protocol. During the study period, thirteen patients (21 %) died (7 cancer-specific, 2 postoperative, 4 sepsis related), thirteen (21 %) were lost to follow-up and thirty-seven (59 %) are free of disease with a mean follow-up period of 3.67 years. Children with stage I and stage II had a disease-free survival at 4 years of 89 %. However, those with stage III, IV and V disease had 4-year survival of 66.75 % (p = 0.07). Overall, four-year post-nephrectomy survival was 76 %.

CONCLUSION

Outcomes for children with cancer have improved dramatically over recent years; however, in the developing world, the scarcity of hospital resources and the overwhelming burden of non-cancer diseases can mean that oncological treatment is extremely challenging. In our society, children tend to present with nephroblastoma at an advanced stage; however, treatment by dedicated, multidisciplinary teams can achieve good results.

Single cell measurements in research on calcium-mobilising purinoceptors

The Ca-sensitive photoprotein aequorin has been used to record repetitive free Ca transients in single rat liver cells responding to either ATP or ADP. The time-course of individual transients is longer when ATP is the agonist. If both agonists operate through the same receptor, then curtailment of the receptors' activity occurs more rapidly when ADP is the agonist, and we infer that an agonist-occupied receptor linked to a GTP-liganded G protein is the moiety responsible for activating a phosphatidylinositol bisphosphate-specific phospholipase C. The alternative explanation is that ATP and ADP act through different receptors.

Hypokalaemic myopathy

The structural changes occurring in hypokalaemic myopathy are described. The literature pertaining to this subject is reviewed, with particular reference to the muscular changes in chronic alcoholism.

Tuberculous endocarditis: A report of 2 cases

Two patients with tuberculous endocarditis are described. In one patient the condition developed on a mitral valve prosthesis and in the other in thrombus adherent to a ventriculo-atrial shunt.

Toxicity of Callilepis laureola

Callilepis laureola, which has been found to cause fatal liver necrosis in the Black population of Natal, is widely used as a herbal medicine. Chemical extraction has yielded a product, identified as atractyloside, which is responsible for the nephrotoxic and hypoglycaemic effects of Callilepis laureola. The hepatotoxic principle has not yet been isolated.

Toxic hepatitis in black patients in natal

The clinical and pathological features of toxic centrilobular zonal necrosis in Natal Blacks are described. It is suggested that this condition may be caused by the toxic action of Callilepis laureola (known to the Zulu as 'impila'). This plant and other herbs are used by many Blacks for self-medication or are prescribed by herbalists and witchdoctors.

Fat embolism in kwashiorkor

Fat embolism from the grossly fatty liver of an infant with kwashiorkor is described. Globules of fat were seen at necropsy in the hepatic veins, in the right atrium and ventricle of the heart and in the pulmonary artery. Sections of the lung showed fat emboli in numerous branches of the pulmonary artery. Examination of lung sections taken at necropsy from 40 patients who had severe kwashiorkor failed to show similar fat embolism.

Orthostatic hypotension due to Shy-Drager syndrome

A case of orthostatic hypotension is presented, as well as postmortem neuropathological findings. The features of this case are consistent with those of the Shy-Drager syndrome, which comprises primary orthostatic hypotension and neurological manifestations caused by degenerative disease of the central nervous system.

Pulmonary arteriovenous fistula with bilharzial pulmonary hypertension

Congenital pulmonary arteriovenous fistulae, provided that they are not present in very large numbers, are best managed surgically, and there is no effective alternative management. Where pulmonary arteriovenous fistulae develop as a consequence of pulmonary hypertension it is rational to resect the fistulae if the cause of pulmonary hypertension - for example, mitral stenosis - is correctable. Pulmonary arteriovenous fistula in the presence of unexplained or uncorrectable pulmonary hypertension may be the safety valve on which life depends and should, therefore, not be resected. An example is reported of pulmonary arteriovenous fistula associated with bilharzial pulmonary hypertension in which resection of the fistula resulted in death.

Hypopituitarism in a Male due to Giant Cell Granuloma of the Anterior Pituitary

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