Monthly Archives: May 2017

Cats

The sneezing cat

Have you noticed your feline companion is sneezing more than usual, and you’re a little worried? In that case, this post might help!

Just as it is with us, sneezing is a normal mechanism our pet’s body uses to clear any irritants from their nose. This means an occasional sneeze from time to time is quite normal, but if your pet is sneezing more than usual, maybe even showing some nasal discharge, cough, or any other symptoms, there might be something else going on.

Sneezing can have several different causes. The most common cause is without a doubt upper respiratory tract infections, particularly in younger cats. You have probably heard of this already as it is commonly known as ´cat flu`. These infections usually have viruses as a primary cause and the viral agents typically involved are the feline herpesvirus and calicivirus. Although it’s not as common, bacteria such as Bordetella bronchiseptica, Streptococcus canis, Mycoplasma spp., and Chlamydophila felis can also be directly responsible for these infections.

Upper respiratory infections tend to be more common in kittens, young cats and in free-roaming cats that frequently come in contact with other outdoor felines. These viral infections are easily-spread, as these agents can be passed on from cat to cat, through any objects in their environment, or even through their caregivers.

In many of these infections the clinical signs can resolve in about 2 to 3 weeks, even without treatment. However, some cats may be more severely affected and veterinary assistance is necessary. These cats may also present thick and purulent discharge from their nose, depression, fever and lack of appetite. Some are left with recurrent nasal discharge and eye disease.

Other possible causes of sneezing involve nasal obstruction, nasopharyngeal polyps, nasopharyngeal stenosis, inhaling foreign bodies, trauma, chronic rhinitis, neoplasia (typically in older animals) and even dental disease.

Cats have tiny noses, but in some cases the sneezing is due to an inhaled blade of grass or grass seed. This is more common during warmer weather, and in cats with outdoor access. It also worth pointing out that if a cat’s sneezing is also accompanied by cough, feline asthma might also be a possible cause.

The best way to protect your cat from upper respiratory tract infections is to keep your cat’s vaccination plan up-to-date, as this provides protection against herpes and calicivirus. The vaccine does not always prevent infection, but it will dramatically reduce the severity of its clinical signs.

If you are planning to bring a new cat into your household don’t forget to keep the new cat separated from the resident cats for 7 to 10 days, for quarantine purposes. It is also recommended to provide your cat with adequate dental care.

If you notice your cat is sneezing more than usual and possibly showing other clinical signs, or if you are at all concerned, take your pet to the vet.

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Cats, Dogs

Spinal walking

Did you know that paraplegic animals with irreversible spinal cord injuries, especially in the lumbar portion, can sometimes recover locomotion?

It might sound a bit impossible – If the communication between brain and the muscles in the legs is severed than how can our pet still walk? That’s where the sensational spinal cord comes in!

The brain and the spinal cord are two more or less separate entities that communicate with each other, and together they make up the central nervous system. The brain controls much more complex functions but the spinal cord has some aces up its sleeve, one of which allows for what is called ‘Spinal Walk’.

Spinal walk is a type of acquired involuntary motor function seen in animals with varying degrees of spinal cord injury, even sometimes in cases of complete injury! In essence, even though the brain is no longer sending any signals to the pelvic limbs, there are specialised structures in the spinal cord that can generate patterns and replicate a functional gait. We call this an involuntary motor function because the hind legs are not being controlled by the brain but instead there is a spinal cord reflex that allows for walking. This type of walking is a bit uncoordinated and jerky but animals are able to walk unaided for as long as they want, and can get themselves back up in case they fall down.

Will all animals with spinal cord injuries develop spinal walk? Unfortunately, which animals will develop the capacity for spinal walking is quite variable. It will depend, for instance, on the type of injury to the spinal cord and if there are other diseases that might affect nervous system structures.

A recent study in dogs that attempted to correlate physiotherapy with acquiring spinal walk has had promising results that show that perhaps physical therapy techniques may aid our lovely pooches to spinal walk. Other studies have attempted to better characterise spinal cord injuries and figure out what treatment best fits what type of injury.

Have questions about spinal cord injuries and treatment options? Give your vet a call, they will be more than happy to walk through the best options for your four-legged buddy!

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Cats

Sun’s out Cats out: The Squamous Cell Carcinoma

Beautiful sunny days are right around the corner! And nobody loves that better than our purring partners who will undoubtedly lounge on the best sunny spots for hours on end.

But, as with everything, the sun can also have its ill effects. Like people, cats are susceptible to sunburns and some forms of cancer come from chronic exposure to the sun’s ultraviolet light. Who is at the highest risk? Because fur protects from the sun’s rays, white cats, especially short haired cats and obviously, cats with very little to no fur are at the most risk.

Squamous cell carcinoma is a form of cancer that arises from the squamous epithelium. This cell type forms most of the skin, lines the oral cavity and also the oesophagus. When these cells are hit with UV rays, they might get damaged at a DNA level and start having errors when they multiply – this situation may lead to an uncontrolled proliferation of cells.

Most cases of this carcinoma are caused by chronic exposure to the sun, especially in areas with low fur density like the nose, ears and eyelids. Carcinomas that do not originate due to damages by UV radiation can happen anywhere, including inside the oral cavity and oesophagus. It’s a disease of older animals, showing up usually at around age 10 or 12.

This type of cancer is locally invasive and can do severe damage to facial and head structures if left untreated though it has very little chances of migrating to other areas of the body that are far away from the original site. It often starts as small scabs that do not seem to heal that will progress into larger lesions with ulcers and rearrangement of bone and other structures.

How the disease progresses can vary a lot and treatment will depend on the cancer stage, location and cause. Animals with smaller lesions that can be submitted to surgery tend to have the best outcomes.

A couple of things that can help avoid this nasty situation are:

  • High risk cats should avoid at high sunlight hours;
  • UV light blocks for the windows in cats that love to sunbathe;
  • Sun block, especially on ears. Make sure you keep an eye on your cat, so they don’t clean it off before it gets absorbed!

If you notice odd wounds on your cat, especially that seem to be getting worse or that don’t seem to heal at all, don’t hesitate to contact your vet!

The sooner this is treated, the better the chances your fuzzy friend has.

Image via: “White Beauty Visiting” by Pinti 1, was built upon and is licensed under CC BY 2.0

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Horses

The Pituitary and You: Cushing’s Disease in Horses

Do you own an older horse? Then this post is definitely for you. Neurodegenerative diseases that can afflict elderly humans, like Alzheimer’s or Parkinson’s, are fairly well known and this has proved to be true for our faithful horses as well.

Cushing’s Disease is also called dysfunction of the pars intermedia of the pituitary gland. It’s a much harder to remember name, but it’s very handy at describing what this pathology is actually about.

The pituitary gland is a small gland in the nervous system that sits in a small bone protrusion on the floor of the skull. It’s a very important gland as it works in tandem with the hypothalamus and produces an immense number of hormones that will affect organs and functions all over the body.

So, what does it do? A better question would be what doesn’t it do! It helps regulate growth, the metabolism of carbs, lipids and proteins, kidney function, the immune system, milk production, stress responses and even the reproductive system.

The pituitary gland has 4 different sections, each with cells involved in the production of different hormones. One of them, the pars intermedia (plainly put, the middle portion of it) is the portion involved in this disease.

Unfortunately, we are not sure why Cushing’s Disease happens in horses. Due to the destruction of the neurons responsible for producing dopamine, a neurotransmitter, the pituitary gland becomes unregulated and produces an excess of hormones in the pars intermedia. Why is there destruction of the dopaminergic inhibition system in the first place? We are not sure yet but we suspect oxidative stress may contribute to neuronal death.

How does all of this affect your horse? With the pituitary pumping out way more hormones than it needs, many organs downstream will be deregulated. You can find clinical signs like problems with shedding, hirsutism, atrophy of the muscles, laminitis, increased production of urine and water intake, sweating excessively, abnormal fat distribution, immunosuppression, changes in behaviour and infertility, among others.

Double unfortunately, the diagnosis is quite complex and it’s very easy to get inconclusive results. This is in part because it’s a progressive disease. Testing too early on will commonly end in false negatives, and because the pituitary has a fluctuating activity and is more active in the autumn, so testing during this period might net false positives.

Despite all of this, treatments do exist! Beyond addressing the issue in the pituitary, your buddy needs solid hoof and dental care, good nutritional management, tight parasite control and generally keeping a keen eye on any changes that might occur.

Think your horse might be suffering from Cushing’s Disease? Give your vet a call and they’ll help you figure out the best treatment plan for everyone.

Image via: “morganHead” by tintedglass, was built upon and is licensed under CC BY 2.0

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