Giardia is a potentially zoonotic parasite; nevertheless tests for detecting Giardia are not commonly performed in small animal clinics, because of difficulty of the fecal test, the need of sufficient skills for the cyst test, and the lack of information about Giardia. Therefore, we contrived a simpler method to detect cysts of Giardia by negative staining with urinary stain solution (Sternheim-Malbin Stain Solution) diluted three times with normal saline. In comparison with enzyme linked immunosolvent assay (ELISA), this simple technique is valuable as a screening test for Giaradia cysts.

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A five-month-old dog died suddenly with the major symptoms of fever and hemorrhage in the liver and abdominal cavity at a pet shop in Japan in October 2008. A few days later, two puppies which had been raised with the puppy in the same room developed the symptoms of suspected infectious canine hepatitis (ICH). Canine adenovirus type 1 (CAV-1) was detected from these two puppies using antibody tests and polymerase chain reaction, and the disease was diagnosed as ICH. At the same time, CAV-1 was detected in four other asymptomatic puppies sharing the same room, showing that CAV-1 infection was already rampant in the shop. These findings strongly suggest that the first puppy which died a sudden death also had been suffering from ICH, although virological tests were unable to be made. This shop had failed to take the necessary measures, including vaccination, to create a favorable environment for its animals. The present example indicates that the risk of ICH will increase without appropriate prophylaxis, even though in recent years ICH has been extremely rare in pet dogs in Japan. A follow-up was done in three infected puppies at the shop, one of which was symptomatic, and the others were asymptomatic. CAV-1 DNA was detected in the urine for 32, 64, or 24 weeks after the first observation, respectively. In conclusion, these virus-carriers are considered to play an important role as the infectious source.

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Clinical experiences were surveyed regarding the safety and efficacy of PAPITEIN^®, 3% N-Acetylcysteine ophthalmic solution for canine corneal diseases due to traumatic keratitis and corneal ulcer. Three hundred eighty-four dogs were subjected to a six-year safety survey, and 354 dogs were subjected to a six-year efficacy survey. Side effects such as photophobia or descemetocele were seen in two of the 384 dogs, (0.52%). The efficacy rate in the 354 dogs was 86.7%. Based on these results, it was confirmed that PAPITEIN^® is effective, with few adverse side effects.

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Thirteen dogs with splenic masses were subjected to contrast harmonic imaging. Pathologically five of them were diagnosed as having nodular hyperplasma of the spleen (Group 1), another five dogs with splenic hematoma (Group 2), and the remaining three with splenic hemangiosarcoma (Group 3). In Group 1, enhancement of the entire mass was seen in all dogs during the vascular phase, and also seen in four dogs during the parenchymal phase. In Group 2, enhancement of the periphery of the mass was seen in three dogs during the vascular phase, and in only one dog during the parenchymal phase. In Group 3, the periphery of the mass was enhanced in two dogs during the vascular phase, but not in any dog during the parenchymal phase. Consequently, contrast harmonic imaging is considered to be useful in differentiating these diseases, especially in differentiating nodular hyperplasia from splenic hepatoma or splenic hemangiosarcoma.

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