Tissue Doppler imaging (TDI) plays an important role in the assessment of myocardial dysfunction. However, usefulness of TDI values to estimate myocardial dysfunction had not been fully clarified in dog with pulmonary stenosis (PS). The aim of the present study was to evaluate the right ventricular (RV) function using TDI parameters in 16 dogs with PS, and compare these with TDI parameters in 21 healthy beagle dogs. Compared with the healthy beagle dog group, the PS group had a significantly lower lateral tricuspid annulus velocity in the systolic period (8.5 cm/s ; interquartile range 7.0-11.8 cm/s), a significantly lower ratio of lateral tricuspid annulus velocity in the early diastolic period to lateral tricuspid annulus velocity in the late diastolic period (0.6 ; interquartile range 0.5-0.7), and a significantly greater ratio of trans-tricuspid early diastolic wave velocity to lateral tricuspid annulus velocity in the early diastolic period (5.5 ; interquartile range ; 4.7-7.3 ; all p < 0.001). The TDI-based Tei index in the PS group (0.8 ; interquartile range ; 0.6-1.0) was significantly greater than that in the healthy beagle dogs (p < 0.001). TDI provides a noninvasive method for the evaluation of RV function in dogs with PS. Further studies are needed to apply RV TDI in dogs with heart disease refers to various types of conditions.

This study examined whether asymptomatic blood coagulopathy occurs in cats. Citrated plasma samples were taken from 44 healthy cats brought to a primary animal hospital for neutering or spaying. Using a dry-system coagulation analyzer (COAG2NV), we performed blood coagulation tests, including prothrombin time (PT), activated partial thromboplastin time (APTT), fibrinogen concentration (Fib), thrombotest (TB), and hepaplastin test (HPT), on the samples. Reference intervals (RI) were defined as the mean ± 2 standard deviations of the collected values. The RI for PT was 9.1 - 10.7 sec, for TB was 18.7 - 25.5 sec, and for HPT was 16.1 - 24.0 sec. Samples with high fibrinogen concentration were excluded using the iterative truncation method with correction. Consequently, the RI for Fib of 42 healthy cats was 66.8 - 203.1 mg/dl. Two of the samples with extremely prolonged APTT were excluded by the same method, generating an RI of 21.6 - 58.8 sec for the APTT of 42 healthy cats. In addition to the 2 excluded samples, 1 incorporated sample (69.0 sec) fell outside of the RI for APTT, and all 3 samples had decreased activation of Factor XII. These 3 cats (6.8% = 3/44) were asymptomatic and lacked bleeding tendencies. We conclude that asymptomatic blood coagulopathy is highly prevalent in cats.

A 9-year-old male French Bulldog was referred to our hospital with a 1 month history of anorexia, occasional hemorrhagic diarrhea, and weight loss. Abdominal ultrasound examination revealed a solid hypoechoic mass and intussusception in the colon. Partial colectomy was performed, and the mass was histopathologically diagnosed as high-grade mast cell tumor (MCT) using the Kiupel grading system. The dog underwent chemotherapy and molecular target therapy after surgical resection, but the response was extremely poor. The dog died 3 months after diagnosis. This is a rare case report that describes colonic intussusception due to canine MCT.

A 5-year-2-month-old male Papillon presented with exercise intolerance that had begun 1 week ago. Hematological examination indicated severe non-regenerative anemia. Bone marrow aspiration smears revealed erythroid hyperplasia accompanied by apparent erythroid maturation arrest, and phagocytosis of erythroid precursors by macrophages. Based on these results, non-regenerative immune-mediated anemia was diagnosed. The dog was not treated with an immunosuppressive agent, but with splenectomy, as the first-line therapy. The dog achieved a good hematological response, and has been in good condition since then without immunosuppressive therapy.

In human chronic kidney disease (CKD), the production of reactive oxygen species (ROS) is increased and the antioxidant ability of the body is decreased. Even in cats with CKD, the oxidative damage due to ROS production in the kidney tissue causes renal tubular and interstitial fibrosis. In this study, we investigated the effect of electron-rich water supplied to cats with early-stage CKD, by observing changes in the levels of blood oxidation (d-ROM) and antioxidant ability (BAP) markers. The level of the antioxidant ability marker significantly increased in the control group due to the 1-month electron-rich water supply, and the CKD group also showed an increasing tendency, although there was no significant difference. The levels of the blood serum oxidation marker showed decreasing tendency, although there were no significant defferences between before and after electron-rich water supply in both groups. It is suggested that the supply of electron-rich water may contribute to alleviation of oxidative stress and activation of antioxidant capacity in cats.