Ten bitches with pyometra were treated with prostaglandin F2α at a dose of 20 μg/kg bodyweight three times daily on consecutive days. Diagnosis was based on clinical signs and radiographic findings. Venous blood samples were collected for haematology and measurement of plasma progesterone levels. The response to treatment was monitored by repeated ultrasonic examinations. The treatment was continued for up to eight days. Seven out of 10 bitches responded well to treatment. The remaining three bitches underwent ovariohysterectomy and a cystic hyperplasia of the endometrium was diagnosed histologically. The results indicated that prostaglandin F2α used at the low dose is sufficient for medical treatment of certain cases of pyometra. The treatment seems to be most effective in bitches without obvious hormonal imbalance. The aetiology of pyometra is discussed.

Blood samples were collected from 24 immature male, 55 immature female and 99 mature female water buffalo kept at an experimental farm in the Northern Territory. Haematological analysis was performed on blood collected in dipotassium--ethylene diamine tetra acetic acid while biochemical analysis was performed on serum and plasma (for glucose) samples. Haematological values of mature buffalo were similar to those recorded for swamp buffalo in Malaysia. Blood cell appearances were similar to those reported for adult Indian river buffalo though values recorded for red cell components were higher. Statistical analysis revealed no significant differences between immature male and female buffalo. Red cell components, eosinophils, total plasma and serum proteins, albumin, gamma globulins, inorganic phosphate and the enzyme gamma-glutamyl transferase were significantly higher for mature female buffalo when compared to immature females. Reasons for the differences were not fully determined but the effect of age and nutritional status in combination with a variable period of domestication were considered.

The clinical, pathological and serological findings for feline neonatal isoerythrolysis (FNI) in two litters are described. In each litter one of four kittens died shortly after birth, two showed varying degrees of depression, jaundice and haemoglobinuria and one remained healthy (clinically unaffected). Three of the kittens with jaundice died and the necropsy findings included variable degrees of erythrophagocytosis in the spleen and liver and many casts containing haemoglobin in the tubules and collecting ducts of the kidney. Blood typing and haemocompatibility testing were performed on the surviving kittens, queens and sires. Both queens and the healthy kittens were Type B while both sires and the surviving affected kitten were Type A. In both litters the queens sera haemolysed the sires erythrocytes but did not affect the erythrocytes of the healthy kittens. The erythrocytes of the surviving affected kitten were haemolysed by the serum of its queen. The pathogenesis and treatment of FNI are discussed.

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