Despite the high neonatal mortality rate in puppies, pertinent criteria for health evaluation of the newborns are not defined. This study was thus designed to measure and to characterize factors of variation of six health parameters in dog neonates, and to evaluate their value as predictors of neonatal mortality. A total of 347 purebred puppies under identical conditions of housing and management were examined within the first 8h after birth and then at Day 1. The first health evaluation included Apgar score, weight, blood glucose, lactate and β-hydroxybutyrate concentration, rectal temperature and urine specific gravity (SG). The second evaluation at Day 1 included the same parameters, excluding Apgar score and weight. The mortality rate over the first 24h and over 21days of age was recorded. The early predictors of neonatal mortality in the dog were determined with generalized linear mixed models and receiver operating characteristic curves analyses. An Apgar score at or below 6 evaluated within the first 8h after birth was found associated with a higher risk of death during the first 24h. A reduced glucose concentration (≤92mg/dl) at Day 1 was found to be associated with higher mortality between 1 and 21days of age. Low-birth-weight puppies were characterized by both low viability (low Apgar score) and low blood glucose concentration, and thus were found indirectly at higher risk of neonatal mortality. This study promotes two low cost easy-to-use tests for health evaluation in puppies, i.e. Apgar scoring and blood glucose assay. Further investigation is necessary to establish if the strong relationship between blood glucose and neonatal survival reflects high energy requirements or other benefits from colostrum intake.

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Limited information is available describing the development of the neonatal fecal microbiome in dogs. Feces from puppies were collected at 2, 21, 42, and 56 days after birth. Feces were also collected from the puppies’ mothers at a single time point within 24 hours after parturition. DNA was extracted from fecal samples and 454-pyrosequencing was used to profile 16S rRNA genes. Species richness continued to increase significantly from 2 days of age until 42 days of age in puppies. Furthermore, microbial communities clustered separately from each other at 2, 21, and 42 days of age. The microbial communities belonging to dams clustered separately from that of puppies at any given time point. Major phylogenetic changes were noted at all taxonomic levels with the most profound changes being a shift from primarily Firmicutes in puppies at 2 days of age to a co-dominance of Bacteroidetes, Fusobacteria, and Firmicutes by 21 days of age. Further studies are needed to elucidate the relationship between puppy microbiota development, physiological growth, neonatal survival, and morbidity.

Little work has been carried out on the microbiology of wooden shelves supporting cheese during ripening, and the safety of their use during cheese ripening has frequently been asked. Microbial characterization (enumerations on specific growth media) and description of their physicochemical conditions (pH, water activity, and salt concentration) were determined on 50 wooden shelves of 3 different ages at the end of the cheese-ripening process, using cheeses from 8 farm producers. The experiments were performed during 2 different seasons (summer and autumn). Micrococci-corynebacteria and yeasts and molds were found to be the dominant microflora on the shelves. Leuconostocs, facultative heterofermentative lactobacilli, enterococci, staphylococci, and pseudomonads were also found but at lower levels. There was no statistical difference in the major microflora between shelves of different ages. Moreover, the total counts and the predominant microflora showed a surprising homogeneity between origins of cheeses. For most of the microflora enumerated, no seasonal variation was observed. Regardless of the age of the shelves, the wood had high water activity values (0.94 to 0.97), neutral pH values (7.1 to 8.3), and low salt contents (0.11 to 0.17 mg/cm2). The origins of the cheese had a statistically significant impact on water activity, pH, and salt concentration, whereas the age of the shelves did not influence these parameters. This study demonstrated the stability of the technological biofilm present on wooden shelves and will serve to enlarge the debate on the use of wood in cheese ripening.