BackgroundThere is a growing interest in health care of elderly dogs; however, scientific information about physical and laboratory examination findings in this age group is limited.ObjectivesTo describe systolic blood pressure (SBP), and results of physical examination and laboratory tests in senior and geriatric dogs that were judged by the owner to be healthy.AnimalsHundred client‐owned dogs.MethodsDogs were prospectively recruited. Owners completed a questionnaire. SBP measurement, physical, orthopedic and neurologic examination, direct fundoscopy and Schirmer tear test were performed. Complete blood count, serum biochemistry, and urinalysis were evaluated.ResultsForty‐one senior and 59 geriatric dogs were included. Mean SBP was 170 ± 38 mmHg, and 53 dogs had SBP > 160 mmHg. Thirty‐nine animals were overweight. A heart murmur was detected in 22, severe calculus in 21 and 1 or more (sub)cutaneous masses in 56 dogs. Thirty‐two dogs had increased serum creatinine, 29 hypophosphatemia, 27 increased ALP, 25 increased ALT, and 23 leukopenia. Crystalluria, mostly amorphous crystals, was commonly detected (62/96). Overt proteinuria and borderline proteinuria were detected in 13 and 18 of 97 dogs, respectively. Four dogs had a positive urine bacterial culture. Frequency of orthopedic problems, frequency of (sub)cutaneous masses, and platelet count were significantly higher in geriatric compared with senior dogs. Body temperature, hematocrit, serum albumin, and serum total thyroxine concentration were significantly lower in geriatric compared with senior dogs.Conclusions and Clinical ImportancePhysical and laboratory abnormalities are common in apparently healthy elderly dogs. Veterinarians play a key role in implementing health screening and improving health care for elderly pets.

The occurrence of chronic kidney disease is underestimated in both human and veterinary medicine. Glomerular filtration rate (GFR) is considered the gold standard for evaluating kidney function. However, GFR assessment is time‐consuming and labor‐intensive and therefore not routinely used in practice. The commonly used indirect GFR markers, serum creatinine (sCr) and urea, are not sufficiently sensitive or specific to detect early renal dysfunction. Serum cystatin C (sCysC), a proteinase inhibitor, has most of the properties required for an endogenous GFR marker. In human medicine, numerous studies have evaluated its potential use as a GFR marker in several populations. In veterinary medicine, this marker is gaining interest. The measurement is easy, which makes it an interesting parameter for clinical use. This review summarizes current knowledge about cystatin C (CysC) in humans, dogs, and cats, including its history, assays, relationship with GFR, and biological and clinical variations in both human and veterinary medicine.

The first part of the study aimed to describe prospectively the ultrasonographic features of the adrenal glands in 94 healthy cats and 51 chronically sick cats. It confirmed the feasibility of ultrasonography of adrenal glands in healthy and chronically sick cats, which were not statistically different. The typical hypoechoic appearance of the gland surrounded by hyperechoic fat made it recognisable. A sagittal plane of the gland, not in line with the aorta, may be necessary to obtain the largest adrenal measurements. The reference intervals of adrenal measurements were inferred from the values obtained in the healthy and chronically sick cats (mean ± 0.96 SD): adrenal length was 8.9-12.5 mm; cranial height was 3.0-4.8 mm; caudal height was 3.0-4.5 mm. The second part of the study consisted of a retrospective analysis of the ultrasonographic examination of the adrenal glands in cats with adrenal diseases (six had hyperaldosteronism and four had pituitary-dependent hyperadrenocorticism) and a descriptive comparison with the reference features obtained in the control groups from the prospective study. Cats with hyperaldosteronism presented with unilateral severely enlarged adrenal glands. However, a normal contralateral gland did not preclude a contralateral infiltration in benign or malignant adrenal neoplasms. The ultrasonographic appearance of the adrenal glands could not differentiate benign and malignant lesions. The ultrasonographic appearance of pituitary-dependent hyperadrenocorticism was mainly a symmetrical adrenal enlargement; however, a substantial number of cases were within the reference intervals of adrenal size.

The objective of this study is to survey general prescribing behaviour by Belgian companion animal veterinarians and to assess agreement of these practices with current treatment guidelines. Therefore an online survey was administered with five realistic and frequently occurring first-line cases to primary-care veterinary practitioners. For each case a predefined pattern of questions were asked about whether or not they would prescribe antimicrobials, if they would prescribe a non-antimicrobial treatment and if they would perform additional diagnostic steps. The responses were compared with recommendations in national guidelines and recent literature. The overall most prescribed antimicrobials were potentiated amoxicillin (43.0 per cent), fluoroquinolones (14.7 per cent), third-generation and fourth-generation cephalosporins (10.9 per cent) and tetracyclines (10.9 per cent). Only 48.3 per cent of the veterinarians complied with the guidelines in nearly all of the clinical scenarios (ie, prescribing antimicrobials when indicated, not prescribing antimicrobials when it is not indicated). Moreover, when prescribing highest priority critically important antimicrobials, susceptibility testing on bacterial cultures was performed in only 12.4 per cent of the prescriptions. The results showed that the prescribing behaviour of antimicrobial compounds by primary-care veterinary practitioners in dogs and cats is often not in agreement with national guidelines. Focus in improvement of this prescribing behaviour should be on performing the appropriate diagnostic steps and decreasing the use of highest priority critically important antimicrobials.

Old cats (>10 years) had significantly higher SBP, heart rate, murmur frequency, thrombocyte count, urine protein:creatinine ratio and serum urea and bilirubin concentrations, and significantly lower body condition score, haematocrit, albumin and total calcium concentrations than middle-aged cats (6-10 years). The common occurrence of physical examination and laboratory abnormalities in apparently healthy old cats underlines the need for regular health checks and the development of age-dependent laboratory reference intervals.