Summary Ulcerative keratomycosis is a serious sight‐threatening disease of horses and the veterinary literature is replete with cases of poor visual outcome following this condition. During a 3 year period, 10 horses were treated for confirmed keratomycosis at the Veterinary Teaching Hospital (VTH) of the University of Cordoba (Spain). Ulcerative keratomycosis accounted for an average of 8.62% of the total equine ophthalmic admissions during this time and an average of 33.3% of horses were diagnosed with infectious keratitis. Fungi were diagnosed using cytology (n = 4) and/or culture (n = 8) and histopathology (n = 1). Aspergillus sp. was the most commonly isolated fungus. Medical therapy alone or combined medical and surgical treatment was utilised for therapy depending on the clinical condition. Miconazole 1% was the most common topical antifungal therapy employed. Median duration of treatment was 73.12 days. Records were evaluated to determine visual outcome and globe survival.

Summary A third component of complement (C3) capture enzyme‐linked immunosorbent assay was used to determine the concentration of IgG circulating immune complexes (CIC) in 91 dogs with naturally acquired leishmania infection and in a control group of 24 healthy dogs. Results were expressed as a percentage of a reference standard. Mean concentrations of CIC were significantly (P < 0.001) higher in leishmania‐infected dogs (228.725 ± 14.283 %) than in controls (74.542 ± 12.614 %). An increase in CIC concentration was found in 57.1 % of the leishmania‐infected dogs. No significant differences could be recorded in CIC levels between males and females in either group. Infected dogs showing hypercreatininemia rendered a statistically significant (P < 0.030) higher serum CIC concentration than sick dogs with normal creatininemia. When hypercreatininemia (≥ 1.30 mg/dl) was used as an indicator for CIC increase, the positive predictive value obtained was 0.9 indicating that renal function impairment was associated with high serum CIC concentration in 90 % of the infected dogs.

Current treatments for infected dogs with leishmaniasis do not always provide long-term control of the disease and clinical relapses are common. In this study, the usefulness of long-term allopurinol administration in the maintenance of clinical remission in canine leishmaniasis was evaluated. Fifteen dogs with natural leishmania infection were subjected to an initial treatment based on the simultaneous administration of meglumine antimoniate (100 mg/kg/day) and allopurinol (30 mg/kg/day). Once clinical remission was achieved, a maintenance treatment with allopurinol (20 mg/kg/day) administered for one week a month was instituted. Results were compared with those of a retrospective control group comprising 15 infected dogs which only followed the induction treatment. Relapses occurred in 86 per cent of control dogs within 14 months of discontinuing treatment. In contrast, those dogs on intermittent oral allopurinol administration were successfully maintained in clinical remission for a follow-up period of 10 to 44 months. In this latter group, specific antibody titres decreased or were unchanged, no side effects directly attributable to allopurinol were seen and treatment was well accepted by the owners. It is concluded that long-term intermittent administration of allopurinol is an effective way of maintaining clinical remission in dogs with leishmaniasis.

The equine eye has a refractive state close to emmetropia. Myopia is higher among Spanish Thoroughbred horses than among Crossbred horses.

A dog was infected systemically with Prototheca wickerhamii but showed only cutaneous protothecosis. The lesions appeared progressively and consisted of non-pruritic scrotal swelling and ulceration, cutaneous nodules, crusty ulcerative lesions over the trunk and serous rhinitis. The diagnosis was based on skin biopsy findings and specific culture. Microscopic examination revealed a diffuse pyogranulomatous dermatitis and numerous protothecal organisms of different sizes within the cytoplasm of phagocytic cells. Treatment with oral ketoconazole for six months resolved all the clinical signs except the scrotal granuloma which, although it was significantly reduced, had to be removed surgically. However, after five months the condition returned.