This study was conducted on 32 dogs with Malassezia otitis externa to determine the effect of heat-fixing otic exudate on cytological analysis. Malassezia infection was confirmed by cytological examination of otic exudate. Otic discharge collected with cotton swabs was then rolled onto glass slides. One slide per dog was heat-fixed prior to staining; the other slide was not heat-fixed. The number of yeast in 10 oil-immersion fields (1000 x magnification) was counted for both slides from each dog. Heat-fixing did not systematically cause either increased or decreased numbers of Malassezia on cytology of otic exudate.

Thirty-four dogs with superficial pemphigus (pemphigus foliaceus, pemphigus erythematosus) were treated with tetracycline and niacinamide (TCN). Follow-up information was available for 29 dogs and 62% of those responded satisfactorily to TCN. Success or failure of TCN treatment was not associated with patient sex, duration of disease prior to treatment, previous systemic glucocorticoid therapy, the presence or absence of pruritus, duration of TCN administration, TCN dosage, ability to reduce the frequency of administration of TCN, or distribution of skin lesions.

A two-year-old intact female collie presented with a tentative diagnosis of systemic blastomycosis based on compatible clinical signs and history and a positive urine Blastomyces antigen enzyme immunoassay. The dog was subsequently correctly diagnosed with protothecosis based on ocular and paw pad histopathology and in vitro culture of Prototheca wickerhamii from paw pad tissue. Histopathology revealed organisms in deep tissue samples as well as in the epidermis and superficial keratin layers of the paw pad. Serum (1→3)-β-d-glucan testing was negative. The dog was treated with terbinafine based on in vitro susceptibility results. There are no previous reports of terbinafine use for the treatment of canine protothecosis. Neurological and gastrointestinal symptoms remained stable with terbinafine. While there was an overall improvement in cutaneous lesions and attitude over the course of eight weeks on treatment, the animal did not survive despite therapy.

A retrospective light-microscopic study was performed on skin-biopsy specimens from 145 cats with eosinophilic inflammatory dermatoses in order to determine the prevalence of apoptotic epidermal keratinocytes (AKs), the prevalence of eosinophils in close proximity to AKs, and whether there was a difference in the prevalence of AKs or the prevalence of eosinophils in close proximity to AKs based on histopathological reaction pattern. Overall, 62/145 (43%) specimens had AKs. Of the cases in which AKs were seen, 18% had eosinophils in close proximity to the AKs. The specimens were divided into three groups based on histopathological reaction pattern: perivascular-to-interstitial, diffuse, and nodular. No difference in the prevalence of AKs was found among the three histological groups. Because the sample size containing eosinophils in close proximity to AKs was too small to compare the three histological patterns individually, nodular and non-nodular patterns were compared. No difference in the presence of eosinophils in close proximity to AKs was found in these two subsets. More AKs were present if eosinophils were in close proximity to the AKs (range 1-9 with eosinophils near compared to 0-7 without).