Objectives To determine the prevalence of stress hyperglycaemia in sick cats, and to investigate the association of stress hyperglycaemia with systemic inflammatory response syndrome and outcome. Materials and Methods Medical records (2004 to 2013) from sick cats admitted to the Medicine Unit of a Veterinary Teaching Hospital were retrospectively reviewed. Cases were enrolled if a serum glucose measurement and a complete medical record were available. Cats that were healthy, hypoglycaemic, diabetic, sedated or had a previous administration of drugs (apart from vaccination and deworming) were excluded. Results The study included 647 cats; stress hyperglycaemia (serum glucose >8.3 mmol/L) was found in 194 (30%) cats, while 453 (70%) cats were normoglycaemic. The prevalence of systemic inflammatory response syndrome was significantly higher in cats with stress hyperglycaemia (25/174, 14.4%) compared to normoglycaemic cats (26/399, 6.5%). Significantly, more cats with stress hyperglycaemia were hospitalised [97/194 (50.0%)] compared to normoglycaemic cats [171/453 (37.7%)]. However, the median duration of hospitalisation was not significantly different [4 (1 to 26) days and 4 (1 to 24) days, respectively]. The prevalence of cats with negative outcome was not significantly different between the two groups (cats with stress hyperglycaemia: 37.1%, normoglycaemic cats: 33.9%). Nonetheless, when modelling of outcome prediction included breed, age, stress hyperglycaemia and disease category as factors, cats with stress hyperglycaemia had 2.8 times the odds to have a negative outcome (95% confidence interval: 1.3 to 6.4). Clinical Significance Based on the cut‐off employed in this study, Stress hyperglycaemia, as defined by the cut‐off is common in sick cats. Stress hyperglycaemia is associated with systemic inflammatory response syndrome development and seem to be a negative prognostic indicator.

Case summary A 7-year-old male domestic shorthair cat was presented with a non-pruritic erythematous crusted nasal hypotrichosis along with bilateral ceruminous otitis externa. The cat was diagnosed with diabetes mellitus and was positive for feline immunodeficiency virus (FIV). Deep skin scraping, trichograms from lesional skin and ear canal parasitological examination were positive for Demodex cati. A 250 mg (55.5 mg/kg) fluralaner spot-on for medium-sized cats (Bravecto; MSD) was applied to the base of the cat’s head. Re-examinations were carried out on the fourth, sixth and eighth weeks after therapy. On the fourth week, the ceruminous otitis had resolved completely and the nasal lesions were markedly improved. One dead adult D cati was found in deep skin scrapings while other tests from the skin and both ear canals were negative. On the second re-examination only a mild hypotrichosis persisted on the nasal region and all parasitological examinations were negative. Eight weeks after the initial examination, the skin lesions had almost clinically resolved. On the 12th week, fluralaner spot-on was repeated. No recurrence was noted at the 6-month follow-up. Relevance and novel information The use of isoxazolines has been reported for only a few demodectic cats but was described to be safe and effective. This is the first report to evaluate the efficacy of a single spot-on fluralaner for the treatment of localised dermatitis and otodemodicosis due to D cati, and suggests it as an effective, safe and practical treatment.

Rapid diagnosis of dermatophytosis is essential for early treatment induction and prevention of spreading to other animals and humans. No single diagnostic test is identified as the “gold standard”. The purpose of the study was to evaluate the sensitivity of adhesive tape impression (ATI) cytology in dermatophyte identification and to compare three diagnostic tests for dermatophytosis. Thirty dogs, with alopecia (n = 19) or kerion (n = 11), and fifteen cats with alopecia were included in the study. Dermatophytosis was diagnosed with tape preparations in 82.2% (37/45) of cases, while with hair plucks in 66.7% (30/45) and fungal culture in 80% (36/45). In kerions, tape preparations and fungal culture had the same sensitivity (10/11, 90.9%) that was higher than that of hair plucks (4/11, 36.4%). The sensitivity was higher in cats than in dogs with alopecia for all tests, 80% versus (vs.) 73.7%, 86.7% vs. 68.4%, and 93.3% vs. 68.4% for cats and dogs for hair plucks, fungal culture, and tape preparations, respectively. No significant difference was found between the three tests, except for dogs with kerion. Hair plucks were less sensitive than fungal culture in kerions (p = 0.041), while in comparison with tape preparations they were marginally not significantly different (p = 0.078). ATI cytology is a useful diagnostic test in dermatophytosis, in dogs with kerion as well as cats.