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Central nervous system (CNS) infection caused by anaerobic bacteria (including (Streptococcus, Staphylococcus, and Pasteurella) are thought to be more common than anaerobic bacteria as causes of CNS infection in dogs and cats.' Two recent reviews of anaerobic infections of dogs and cats included a small number of animals with CNS infections from which obligate anaerobic bacteria were A pituitary abscess syndrome was described recently in cattle. Obligate anaerobic bacteria were isolated from four of 20 animals included in that study.' Obligate anaerobic bacteria are recognized as important pathogens in localized infections of the CNS in humans, especially brain abscess and subdural empyema.'0-22 The purpose of this report is to describe the clinical signs, laboratory findings, and necropsy findings of two dogs and two cats with CNS infection associated with anaerobic bacteria. Case 1A 6-year-old, 25.0 kg, male Bassett hound was referred to the Colorado State University Veterinary Teaching Hospital (CSU VTH) for neurologic evaluation after a 3-day history of increasing depression, abnormal behavior, shaking, incontinence, and polyuria and polydipsia. Heart rate, respiratory rate, and rectal temperature were normal. Abnormal findings on physical and neurologic examinations included mental depression, pelvic limb weakness, severe scleral injection and chemosis, exophthalmos, and prolapse of the right third eyelid. At rest, horizontal nystagmus with a fast phase to the left was noted. With alterations of head position, the nystagmus became vertical. The neck was painful when manipulated. There was hypalgesia of the face and the dog resisted having its mouth opened.Hematologic abnormalities included leukocytosis with a left shift (white blood cell [WBC] count was 38,300 cells/pI with 26,705 neutrophilslpl and 1,915 band formslpl) and a monocytosis (7,277 cells/pl). Hyperglobulinemia (4.2 g/dl; normal, 1.9 to 3.9 g/dl), hypercholesterolemia (470 mg/dl; normal, 54 to 290 mg/dl), and hypernatremia (1 6 1 mEq/l; normal, 145 to 158 mEq/l) were present on a serum biochemistry panel. Serum osmolality was 319 mOsm/l (normal, 290 to 310 mOsm/l) and urine specific gravity was 1.022.A specimen of cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) was collected from the cerebellomedullary cistern. The fluid was red, with 17,600 WBCs/pI (95% neutrophils and 5% large mononuclear cells), 1 1 1,000 red blood cells/pl, protein of 1,500 mg/dl, and Pandy's test of 4+. Microorganisms were not seen and the fluid was submitted for aerobic and anaerobic bacterial culture. Red blood cell phagocytosis was not observed.Treatment for suspected bacterial meningitis was instituted with potassium penicillin G (22,000 U/kg intravenously [IV]

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Clostridium difficile was isolated from the feces of 27 of 43 diarrheic foals (63%), and cytotoxin was detected in feces from 28 diarrheic foals (65%). The foals had not received any antimicrobial treatment before the onset of diarrhea. C. difficile was not isolated from feces of 18 normal foals without diarrhea and 62 adult horses (P < 0.005). This finding of C. difficile and its toxins in association with diarrhea in foals adds another possible cause to the list of infectious agents which may cause diarrhea in foals.