Seroprevalence of Bartonella henselae, Toxoplasma gondii, feline immunodeficiency virus (FIV) and feline leukemia virus (FeLV) infections was investigated in 1,447 domestic cats derived from the north (Hokkaido) to the south (Okinawa) prefectures in Japan. Of the cats investigated, 8.8% (128/1,447) were seropositive to B. henselae, 5.4% (78/1,447) to T. gondii, 9.8% (107/1,088) to FIV, and 2.9% (32/1,088) to FeLV, respectively. For B. henselae infection, the positive rate varied from 11.5% in cats of 1 to <2 years old to 7.2% in those over 3 years old. Outdoor cats showed higher positive rate (14.5%) than that (7.0%) in indoor ones. The rate (13.5%) in flea‐infested cats was significantly higher than that (7.4%) in flea‐negative cats. The positive rates in southern and urban sites were more likely to be higher than those in northern and suburban sites, suggesting that warm and humid environments, density of cat population, and raising status, including hygienic condition and flea infestation in cats may correlate to higher seroprevalence of B. henselae infection. For T. gondii, FIV and FeLV infections, the seroprevalence also tended to be higher in outdoor, flea‐infested cats and advanced age groups. For FIV infection, the positive rates in male (14.3%) and outdoor cats (15.0%) were significantly higher than those in female (5.0%) and indoor cats (4.6%). On the other hand, no significant difference in seropositivities was observed in FeLV and T. gondii infections concerning to both genders and raising status.

Background:The clinical implications of evaluating C-terminal atrial natriuretic peptide (ANP) concentration in cats are still controversial.Hypothesis: The objective of this study was to investigate the relationship between plasma C-terminal ANP concentration and left atrial pressure (LAP) in healthy cats with volume overload (study 1), and to compare plasma C-terminal ANP in normal cats and cats with cardiomyopathy (study 2).Animals: Five healthy adult cats were used in study 1, and clinically healthy cats (n 5 8) and cats with cardiomyopathy (n 5 14) were used in study 2.Methods: In study 1, cats were anesthetized and given acetated Ringer's solution (100 mL/kg/h for 60 minute) via the cephalic vein. Hemodynamic measurements and blood samples, collected from the jugular vein, were performed at 10-min intervals. In study 2, blood samples from normal cats and cats with cardiomyopathy were collected from the cephalic vein. The plasma C-terminal ANP concentration was determined by radioimmunoassay for human a-ANP.Results: In study 1, volume overload significantly increased the C-terminal ANP concentration and LAP from baseline. The C-terminal ANP concentration was strongly correlated with the mean LAP. In study 2, age, E wave velocity, and the ratios of the left atrium to aorta were significantly higher in the cats with cardiomyopathy compared with the normal cats. The C-terminal ANP concentration was significantly higher in the cats with cardiomyopathy compared with the normal cats.Conclusions and Clinical Importance: Our results suggest that the measurement of plasma C-terminal ANP in cats may provide additional information for the diagnosis of heart disease.

The purpose of this study was to determine if salivary chromogranin a secretion in dogs exhibits a circadian rhythm. Saliva sampling was performed during three different sessions occurring in three nonconsecutive 24-h periods. Sixteen healthy adult beagle dogs (8 males and 8 females) were moved to a sampling room and housed individually in cages. Saliva samples were obtained every 4 h from 12:00 p.m. to 12:00 p.m. the following day. In the interest of habituation, saliva was obtained hourly from each dog 3 h before the experiment was started. Salivary chromogranin A concentrations were measured using an enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay. No circadian rhythm was detected for salivary chromogranin A secretion, and no differences in salivary chromogranin A concentrations measured every 4 h were demonstrated during the 24-h cycle in dogs.

In healthy dogs, a moderate dose of azosemide caused sufficient diuretic action and increased PAC to a lesser extent than furosemide.

ABSTRACT. We developed a novel index to assess left ventricular (LV) relaxation as the ratio of transmitral early diastolic velocity to pulmonary diastolic velocity (E/D ratio). Mixed breed dogs (n=7) were anesthetized and their respiration was controlled. A 3.5-Fr micromanometer-tipped catheter was placed into the left ventricle. Dobutamine (5.0 or 10 µg/kg/min) or esmolol (100 or 500 µg/kg/min) was administered via the cephalic vein. The transmitral flow (TMF) and pulmonary venous flow (PVF) were recorded using transthoracic echocardiography from the apical long-axis view. The heart rate, systolic LV pressure, +dP/dt, and -dP/dt were significantly elevated by dobutamine, but significantly reduced by esmolol. Dobutamine significantly decreased τ, whereas esmolol significantly increased τ. The TMF-derived E and PVF-derived D wave velocities increased significantly with dobutamine, but decreased significantly with esmolol. A significant correlation was detected between the E and D wave velocities (r=0.92). Consequently, the E/D ratio was decreased significantly with dobutamine, and increased significantly with esmolol. Furthermore, the E/D ratio was significantly correlated with -dP/dt (r= -0.64) and τ (r=0.84). Our results suggest that the E/D ratio reflects LV relaxation, and may potentially provide further information on LV relaxation. KEY WORDS: diastolic function, E/D ratio, pulmonary venous flow, transmitral flow.J. Vet. Med. Sci. 70(4): 359-366, 2008 Evaluating the left ventricular (LV) diastolic function provides valuable information to assess the severity and prognosis of patients with heart failure [1,4,14,15,23]. Several methods are used for assessing LV diastolic function: catheterization-derived the peak positive (+dP/dt) and negative (-dP/dt) first derivatives of the left ventricular pressure and the time constant of isovolumic relaxation (τ), echocardiography-derived transmitral flow (TMF), pulmonary venous flow (PVF), and tissue Doppler imaging (TDI) [1,4,14,15,[23][24][25]34]. The main limitations in applying catheterization to clinical practice are its relatively high cost, take a lot of time, and invasive nature. In contrast, echocardiographic examination is non-invasive, repeatable, and reproducible [10,11]. The E/A ratio, which is obtained using the ratio of the early diastolic velocity (E wave) to the late diastolic velocity (A wave) derived from TMF, which indicate LV diastolic function [5,7,8,29,32]. However, it is well-known that TMF profiles are limited because of pseudonormalization.The PVF velocity profile is obtained using waveform relaxation during ventricular systole and early diastole, which indicates atrial function [20,24,25,31]. Several studies have reported that PVF profiles should provide additional information for predicting cardiac function and prognosis in patients with LV dysfunction [14,15,18,19,31]. The PVF patterns are closely related to LV diastolic function, left atrial pressure, and other cardiac dynamics [1,5,6,20,22]. However, the basic implication of PVF for ev...