Recently, there has been an increasing movement of germinal products of dogs (Canis lupus familiaris) and cats (Felis silvestris catus) between the Member States. Therefore, Europe laid down and harmonized rules on the marking of straws and other packages containing germinal products [Commission Delegated Regulation (EU) 2020/686]. Given that germinal products' movement may increase the risk of infectious disease spread, requirements regarding animal health have been revised focusing on control of rabies and echinococcosis, although there are new emerging diseases that may require, even locally, specific requirements. For this reason, veterinarians, operators, and official veterinarians are involved in different phases of the process. Because non-veterinary operators can operate in all phases, they should have a limited role in collecting germinal products, especially for feline species. Veterinarians, instead, should have a main role in the health evaluation of donors, in collecting germ cells with medical techniques and in depositing sperm and embryos with endoscopic or surgical methods. The official veterinarians are the main ones responsible for the application of the rules. This paper aims to provide an overview of the European legislative framework regarding the newly delegated regulation on germinal products in small animals (dogs and cats), highlighting some of the benefits and critical aspects regarding its functioning.

A five-year-old, entire female Arabian horse with a 6-month history of a non-painful nodule on the conjunctiva of the right eye was evaluated. Ophthalmological examination showed a firm, smooth and fleshy conjunctival mass that raised the suspicion of a conjunctival neoplasm. Histological evaluations showed that the mass was composed of an endophytic growth consisting of numerous long papillary projections of hyperplastic stratified squamous epithelium supported by thin fibrovascular stalks. Typical features of squamous cell carcinoma with disorganized cell growth and infiltration of surrounding tissues were detectable within the mass. Inverted papilloma progressing to carcinoma was diagnosed. Follow-up examination showed that no local recurrence was present during the 12-month follow-up period. To the authors’ knowledge, this is the first report describing the inverted papilloma in the horse and, due to its progression to squamous cell carcinoma, warns about the inclusion of the inverted papilloma in the differential diagnosis of conjunctival neoplasm and driven treatments.

African Swine Fever (ASF) is a contagious viral disease of domestic and wild pigs, listed as notifiable by the World Organization for Animal Health (OIE). It causes substantial economic losses to pig farming in the affected countries, with consequent enormous damage to livestock production due to mortality of the animals, and to the restrictions on national and international trade in pigs and derivative products that the presence of the infection implies. To prevent or reduce the risk of ASF introduction, the World Trade Organization (WTO) and the OIE recommend preventive and control measures, such as the ban of live swine and their products traded from ASF-affected to ASF-free countries or zones. The current spread of ASF into Europe poses a serious risk to the industrialized and small-scale pig sector, as demonstrated by observed cases in different EU areas. In this paper the authors discuss the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on ASF, and the indirect effects including the impact on animal health and disease management. They suggest that the COVID-19 pandemic has severely affected animal disease surveillance control. ASF requires rapid responses and continuous monitoring to identify outbreaks and prevent their spread, and both aspects may have been greatly reduced during the COVID-19 pandemic.

This study aimed to evaluate the concentration of reactive oxidative metabolites, the antioxidant barrier, thiol groups of plasma compounds, and high-mobility group box 1 in shelter dogs naturally infected with helminths. In addition, the correlation between clinical signs and oxidative stress was investigated. Sixty-six (41 male and 25 female) adult mixed-breed dogs housed in a shelter with the diagnosis of gastrointestinal nematodes (i.e., Ancylostoma spp., Uncinaria stenocephala, Toxocara canis, Toxascaris leonina, or Trichuris vulpis) were enrolled in Group 1 (G1) and twenty healthy adult dogs were included in Group 2 (G2), which served as the control. A clinical assessment was performed using a physician-based scoring system. Oxidative stress variables and high-mobility group box 1 were assessed and compared by the means of unpaired t-tests (p < 0.05). Spearman’s rank correlation was performed to calculate the correlation between oxidative stress variables, high-mobility group box 1, hematological parameters, and clinical signs. The results showed statistically significant values for reactive oxidative metabolites, thiol groups of plasma compounds, and high-mobility group box 1 in G1. Negative correlations between thiol groups and the number of red cells and hemoglobin were recorded. These preliminary results support the potential role of oxidative stress and HGMB-1 in the pathogenesis of gastrointestinal helminthiasis in dogs.

Background In veterinary clinical practice, orchiectomy is one of the most common surgical procedures for cats and is performed mainly in young animals. The purpose of this study was to compare three different epidural (EP) analgesic protocols used in cats undergoing orchiectomy in order to determine which protocol resulted in superior outcomes in terms of perioperative analgesia. Twenty-one client-owned male cats were premedicated with a combination of dexmedetomidine (10 µg/kg) and midazolam (0.2 mg/kg) injected intramuscularly. Anesthesia was induced intravenously with propofol. Cats were randomly divided in three treatment groups of seven animals each: Group L received EP lidocaine (2 mg/kg), Group T received EP tramadol (1 mg/kg), and Group LT received EP lidocaine (2 mg/kg) plus tramadol (1 mg/kg). The post-operative pain level was assessed using two different scales: the Glasgow Composite Measure Pain Scale-Feline (CMPS-F) and the Feline Grimace Scale (FGS). Rescue analgesia was administered when the CMPS-F total score was ≥5 or the FGS total score was ≥4. Results No adverse effects related to tramadol or lidocaine were observed. Based on post-operative pain assessments, significant differences between groups were observed according to both pain scoring systems. In particular, in Group LT, the CMPS-F and FGS scores decreased significantly in the first six hours following castration. Conclusions Based on our results, EP lidocaine plus tramadol provided the best post-operative analgesic effects in cats submitted to orchiectomy lasting 6 h and could also be a choice to consider for longer surgical procedures.