Companion animals: latest care and drugs findings

Hyperkalaemia is a dangerous metabolic status that can arise due to several conditions such as diabetic ketoacidosis.

Reducing potassium levels quickly is vital, but can be challenging. Jaffey et al¹ performed a prospective randomised study to assess whether inhaled albuterol could decrease potassium levels.

A total of 20 cats received albuterol at a low or high dose, and heart rate, blood potassium, glucose and insulin were assessed. The potassium levels were found to decrease rapidly (within three minutes) for both low and high doses, and stayed low for around three hours. Plasma insulin levels increased quickly.

The authors concluded that albuterol decreases potassium quickly, partly by stimulating endogenous insulin release, without meaningfully affecting glucose levels or heart rate. This might, therefore, be a useful treatment for hyperkalaemia.

Body temperature during anaesthesia

Maintaining a normal body temperature during anaesthesia is important to reduce perioperative mortality and morbidity, but this can be difficult – especially in smaller animals such as cats.

Kreisler et al² performed a study to assess whether insulating and warming cats’ extremities reduces temperature decrease during anaesthesia.

A group of 49 cats undergoing ovariohysterectomy were included in the study. Cats were randomised to be insulated with active warming, insulated only or given no covering. Body temperature was recorded throughout the procedure.

Minimum recorded temperatures were lowest in the uninsulated cats and highest in the insulated cats with active warming.

The authors concluded that covering the extremities of cats with effective insulating materials slows core body temperature decrease during anaesthesia. Active warming was more effective, but the difference between insulation with and without active warming might be too small to justify its use.

Weight loss drugs

Weight loss drugs in the GLP-1 receptor agonist class have become extremely popular in humans and seem to promise a wide range of health benefits for the overweight and obese.

Obesity is common in pet dogs, and is more prevalent in certain breeds. Dik et al³ performed a study to assess the GLP-1 agonist liraglutide in golden retrievers.

A group of 21 older golden retriever dogs were included in the study, which were divided into three groups of seven. Group one consisted of dogs of normal weight, group two consisted of dogs with obesity that were fed commercial food that was adjusted for their daily metabolisable energy requirements, and group three consisted of dogs with obesity, also fed a diet adjusted for their energy requirements, but additionally treated with liraglutide. The group treated with liraglutide had a reduction in bodyweight and body condition score (BCS) after 40 days, although the reduction in weight was not statistically significant. Appetite, cholesterol and triglyceride levels were all reduced in the treated group.

The authors concluded that liraglutide has potential to aid in weight loss – especially where exercise and dietary restriction are insufficient. However, longer-term studies are needed to assess safety and efficacy.

BCS and photographs

Obesity is also common in cats, and BCS is a useful guide for assessing obesity or weight loss, bodyweight and fat mass.

BCS is currently assessed by visual observation and palpation. Graff et al⁴ performed a study to evaluate whether BCS could be accurately assessed by visual observation alone from photographs.

Complete agreement between evaluators was around 50% in a series of photographs of cats sourced online. A total of 38 cats also had their BCS assessed clinically, through palpation by one assessor, and visually by all nine assessors using photographs taken at the time of the clinical examination. Inter-evaluator bias led to a 16% misclassification between ideal and overweight body score, but only 1.8% between ideal and obese body score.

The authors concluded that this study shows that BCS can be assessed during remote consultations. Majority voting by evaluators achieved the highest accuracy.

Pyothorax

Pyothorax is a life-threatening exudate in the pleural cavity, often bacterial, which can occur because of circulating bacteria or direct penetration of the pleural cavity; for example, via the gastrointestinal tract, respiratory tract or chest wall.

Diagnosis is by a combination of clinical signs, imaging characteristics and clinical pathology. Rei et al⁵ performed a retrospective study to describe the computed tomography (CT) characteristics of cats presenting with pyothorax. A group of 41 cats with pre-contrast and post-contrast imaging series were blindly reviewed by two specialists and a third-year imaging resident.  All cats were determined to have a pleural effusion; 85% had intrathoracic lymphadenopathy; 85% had pleural thickening; and 49% had pneumonia; 12% had foreign bodies suspected; 20 cats were managed medically, 20 surgically, and one had unsuccessful medical treatment and then had surgery.

In all, 36 cats survived to discharge, with a median duration of hospitalisation of seven days. The authors noted that cats with pyothorax have a number of changes on CT, and have a favourable short-term prognosis.

Allogeneic mesenchymal stem cells

Immune-mediated haemolytic anaemia (IMHA) is a common and life-threatening disease, which, while often treated successfully, still has relatively high morbidity and mortality rates.

Garner and Laughrun⁶ performed a study to assess the efficacy and safety of allogeneic mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs) given intravenously as an adjunct to standard treatment. A group of 157 dogs with IMHA were treated with MSC – 43 of these met strict inclusion criteria, which consisted of confirmed primary IMHA, no important comorbidities and at least two treatments with MSC; 33 out of 43 dogs in the core treatment cohort had a successful recovery judged by sustained improvement of PCV.

In the rest of the study, it was noted that clinical improvement was common, including in dogs that had a poor initial response to the standard treatment.

No serious adverse events were noted. The authors concluded that MSC appears to be a safe and effective adjunctive treatment for IMHA.

Cancer blood test

Early detection of cancer is vital to institute treatment when it is most effective, such as before local spread and metastasis. Brown et al⁷ performed a study to assess a test that uses antibodies in blood samples to detect tumours.

The serum from 283 dogs were included in the study, and those with stage one haemangiosarcoma, lymphoma, mast cell tumour, osteosarcoma and soft tissue sarcoma were compared with those judged to be cancer free.

The five different stage one tumours were detected at sensitivities that ranged from 68% to 98% using a simple model, and 60% to 88% using a complex model.

The authors concluded that this test may aid with the problem of detecting stage one cancers, which might improve treatment outcomes.

• Use of some of the drugs in this article is under the veterinary medicine cascade.
• This Research Review article appeared in Vet Times (2025), Volume 55, Issue 47, Pages 12-13