Drug dosage calculation errors

The calculation of drug dosages is a vital skill in veterinary medicine, and it is often necessary to perform these calculations multiple times in a working day. Errors in calculations can lead to incorrect medicine doses, which can lead to patient harm.

Pinho et al¹ performed a prospective observational study to assess the occurrence of dose calculation errors in a clinical setting with live patients. A total of 53 third-year veterinary students gaining experience in a canine and feline spay/neuter laboratory were included in the study, and their calculations for drugs that were planned for use in the anaesthesia protocols were reviewed. A total of 686 drug doses were calculated for 83 patients; 12 errors were found in 9 different anaesthesia protocols, an error rate of 10.8% per protocol and 1.8% per dose calculation. Out of all the errors, 83% would have led to overdoses.

The authors noted that drug dose calculation errors are common during the planning of anaesthesia in veterinary students, and since this poses a risk to patients, they recommended that more attention is paid to teaching and training this skill, and that strategies to reduce errors are implemented such as double checking the calculations.

Canine distemper virus

Canine distemper is encountered less commonly in the UK than in the past thanks to effective vaccination, but it is still encountered in certain geographical locations, nationally and worldwide. The disease is highly infectious and has a high mortality rate. It is caused by canine distemper virus (CDV), and the disease is challenging to treat, with high levels of morbidity and mortality.

Xiao et al² performed a study describing the development of a neutralising nanobody against CDV. Nanobodies derived from shark or camelid antibodies have been shown to be effective at inhibiting viral infections. This study used a phage display nanobody library derived from immunised alpacas to isolate a nanobody that selectively binds to the CDV haemagglutinin protein. A high binding affinity to the protein was found, and the nanobody effectively neutralised CDV. This suggests this novel treatment may show promise in the future for the treatment of infection with CDV.

Freire et al³ performed a retrospectiv=e study to identify epidemiological and risk factors in dogs with neurological signs of canine distemper. Dogs with central neurological diseases caused by factors other than CDV were used as controls. Younger dogs, and shih-tzu and Lhasa apso breeds were found to be predisposed to developing the neurological form of the disease. Most affected dogs showed multifocal central nervous system signs, as well as non-neurological signs. A seasonality was noted, with the highest occurrence in autumn.

Many of the infected dogs had been vaccinated up to date. The median survival time was 754 days.

Cryotherapy for interdigital dermatitis

Interdigital dermatitis can be a challenging problem associated with canine atopic dermatitis, and is often refractory to conventional therapies.

Han et al⁴ performed a study to assess the safety and efficacy of localised cryotherapy in the management of interdigital dermatitis.

A group of 20 dogs with atopic interdigital dermatitis had cryotherapy applied to the interdigital spaces for the treatment sessions; 9 of the dogs had 3 treatments weekly; 11 had them twice weekly. Validated pruritus and dermatitis scales were used to assess the results, and adverse effects and owner satisfaction were also recorded.

Both groups showed an improvement in erythema and dermatitis score, but a reduction in pruritus was only seen in the twice weekly treatment group. No important adverse effects were noted, and owner satisfaction was high.

The authors concluded that focal cryotherapy is a promising new treatment for reducing lesions and pruritus in dogs with atopic interdigital dermatitis.

Conformational eyelid disorders

It is common for certain breeds of dog to have abnormal eyelid conformation, often as a result of deliberate breeding for cosmetic reasons. This can cause severe ocular damage, leading to welfare problems.

O’Neill et al⁵ performed a retrospective cohort study using data from the VetCompass programme, a large database of primary care records, to estimate the prevalence, risk factors and management of conformational eyelid disorders in dogs in primary care. A random sample of 3,029 dogs with confirmed conformational eyelid disorders were included in the study; 90.9% had entropion and 11.4% had ectropion. The annual prevalence was 0.36% for eyelid disorders.

The Shar Pei, chow chow and Neapolitan mastiff breeds had the highest annual prevalence of entropion, and the Neapolitan mastiff, St Bernard and basset hound breeds had the highest annual prevalence of ectropion. Surgery was performed on 18.2% of the entropion cases, compared to 3.9% of the ectropion cases. The authors noted that conformation-related health problems have become normalised in recent decades, and that much work still needs to be done to address these issues.

Dogs socially evaluating humans

It is known that animals can form opinions about individuals through direct interactions or indirect methods such as observing interactions with a third party (“eavesdropping”). However, it is not yet known whether dogs are able to socially evaluate humans.

Jim et al⁶ performed a study to assess whether dogs of different ages could form reputations regarding humans by observing them interact with other humans or through direct interactions involving food. A group of 40 dogs was included in the study. For the eavesdropping experiment, dogs observed two humans interacting with another dog – one human was selfish and withheld food, and the other was generous and fed the dog. For the direct experiment, the dogs interacted directly with the selfish and generous humans.  Analyses showed that dogs of all age groups did not significantly prefer the generous party over the selfish party after either the direct or indirect experiences.

The authors noted that this study does not support the hypothesis that dogs demonstrate reputation formation, and also noted the difficulties of studying this problem.

Protein content and behaviour

Some people consider diet to have an effect on the behaviour of dogs.

Davis et al⁷ performed a study to assess whether protein content can affect canine behaviour. Golden retrievers that were participating in a prospective canine health survey and were being fed commercially available dry food as at least 80% of their daily diet were included in the study. The diets were categorised as high, medium or low protein. Behavioural outcomes were assessed from a validated survey. Dogs with high-protein diets were 1.3 times more likely to have dog rivalry compared to those fed medium-protein diets, while dogs fed low-protein diets were 1.4 times more likely to have separation-related behaviour.

The authors recommended that diet is taken into account when behaviourists are assessing and treating behavioural issues such as aggression and separation-related behaviour.

• Use of some of the drugs in this article is under the veterinary medicine cascade.
• This article appeared in Vet Times (2025), Volume 55, Issue 39, Page 20