The importance of pet loss and some implications for services

Understanding the meaning of companion animals and their loss in peoples' lives has major implications for the way professional services are organized and delivered. There is much research and literature which argues for the major social, emotional and physical benefits of animal companionship, and the widespread nature of pet ownership. Yet ironically, much of the professional service literature has tended to marginalize or pathologize the human-animal bond, often dichotomizing it against human relationships and assuming its inferiority. We argue that this reflects a tendency to individualize what should be a major social concern. Therefore service design and delivery needs to reflect a recognition of human-animal relationships as a significant part of normal experience. Services and policies need to factor in both the inclusion and loss of these.

Nature and health

This chapter aims to demonstrate that the natural environment is a key determinant of human health. Natural environments are defined as organic environments where the majority of ecosystem processes are present (e.g. the cycle of life and death, reproduction, relationships between species). Including a spectrum of different environments ranging from wilderness areas in National Parks to farms, and human constructed gardens, 'natural' does not necessarily mean unaffected by human intervention. 'Nature' can also refer to any single element of the natural environment (such as plants, animals, soil and water), including domestic and companion animals as well as cultivated plants. The term 'natural environment' differs from the more usual use of the term 'environment' in that it can be a setting in itself, or it can be an element of other settings, including our homes, workplaces and schools.

Effects of weight loss on the cardiac parameters of obese dogs

A obesidade é uma das doenças nutricionais mais frequentemente observada em cães e pode provocar sérios problemas de saúde, como os distúrbios cardiovasculares. Realizou-se este estudo visando avaliar algumas das possíveis alterações estruturais e funcionais cardíacas decorrentes da correção da obesidade canina. Para isso foram utilizados 18 cães obesos divididos pelo peso corporal em Grupo I (até 15kg), Grupo II (entre 15,1 e 30 kg) e Grupo III (acima de 30 kg). Os animais foram submetidos à restrição calórica de forma a perderem 15% do peso vivo. Foram realizados os exames ecocardiográfico em modo-M, eletrocardiográfico e mensuração da pressão arterial dos animais antes do início do tratamento da obesidade e após atingirem o peso meta. Os resultados revelaram que após a redução de peso ocorreram diminuições significativas da espessura da parede livre do ventrículo esquerdo durante a sístole e diástole no Grupo III, diminuição da pressão arterial sistólica no Grupo III e também da pressão arterial média no Grupo II. Assim, concluiu-se que a perda de peso pode reverter as alterações estruturais cardíacas, como a hipertrofia excêntrica do ventrículo esquerdo em cães obesos acima de 30 kg, como também reduzir a pressão arterial sistêmica em cães obesos submetidos à restrição calórica mediante administração de dieta hipocalórica.

Phenotypical characterization and adhesin identification in Escherichia coli strains isolated from dogs with urinary tract infections

Conselho Nacional de Desenvolvimento Científico e Tecnológico (CNPq)

COX-2 Inhibitors for Cancer Treatment in Dogs

Cancer is one of the main causes of death in canines and felines, and this fact is probably related to the increase in the longevity of these species. The longer the animals live, the higher the exposure to carcinogenic agents will be. With the high incidence of cancer in companion animals, new studies are currently being performed with the aim of finding therapeutic options which make the complete inhibition of the development of neoplasms in animals possible in the future. The correlation of cyclooxygenase-2 (COX-2) whith the development of cancer opens the way for the use of new therapeutic approaches. This relationship has been suggested based on various studies which established an association between the chronic use of nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAID) and a decrease in the incidence of colon carcinoma. As cancer progresses, COX-2 participates in the arachidonic acid metabolism by synthesizing prostaglandins which can mediate various mechanisms related to cancer development such as: increase in angiogenesis, inhibition of apoptosis, suppression of the immune response, acquisition of greater invasion capacity and metastasis. Accordingly, overexpression of this enzyme in tumors has been associated with the most aggressive, poor-prognosis cancer types, especially carcinomas. Therefore, treatments which use COX-2 inhibitors such as coxibs, whether administered as single agents or in combination with conventional antineoplastic chemotherapy, are an alternative for extending the survival of our cancer patients.

Uncommon mandibular osteomyelitis in a cat caused by Nocardia africana

Fundação de Amparo à Pesquisa do Estado de São Paulo (FAPESP)

Genome-Wide Survey of SNP Variation Uncovers the Genetic Structure of Cattle Breeds

The imprints of domestication and breed development on the genomes of livestock likely differ from those of companion animals. A deep draft sequence assembly of shotgun reads from a single Hereford female and comparative sequences sampled from six additional breeds were used to develop probes to interrogate 37,470 single-nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) in 497 cattle from 19 geographically and biologically diverse breeds. These data show that cattle have undergone a rapid recent decrease in effective population size from a very large ancestral population, possibly due to bottlenecks associated with domestication, selection, and breed formation. Domestication and artificial selection appear to have left detectable signatures of selection within the cattle genome, yet the current levels of diversity within breeds are at least as great as exists within humans.

Patologia clínica em aves de produção - Uma ferramenta para monitorar a sanidade avícola - Revisäo

Clinical pathology has been used in veterinary medicine for many years to evaluate metabolic changes that may indicate any sign of disease in animals. Even though the use of blood parameters is routine in companion animals, it is not commonly used for avian clinical evaluation either wild or production birds. Among others, the lack of information of avian blood reference values has limited the use of this tool in avian medicine. The blood parameters in avian medicine are helpful to evaluate aspects related to animal health for wild and also production birds. Thus, this review paper presents some ways to use clinical pathology parameters to evaluate and to monitor the avian health.

Coccidiose em cães e gatos do município de andradina, estado de são paulo, Brasil

Coccidiosis is one of the most common parasitic diseases in dogs and cats in all the world. The aim of this study was to determine the occurrence of this parasitosis in dog and cat population at the Municipality of Andradina in the State of São Paulo, from 2007 to 2009. Fecal samples from 97 cats and 93 dogs were analyzed by using the techniques of flotation in saturated sodium chloride and spontaneous sedimentation. The species were classified according to morphology of the oocysts. Cystoisospora fecal oocyst found in 71.1% (69/97) of the cats, and simple infection by C. rivolta and C. felis occurred respectively in 41.0% (16/39) and 20.5% (8/39) animals, with P ≥ 0.2319. In 39.7%(37/93) of the dogs was found positive for Cystoisospora spp. And the species C. canis identified in the largest proportion (63.9%) with P = 0.0005. From the results, we conclude that dogs and cats had high incidence of infection Cystoisospora, being C. canis and C. rivolta most observed species, respectively.

Concentração sérica e imunomarcação do fator de crescimento do endotélio vascular no prognóstico dos linfomas caninos

Coordenação de Aperfeiçoamento de Pessoal de Nível Superior (CAPES)

Avaliação da imunidade ativa de cães primovacinados (Fuenzalida & Palácios) no intervalo de campanhas anuais de vacinação contra a raiva no município de Botucatu/SP

Fundação de Amparo à Pesquisa do Estado de São Paulo (FAPESP)

Ovário-histerectomia transvaginal por total-NOTES e comparação do trans e pós-operatório com as técnicas vídeo-assistida com único portal e convencional em cadelas

Coordenação de Aperfeiçoamento de Pessoal de Nível Superior (CAPES)

Fatores de virulência, resistência antimicrobiana em isolados de Escherichia coli provenientes do trato genito-urinário de humano e das fezes de seus animais de companhia

Coordenação de Aperfeiçoamento de Pessoal de Nível Superior (CAPES)

Tumour necrosis factor-alpha-induced protein 8 (TNFAIP8) expression associated with cell survival and death in cancer cell lines infected with canine distemper virus

Fundação de Amparo à Pesquisa do Estado de São Paulo (FAPESP)

Patógenos bacterianos isolados de fezes de felinos domésticos, sem sinais entéricos, de ambiente urbano e rural

Conselho Nacional de Desenvolvimento Científico e Tecnológico (CNPq)