Search Results (1,379)

Background: Physiology-guided cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR) is increasingly recognized as a strategy to move beyond mechanical targets, but evidence remains limited and dominated by isolated metrics. We characterized multimodal physiologic profiles associated with return of spontaneous circulation (ROSC) in a swine model. Methods: We analyzed 24 swine undergoing standardized cardiac arrest followed by CPR. Variables included end-tidal carbon dioxide (ETCO₂), systolic arterial pressure (SAP), diastolic arterial pressure (DAP), right ventricular systolic pressure (RVSP), carotid artery blood flow, stroke volume, and cerebral regional oxygen saturation. The primary early analysis used per-animal medians from minutes 1–5 of CPR, before any animal achieved ROSC. Later prespecified 5 min windows were evaluated exploratorily because they increasingly included post-ROSC measurements. A pre-ROSC sensitivity analysis, correlation analysis, and exploratory principal component analysis (PCA) with bootstrap assessment of loading stability were also performed. Results: Nine animals (37.5%) achieved ROSC, with a median time to ROSC of 10 min (range 6–18 min). During minutes 1–5, before any ROSC occurred, animals subsequently achieving ROSC had higher carotid flow, DAP, ETCO₂, right ventricular pressure signal, and SAP; all differences remained significant after false discovery rate correction. In the pre-ROSC sensitivity analysis, ETCO₂, SAP, DAP, right ventricular pressure signal, carotid flow, and stroke volume differed between animals subsequently achieving ROSC and those that did not (all p < 0.001), whereas cerebral regional oxygen saturation did not (p = 0.474). Later analytical windows increasingly included post-ROSC measurements and were therefore interpreted exploratorily. PCA summarized the shared early physiologic variation, with PC1 explaining 69.8% of variance; bootstrap analysis showed consistent positive contributions of the included variables to PC1. Conclusions: Successful resuscitation was associated with a distinct pressure–flow–gas-exchange profile during early and pre-ROSC CPR. These findings support further investigation of multimodal physiology-guided resuscitation. Full article

Veterinary education has traditionally focused on companion and farm animals, while wildlife medicine and wildlife management remain insufficiently represented despite their growing importance within the One Health framework. This study aimed to assess and compare the knowledge, practical skills, and attitudes toward wildlife management and wildlife medicine among veterinary students enrolled in the Bulgarian- and English-language programmes at the Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, Trakia University (Bulgaria), and in the Veterinary Medicine degree programme at the University of Milan (Italy). A cross-sectional questionnaire survey was conducted among 307 veterinary students. The questionnaire evaluated students’ understanding of wildlife management, knowledge of the legislative and institutional framework governing wildlife conservation, practical experience in wildlife medicine, and preferred pathways for acquiring additional competencies. More than half of the respondents correctly associated wildlife management with the monitoring and active conservation of wildlife. However, knowledge of the relevant government authorities responsible for wildlife management was limited, with approximately one-third of the Bulgarian-language and English-language students and one-fifth of the Italian students unable to identify the responsible institutions. Practical experience in wildlife medicine was generally limited, particularly among Italian students, although students from Trakia University more frequently reported experience in multiple practical areas. Despite these gaps, respondents demonstrated a strong interest in wildlife medicine, with the majority expressing a willingness to develop competencies across multiple areas and preferring a combination of undergraduate education, postgraduate training, and voluntary practical experience. These findings highlight the need for stronger integration of wildlife medicine into undergraduate veterinary curricula through interdisciplinary teaching and practical training. Expanding educational opportunities in wildlife medicine would better prepare future veterinarians to contribute to wildlife health, biodiversity conservation, ecosystem health, and the implementation of the One Health approach. Full article

The emergence of antimicrobial resistance among ESKAPE pathogens represents a major One Health challenge, yet several clinically relevant members of this group remain underrecognized in companion animals because of diagnostic limitations and research bias. This review critically evaluates current evidence on neglected ESKAPE pathogens in dogs and cats, with particular emphasis on diagnostic blind spots, antimicrobial resistance, zoonotic implications, and the potential of phytotherapeutic strategies. A structured literature search of PubMed, Scopus, and Web of Science, complemented by reports from international health organizations, was conducted to identify studies addressing pathogen occurrence, resistance mechanisms, transmission pathways, and plant-derived antimicrobial compounds. The available evidence indicates that organisms such as the Enterobacter cloacae complex, Stenotrophomonas maltophilia, Enterococcus faecium, and Acinetobacter baumannii remain substantially underinvestigated despite their clinical relevance and multidrug-resistant phenotypes. Advanced diagnostic approaches, including MALDI-TOF MS and whole-genome sequencing, together with integrated One Health surveillance, may improve their detection and epidemiological characterization. Current phytotherapeutic research demonstrates promising antibacterial, antibiofilm, and antibiotic-potentiating activities of plant-derived compounds but remains largely focused on well-characterized pathogens. Targeted investigation of neglected ESKAPE pathogens using chemically characterized plant extracts and clinically relevant veterinary isolates may support the development of complementary antimicrobial strategies and strengthen antimicrobial stewardship within the One Health framework. Full article

Cardiopulmonary bypass (CPB) alters blood flow patterns and may induce endothelial activation; however, the effects of different CPB configurations on endothelial-associated biomarkers remain unclear. In this exploratory pilot study, we compared circulating biomarkers and tissue immunohistochemical findings between beating-heart partial CPB and cardioplegic total CPB in juvenile pigs. Ten 8-week-old female crossbred piglets underwent partial CPB with continued cardiac beating (n = 5) or total CPB with aortic cross-clamping and cardioplegic arrest (n = 5) for 60 min. Serum vascular cell adhesion molecule-1 (VCAM-1), a disintegrin and metalloproteinase-17 (ADAM-17), and thrombospondin-1 (TSP-1) concentrations were measured using an enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay, and tissue VCAM-1 and platelet endothelial cell adhesion molecule-1 (PECAM-1) were assessed immunohistochemically. At the end of the CPB procedure, serum VCAM-1 was higher in the total CPB group than in the partial CPB group (581 [339–759] ng/mL vs. 239 [224–304] ng/mL; |rank-biserial r| = 0.84 (95%CI, 0.36 to 1.00); Hodges–Lehmann estimate of the location shift = 341.7 ng/mL, 95% CI, 5.1–607.0 ng/mL; p = 0.03), whereas ADAM-17 and TSP-1 and tissue findings showed no consistent intergroup differences. Total CPB was associated with an early increase in circulating VCAM-1. Because the CPB configurations differed in several physiological and procedural factors, this response should be interpreted as configuration-associated rather than as evidence of an isolated effect of reduced pulsatility. Full article

PCR-based surveillance identified the infectious laryngotracheitis virus (ILTV) genome in 8 out of 14 (57.14%) commercial broiler farms across three Northern Vietnam provinces. Partial sequencing of the infected cell protein 4 (ICP4) and glycoprotein B, G, and J (gB, gG, and gJ) genes from the ILTV isolates obtained during 2023–2025 indicated that eight Vietnamese ILTV-positive samples were field ILTV strains. Additionally, high nucleotide identity was observed among the isolates, with ranges of 99.74–100% for the gB, 99.63–100% for the gJ, 99.66–100% for the gG, and 99.34–100% for the ICP4 genes. Phylogenetic analyses based on four genes (gB, gJ, gG, and ICP4) revealed that the eight ILTV strains belonged to two distinct lineages, except for the gJ gene. Analysis of the ICP4 gene showed that the five ILTV strains (VNUA-ILTV-02, VNUA-ILTV-05 to VNUA-ILTV-08) clustered with the United States Laryno Vac, Poulvac-ILT, and ON-2462242/1987 strains, whereas the remaining strains (VNUA-ILTV-01, VNUA-ILTV-03, and VNUA-ILTV-04) were in a distinct group. Furthermore, several amino acid changes were observed in the gB, gG, and gJ proteins of the characterized ILTV strains. Full article

Thelazia callipaeda is a vector-borne zoonotic eyeworm infecting companion animals, wildlife, and humans, but chromosome-scale genomic resources from Chinese clinical material remain limited. We generated a genome supported by Pacific Biosciences (PacBio) high-fidelity (HiFi) sequencing and high-throughput chromosome conformation capture (Hi-C) from 100 adult worms recovered from naturally infected dogs in Beijing and compared its chromosome-scale organization with Portuguese assembly GCA_965194785.1. The final assembly spans 119.53 megabases (Mb) and comprises 115 top-level sequences, including four pseudomolecules totaling 91.26 Mb (76.34%) and 111 unanchored sequences. Genome-mode Benchmarking Universal Single-Copy Orthologs (BUSCO) analysis recovered 98.5% complete chromadorean orthologues, and the representative 11,788-protein gene set recovered 92.6%. Sequence-level alignment resolved Chinese chromosomes 1–4 (chr1–chr4) to Portuguese chr1, chrX, chr3, and chr2, respectively, with retained alignments covering 95.9–99.2% of each Chinese pseudomolecule and estimated sequence identities of 99.75–99.91%. Strong chromosome-scale collinearity was accompanied by localized reverse-collinear regions, including 0.243 Mb and 0.115 Mb intervals on chr2–chrX and chr3–chr3. The anchored sequences contained 96.7% of predicted genes and were substantially more gene-dense than the unanchored sequences. These results establish a clinically sourced Chinese chromosome-scale reference and provide a validated framework for future individual-worm, population-genomic, structural-variation, and comparative genomic studies of this parasite. Full article

Levetiracetam (LEV) is commonly used as an adjunctive antiseizure medication (ASM) in dogs because of its favorable pharmacokinetic profile and limited hepatic metabolism. However, because LEV is predominantly eliminated through renal excretion, prospective clinical evidence regarding its effects on renal function in dogs remains limited. This prospective study evaluated short-term changes in renal biomarkers and urinalysis parameters in 12 client-owned dogs with idiopathic epilepsy (IE) receiving concurrent phenobarbital (PB) and adjunctive LEV. All 12 dogs were evaluated at baseline (day 0), day 14, and day 28. Renal assessment included serum symmetric dimethylarginine (SDMA), serum creatinine, blood urea nitrogen (BUN), phosphorus, albumin, and urinalysis; glomerular filtration rate (GFR) was not directly measured. Changes in SDMA over time were analyzed using the Friedman test, whereas serum creatinine, BUN, phosphorus, and albumin were analyzed using repeated-measures ANOVA with the Geisser–Greenhouse correction. No statistically significant changes were detected in SDMA, serum creatinine, BUN, phosphorus, or albumin during the 4-week study period. Urinalysis showed no consistent progressive abnormalities, including proteinuria, glucosuria, or urinary casts. Sedation was the most frequently observed clinical adverse event, occurring in 83% (10/12) of dogs, although it was generally mild and did not require treatment discontinuation. Overall, no detectable short-term deterioration in the assessed renal biomarkers or urinalysis parameters was identified during the 4-week study period in non-azotemic dogs receiving concurrent PB and adjunctive LEV. However, the absence of statistically significant or clinically detectable changes does not exclude subtle alterations in renal function or subclinical renal injury. Larger controlled studies with longer follow-up periods and direct assessment of GFR are warranted. Full article

A 12-year-old neutered male domestic shorthair cat presented with recurrent pleural effusion following repeated thoracentesis. Initial analysis of the pleural effusion did not reveal neoplastic cells. Thoracic imaging demonstrated pleural effusion without identifiable nodular lesions. However, abdominal computed tomography and histopathological examination of an ultrasound-guided percutaneous core liver biopsy identified a large hepatic mass, confirmed to be cholangiocarcinoma, with suspected metastases to the spleen. After exclusion of other potential causes, the effusion was suspected to be a paramalignant pleural effusion. Despite palliative management, the disease progressed, and the cat was euthanized 98 days after definitive diagnosis. Postmortem examination revealed widespread metastatic cholangiocarcinoma involving the lungs, spleen, and intercostal muscles. No gross mass lesions were identified in the pulmonary parenchyma. Histological results demonstrated neoplastic cell infiltration within both the pulmonary lymphatic and blood vessels, a finding consistent with lymphovascular spread, which can contribute to the development of pleural effusion. This case show that while the characteristics of neoplasia-associated pleural fluid may vary according to disease stage, cholangiocarcinoma-associated pleural effusion may occur in the absence of cytologic evidence of malignancy, pulmonary nodules on thoracic imaging, or typical hepatobiliary signs. Full article

Punica granatum L. (pomegranate) is one of the oldest medicinal plants known to humankind, valued across ancient civilisations for treating parasitic, microbial, and metabolic diseases. Its exceptionally rich phytochemical composition, dominated by punicalagins, ellagic acid, anthocyanins, flavonoids, piperidine alkaloids, and the unique conjugated fatty acid punicic acid, confers a remarkably broad spectrum of biological activities of direct relevance to contemporary veterinary medicine. While human-health applications have been extensively reviewed, a comprehensive synthesis of veterinary evidence across multiple species remains lacking. This review consolidates current preclinical and field knowledge on the pharmacological effects of pomegranate preparations in poultry, ruminants, swine, fish, companion animals, and laboratory models. In poultry—the most extensively studied taxon—dietary inclusion of pomegranate peel powder or extract consistently enhances growth performance, antioxidant status, and humoral immunity while exerting meaningful anticoccidial activity. The antiparasitic properties are compellingly supported by evidence against gastrointestinal nematodes of ruminants, tapeworms, schistosomes, and protozoa including Giardia, Cryptosporidium, and Leishmania spp., as well as monogenean fish parasites. Broad-spectrum antimicrobial activity extends to major veterinary pathogens such as Salmonella, Escherichia coli, Staphylococcus aureus (including MRSA), and Clostridium perfringens. Rodent models have validated antidiabetic, hepatoprotective, nephroprotective, and reproductive benefits, including improved post-thaw sperm quality and enhanced litter size. The safety profile is generally favourable at conventional doses, although high dietary inclusion elicits anti-nutritional effects from condensed tannins, and potential drug interactions via cytochrome P450 inhibition warrant clinical caution. Despite this substantial evidence, significant translational barriers persist, including extract heterogeneity, absence of pharmacokinetic data in target species, and scarcity of controlled clinical trials. By providing a species- and pathology-driven synthesis, this review identifies critical research priorities and highlights the immense potential of this ancient, accessible, and economically viable phytobiotic as a natural alternative to antibiotic growth promoters and synthetic antiparasitics in veterinary practice. Full article

Feline kobuvirus (FKoV) has been linked to diarrheal disease in cats and has recently emerged in several Asian countries. This study aimed to investigate the epidemiological and genetic characterization of FKoV in domestic cats in northern Vietnam from 2022 to 2025. In total, 244 fecal samples were obtained from both healthy and sick cats in Hanoi, Hungyen, Bacninh, and Ninhbinh in the north of Vietnam. Of 244 fecal samples examined, eight (3.28%) samples were found to be positive for the FKoV genome by using the conventional PCR method. Viral genomes were identified in both healthy and sick cats. The highest FKoV-positive rate was 12.50% in 6–12-month-old cats, significantly higher than those detected in cats aged 3–6 months and >12 months. Eight positive samples were successfully sequenced and characterized for the partial 3D gene and full-length VP1 genes. Results showed that the level of nucleotide identity of the partial 3D gene and full-length VP1 genes among the FKoV strains in this study ranged from 95.86% to 100% and 94.09% to 99.73%, respectively. Phylogenetic analysis revealed that the eight Vietnamese viral strains obtained in this study formed a novel cluster within FKoV and are genetically related to Chinese FKoV strains. Two positive selections were found in the VP1 protein of the Vietnamese FKoV strains. Full article

Background: Bacteria of the genus Providencia are emerging pathogens associated with a wide range of infections, particularly in healthcare settings. In veterinary medicine, infections caused by these organisms are uncommon, and, to date, there have been no reports of carbapenem-resistant Providencia spp. causing infection in companion animals. Methods and Results: This study describes a comprehensive investigation of bacterial endocarditis caused by carbapenem-resistant Providencia rettgeri in a cat, including clinical, imaging, pathological, microbiological, and genomic findings. A 1.5-year-old mixed-breed female cat was admitted to a referral veterinary hospital with an extensive pelvic limb wound and a recent history of laparotomy. During hospitalization, a heart murmur was detected, and echocardiographic examination revealed vegetation-like lesion on the mitral valve. Despite intensive treatment, the patient’s clinical condition progressively deteriorated over a 15-day period, ultimately leading to euthanasia. Necropsy confirmed bacterial endocarditis with evidence of systemic septic embolization. P. rettgeri was isolated from blood collected from both heart ventricles and from an endocardial swab and its identity was confirmed by MALDI-ToF mass spectrometry. Antimicrobial susceptibility testing demonstrated resistance to meropenem. Whole-genome sequencing confirmed the species identification and revealed a Col3M plasmid carrying multiple antimicrobial resistance genes, including the carbapenemase gene bla_NDM-1. Discussion: To the best of our knowledge, this is the first report of carbapenem-resistant Providencia spp. causing infection in a companion animal. This case highlights the emergence of Providencia spp. as potential veterinary pathogens capable of causing severe, invasive and fatal infections. Full article

Companion animals have increasingly become central to human emotional life, yet the literature linking living with companion animals, human–animal interaction, and mental health remains fragmented. This study mapped global research trends on companion animals and mental health from 2000 to 2024 using bibliographic records retrieved from the Web of Science Core Collection (WoSCC). A final dataset of 930 peer-reviewed articles was analyzed with Bibliometrix (RStudio), CiteSpace, and VOSviewer to characterize publication growth, national and institutional collaboration, influential authors and journals, co-cited references, keyword clusters, and citation bursts. Results show a strong nonlinear increase in output after 2015, with the United States as the dominant contributor and Australia and the WoSCC country node labelled England (distinct from Scotland) as important international bridges. Core knowledge clusters center on human–animal interaction, animal-assisted intervention, older adults, child/adolescent development, loneliness, attachment, and post-traumatic stress. Recent burst terms and references indicate a shift from general companion-animal caregiving and physiological stress buffering toward intervention design, vulnerable populations, and pandemic-era mental health. Overall, the field has matured into an interdisciplinary research area with growing methodological sophistication, but future work should strengthen cross-cultural evidence, longitudinal designs, standardized outcome measures, and explicit assessment of animal welfare. Full article

As urban housing becomes increasingly compact and companion animals become more deeply integrated into domestic life, human–cat cohabitation presents design challenges related to spatial efficiency, furniture wear, maintenance, and everyday coexistence. This study examines shared-interface conflicts in compact apartments and proposes an integrated SOR–Kano–FBS pathway for sustainable human–cat shared furniture design. In-home observations, semi-structured interviews, behavioral path recording, and Kano questionnaires were used to identify high-frequency activity contexts and prioritize user requirements. These requirements were translated through the FBS model into functional objectives, behavioral scripts, and structural strategies. The results indicate that ease of cleaning and maintenance, structural stability and user-perceived safety, and dedicated scratching guidance primarily represent must-be requirements. Movement-path separation, centralized storage, and aesthetic integration function as performance-enhancing requirements, whereas shared yet stratified zoning, elevated observation points, and moderate visual connection improve the cohabitation experience. Two conceptual designs—a human–cat shared living-room sofa system and a foldable work/study system—were developed. Their descriptive comprehensive acceptance indices were 0.802 and 0.794, respectively, while a combined conventional-furniture reference set scored 0.520. Because the reference set represented two conventional activity contexts, these values were used only as diagnostic, user-perception-based evidence and not as inferential proof or a direct ranking between the schemes. The findings suggest that the proposed pathway can support design-level sustainability in compact human–cat cohabitation; however, further validation through physical prototypes, long-term in-home testing, and life-cycle assessment is required. Full article

Microplastics (MPs) are widely distributed among humans and companion animals. Fecal samples from members of the university community at the Pontifical Javeriana University in Bogotá, Colombia, and their companion animals (pets) were analyzed to investigate a possible association between MP loads in humans and their dogs and/or cats. Structures compatible with microplastics were detected in the feces of 97.78% of humans and 100% of companion animals. No significant correlation was found between MP loads in humans and their companion animals (p = 0.6846), suggesting that exposure is not determined solely by the shared household environment. If the home were the dominant and exclusive source of exposure, a positive correlation between owners and their companion animals would be expected. Instead, the results indicate the existence of species-specific exposure routes. This exploratory study provides the first report of MP-like structures in fecal samples from humans and their companion animals in Colombia. Full article

The demand for sustainable protein sources for companion animal nutrition has stimulated interest in insect-derived ingredients. Tenebrio molitor larvae meal is a promising alternative to conventional proteins because of its nutritional composition and functional properties. This study evaluated the nutritional quality, in vitro digestibility, chitin digestibility, and antioxidant properties of T. molitor meal using canine- and feline-adapted in vitro digestion models. Chemical composition, amino acid and fatty acid profiles, total, protein, lipid, and chitin digestibility, antioxidant activity (ABTS), and Folin–Ciocalteu reducing capacity were determined. T. molitor meal contained 44.3% crude protein and 21.0% ether extract, with a balanced amino acid profile and a lipid fraction dominated by oleic and linoleic acids. Compared with the fish meal evaluated in this study, T. molitor showed higher total and lipid digestibility in both models, whereas protein digestibility was higher in dogs and comparable in cats. Chitin accounted for approximately 7.6% of the meal and showed negligible apparent digestibility. Water extracts of T. molitor exhibited greater antioxidant activity and reducing capacity than fish meal. These findings support the potential of T. molitor larvae meal as an alternative protein ingredient for companion animal nutrition, although in vivo studies are needed to confirm these observations. Full article