Background: Awareness of prescribing practices helps identify opportunities to improve antibiotic use (AU). Objectives: To estimate AU prevalence in dogs and cats in U.S. veterinary teaching hospitals (VTHs) and identify antibiotic drugs commonly prescribed, indications for use, and evidence of bacterial infection. Animals: Medical record data were collected from dogs and cats examined at 14 VTHs. Methods: Data were collected from VTH medical records of dogs and cats examined by primary care, urgent care, emergency and critical care, internal medicine, and surgery services on a single day during August 13-September 3, 2020. Data included signalment; clinical service; inpatient or outpatient status; clinical conditions; diagnostic tests; evidence of bacterial infection; intended reason for AU; name and route of antibiotics prescribed. Results: Of 883 dogs and cats, 322 (36.5%) were prescribed at least 1 antibiotic. Among 285 antibiotics administered systemically intended for treatment of infection, 10.9% were prescribed without evidence of infection. The most common class of antibiotics presribed for systemic administration was potentiated penicillin for dogs (115/346, 33.3%) and cats (27/80, 33.8%). For dogs and cats, first-generation cephalosporins (93/346, 26.9% and 11/80, 13.8%, respectively) and fluoroquinolones (51/346, 14.7% and 19/80, 23.8%, respectively) was second or third most-prescribed. Common AU indications included skin, respiratory, and urinary conditions, and perioperative use. Conclusions and Clinical Importance: Collaborative data collection provides a sustainable methodology to generate national AU prevalence estimates and bring attention to areas requiring additional research and detailed data collection. These efforts can also identify practice improvement opportunities in settings where future veterinarians are trained.

Background Candida urinary tract infections occur in both dogs in cats but there is limited data about risk factors. Objective To identify risk factors for candiduria in dogs in cats. Animals Eighteen dogs and 8 cats with candiduria. Methods A retrospective case‐control study, using univariate exact logistic regression. Medical records were searched for a diagnosis of Candida and animals with culture‐confirmed candiduria were enrolled. Controls had bacterial cystitis (dogs and cats) or cutaneous Malassezia infection (dogs only). Results Administration of antibacterial drugs in the 30 days before diagnosis was associated with candiduria in dogs compared to controls with bacterial cystitis (OR 14.5; 95% CI 3.1‐66.9) or with Malassezia infection (OR 26.4; 95% CI 3.4‐206.7). Antecedent antibacterial drug administration was associated with candiduria in cats (OR 15.7; 95% CI 1.9‐132.3). Immunosuppression was associated with candiduria in dogs when compared to controls with Malassezia infection (OR 4.2, 95% CI 1.4‐12.8), but not significantly when compared to dogs with bacterial cystitis (OR 2.7, 95% CI 0.9‐8.0). Lower urinary tract diseases other than infection were associated with candiduria in cats (OR 6.7, 95% CI 1.6‐27.9), but not significantly in dogs (OR 2.5, 95% CI 0.7‐8.7). Neither diabetes mellitus nor history of hospitalization was significantly associated with candiduria in either species. Conclusions and clinical importance The recent administration of antibacterial drug therapy is a potential risk factor for development of candiduria in dogs and cats. Judicious use of antibacterial drugs might help to prevent candiduria.

Background: Eosinophilic lung disease is a poorly understood inflammatory airway disease that results in substantial morbidity. Objective: To describe clinical findings in dogs with eosinophilic lung disease defined on the basis of radiographic, bronchoscopic, and bronchoalveolar lavage fluid (BAL) analysis. Categories included eosinophilic bronchitis (EB), eosinophilic granuloma (EG), and eosinophilic bronchopneumopathy (EBP). Animals: Seventy-five client owned dogs. Methods: Medical records were retrospectively reviewed for dogs with idiopathic BAL fluid eosinophilia. Information abstracted included duration and nature of clinical signs, bronchoscopic findings, and laboratory data. Thoracic radiographs were evaluated for the pattern of infiltrate, bronchiectasis, and lymphadenomegaly. Results: Thoracic radiographs were normal or demonstrated a bronchial pattern in 31 dogs assigned a diagnosis of EB. Nine dogs had intraluminal mass lesions and were bronchoscopically diagnosed with EG. The remaining 35 dogs were categorized as having EBP based on radiographic changes, yellow green mucus in the airways, mucosal changes, and airway collapse. Age and duration of cough did not differ among groups. Dogs with EB were less likely to have bronchiectasis or peripheral eosinophilia, had lower total nucleated cell count in BAL fluid, and lower percentage of eosinophils in BAL fluid compared to dogs in the other 2 groups. In contrast to previous reports, prolonged survival (>55 months) was documented in dogs with EG. Conclusions and Clinical Importance: Dogs with eosinophilic lung disease can be categorized based on imaging, bronchoscopic and BAL fluid cytologic findings. Further studies are needed to establish response to treatment in these groups.

Babesia species infect a very wide range of mammal hosts across the globe, and zoonotic infections are of growing concern. Several species of the Babesia genus infect dogs, and some of these cause significant morbidity and mortality. The Apicomplexan parasite resides within the red cell and infections result in direct damage to the host through intra- and extravascular hemolysis. An exuberant inflammatory response by the host to some species of Babesia parasites also results in significant collateral damage to the host. Canine infections have been the subject of many studies as the well-being of these companion animals is increasingly threatened by the spread of tick vectors and an increasingly mobile dog population. There are currently no widely available and effective vaccines, and effective treatment can be challenging. Understanding disease pathogenesis underlies the development of new treatments. The varying pathogenicity of the various Babesia parasite species that infect dogs offers an opportunity to explore the molecular basis for the wide range of diseases caused by infection with this parasite genus. In this review, we focus on what has been reported about the clinical presentation of Babesia-infected dogs in an attempt to compare the severity of disease caused by different Babesia species.