Carbamazepine (CBZ), an effective drug for epilepsy and other neurological diseases, and its metabolites are one of the most frequently detected substances in the aquatic environment. Although these are doses of very low concentrations, chronic exposure to them can affect the physiological processes of living organisms. This experiment may clarify if carbamazepine, under an environmental and a therapeutic concentration, can affect the behaviour of higher vertebrates, especially mammals, and gene expressions of Ugt1a6 and Ugt1a7 in the brain compared to the control group without exposure to CBZ. Three groups of thirteen rats were randomly formed, and each group was treated either with carbamazepine 12 mg/kg (therapeutic), carbamazepine 0.1 mg/kg (environmental), or by 10% DMSO solution (control). The memory, anxiety, and social behaviour of the rats were assessed by the test Elevated Plus Maze, the novel object recognition test, and the social chamber paradigm. After testing, they were euthanised and brain tissue samples were collected and analysed for mRNA expression of Ugt1a6 and Ugt1a7 genes. The tests did not show significant differences in the behaviour of the rats between the groups. However, there were significant changes at the gene expression level of Ugt1a7.

Shelters and similar facilities with a high concentration and fluctuation of animals often have problems with various infections, which are usually difficult to solve in such environments and are very expensive to treat. This study investigated the eradication of Microsporum canis, the widespread cause of zoonotic dermatophytosis in shelters, even in immunosuppressed feline leukaemia virus or feline immunodeficiency virus positive cats. Our study showed the increased effectiveness of an alternative topical therapy for affected animals using the mycoparasitic fungus Pythium oligandrum, which is gentler and cheaper than the standard systemic treatment with itraconazole, and which can also be easily used as a preventative treatment. A decrease in the number of M. canis colonies was observed in cats treated with a preparation containing P. oligandrum 2 weeks after the start of therapy (2 cats with P-1 score, 2 cats with P-2 score, 5 cats with P-3 score) compared with the beginning of the study (9 cats with P-3 score = massive infection). The alternative topical therapy with a preparation containing P. oligandrum was significantly more effective compared with the commonly used systemic treatment using itraconazole 5 mg/kg in a 6-week pulse. After 16 weeks of application of the alternative topical therapy, the clinical signs of dermatophytosis were eliminated throughout the whole shelter. The complete elimination of the clinical signs of dermatophytosis in all cats indicates that this therapy will be useful for the management and prevention of zoonotic dermatophytosis in animal shelters.

The objective of the study was to investigate the effects of housing (deep litter + concrete floor vs. deep litter + ground soil with the possibility to dig burrows), and genotype (Mecklenburg or Hyplus) on aggressive behaviour, social contacts, does’ and kits’ injuries, and progeny mortality. Twelve groups of six rabbit does (n = 72) were assigned to four treatments (two housing systems and two genotypes). Aggressive behaviour of does, number of injuries on does and kits, and postnatal kit mortality were recorded. The effects of housing and genotype were tested using multivariate GLMM Models. We found that the housing treatment in interaction with the genotype had a significant effect on aggressive behaviours in group housed does (F_3,12 = 14.34, p = 0.0003), where the lowest incidence of aggression was in Mecklenburg does housed on ground soil. Reduced aggression was reflected in a lower number of injuries in does (F_3,68 = 10.51, p < 0.0001), number of injuries in kits, and kit mortality (F_3,1 = 4.59, p < 0.0001, F_3,54 = 43.94, p < 0.0001). The results indicate that the proper combination of genotype and housing should be carefully considered for breeding to reduce aggression and injury in group housed does.

Introduction: Valid quantification of fecal corticosterone metabolites (FCM) is a valuable non-invasive method for assessing hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal (HPA) axis activity and stress responses in animals. The increasing emphasis on animal welfare highlights the need not only to expand knowledge but also to critically evaluate methodological approaches, particularly with regard to how individual procedural steps may influence results and contribute to variability or bias. Methodological inconsistencies between studies can significantly affect the accuracy and comparability of results. This study aimed to optimize the extraction procedure of corticosterone metabolites from feces of domestic rabbits ( Oryctolagus cuniculus domesticus ). Methods: We experimentally compared the effects of sample weight (50, 100, and 500 mg), extraction protocol (one-step vs. two-step), and dilution factor (10 × and 100 × ) using 80% methanol and commercial ELISA kit. Results: The optimal performance, in terms of extraction efficiency and reproducibility, was achieved using 100 mg of lyophilized and homogenized feces in a two-step methanol extraction with 3 + 2 mL. This configuration yielded a recovery rate of 51.55% and minimized matrix interference. Lower or higher sample weights resulted in technical artifacts or low extraction efficiency. Discussion: The optimized method provides a standardized, reproducible, and feasible approach for the robust non-invasive assessment of adrenocortical activity in rabbits and other small mammals. These results underscore the necessity of detailed methodological reporting to ensure data validity and comparability of results across studies, assuming the same immunoassay is used.