Acute diarrhea is a common, often self-limiting, cause of presentation for veterinary care, yet there is a paucity of data on frequently-prescribed treatments. The purpose of this randomized, double blinded placebo-controlled clinical trial was to compare two anecdotally-recommended treatments: a probiotic combination and metronidazole. Sixty dogs without concurrent comorbidities were randomized into three treatment groups. The time to resolution of diarrheal signs was evaluated using owner surveys and fecal scoring charts. Dogs presenting with acute diarrhea achieved acceptable fecal consistency after 3.5 ± 2.2 days when receiving probiotic, 4.6 ± 2.4 days with oral metronidazole, and 4.8 ± 2.9 days with placebo; statistically significant differences were not identified between treatment groups (p = 0.17). These findings failed to provide evidence for the common use of metronidazole in this cohort of dogs with acute canine diarrhea, and a larger study population would be required to identify a statistically significant effect of probiotics.

Commercial fresh cooked foods have started gaining popularity among American dog owners in recent years. However, nutrient digestibility and the estimation of metabolizable energy (ME) of commercial fresh dog foods remain inadequately understood, even though both measures are critical to provide the intended calories for the target animal. In this preliminary study, different cohorts of normal-weight dogs were fed one of five test diets of comparable macronutrient composition: a chicken-based extruded dry kibble diet (n = 12), and chicken- (n = 12), beef- (n = 6), pork- (n = 6), or turkey-based fresh food (n = 6) for 10 d. Daily food intake and fecal characteristics were recorded, and fecal samples were collected for nutrient analysis. Despite comparable dry matter (DM) and caloric intakes between the two chicken-based diets, the fresh diet led to lower defecation frequency (1.2 ± 0.2 vs. 1.7 ± 0.5 times/d, adjusted P < 0.001), lower fecal DM (24 ± 8 vs. 47 ± 10 g/d, adjusted P < 0.001), and lower fecal calories (92 ± 31 vs. 189 ± 43 kcal/d, adjusted P < 0.001) than the kibble diet. The apparent total tract digestibility of DM, protein, fat, nitrogen-free extract, and calories of the kibble diet were all significantly lower than any of the fresh diets (adjusted P < 0.001 for all). Measured ME per food DM in all of the fresh diets, except the pork-based recipe, was significantly higher than that of the kibble diet (adjusted P < 0.001 for all). For the kibble diet, the modified Atwater calculation underestimated the ME and the NRC 2006 calculation was the most accurate predictor of ME. The standard Atwater calculation performed best for the two fresh diets that had the highest fat content (chicken, beef) and the NRC 2006 calculation performed best for the fresh diet that had the highest protein content (pork). ME of the turkey-based diet was equally overestimated and underestimated with the standard Atwater and NRC 2006 methods, respectively. We propose that commercial and home-prepared fresh diets should be assessed using standard Atwater factors as commonly done in human nutrition, or preferably for commercial products, by direct measurement in conforming feeding trials.

Integrative veterinary medicine, the combination of complementary and alternative therapies with conventional care, is increasingly prevalent in veterinary practice and a focus of clinical instruction in many academic teaching institutions. However, the presenting complaints, therapeutic modalities, and patient population in an integrative medicine service have not been described. A retrospective analysis of 5,195 integrative patient treatment sessions in a veterinary academic teaching hospital demonstrated that patients most commonly received a combination of therapeutic modalities (39% of all treatment sessions). The 274 patients receiving multiple modalities were most frequently treated for neurologic and orthopedic disease (50.7% versus 49.6% of all presenting complaints, resp.). Older neutered or spayed dogs (mean age = 9.0 years) and Dachshunds were treated more often than expected based on general population statistics. Acupuncture, laser therapy, electroacupuncture, and hydrotherapy were frequently administered (>50% patients). Neurologic patients were more likely to receive acupuncture, electroacupuncture, and therapeutic exercises but less likely than orthopedic patients to receive laser, hydrotherapy, or therapeutic ultrasound treatments (P<0.05). The results suggest that the application of these specific modalities to orthopedic and neurologic diseases should be subjected to increased evidence-based investigations. A review of current knowledge in core areas is presented.

Osteoarthritis is a common canine disease frequently treated with nutritional supplements that often lack independent verification of ingredients, active ingredient concentration, efficacy, or safety. Human supplements containing Boswellia serrata extracts (BSE) with high concentrations of active constituents 3-acetyl-11-keto-β-boswellic acid (AKBA) and 11-keto-β-boswellic acid (KBA) are bioavailable, safe, and efficacious in the alleviation of symptoms of naturally occurring osteoarthritis in people. Thus, oral AKBA and/or KBA supplementation could be a promising novel therapy for dogs with osteoarthritis. The primary objective of this study was to determine the concentrations of AKBA and KBA within six human and seven canine market formulations containing BSE administered to dogs, using a derivation of the previously validated high performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) method. The secondary objective was to compare measured concentrations to label claims. The mean concentrations of AKBA and KBA within the formulations tested were 42.3 mg/g AF (0.1–155.7 mg/g AF) and 5.2 mg/g AF (0–24.8 mg/g AF), respectively, with four of the formulations containing an undetectable amount of KBA. None of the market formulations had a label claim for KBA. For the five tested formulations with a label claim for AKBA, the mean percentage of detected AKBA was 173% of the concentration listed on the label (range: 114–224%). Formulations claiming to contain AKBA had a mean AKBA concentration of 98.2 mg/g AF, significantly higher than formulations claiming only to contain BSE (7.4 mg/g AF; p = 0.01). This study demonstrated a large variation of boswellic acid concentrations in market formulations claiming to contain BSE, with products claiming to contain AKBA containing higher concentrations of AKBA than other products. There was also a large variation in, and overall high, percent difference between label claims and measured concentrations of AKBA. All products met or exceeded label claims. However, differences between label amounts and detected concentrations confirm the need for independent laboratories to quantify concentrations of active ingredients in supplements containing BSE. This would be necessary prior to the use of these formulations in the research or clinical setting.

Dogs possess the ability to obtain essential nutrients, established by the Association of American Feed Control Officials (AAFCO), from both animal‐ and plant‐based ingredients. There has been a recent increase in the popularity of diets that limit or completely exclude certain plant‐based ingredients. Examples of these diets include ‘ancestral’ or ‘evolutionary’ diets, raw meat‐based diets and grain‐free diets. As compared to animal sources, plant‐derived ingredients (including vegetables, fruits, grains, legumes, nuts and seeds) provide many non‐essential phytonutrients with some data suggesting they confer health benefits. This review aims to assess the strength of current evidence on the relationship between the consumption of plant‐based foods and phytonutrients (such as plant‐derived carotenoids, polyphenols and phytosterols) and biomarkers of health and diseases (such as body weight/condition, gastrointestinal health, immune health, cardiovascular health, visual function and cognitive function) from clinical trials and epidemiological studies. This review highlights the potential nutritional and health benefits of including plant‐based ingredients as a part of balanced canine diets. We also highlight current research gaps in existing studies and provide future research directions to inform the impact of incorporating plant‐based ingredients in commercial or home‐prepared diets.