Background and Aim: Vessel sealing (VS) is used widely in human medicine and veterinary practice during laparoscopic surgery; however, few studies have investigated VS in canine ovariohysterectomy (OHE) using the median celiotomy approach. This study aimed to compare the effect of VS and suture ligation (SL) on surgical time, blood loss, and perioperative pain in canine OHE through median celiotomy. Materials and Methods: Twenty-eight dogs were randomly and equally assigned into two groups that underwent surgery either by SL at both the ovarian pedicle and uterus or using a disposable VS device. The short form of the Glasgow composite pain scale (SF-GCPS) and the Colorado state university canine acute pain scale (CSU-CAP) were used to determine pain pre-operatively (baseline); at 30 min; and at 1, 2, 3, 4, 24, and 72 h post-operatively. Perioperative physiological parameters, surgical duration, and percentage of blood loss were recorded. Repeated measures analysis was performed to determine the differences in all parameters among time-related tasks and between both groups. A significant difference was defined at p < 0.05. Results: The duration from identification of the first ovary to uterus removal was shorter in VS than in SL (p < 0.05). No clinically relevant differences were found among physiological variables. Both groups showed higher SF-GCPS and CSU-CAP values after surgery compared with baseline. The SF-GCPS in SL at 1 h was higher than in VS (p < 0.05). Two dogs in the SL group required additional post-operative rescue analgesia. No differences were found between the groups in terms of blood loss. Conclusion: The use of a VS device in dogs undergoing OHE celiotomy decreased post-operative pain and shortened the perioperative time, making it an effective alternative technique for this common surgery. However, the VS device must be applied 2-3 times in the same location during the OHE procedure to prevent technical failure. This disposable device was reused up to 5 times for economic reasons without device failure. Soft tissue damage during OHE using the VS device should be investigated in a future prospective study.

This study aimed to explore prognostic factors for mortality in dogs and cats following traumatic diaphragmatic herniorrhaphy using both multivariable logistic regression, a traditional statistical method, and the random forest algorithm, a machine learning approach. Associations between demographic and clinical variables and mortality were examined. Overall survival was 78.8% (149/189), 77% (97/126) in cats and 82.5% (52/63) in dogs. Key findings revealed that chronic diaphragmatic hernia (DH) significantly increased the odds of death compared to acute cases (adjusted odds ratio (OR) = 4.01, 95% confidence interval (CI): 1.69–9.53). Elevated blood urea nitrogen (BUN) increased mortality (adjusted OR = 3.24, 95% CI: 1.22–8.57). Cox proportional hazards analysis revealed that chronic DH (adjusted hazard ratio (HR) = 3.31, 95% CI: 1.51–7.30) and elevated BUN (HR = 2.88, 95% CI: 1.23–6.77) were associated with increased one-year mortality risk. The random forest analysis reinforced these findings, identifying hernia duration (Gini importance: 1.90) and BUN (Gini importance: 0.94) as the most crucial predictors. Among chronic DH patients, 55% of those with elevated BUN experienced fatal outcomes based on classification and regression tree (CART) analysis. The consistency of random forest results with logistic regression strengthens the reliability of these prognostic insights for DH patients.

Although internal fixation and surgical approaches promote fracture healing, some outcomes remain unsatisfactory. Advanced platelet-rich fibrin (A-PRF) has been shown to provide more growth factors, and in vitro cell proliferation has not been evaluated for treating bone fractures in veterinary medicine. The purpose of this study was to evaluate the bone-healing activity of A-PRF in traumatic canine fractures. Twelve dogs with single radius–ulna or tibia–fibula fractures were randomly assigned to two groups: a control group and an A-PRF group. Both groups were treated with a locking compression plate and screws and received pain control. Post-operatively, dogs were evaluated for serum C-reactive protein (CRP) levels and post-operative pain scores on days 1, 3, and 7. Lameness and weight-bearing scores were evaluated on days 1, 3, 7, 14, 30, and 60. Bone healing was assessed at 2 weeks, 1 month, and 2 months using calculated relative bone density (%). Compared with the control, the A-PRF group showed higher bone density at 2 months and lower lameness at 14 days post-operatively. Although the CRP level, an inflammation response marker, was higher in the A-PRF group within one day. No significant difference in pain score was observed. In conclusion, A-PRF serves as an effective adjunctive therapy for promoting bone healing when treating canine appendicular fractures with surgical internal fixation.

Early detection of canine cognitive dysfunction syndrome (CDS) is challenged by the limitations of single diagnostic tools, including owner-reported subjectivity and impractical behavioral testing protocols. This study examined a multidomain strategy integrating questionnaires, behavioral testing, and a circulating biomarker to identify measures associated with mild cognitive impairment in aged dogs. A total of 21 aged dogs were classified as cognitively normal (n = 9) or mildly cognitively impaired (n = 12) using the Canine Dementia Scale (CADES), and they were further assessed based on the Canine Cognitive Dysfunction Rating Scale (CCDR), a battery of behavioral tests across six cognitive domains, and serum brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF) concentrations. The CADES scores differed significantly between the mildly cognitively impaired and cognitively normal groups (median 12.5 vs. 0, p < 0.01), whereas the CCDR scores did not (p = 0.114). Among the behavioral measures, the delayed match-to-sample task with a 20-s delay and the recognition index derived from novel object recognition testing were significantly associated with cognitive group classification; the other domains showed no significant associations. Serum BDNF concentrations did not differ between the groups or predict group membership. The results of this exploratory study show that targeted behavioral measures may be more strongly associated with mild cognitive impairment than circulating BDNF, thus supporting their potential utility for early cognitive screening in clinical settings. However, these findings should be interpreted with caution, and their diagnostic accuracy should be confirmed in larger cohorts with further validation.

Palmar foot pain is an important chronic problem that impairs the abilities of sport horses. Though there are several research on different types of horses, there is a lack of information regarding polo horses, which are known for using in unique sport. Therefore, this research aimed to find the prevalence of palmar foot pain in polo ponies with forelimb lameness in Thailand. The horses included in this study were 30 Argentine polo ponies: 10 geldings and 20 mares, aged from 7 to 20 years old. All were barefoot and had not exercised for at least 2 months. The ponies underwent lameness examination procedures with subjective and objective evaluation, including a trot on a straight line, left and right lunging, a full forelimb flexion test and a toe wedge test. Close inspections of hoof conformation, hoof percussion and hoof testing were done before performing a palmar digital nerve block. The result showed that 25 (83.33%) of 30 polo ponies had forelimb lameness, which can be divided into 56.7% with unilateral forelimb lameness, and 26.7% with bilateral forelimb lameness. There were 17 (56.7%) polo ponies that responded positively to the full flexion test and 25 (83.33%) that responded positively to the hoof tester and percussion at the frog area. However, only 9 ponies (30%) were positive to palmar nerve block. In conclusion, this study reveals a notable incidence of forelimb lameness and palmar foot pain. Understanding palmar foot pain prevalence is vital for further equine health management.