Tracheal neoplasia is considered infrequent in domestic animals. A detailed summarized description of the demographic trends of the patients and frequent tumor types arising from this anatomical location is missing in the reference literature. To better describe clinical and pathological features, a multi-institutional retrospective analysis and literature review were conducted to collect all the tracheal neoplasms reported in dogs and cats. Forty-two cases from a multi-institutional data search and 123 documented cases from the veterinary literature between 1961 and August 2024 were collected for a total of 165 cases. Dogs represented 41.2% (68/165) of the cases retrieved, whereas the remaining 58.8% (97/165) were cats. The most common tracheal neoplasia in dogs in descending order were osteochondroma, plasma cell tumor, chondrosarcoma, malignant epithelial tumors (adenocarcinoma and carcinoma), and chondroma. In dogs, most of the affected animals were males (53%), with a mean age at the time of diagnosis of 6.7 years, and most of the tumors were located at the cervical trachea (43%). Labrador retrievers represented 10% of the cases. In cats, the most common tracheal neoplasms were lymphoma and malignant epithelial tumors (adenocarcinoma, carcinoma, and squamous cell carcinoma). In cats, most of the affected animals were males (52%) and domestic shorthairs (62%), with a mean age at the time of diagnosis of 10.7 years, and most of the tumors were located at the cervical trachea (38%). Diagnosticians must consider these differential diagnoses when dealing with tracheal samples that are suspicious of neoplasia in dogs and cats.

Background: Fecal specimens are critical for disease screening, diagnosis, and gut microbiome research. For domestic cats, lubricants are often necessary to obtain a sufficient quantity of sample. However, the effect of lubrication on feline microbiome analysis has not been assessed. Objectives: To evaluate if lubrication using mineral oil during cat feces sample collection affects the DNA extraction, metagenomic sequencing yield, and the microbial composition and diversity in subsequent gut microbiome analyses. Animals: Eight 6-year-old male, neutered, domestic short-haired cats housed in a research facility. Methods: Cohort study. The gut microbiomes were investigated for fecal sample collection with and without lubrication using whole-genome shotgun metagenomic sequencing. Results: Fecal specimens were collected using a fecal loop under sedation without lubrication and with mineral oil lubrication. There were no significant differences between the 2 groups in the microbial DNA yield in ng/mg fecal sample (75.75 [25.8-125.7] vs 60.72 [33.49-87.95], P = .95), metagenomic sequencing yield in Gbp (10.31 [6.29-14.32] vs 13.53 [12.04-15.02], P = .2), proportion of host contamination (0.1 [0.02-0.18] vs 0.15 [0-0.3], P = .84), relative taxonomy abundance (P > .8), or the number of microbial genes covered (408 132 [341 556-474 708] vs 425 697 [358 505-492 889], P = .31). Conclusions and Clinical Importance: Fecal sampling with mineral oil lubrication did not change the microbial DNA extraction yield, metagenomic sequencing yield, level of host contamination, the microbial composition and diversity in subsequent gut microbiome analyses. Here we reported a proven cat-friendly protocol for fecal sample collection in clinical and research setting for gut microbiome analyses.

Myelolipomas are benign proliferations of well-differentiated adipose and hematopoietic tissue. Myelolipomas are reported to arise in the spleen, liver, and adrenal gland. Splenic myelolipomas rarely result in hemoabdomen or splenic rupture. In dogs and cats, no reports associate the formation of hematomas with splenic myelolipomas. The few published cases of myelolipoma have precluded the determination of breed and sex predisposition. A total of 2697 cases of myelolipomas were retrieved, comprising 96.3% (2596/2697) dogs and 3.7% (101/2697) cats. In dogs, splenic hematoma arising from myelolipoma was reported in 39.8% of the cases (1017/2554) and was a significant risk factor for both hemoabdomen (11.8% vs 2.0%; odds ratio [OR], 6.138; P < 0.001) and splenic rupture (13.9% vs 3.5%; OR, 3.898; P < 0.001). In cats, splenic hematoma, hemoabdomen, and splenic rupture caused by myelolipomas were infrequent, and half of the hepatic myelolipomas arose within peritoneopericardial diaphragmatic hernias (PPDH). In dogs, Labrador retrievers were the most affected breed (13.6%; 354/2596), and the mean age at the time of diagnosis was 11.4 years (range 1–18 years). The mean mass diameter was 7.4 cm (range 0.2–35 cm). The spleen (98.2%; 2550/2596) and adrenal gland (1.3%; 35/2596) were the most common locations. In cats, 53.5% (54/101) were domestic shorthairs, with a mean age of 11.1 years (range 1–18 years). The mean mass size was 2.4 cm in diameter (range 0.2–9 cm). The spleen (85.1%; 86/101) and liver (13.9%; 14/101) were the most common locations.

An 8-year-old intact male German Shorthaired Pointer presented as a referral for a one-week history of unilateral ocular discharge of the left eye and progressive temporalis muscle atrophy. Severe temporalis muscle wasting was appreciated, with periorbital asymmetry. Computed tomography showed aggressive and extensive multifocal bone lysis, primarily on the left rostral aspect of the skull, affecting the cribriform plate, frontal bone, ethmoid bone, zygomatic bone, and maxilla, with marked left temporal muscle atrophy and near-complete collapse and destruction of the left frontal sinus. Bone biopsy revealed osteoblastic osteosarcoma of the skull. Aside from the physical examination abnormalities, the patient did not exhibit pain, lethargy or anorexia at home or while in hospital. This case is notable for the unusual presentation, clinical manifestation and location of osteoblastic osteosarcoma in dogs. The survival time of 132 days was calculated starting from the date of confirmed histopathologic diagnosis, or 159 days from the date of the computed tomography scan.