Hair is an emerging biological matrix in which to measure chronic HPA axis activity, offering a longer term view into an animal’s life. We explored effects of exogenous (e.g. lifestyle, medications, social environment) and endogenous (e.g. disease, behaviour) stressors on hair cortisol concentration (HCC) in a population of Border Collies (BCs). Owners of BCs were recruited and reported their dog’s lifestyle, clinical history, anxiety-related behaviour, and collected a white hair sample from their dog’s dorsal neck region. HCC was determined using established methods with a commercial cortisol assay kit. Samples from 135 BCs were analysed, with 91 healthy controls and 44 diagnosed with epilepsy as a model disease. Factors associated with higher HCC included psychosocial stressors (living with three or more other dogs) and lifestyle (engaging in competitive flyball); while factors associated with lower HCC included anxiety (stranger-directed and non-social), health (epilepsy diagnosis, with number of seizures to date negatively correlated with HCC) and medication (certain anti-epileptic drugs were associated with elevated or reduced HCC). These novel results highlight the potential of chronic stress with frequent or persisting HPA-axis hyperactivity leading to a state of hypocortisolism, and the need to consider stressor recency and recurrence when interpreting HCC data.

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The efficacy of a novel oral endectocide containing moxidectin, sarolaner and pyrantel was investigated in client-owned dogs with natural infections of Toxocara canis, Toxascaris leonina, Ancylostoma caninum and Uncinaria stenocephala. MethodsDogs infected with any of the four gastrointestinal nematode species were enrolled in this controlled, masked, randomized study. In total, 194 dogs were treated once orally with the combination of sarolaner (1.2 to 2.4 mg/kg), moxidectin (24 to 48 µg/kg) and pyrantel (5 to 10 mg/kg) and 97 dogs were treated with a positive control product containing afoxolaner (2.50-5.36 mg/kg) and milbemycin oxime (0.50-1.07 mg/kg). Faecal egg counts were conducted before, and 7 days after treatment administration. Efficacy was based on the post-treatment reduction in geometric mean egg counts (per gram faeces) compared to pre-treatment. ResultsTwo hundred dogs were infected with T. canis, 80 with A. caninum, 36 with U. stenocephala, and 16 with T. leonina. Fifty dogs had mixed infections with two or more species. Post-treatment geometric mean fecal egg counts for T. canis, A. caninum, T. leonina, and U. stenocephala relative to pretreatment counts were significantly (P<0.0001) reduced by ≥98.3% in the group treated with the combination of sarolaner, moxidectin and pyrantel, and by ≥ 97.4% in the afoxolaner and milbemycin oxime-treated group. Both products were well tolerated. Statement (conclusions)Oral administration of the combination of 1.2 mg/kg sarolaner, 24 µg/kg moxidectin and 5.0 mg/kg pyrantel provided effective treatment of roundworm and hookworm infection in dogs.