Background: Spironolactone, an aldosterone antagonist, has been demonstrated to decrease mortality in human patients when added to other cardiac therapies.Hypothesis: Spironolactone in addition to conventional therapy increases survival compared with conventional therapy in dogs with naturally occurring myxomatous mitral valve disease (MMVD).Animals Methods: Double-blinded, field study conducted with dogs randomized to receive either spironolactone (2 mg/kg once a day) or placebo in addition to conventional therapy (angiotensin converting enzyme inhibitor, plus furosemide and digoxin if needed). Primary endpoint was a composite of cardiac-related death, euthanasia, or severe worsening of MR.Results: Primary endpoint reached by 11/102 dogs (10.8%) in the spironolactone group (6 deaths, 5 worsening) versus 28/ 110 (25.5%) in control group (14 deaths, 8 euthanasia, 6 worsening). Risk of reaching the composite endpoint significantly decreased by 55% (hazard ratio [HR] 5 0.45; 95% confidence limits [CL], 0.22-0.90; log rank test, P 5 .017). Risk of cardiacrelated death or euthanasia significantly reduced by 69% (HR 5 0.31; 95% CL, 0.13-0.76; P 5 .0071). Number of dogs not completing the study for cardiac and other miscellaneous reasons similar in spironolactone (67/102) and control groups (66/110).Conclusion and Clinical Importance: Spironolactone added to conventional cardiac therapy decreases the risk of reaching the primary endpoint (ie, cardiac-related death, euthanasia, or severe worsening) in dogs with moderate to severe MR caused by MMVD.

The type of surgery and the OR temperature are the main factors for decrease of the core temperature in neonates and infants. In neonates, the core temperatures are less stable, regardless of OR temperature and type of surgery. In high OR temperature, infants can stabilize their core temperature better than neonates.

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In a multicentre, blinded, placebo-controlled trial, 50 dogs were treated for 28 days with either phenylpropanolamine or a placebo control. Each was given at a dose of one drop per 2 kg orally three times daily, equivalent to 1 mg/kg three times daily of phenylpropanolamine. Dogs that presented with clinical signs consistent with urinary sphincter mechanism incontinence were included in the study. They were examined on three occasions by the investigating veterinary surgeon. The frequency and volume of unconscious urination were scored by veterinary surgeons according to a pre-established scoring system. Phenylpropanolamine proved to be more effective than the placebo in regard to several parameters. At day 28, 85.7 per cent of phenylpropanolamine-treated cases had no episodes of unconscious urination compared with 33.3 per cent of placebo-treated cases. This was statistically significant. Few, mild side effects were seen in either group.

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