Seven commonly used, topical antifungal products (i.e., lime sulfur, chlorhexidine, captan, povidone-iodine, sodium hypochlorite, and enilconazole solutions, and ketoconazole shampoo) were evaluated for their antifungal activity on Microsporum canis-infected hairs from dogs and cats in an in vitro study. Hairs were soaked or shampooed in each product for five minutes twice a week for four weeks. Of the seven products used in this study, lime sulfur and enilconazole solutions were superior in inhibiting fungal growth; no growth occurred on fungal cultures after two treatments with either product. Chlorhexidine and povidone iodine solutions were effective after four treatments, and sodium hypochlorite solution and ketoconazole shampoo inhibited fungal growth after eight treatments. Captan did not inhibit fungal growth during the test period.

The purpose of this study was to determine the optimal histamine concentration and allergen threshold concentrations for canine intradermal testing. Thirty healthy dogs were tested using two different concentrations of histamine and four different concentrations of each allergen. The optimal histamine concentration was determined to be 1:10 000 w/v. The threshold concentration was at least 1750 PNU/mL for all tested grasses, weeds, trees, moulds and insects, except for fleas which was as least 1:500 w/v. For Dermatophagoides pteronyssinus, the optimal threshold concentration was 250 PNU/mL, whereas for Dermatophagoides farinae and Tyrophagus putrescentiae, it was 100 PNU/mL. Threshold concentration for all epidermals except human dander was at least 1250 PNU/mL. The optimal threshold concentration for human dander was 300 PNU/mL. Our results suggest that the currently used 1:100 000 w/v concentration of histamine and the 1000 PNU/mL concentration for most grasses, weeds, trees, moulds, epidermals and insects may not be appropriate for canine intradermal testing.

ltraconazole was used in 3 5 cats with cryptococcosis. Treatment response was determined by comparing clinical signs before, during, and after treatment. It could not be evaluated in 7 cats because they died during treatment from causes unrelated to cryptococcosis. Of the remaining 28 cats, treatment response was classified as success in 16 cats (57%). as improvement in 8 cats (29%). and as a failure in 4 (1 4%). The failures were due to death or euthanasia from drug toxicity (1 cat), progressive fungal disease (2 cats), and relapse 1 year after treatment (1 cat). The cats that improved did not undergo a 1 -year posttreatment e-I- Materials and Methods Treatment ProtocolThe study was conducted as a prospective nonrandomized trial at 28 veterinary hospitals. Cats with microbiological and histopathological or cytologic evidence of cryptococcosis were entered into the study. All cats were tested for circulating feline leukemia virus (FELV) p27 antigen, and 27 of the cats were tested for antibodies against feline immunodeficiency virus (FIV). The initial dose of itraconazole was 50 mg/d PO sid for cats weighing less than 3.2 kg and 100 mg/d PO sid for cats weighing 3.2 kg or more. The drug was administered with food. No other systemic or topical antifungal agents were given. The initial dose of itraconazole was administered unless drug toxicity developed. Itraconazole treatment was continued for 2 months beyond resolution of all clinical signs. If toxicity occurred, treatment uation because they were lost to follow-up (3 cats), died or were euthanatized for other reasons (4 cats), or had a noncompliant owner (1 cat). For the 1 6 cats in which treatment was successful, the median itraconazole dose was 13.8 mg/kg body weight daily (range, 10.9 to 26.7 mg/kg/ d), and the median duration of treatment was 8.5 months (range, 4 to 1 6 months). Five of these cats had previously been treated unsuccessfully with ketoconazole. with itraconazole was temporarily discontinued until adverse effects abated. Then the itraconazole was reinstituted at half the previous dose. J Vet Intern Monitoring During TreatmentDuring treatment, physical examination and serum alanine aminotransferase (ALT) activities were assessed monthly in each cat. Subsequently, after completion of itraconazole treatment, the cats were reevaluated twice a year. At these times, the cats' pretreatment serum biochemical studies were repeated if clinically indicated. EvaluationsTreatment response was determined by comparing clinical signs before, during, and after treatment. Treatment response was recorded as success, improvement, or failure. Success was recorded if the cat had complete resolution of clinical signs at the time of treatment cessation and if clinical remission was maintained for at least 1 year after treatment. A cat was considered improved if its clinical signs had resolved at the end of treatment, but follow-up was less than 1 year. A cat was also considered improved when clinical

Many Persian catteries have long-standing dermatophyte infections and are particularly difficult to treat. Enilconazole is a topical antifungal agent that has demonstrated good efficacy in recent studies. Twenty-two Persian cats naturally infected with Microsporum canis in a breeding cattery were treated with topical 0.2% enilconazole and monitored for 180 days. The treatments were repeated every 3 days for a total of eight applications. All the cats improved clinically and became culture negative by day 28. By day 180, four cats had developed clinical dermatophytosis and all cats had positive fungal cultures. In this study, topical 0.2% enilconazole was generally well tolerated but may have caused hypersalivation, idiopathic muscle weakness and slightly elevated serum alanine aminotransferase (ALT) concentrations. This study suggests that enilconazole may be used safely with little risk to the young, aged and gravid animals.

The relationship between treatment outcome and location of cryptococcal infection, gender, magnitude of pretreatment cryptococcal antigen titers, results of feline leukemia virus (FeLV) and feline immunodeficiency virus (FIV) serology, and serial changes in antigen titers during and after treatment were evaluated in a prospective and nonrandomized study of 35 cats with cryptococcosis. A commercial cryptococcal latex agglutination kit (CALAS; Meridian Diagnostic Inc, Cincinnati, OH) was used to detect cryptococcal antigen in sera. All cats were treated with itraconazole (Sporanox; Janssen Pharmaceutica Inc, Titusville, NJ). Pre‐treatment mean log titers for serum cryptococcal antigen were not influenced by location of the infection. Treatment outcome was not influenced by gender, location of the infection, or magnitude of pretreatment serum antigen titer. Treatment outcome was influenced by FeLV and FIV status; cats seropositive for FeLV or FIV had a higher likelihood of treatment failure (P= .008). The cryptococcal antigen titers of cats successfully treated decreased with significant linearity over time during treatment (r = ‐.64, P < .000001), whereas the corresponding titers for cats not treated successfully did not decrease with significant linearity (r= ‐.03, P > .9). For cats in which treatment was successful, antigen titers decreased significantly from pretreatment values by 1.3 orders of magnitude at 2 months after initiation of treatment. By 10 months after initiating treatment, log titers decreased by at least 2 orders of magnitude in all cats successfully treated, and 9 of 16 cats had undetectable titers. In contrast, in 5 of 6 cats in which treatment failed, antigen titers were unchanged or increased in magnitude even after at least 6 months of treatment.