A retrospective study was performed of 100 dogs with persistent urinary tract infections (UTIs) or reinfections presenting to the North Carolina State University (Raleigh, NC) Veterinary Teaching Hospital between 1989 and 1999. Criteria for selection included > or = 2 positive urine cultures within a 6-month period. Signalment, presence of predisposing disorders, urinalysis and urine culture results, and treatment strategies were extracted from the medical records. Dogs were a median age of 7 years when the UTI was 1st diagnosed. Dogs younger than 3 and older than 10 years were at increased and decreased risks, respectively, for reinfections or persistent UTIs. Spayed females were more common in the UTI population. More than half of the dogs were asymptomatic for a UTI at 1st presentation. Urine sediment examinations identified hematuria, pyuria, and bacteriuria in 47, 72, and 85% of the samples, respectively. The most commonly isolated organisms were Escherichia coli and Streptococcus/Enterococcus spp.; multiple isolates also were common. Of the isolates, 29.5% were resistant to achievable serum concentrations of all antibiotics commonly prescribed for PO administration. Dogs with abnormal micturition were more likely to have infections by organisms resistant to commonly prescribed antibiotics. Potentially predisposing disorders were identified in 71 dogs. A correction of these disorders was accomplished in 35% of these 71 dogs. Dogs given standard antibiotic therapy without addressing predisposing disorders experienced poor control of their UTIs; 74.5% of these dogs had an apparent disease-free interval (ADFI) of < 8 weeks. By comparison, dogs in which predisposing disorders were corrected or those that were treated with low-dose, long-term antibiotic regimens subjectively had better control.

A retrospective study was performed of 100 dogs with persistent urinary tract infections (UTIs) or reinfections presenting to the North Carolina State University (Raleigh, NC) Veterinary Teaching Hospital between 1989 and 1999. Criteria for selection included > or = 2 positive urine cultures within a 6-month period. Signalment, presence of predisposing disorders, urinalysis and urine culture results, and treatment strategies were extracted from the medical records. Dogs were a median age of 7 years when the UTI was 1st diagnosed. Dogs younger than 3 and older than 10 years were at increased and decreased risks, respectively, for reinfections or persistent UTIs. Spayed females were more common in the UTI population. More than half of the dogs were asymptomatic for a UTI at 1st presentation. Urine sediment examinations identified hematuria, pyuria, and bacteriuria in 47, 72, and 85% of the samples, respectively. The most commonly isolated organisms were Escherichia coli and Streptococcus/Enterococcus spp.; multiple isolates also were common. Of the isolates, 29.5% were resistant to achievable serum concentrations of all antibiotics commonly prescribed for PO administration. Dogs with abnormal micturition were more likely to have infections by organisms resistant to commonly prescribed antibiotics. Potentially predisposing disorders were identified in 71 dogs. A correction of these disorders was accomplished in 35% of these 71 dogs. Dogs given standard antibiotic therapy without addressing predisposing disorders experienced poor control of their UTIs; 74.5% of these dogs had an apparent disease-free interval (ADFI) of < 8 weeks. By comparison, dogs in which predisposing disorders were corrected or those that were treated with low-dose, long-term antibiotic regimens subjectively had better control.

An unexplained outbreak of feline diarrhea and vomiting, negative for common enteric viral and bacterial pathogens, was subjected to viral metagenomics and PCR. We characterized from fecal samples the genome of a novel chapparvovirus we named fechavirus that was shed by 8/17 affected cats and identified three different feline bocaviruses shed by 9/17 cats. Also detected were nucleic acids from attenuated vaccine viruses, members of the normal feline virome, viruses found in only one or two cases, and viruses likely derived from ingested food products. Epidemiological investigation of disease signs, time of onset, and transfers of affected cats between three facilities support a possible role for this new chapparvovirus in a highly contagious feline diarrhea and vomiting disease.

Feces from dogs in an unexplained outbreak of diarrhea were analyzed by viral metagenomics revealing the genome of a novel parvovirus. The parvovirus was named cachavirus and was classified within the proposed Chapparvovirus genus. Using PCR, cachavirus DNA was detected in two of nine tested dogs from that outbreak. In order to begin to elucidate the clinical impact of this virus, 2,053 canine fecal samples were screened using real-time PCR. Stool samples from 203 healthy dogs were positive for cachavirus DNA at a rate of 1.47%, while 802 diarrhea samples collected in 2017 and 964 samples collected in 2018 were positive at rates of 4.0% and 4.66% frequencies, respectively (healthy versus 2017-2018 combined diarrhea p-value of 0.05). None of 83 bloody diarrhea samples tested positive. Viral loads were generally low with average real-time PCR Ct values of 36 in all three positive groups. The species tropism and pathogenicity of cachavirus, the first chapparvovirus reported in feces of a placental carnivore, remains to be fully determined.

A 10-year-old neutered male Airedale Terrier was evaluated for inappetance, weight loss, and lameness. Multiple myeloma was diagnosed based on bone marrow plasmacytosis, multiple lytic bone lesions, and hyperglobulinemia with a clonal gammopathy on serum protein electrophoresis. Splenic plasmacytosis, and retinal lesions consistent with hyperviscosity syndrome also were found. Temporary responses to 2 different chemotherapy protocols (melphalan and prednisone, and cyclophosphamide and prednisone) were seen, with remission of clinical signs and a decrease in the biclonal gammopathy but no resolution of the splenic mass. Eventual return of clinical signs led to euthanasia at 175 days postdiagnosis. Necropsy examination confirmed multiple myeloma involving bone marrow and spleen, and glomerulonephritis. An immunoglobulin-A (IgA) gammopathy was demonstrated by immunoelectrophoresis; biclonality was ascertained by immunofixation electrophoresis. The clonal components consisted of intact Ig with heavy chain of the alpha class and light chain of an undetermined class. To our knowledge, this is the first report of undimerized biclonal gammopathy in a dog caused by a single heavy chain class involving IgA.