The urine and plasma ketone dip tests have a different diagnostic accuracy, and results have to be interpreted differently. Because of its high sensitivity, the plasma ketone dip test performs better than the urine ketone dip test to identify cats with impending or established ketoacidosis.

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Local recurrence of feline soft tissue sarcomas is common despite aggressive treatment. Liposomal doxorubicin might serve as a depot radiosensitizer if administered concomitantly with daily radiotherapy and thus improve tumor control. In this pilot study, the feasibility of concomitant liposomal radiochemotherapy was evaluated in a palliative setting in 10 cats with advanced soft tissue sarcomas. Cats were treated with median number of 5 (range 5-7) daily fractions of radiotherapy and a median total dose of 20 Gy (range 20-31.5 Gy). One dose of liposomal doxorubicin was administered at the beginning of radiotherapy. Seven cats received further free or liposomal doxorubicin after completion of the liposomal doxorubicin/radiation protocol. Seven of the treated 10 cats (70%) achieved a partial (n=5) or complete (n=2) response with a median response duration of 237 days. The median progression free interval in all 10 cats was 117 days and the median overall survival time was 324 days. Concomitant liposomal radiochemotherapy was tolerated well in nine cats, one cat experienced temporary anorexia. Although the number of patients is too small to make definitive conclusions, results appear promising enough to investigate the role of liposomal doxorubicin as a radiosensitizer further.

Background: The aim of the study was to investigate and compare components of variance of endogenous markers of glomerular filtration rate (GFR) in healthy dogs and impact on the interpretation of results.Hypothesis: Cystatin C (cysC) in the dog is superior to creatinine (crea) and urea in detecting decreased renal function because of a high index of individuality (IoI).Animals and Method: Variance components of cysC, crea (2 methods: crea E , crea J ), urea, and inorganic phosphate (Pi) in plasma were determined in a longitudinal study over 6 months in 24 healthy dogs (6 German Shorthair Pointers, 18 Beagles). IoI and critical differences (C D ) were calculated, as well as the numbers of measurements necessary to determine the individual's homeostatic set point.Results: Mean concentrations of cysC, crea J , crea E , urea, and Pi (mean 6 SD) were 0.93 6 0.19 mg/L, 0.94 6 0.17 mg/dL, 0.76 6 0.18 mg/dL, 35.34 6 9.08 mg/dL, and 3.74 6 0.68 mg/dL, respectively. The IoI for cysC, crea J , crea E , urea, and Pi were 0.96, 0.89, 0.80, 0.90, and 1.16, respectively. The C D for cysC, crea J , crea E , urea, and Pi were 0.37 mg/L, 0.26 mg/dL, 0.27 mg/dL, 16.94 mg/dL, and 1.45 mg/dL, respectively.Conclusion: In dogs, components of biological variance of cysC and crea are in the same range. Analytical precision requirements were fulfilled by crea both , urea, and Pi. All parameters had an intermediate IoI, which allowed the application of population-based reference limits. The application of the C D for crea or cysC might be useful in detecting a decrease of GFR, when sequential measurements in an individual reveal an increase exceeding the C D but not the upper reference limit.

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