Background: Portal vein thrombosis (PVT) has been reported infrequently in dogs. Objectives: To characterize the presentation, associated disease conditions, and outcome in dogs with PVT. Animals: Client-owned dogs with a diagnosis of PVT and a complete medical record. Methods: Records were retrospectively analyzed for presentation, history, physical examination, clinicopathologic data, diagnostic imaging, treatment, and outcome.Results: Thirty-three dogs were included. Common clinical signs were vomiting, diarrhea, abdominal pain, ascites, and signs of hypovolemic shock. Associated disease conditions included hepatic (14/33), neoplastic (7/33), immune (5/33), and infectious (4/33) diseases, protein-losing nephropathy (3/33), hyperadrenocorticism (2/33), protein-losing enteropathy (1/33), and pancreatitis (1/33). Fourteen dogs were receiving glucocorticoids at the time of diagnosis. Twenty-nine dogs had at least 1 predisposing condition for venous thrombosis, and 11 had 2 or more. Thrombocytopenia (24/33), increased liver enzyme activity (23/33), and hypoalbuminemia (20/33) were common laboratory abnormalities. Clinical syndromes at the time of PVT diagnosis included shock (16/33), systemic inflammatory response syndrome (SIRS), (13/33) and disseminated intravascular coagulation (3/33). Twenty-four dogs had acute and 9 had chronic PVT. Multiple thrombi were found in 17/33 dogs. Nineteen dogs survived to discharge. Dogs treated with anticoagulant therapy were more likely, whereas those with acute PVT, multiple thromboses or SIRS were less likely to survive.Conclusions and Clinical Importance: Hepatic disease is a common pre-existing condition in dogs with PVT. PVT should be considered in dogs with risk factors for venous thrombosis presenting with abdominal pain, ascites, and thrombocytopenia. Studies evaluating anticoagulant therapy in the management of PVT are warranted.

Dogs with severe trauma may experience hypercoagulability that is unrelated to fluid resuscitation or transfusion therapy. Future studies are warranted to better characterize coagulation changes in dogs with severe trauma, particularly in relationship to fluid therapies and/or hemorrhage.

Apparent clinical triggers for the decision to perform blood transfusion in dogs hospitalized following traumatic injury included evidence of shock or worsening anemia on admission and requirement for perioperative hemodynamic optimization. Although dogs that received transfusions had a lower survival rate than dogs that did not, this was likely attributable to greater severity of injuries in the transfusion group.

BackgroundHospital‐acquired anemia is commonly described in people but limited information currently is available regarding its prevalence in animals.Hypothesis/objectivesAssess the prevalence of hospital‐acquired anemia in hospitalized critically ill dogs and cats, and examine its relationship with phlebotomy practices, transfusion administration, and survival to discharge.AnimalsEight hundred and fifty‐one client‐owned animals (688 dogs and 163 cats).MethodsA multicenter, observational study was conducted in which packed cell volume (PCV) was recorded at the time of admission and on subsequent hospitalization days. Signalment, number of blood samples obtained, underlying disease, whether or not blood products were administered, duration of hospitalization, and survival to discharge were recorded.ResultsAdmission anemia prevalence was 32%, with overall prevalence during the hospitalization period of 56%. The last recorded PCV was significantly lower than the admission PCV for both dogs (admission PCV, 42% [range, 6–67%]; last recorded PCV, 34% [range, 4–64%], P < .0001) and cats (admission PCV, 31% [range, 6–55%]; last recorded PCV, 26% [range, 10–46%], P < .0001). Patients that developed anemia had significantly more blood samples obtained (nonanemic, 5 blood samples [range, 2–54]; anemic, 7 blood samples [range, 2–49], P < .0001). Hospitalized cats were significantly more likely to develop anemia compared to dogs (P < .0001), but anemic dogs were significantly less likely to survive to discharge (P = .0001). Surgical patients were at higher risk of developing hospital‐acquired anemia compared to medical patients (OR, 0.63; 95% CI, 0.4–0.9; P = .01).Conclusions and Clinical RelevanceHospital‐acquired anemia occurred frequently, especially in surgical patients. Additional studies focused on the direct effect of phlebotomy practices on the likelihood of anemia development in hospitalized animals are warranted.

OBJECTIVE To evaluate the effect of urinary bladder lavage on in-hospital recurrence of urethral obstruction (UO) and durations of urinary catheter retention and hospitalization for male cats. DESIGN Randomized controlled clinical trial. ANIMALS 137 male cats with UO. PROCEDURES Following random allocation, cats either did (flush group; n = 69) or did not (no-flush group; 68) undergo urinary bladder lavage with saline (0.9% NaCl) solution after alleviation of the obstruction and placement of a urethral catheter. Signalment, prior history of UO, presence of crystalluria, difficulty of urinary tract catheterization, in-hospital UO recurrence rate, and durations of urinary catheter retention and hospitalization were compared between the flush and no-flush groups. RESULTS Baseline characteristics did not differ significantly between the 2 treatment groups. The in-hospital UO recurrence rate (9/69 [13%]) and median durations of urinary catheter retention (37 hours; range, 3 to 172 hours) and hospitalization (3 days; range, 0.5 to 12 days) for the flush group did not differ significantly from the in-hospital UO recurrence rate (13/68 [19%]) and median durations of urinary catheter retention (36 hours; range, 1 to 117 hours) and hospitalization (3 days; range, 1 to 9 days) for the no-flush group. CONCLUSIONS AND CLINICAL RELEVANCE Results indicated that, for male cats with UO, urinary bladder lavage at the time of urethral catheterization had no significant effect on in-hospital recurrence rate of the condition, duration of urinary catheter retention, or duration of hospitalization; however, additional studies are necessary to validate or refute these findings.

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