Background: Hydrolyzed protein diets are commonly used to manage canine chronic enteropathies (CE), but their efficacy has not yet been critically evaluated.Hypothesis: A hydrolyzed protein diet is superior to that of a highly digestible (control) diet in the management of CE in dogs.Animals: Twenty-six dogs (18 test diet, 8 control diet) referred for investigation and management of naturally occurring chronic small intestinal disease.Methods: Randomized, open-label, positively controlled trial. After a full diagnostic investigation, which included endoscopy, dogs were assigned either to the test diet or control diet on a 2 : 1 basis (test : control). Cases were re-evaluated 3 times (at approximately 3, 6-12 months, and 3 years). Outcome measures included response of clinical signs (complete, partial, none), change in severity of signs (based upon clinical disease activity index; canine inflammatory bowel disease activity index [CIBDAI]), change in body weight, and need for other therapy.Results: There were no significant differences in baseline characteristics (eg, signalment, body weight, and duration of clinical signs), and histopathologic severity between test and control diet groups. However, despite randomization, CIBDAI was significantly higher in the test diet group (P 5 .013). Most dogs had responded by first evaluation, with no difference between groups (P 5 .87). However, significantly more dogs on the test diet remained asymptomatic at both the second (P 5 .0012) and third (P o .001) re-evaluation, and the decrease in CIBDAI was significantly greater (P 5 .010).Conclusions and Clinical Importance: A hydrolyzed protein diet can be highly effective for long-term management of canine chronic small bowel enteropathy.

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Summary A 2‐month‐old Warmblood colt presented with recurrent colic and regurgitation. Gastroscopy, performed on several occasions, and barium‐contrast radiography revealed severe squamous gastric ulceration and stenosis at the level of the margo plicatus. Treatment with omeprazole reduced the extent and severity of the gastric ulcers but did not affect the stenosis. The foal was euthanised because of a poor prognosis, and post‐mortem examination confirmed the clinical diagnosis. Severe squamous gastric ulceration, granulation tissue formation and cicatrisation of deep gastric lesions were considered to have caused the stenosis. Gastroduodenal outflow obstruction is a recognised disorder in foals, but stenosis at the level of the margo plicatus has not been reported in foals or adult horses. To the authors' knowledge, this is the first case of severe squamous gastric ulceration, complicated by stenosis at the level of the margo plicatus, in a foal. Although rare, gastric stenosis should be considered in foals suffering recurrent colic and regurgitation.

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The postmortem examination can be used as a means of quality control for clinical diagnoses. A retrospective study on 300 dogs and cats that had been admitted to a small animal intensive care unit was performed comparing the clinical and postmortem findings, using the Modified Goldman criteria. All patient files were reevaluated for clinical diagnoses and all postmortem material was reevaluated for pathological diagnoses. After this, the Modified Goldman criteria were applied to score the discrepancies between them, and factors associated with the occurrence of an undiagnosed major unexpected finding were analyzed. The postmortem examination revealed additional findings in 65% of the cases. Major discrepancies, defined as those affecting treatment and possibly outcome of the patient, were present in 21.3% of the cases. The most frequently missed diagnoses detected at necropsy were pneumonia of various etiologies, meningitis/meningoencephalitis, myocarditis and generalized vasculitis. A shorter ICU stay was associated with increased odds of a major discrepancy. Conditions affecting the urinary or gastrointestinal system were negatively associated with major discrepancy.

This article describes a case of abortion and placentitis in a mare. Macroscopic and microscopic lesions in the aborted fetus were consistent with a pyogranulomatous inflammation with intralesional fungal structures. These were observed in the lungs, skin, stomach, umbilical cord, peritoneum, fetal membranes and brain. Molecular techniques detected the fungus Exophiala phaeomuriformis from those lesions. To the authors’ knowledge, this is the first reported case of abortion in horse due to E. phaeomuriformis.