The prevalence of radiographic signs of degenerative joint disease (including appendicular osteoarthritis) among a hospital population of 218 cats was 33.9 per cent (74 cats), and the prevalence of signs of appendicular joint osteoarthritis was 16.5 per cent (36 cats). Half of the cases of appendicular joint osteoarthritis had no apparent radiographic or historical cause, and clinical signs of lameness were recorded in only six of them, all of which had an apparent radiographic cause. The 74 cats with radiographic signs of degenerative joint disease were on average significantly older than the 144 cats in which there were no radiographic signs of the disease.

Forty-five cases of canine Achilles mechanism disruption were reviewed, mostly involving medium-sized dogs, among which dobermanns, labradors and border collies were most commonly represented. Most cases were acute in onset (66.7 per cent), and were usually closed injuries (75.6 per cent). In the majority of cases, the damage involved all tendons (26.7 per cent), all tendons except the superficial digital flexor tendon (22.2 per cent), or the gastrocnemius alone (20 per cent). Damage most commonly occurred at the tendo-osseous junction (60 per cent), with injury occurring less commonly at the musculotendinous junction (20 per cent) or in the body of the tendon (13.3 per cent). A plantigrade posture was not predictive of involvement of specific tendons, but was more likely if the injury involved the musculotendinous junction. The most common method of treatment was a primary tendon repair using polydioxanone suture in a locking-loop pattern, with placement of a temporary calcaneotibial screw and cast. The outcome was not significantly influenced by whether the injury was open or closed, the duration of the injury, the tendons involved, or the method of repair. Complications were recorded in 16 cases (35 per cent), of which 10 were minor and six major. Complications were significantly more likely if the damage involved the body of the tendon. Long-term follow-up was available for 19 dogs; the outcome of surgery was considered to be good to excellent in 18 dogs.

Medical and/or surgical management were usually successful in resolving infection (94 per cent). However, they were frequently unsuccessful in restoring full joint function; this may in part have been due to the nature of the underlying joint

This study supports the hypothesis that joint incongruency is associated with FCP in dogs, though is not present in every case at the time of diagnosis. The precise mechanism of development of this incongruency cannot be determined from these data.

The possible involvement of vaccination in type I IMPA was not made clear from this study because of the small population size. Signalment, clinical signs, and results of diagnostic tests other than multiple synovial fluid analyses were generally nonspecific. Most dogs with type I IMPA responded to initial immunosuppressive treatment, but 31% (12/39) of dogs relapsed, required further treatment, or both.