Urolithiasis is a common diagnostic and therapeutic problem in small-animal veterinary practice. The traditional diagnostic approach usually consists of clinical, radiological and ultrasonographic examination of the patient. The main diagnostic material is still urine sediment, ignoring the fact that presence of crystalluria is not always of pathological significance. In order to establish the most effective therapeutic and preventative strategies, especially in the case of multicomponent stone, it is crucial to define the exact elemental composition of the given stone including crystallization nidus chemical contents. In the course of the research, the usefulness of scanning electron microscopy combined with X-ray-dispersive spectrometry in analysis of canine mixed and compound stones was investigated. The obtained results indicated that the tested method allows one to trace the dynamics of the crystallization process, including crystallization nucleus detection, and concurrently and quantitatively assess the elemental composition of the given urinary concrement. Moreover, the conducted research showed epidemiological data of urolithiasis occurrence in a population of dogs coming from the southern part of Poland.

The aim of the study was to evaluate the effects of dietary unprotected fish oil on milk yield, fatty acids content and serum metabolic profile in dairy cows. Forty lactating Polish Holstein-Friesian cows were assigned to two groups. The cows were fed a control basal diet (C group), or a basal diet containing 2% addition of fish oil on mineral carrier (FOM group) during a 8-week period. Supplementing FOM diet of dairy cows had no significant effect on milk fat, milk protein, milk lactose concentration and somatic cells count, but increased the milk yield (36.5 kg/d), (p < 0.05) compared with the control cows (34.28 kg/d). We observed an increase (p < 0.05) in body condition scoring between C and FOM groups. Additionally, higher levels of non-esterified fatty acids and β-hydroxybutyrate acid were noticed in FOM group after 8 weeks of the experiment; however, these serum parameters still were in the reference range. Concentration of insulin was higher (30.40 μU/ml; p < 0.01) in the FOM group compared with the control group (14.03 μU/ml). In the FOM group, significant increase (p < 0.01) in long-chain fatty acids, mainly cis-9, trans-11 CLA and n-3 fatty acids (eicosapentaenoic and docosahexaenoic acids) was observed. The obtained results demonstrated that addition of fish oil to cows' diet could profitably modify the fatty acids in cow's milk.

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8-week-lasting investigation aimed at the assessment of the effect of fish oil application in the form of fat-mineral preparation (F-M) on fatty acid content in milk fat. The subject of this investigation were highly efficient dairy cows ( primiparous and multiparous). The cows were administered F-M containing fish oil (1% in dry mass of ration) which resulted in decreased level of shortchain fatty acids in milk fat and increased level of longchain fatty acids. There was recorded significant increase in isomer cis-9,trans-11 CLA content, as well as the one of polyunsaturated fatty acids of n-3 -EPA and DHA group. The number of n-3 group acid did considerably increase. The fatty acids n-6/n-3 ratio showed significant decrease in both experimental groups..