Immunosuppressant Therapy in Small Animal Medicine: What, When, and Why

Today's Vet Pract. Jul-Aug 2023;13(4):83-93. 49 Refs

Stuart A Walton¹, Alexis Hoelmer

¹ University of Florida College of Veterinary Medicine, Gainesville, Florida 32608, USA.

Author Abstract

Glucocorticoids are considered the mainstay of immunosuppressive therapy; however, clinicians should be aware of second-line or alternative agents.

Article Tools:

Email to me

Archives Highlights:

Companion animal veterinary personnel have occupational risk for tularemia and One Health role for tularemia prevention in Kansas.
Forty-three percent (47 of 109) of veterinarians reported diagnosing tularemia in cats and 13% (14 of 109) in dogs. Seven percent (8 of 109) of veterinarians reported having had tularemia. When performing procedures with a high risk of exposure, such as lancing abscesses in tularemia suspects, glove use was 100% but additional personal protective equipment was inconsistent, including eye protection (70%) and surgical face mask (59%).

A public health campaign to increase awareness of the risk of dog bites in South Australia.
Over one third (36-37%) of dog owners and 25-29% of non-dog owners had been previously bitten by a dog, although most did not require medical attention. Approximately 70% of dog owners believed it was safe for strangers to approach their dog, 34-37% allowed children or other people to pat their dog without permission, and less than half separated their dog from visitors or delivery people. In contrast, few of the non-dog owners allowed their children to pat a dog without the owner's permission and only 2% allowed them to play with dogs without supervision.

Insights into breeding management and contraception in catteries - What we learned from an online survey.
Progestin pills (n = 235, 47.4 %) were most commonly administered in queens, followed by deslorelin implants (DSRI) (n = 53, 10.7 %). Regarding tomcats, the slight majority of breeders (n = 229, 53.3 %) did not use contraceptives, next common were DSRI (n = 141, 32.8 %). Within the study population, contraceptives were most popular in (Northern) Europe, while least common in Northern America.

National survey reveals elastic price sensitivity for select equine veterinary services.
Willingness-to-pay questions were presented with a payment card approach and addressed 3 common services: annual spring vaccinations, lameness examinations, and emergency colic surgeries. In a payment card approach, respondents choose from among preselected values. Respondents were asked to choose the maximum amount they would be willing to pay for each service.

Prevalence of Encephalitozoon hellem among companion and exhibition birds in Japan.
Although microsporidia can rarely cause severe systemic infections, including hepatitis, nephritis, and enteritis in young birds, most infected birds are subclinical and thought to recover spontaneously after a period of temporary spore shedding if they do not have immunosuppression. Microsporidia can cause self-limiting infection in immunocompetent humans and life-threatening chronic diarrhea in immunocompromised individuals.