Top 5 Tips for Interpreting Heartworm Test Results

Clin Brief. March 2022;20(2):. 9 Refs

Andrew R Moorhead¹, Cassan N Pulaski

¹ College of Veterinary Medicine, The University of Georgia, Athens, GA 30602, USA.

Author Abstract

Diagnosing heartworm infection in dogs and cats requires more than a patient-side antigen test. Discover one expert's approach to interpreting heartworm test results.

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Head tilt in 6 Ankole-Watusi cattle (Bos taurus ankole) with chronic exudative cornual sinusitis.
Clinically, 4 of the 6 cases had concurrent otitis at the time of initial clinical observation. Medical management was the standard across all cases with limited surgical success in 2 cases. Due to intractable and progressive clinical signs despite treatment attempts, euthanasia and postmortem examinations were performed.

Effective treatment with afoxolaner (NexGard) of Trixacarus caviae in a pet guinea pig.
The animal was treated with a single oral dose of 2.50 mg/kg afoxolaner, and the lesions, presence/absence of mites, and intensity of pruritus were evaluated periodically until 2 months post-treatment. A week after the medication, the lesions were milder, but pruritus was still present and was attributed to the healing process. Further examinations showed significant improvement with the complete remission of clinical signs and no mites at the microscopic examination after 4 weeks.

Endoparasites of rabbits and hares.
Accurate gross and microscopic identification of endoparasites in rabbits and hares is an important element of the diagnostic work of veterinary anatomic pathologists. Given the zoonotic nature of rabbit and hare endoparasites, such as C. hepatica, E. cuniculi, and others, veterinary pathologists are ideally poised to make valuable contributions to the understanding of the disease ecology of these pathogens in the context of a One Health research program.

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.

Owner survey suggests cats may be undertreated for pain compared to dogs after an elective ovariohysterectomy or orchiectomy.
Analgesics were prescribed for 19 of 162 (12%) pets: 14 of 88 (16%) dogs and 5 of 74 (6.7%) cats. There was no difference in the prescription of analgesics between dogs and cats after ovariohysterectomy or orchiectomy. 15 of 19 owners reported their compliance in administering analgesics at 78.9%. Owners' subjective assessments showed that 24 of 86 (28%) dogs and 12 of 68 (17%) cats appeared painful at home.