Veterinary Services

Dogs and cats 

Isolates from ear swabs included: Staphylococcus intermedius and Malassezia spp. Staphylococcus intermedius was recovered from a skin sample from a nine-year-old dog with chronic alopecia and crusting.

Post mortem examination of an 11-year-old Cocker Spaniel found dead in a boarding home revealed evidence of congestive heart failure. The heart appeared globular and standardised cardiac necropsy techniques confirmed biventricular hypertrophy. Necropsy of a cat that died under anaesthesia revealed histopathological evidence of left heart failure.

Salmonella Brandenburg was isolated from the faeces of a sixteen-month-old male Golden Retriever which was diarrhoeic. This species is known to cause abortions in sheep and cattle and its spread has been associated with black-headed gulls. So far this year this species has been isolated twice in Scotland, on both occasions from pork products. It is a potential zoonosis.

2,100 Toxacara canis epg were detected in faeces from a healthy puppy aged 12 weeks with intermittent diarrhoea.

Horses

Staphylococcus aureus and Streptococcus dysgalactiae were recovered from a discharging sinus on the caudo-ventral mandible of a five-year-old horse. Trichophyton verrucosum was isolated from a ten-year-old hunter gelding with clinical signs of ringworm infection.

Other species

Staphylococcus aureus was associated with a post-enucleation infection in a guinea pig. Necropsy of a raccoon that died after a short illness revealed pyothorax from which Nocardia spp. was recovered.

Post mortem examination of a three-year-old female corn snake which died after a short clinical history of lethargy revealed necrotising enteritis. Group C1 Salmonella spp was isolated from the liver and serotyping is in progress. No illness was reported in the owner's family.