Objectives The objective of this study was to evaluate itraconazole 10 mg/ml oral solution for the treatment of Microsporum canis infection using an alternating-week pulse therapy regimen in a controlled laboratory setting. Methods Eighty cats with experimentally induced infections were randomly assigned to treatment (itraconazole vs control [sterile water]), administered 5 mg/kg PO q24h for 1 week on alternate weeks for 5 weeks, followed by a 4 week follow-up period. Topical therapeutic treatment was not administered. Cats were individually housed in stainless steel cages that were cleaned and disinfected daily. Study measures included weekly fungal cultures, clinical lesion scores, Wood's lamp examination and periodic laboratory monitoring. Mycological cure was defined as two consecutive negative cultures. Results Itraconazole-treated cats had significantly greater ( P = 0.0003) mycological cure compared with untreated controls (24/40 [60%] vs 1/40 [2.5%], respectively) and all of these reached clinical cure and had negative final Wood's lamp examinations. Furthermore, 36/40 (90%) treated cats had at least one negative fungal culture by the end of the study vs only 3/40 (7.5%) control cats. For both treatment groups, prevalence of clinical cure peaked at the end of the study (week 9), with 39/40 (97.5%) itraconazole-treated cats and 6/40 (15%) control cats achieving clinical cure. Wood's lamp negative examination rates were significantly greater ( P <0.0001) for itraconazole-treated cats compared with controls (39/40 cats [97.5%] vs 6/40 [15%], respectively) and followed the same pattern of improvement as primary clinical lesions. Conclusions and relevance In this controlled study, orally administered itraconazole using a 5 mg/kg pulse-dose treatment regimen reduced the time to mycological cure and increased both mycological and clinical cure rates compared with untreated controls.

History Buddy, who was presented in February, lived in a rural environment about 50 km (31 miles) north of Toronto, Ontario, Canada, with 1 other dog and 1 cat in the household. Neither of the other animals showed signs of illness. Vaccinations were up-to-date. The dog had previously been on monthly heartworm prevention (ivermectin– Diagnostics A fresh fecal sample was submitted just before the appointment. A zinc sulfate centrifugal flotation was pursued to detect any possible pulmonary capillarid infection. Eggs of Trichuris vulpis and Alaria spp and several nematode larvae were detected on the centrifugal flotation examination (Figure 1, next page). Identification of the nematode larvae was not possible owing to the effects of the osmotic damage caused by the high specific gravity flotation media.

To evaluate the effectiveness of an otic suspension containing polymyxin B, miconazole, and prednisolone (Surolan (R) otic suspension) in the treatment of canine otitis externa, clinical cases were recruited from veterinary practices at four geographic sites in the United States and Canada, and randomly assigned to either the test product or a positive control product containing gentamicin, clotrimazole, and betamethasone. Before and after treatment, cases were scored on four clinical parameters pain/discomfort, erythema, swelling, and exudates. Ear swabs were taken for bacterial and yeast culture and susceptibility testing. The vast majority of all otitis externa cases in this study exhibited clinical improvement of the inflammatory signs in the ear, with 97% of cases given the test product and 95% of the cases treated with the positive control product improving clinically. Non-inferiority of the test product compared to the positive control product in the treatment of canine otitis externa was shown for each of the four clinical parameters and for the total clinical score. The most frequently cultured pathogenic organisms were Gram-positives, with 56% of dogs harboring isolates identified as Staphylococcus spp, 17% Streptococcus spp, 44% infections with the yeast M. pachydermatis and 12.5 % cases infected with the Gram-negative Pseudomonas spp. Susceptibility testing demonstrated a high susceptibility of all these microorganisms to the active constituents of the test product. Results show that the combination of polymyxin, miconazole, and prednisolone is a good choice for first line treatment of otitis externa in dogs.

Crenosoma vulpis is a metastrongylid lungworm of canids causing chronic respiratory disease in dogs in parts of North America and Europe. The objective of this study was to determine the efficacy of imidacloprid 10% + moxidectin 2.5% (Advantage Multi®/Advocate® Topical Solution) against C. vulpis infection in experimentally infected dogs. Eighteen beagles (9 M, 9 F) were each given 100 infective third-stage larvae of C. vulpis . The 16 dogs (8 M, 8 F) with the highest faecal larval counts were stratified by gender and larval counts and randomly assigned to a treatment group. Group 1 received placebo only; group 2 was given a single topical treatment of Advantage Multi®/Advocate® (10 mg/kg imidacloprid/2.5 mg/kg moxidectin) at 4 weeks PI. Dogs were euthanised at 8 weeks PI and the lungs were removed and examined for the presence of adult worms by lung flush. The mean (geometric) number for adult C. vulpis recovered in untreated dogs was 70.0 (range 58 to 87) compared with 0.0 in animals treated with Advantage Multi®/Advocate®. The resulting efficacy against C. vulpis was 100%. The number of C. vulpis was significantly lower for treated dogs than the burden shown in the untreated group (p = 0.003).

This study evaluated the anti-inflammatory properties of Surolan with the use of a pinna model of inflammation in 80 mice and a randomized complete block design. Within each of 8 blocks, 10 treatments, consisting of different combinations of the constituents of Surolan with and without the prednisolone acetate component, were randomly assigned to the 9-wk-old CD-1 mice. The treatments were administered as a single dose 30 min after pinna inflammation was induced with tetradecanoylphorbol acetate. Ear-skin edema and erythema were assessed and measured 4 and 6 h thereafter. Treatment effects were evaluated with repeated-measures analysis of variance. Inclusion of prednisolone acetate with the Surolan vehicle, either alone or in combination with the nonsteroidal constituents of the suspension, resulted in a significant reduction in mean ear-skin thickness and erythema. The inflammation-reducing properties of prednisolone were not significantly affected by the other components of Surolan.