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"Old age" in not a disease but is the sum of the deleterious effects of time upon the cellular function, microanatomy and physiology of each body system. These biological aging changes manifest in progressive deteriorations in physical condition, organ function, mental function, and immune response, but not necessarily correlating with the patient's actual chronological age.

Chronic diarrhea is a common problem in dogs and cats. Diagnosis can be difficult and challenging for veterinarians due to the large number of possible causes of chronic diarrhea. Following a logical and thorough diagnostic plan is essential to efficiently arrive at an accurate diagnosis. This seminar will review the author's approach to the diagnosis of chronic diarrhea.

There are three well-known, clinically important blood groups in cats: A, B, and AB.1-2 Despite the nomenclature, the antigens in the feline AB blood group are not serologically related to the human ABO blood group antigens.

Immunosuppressive therapy in dogs and cats is used to treat a wide range of immune-mediated and inflammatory diseases. Immunosuppressive therapy is best understood, and explained, in the context of the specific disease that is being treated. In order to put the principles of treatment into a clinical context, I will therefore concentrate on treatment of immune-mediated blood disorders.

Dietary management is a vital component of successful treatment of many Gastrointestinal (GI) diseases. Some conditions can be managed with diet alone, while others require concurrent medical management.

The first step in the approach to the acutely vomiting dog is to determine that vomiting and not regurgitation is present. Vomiting is associated with signs of nausea (depression, salivation, and frequent swallowing,) that is followed by abdominal contractions prior to the expulsion of material.

Chronic vomiting (intermittently or continuously for at least 7 days) in dogs and cats is a common and frustrating problem for clients and veterinarians. Because many diseases cause chronic vomiting, a thorough evaluation must be performed to arrive at an accurate diagnosis.

To the owner, integument changes are the most obvious sign of aging. Aging of the skin and adenexa is a complex subject influenced by a combination of interrelated causative factors including wear and tear, cumulative cell damage from ionizing irradiation, and genetically preprogrammed cell changes.

This presentation concerns the survival and subsequent recovery of a small feline veterinary practice from two events, either of which could have easily shuttered this business. The first event was a devastating fire set by an arsonist which not only resulted in the loss of animal life but which also rendered the business a total loss. The second event was Hurricane Katrina, which literally and functionally destroyed New Orleans and its business environment for months.

Helicobacter pylori infection is the most common cause of chronic gastritis and peptic ulceration in humans. It is also associated with an increased risk of gastric lymphoma and adenocarcinoma.

The gallbladder is a small, pear-shaped organ located in the cranial abdomen between the right medial and quadrate liver lobes. Bile is synthesized by hepatocytes and collects within canaliculi and is sequentially drained from into bile ductules, interlobular, lobar and hepatic ducts.

Anemia is most simply characterized by reduced numbers of erythrocytes and/or decreased erythrocyte hemoglobin content.

Giardia is a flagellate protozoan parasite commonly encountered in small animal veterinary practice. The most common clinical syndrome associated with Giardia is acute small bowel diarrhea, but in some cases acute large bowel diarrhea, chronic small or large bowel diarrhea, or rarely acute or chronic vomiting may occur.

Rational pharmacological management of canine and feline liver diseases is built around removal of the inciting cause, specific therapy (e.g. anti-inflammatory, antifibrotic or anticopper agents) and provision of general liver support. Generally speaking, treatment recommendations are based upon the suspected pathophysiology of the disease or extrapolated from the human medical literature and are not based on veterinary clinical trials.

Hemodialysis (HD) refers to the process of using an artificial kidney to clear urea, metabolic waste products, toxins, and excess fluid from the blood. The term dialysis refers to the net movement of solutes and water across a semipermeable membrane along a concentration gradient.

Osteoarthritis (OA) is a chronic, non-infectious, progressive disorder of any synovial joint. OA is characterized by deterioration of the articular cartilage, synovitis, with secondary bony changes. Osteoarthritis is classified as being primary or secondary in nature.

Nomenclature surrounding nutritional supplements can be confusing. The most commonly used live organism supplements are probiotics.

Chronic large bowel diarrhea is a common problem in dogs. Diarrhea is often accompanied by hematochezia, excess fecal mucus, and tenesmus. The frequency of defecation is increased and the quantity of feces / defecation may be reduced.

Gastrointestinal (GI) (or alimentary) lymphoma is the most common form of lymphoma in cats. Feline GI lymphoma is histologically classified as low, intermediate or high grade according to the size and anaplasticity of the neoplastic lymphoid cells.

The human genome is composed of about 3 billion base pairs, of which only about 2% forms coding DNA (genes); the rest is non-coding and serves various functions, such as gene regulation. Humans have about 20-25,000 genes, although the function of 50% of them is unknown.

In the last AVMA pet owner survey, more than 39 % of the owned dog population were 7 years of age or older and these percentages continue to grow. This change in pet population demographics is due to in part due to several inter-connected causes.

Infectious causes of gastrointestinal disease in the cat are important for two reasons. The first is clearly the impact on the health of the cat itself. However, it must be noted that while unusual, our feline companions can be sources of zoonotic disease as well.

Disorders of the feline exocrine pancreas are common. Feline pancreatitis is classified as acute necrotizing, acute suppurative and chronic non-suppurative. Acute pancreatitis is characterized by inflammation of the pancreas that is completely reversible upon removal of the underlying cause, while chronic pancreatitis is characterised by irreversible histological lesions such as fibrosis and atrophy. Necrosis of pancreatic acinar cells and peripancretic fat with or without inflammation, hemorrhage, mineralization and fibrosis, describes acute necrotizing pancreatitis (ANP).

Platelets are essential for normal hemostasis and serve three main functions. They maintain vascular integrity by forming platelet plugs and promoting endothelial vasoconstriction in areas of disrupted endothelium.

Common transfusion types include fresh whole blood, stored whole blood, packed red blood cells, fresh frozen plasma, and frozen plasma. Other, less common transfusion products include cryoprecipitate, cryo-poor plasma, platelet-rich plasma, platelet concentrate, lyophilized albumin, and lyophilized platelets.

Nonsteroidal antiinflamatory drugs (NSAIDs) are commonly used in veterinary medicine for a variety of reasons including the management of acute postoperative pain and chronic pain associated with degenerative joint disease among other conditions. However adverse effects preclude their use in many patients and severe adverse effects such as nephrotoxicity, hepatotoxicity, and gastrointestinal ulceration and perforation, and death occur infrequently.

The patient with multi-trauma can present a challenging case for a clinician.Damage to the respiratory system, cardiovascular system, or neurologic system can all be fatal by themselves, and a combination of these injuries can present as a resuscitation nightmare.

The primary hemostatic system alone is not sufficient to provide hemostasis if a large vessel is injured, or if there is significant vascular wall injury. Fibrin needs to be generated in order to form a stable clot, and this occurs through secondary hemostasis, or the coagulation cascade.

Cytologically, neoplasia is characterized by the presence of a homogeneous population of cells that have come from the same tissue of origin. This is best appreciated by the presence of cells with the same cytoplasmic characteristics.

Although newer therapies are being developed in humans that allow a certain targeting specificity, immunosuppressive therapy in dogs and cats is largely based on the use chemotherapeutic drugs.