This study was performed in order to investigate the difficulty in diagnosing retrobulbar disease with ultrasound. A retrospective study was accomplished to investigate the use of ultrasound in patients with suspected retrobulbar problems, and how often the examination is diagnostic. The computer based patient files, at the University of Agricultural Science in Uppsala, were searched for dogs with suspected retrobulbar disease. During 1999-01-01-2004-04-14, 14 patients fulfilling the search criteria were found. The patient records were studied, and the written reports from the ultrasound examinations were compared with the printed pictures from the examinations.

The purpose of this scientific essay is to evaluate if a continuous glucose monitoring system is something that can benefit Swedish animal health care. The study investigates if it is medically possible to use continuous glucose monitoring systems on dogs with an apparatus attached to their bodies. Furthermore, I try to establish whether this is possible in practice and how it could be done. The keywords used were diabetes mellitus, insulin, continuous glucose monitoring, blood glucose monitoring, dog, pet owner and animal nursing care. Furthermore, I wanted to find out if this system could be an alternative to currently established methods to measure the patient?s blood glucose level.

Working as a veterinary nurse includes advising animal owners, helping them to make discisions through well-based facts and experience. Preemptive spaying of the healthy bitch brings many advantages and disadvantages. It leads to cessation of gonadal hormone production, and how the exact extent the surgery affects the dog is not yet fully understood. The sex hormones mainly control the reproductive system, but receptors of these hormones are found in many tissues of the body, and have complex relationships with other hormone systems. Spaying decreases the metabolism although the bitch gets an increased appetite, which enhance the risk of obesity, unless the owner restricts food intake.

Background Anesthesia-related deaths are common in dogs, especially in the postoperative period, in compare to humans. This study aims to describe and elucidate the qualities of the postoperative care for dogs in Sweden. Method To investigate the postoperative care, a qualitative study was made by interviewing personnel in the animal health care sector. The primary information from the interviews was analyzed in a qualitative manor and a few distinguished qualities came forth. Results These qualities describe the postoperative care and include preventive activities, postoperative activities, monitoring and communication. A variation in regards to the results was seen between the interviewed.

In 1996 a hunting test for British gun dogs was started in Sweden, based on a similar one al-ready in place in Norway. The aim of the new test was to describe the hunting ability of the dog and to use the results as a basis for selection. However, up to now, no genetic study of these data has been done. Therefore the aim of this study was to estimate genetic parameters for the traits measured in the hunting test and to investigate whether the traits can summarized into fewer overall measures. Data from trails of British gundogs between 1996 and 2005 in Sweden were used to estimate genetic parameters and environmental effects in hunting performance. British gundogs consist of five different breeds: Pointer, English setter (ES), Gordon setter (GS), Irish red setter (Irl S) and Irish red and white setter.

This literature study concerned the use and function of the radioactive isotope carbon-14, as a dating method of organic material, within the scientific field of physical geography. In this report it is presented the need of atmospheric calibration curves and the development of these as a necessity to translate carbon-14 years to calibrated calendar years. A number of common age-depth models that is used to give an approximation of an accumulation sequence and its related dates over the actual time period in different natural archives is presented and discussed. Different problems that commonly occur when age-depth models are utilized as for instance reservoir effects, contaminations or other age deviations are addressed and analyzed. The software CLAM in presented and discussed and was also used to produce age-depth models.

An array of different retinal disorders is present as a threat in quite a number of dog breeds. These often lead to profound visual impairment or blindness. Many of the disorders are genetic, and they are, in Sweden as well as in other countries, subject to breeding programmes. The anatomy of the eye and the retina, as well as current examination techniques (ophthalmoscopy, electroretinography (ERG) and genetic analysis) are described. The more common retinal disorders encountered in dogs in Sweden are discussed: retinal dysplasia, generalized progressive retinal dystrophy, retinal pigment epithelial dystrophy, collie eye anomaly, sudden acquired retinal degeneration, retinal detachment and choroiditis. The possibly affected breeds are listed. The value of diagnostic findings is discussed and current advances on the subject in ophthalmologic research are accounted for..

Rabies is a fatal zoonotic disease spread worldwide. The most common sources of infection for all animals and humans are bites from dogs or bats. The aim of this degree project was to diagnose and determine the source of infection for 11 rabies samples from São Paulo State and Minas Gerais State, Brazil. Diagnosis was made through direct immunofluorescence assay, mouse inoculation and RT-PCR. The sources of infection were determined by sequencing 234 nucleotides of the 5? end of the N-gene and align these with homologous sequences retrieved from GenBank.

SammanfattningBakgrundDet är i Sverige svårt att tillgodose behovet av cirka 450 tjänstehundar och gällande hälsa är uppfattningen bland användarna att hundarnas fysiska hållbarhet blivit sämre. Med hänsyn till att det lider brist på tjänstehundar och att de tas ur tjänst tidigare än önskat vore det av stort värde att kunna förlänga en polishunds tjänstgöringstid. Ett sätt att förverkliga detta kan vara att använda undersökningstekniker vilka tidigt kan fånga upp lindriga förändringar i rörelsesymmetri, förändringar som kan vara ett första tecken på smärta. En tryckmätningsmatta kan registrera små förändringar i hur hunden belastar sina ben, förändringar som är svåra att se med blotta ögat. Det kan därför vara av intresse att ta fram ett normalmaterial för tjänstehundar så att det med tryckmätningsmattans hjälp tidigt går att upptäcka om en stoisk tjänstehund har ett förändrat rörelsemönster.Syfte & hypotesSyftet var att använda en tryckmätningsmatta för att skapa ett normalmaterial för en tjänstehundspopulation gällande parametrar registrerade med tryckmätnings-mattan.

This case study presents how the unit of munition-searching dogs of the Swedish armed forces handles their experiences from international service. The subject is particularly interesting as previous research into the area is nonexistent. The questions asked in the study are answered through the authors findings that training and preparation of this unit has developed thanks to the input of lessons learned from previous missions. This paper, based manly on experience reports, show that the unit successfully uses the method for handling lessons learned chosen within the Swedish armed forces..

Intramuscular injections to cats can generate strong reactions in some individuals while reactions of the same extent, according to the author, not always are recognized when using the subcutaneous route. The reactions are probably caused by fear, stress and/or pain. When the injection can generate pain one has to take that into account, which can be a limitation in treatment. It is well known that injections generate pain, but knowledge about the cause and processes of the injection-associated pain is limited. This is mainly due to the difficulty in finding objects to study pain on, high cost of use of laboratory animals and difficulty to obtain objective measurements. Although there is evidence that there may be a local muscle injury by intramuscular injection, it is not always that the extent of damage is related to the pain experienced. Facts about the causes of injection-associated pain have been studied in a literature review.

This report includes common helminths, symtoms, routes of infection, diagnostic laboratory techniques and prophylactic methods to prevent infection. We have pointed out where there is a risk of zoonotic transmission and how to avoid contamination and infection. We have restricted the number of species to the most common helminths. Some of these helminths do not naturally occur in Sweden (yet) but are nevertheless of current interest when we travel across borders with our horses, dogs and cats. The diagnostic part of our report tells about different techniques to find an occurance of helminths in samples of faeces, blood, urine or saliva from a horse, dog or cat. We also write about some recommendations on treating parasitic infections and the development of anthelmintic resistant helminths that originates from incorrect use of anthelmintic drugs .

The dog has played an important and significant role for mankind throughout history. It's no coincidence that they are known as "Man's best friend". Traditional tasks that the dog has performed include hunting, herding and guarding. In modern times its role has adapted to perform complex tasks in a great number of new areas which many people are not aware of or thinking about. My aim with this report is to attempt to chart as many different ways of using dogs as possible, in order to make society conscious of the great benefits the dog can offer society. .

Emerging infectious diseases poses a great future threat, not only to humans but also to domestic animals and wildlife. Even though the majority of these infections only cause minor health problems, the relatively recent emergence of HIV clearly illustrates that the next major human pandemic may surface at any time. Regardless of what the name indicates, most emerging human pathogens are not believed to be recently evolved, but to have existed previously in the natural environment. Most emerging pathogens are zoonotic, i.e. able to infect animals besides humans.

The purpose of this study is to describe melanotic tumours and the pathogenesis of these tumours. The focus of this study is on differences between benign and malignant tumours as well as the prognosis one may expect when diagnosing this disease. The mechanisms responsible for the occurrences of the tumours are not yet fully understood. It is believed that factors such as chronic trauma, infections, medications and hormones affect the cell mechanisms in some way. Determinants of the malignancy of the tumour are not completely known.