Hyperthyroidism and chronic kidney failure (CKD) are common diseases in older cats. It can be difficult to evaluate kidney function in cats suffering from both conditions simultaneously. In the daily clinic serum Creatinine is the analysis of choice when evaluating kidney function and secondary glomerular filtration rate (GFR). This marker does not, however, detect kidney damage until about 75 % of the function is lost. There are several other techniques available when investigating GFR but none are readily available for the small clinic.

Catecholamines are stress hormones that are produced and released by a rare tumor called pheochromocytoma. This tumor can cause hypertension which if undiagnosed and untreated leads to death. Since good therapy is available, it is important to find the tumor in time. The most common way to diagnose the tumor is measurement of the biochemical markers; catecholamines and their metabolites, methylated catecholamines.After observation that almost all normetanephrine results for women were higher than the upper reference limit and therefore pathological, the accuracy of the present reference intervals was questioned. Therefore new reference intervals for both urinary catecholamines and methylated catecholamines were developed by analysis of 46 samples using HPLC.

Both serum Creatinine and measuring GFR can be used to evaluate renal function in dogs suspected to have chronic kidney disease (CKD). Although high Creatinine levels usually indicate renal disease, normal Creatinine levels can be present in dogs with decreased renal filtration. Measuring GFR is generally believed to be the most accurate way of detecting decreased renal filtration and scintigraphy GFR using 99mTc-DTPA has been found to correlate well with the ?gold standard? inulin clearance method.When measuring GFR by scintigraphy, 99mTc-DTPA is injected intravenously and radioactive decay of technetium gives rise to gamma radiation, which is registered by a gamma camera. Pictures and curves of radioactivity in the kidneys are generated by means of a computer program.

Majstorovi?, Z. Utsöndring av stenbildande substanser i urin ? kan stickprov er-sätta dygnsmängder? Examensarbete i Biomedicinsk laboratorievetenskap 15 högskolepoäng. Malmö högskola: Hälsa och samhälle, Utbildningsområde Bio-medicinsk laboratorievetenskap, 2011. Syfte.

The occurrence of small amounts of albumin in urine, microalbuminuria (MA), is used both in human- and veterinary medicine as an indicator for patients who have developing proteinuria. Proteinuria can be prerenal, renal or postrenal which is important to establish during an investigation. With conventional methods decreased renal function is not detected until 70 % of renal function is lost. The ability to detect and start a treatment earlier might reverse or slow the progression of disease. The purpose of this study was to investigate the reliability of Heska® E.R.D.-Health Screen?, a test for microalbuminuria in dogs, to detect albuminuria.

Maternal behaviour is crucial for the development of the rat pups? behaviour and stressresponses later in life. There are numerous studies evaluating the effects of the dams?behaviours on the pups, but not many addressing what can be made for wellbeing of the ratdams when breeding. Few studies have addressed the question of how the commonly usedrearing environment effects the dams? behaviour and in the long run how it effect the ratsreared to become our research models.

Magnesium is one of the most important minerals in the body and it participates in many essential processes, such as energy metabolism and protein synthezis. Magnesium deficiency in cattle may occur when they are let out for pasture in the spring, and is associated with tetany, known as grass staggers. A high yielding dairy cow often loses more magnesium daily in the milk than she has available in the body, and magnesium thereby needs to be provided in the feed to prevent the cow from being affected by deficiency symptoms. The uptake of magnesium is mainly located to the rumen and is not regulated by hormones. The surplus is excreted in the urine by the kidneys.

Bull terrier hereditary nephritis is caused by a mutation that leads to an inadequate synthesis of collagen type IV, which is an important component in the basement membranes. The inheritance of the mutation is autosomal dominant in bull terriers and progression to renal failure takes variable time, from several months to ten years. Proteinuria is the first clinical sign of the disease and the diagnosis is confirmed by transmission electron microscopy of renal tissue where typical ultrastructural changes in the glomerular basement membrane (GBM), thickening and multilaminar splitting are found. This study was performed in order to find out the occurrence of hereditary nephritis in bull terriers in Sweden through examination of urine samples and renal tissue and comparisons with how the disease is described in the literature. Urine samples from 76 Swedish bull terriers were collected and examined for proteinuria.

To fit into our society the dogs of today need a good mentality. To investigate their mentalitydifferent behavior tests have been developed. The tests are useful tools in the selection ofbreeding animals as well as for working and companion dogs. To counter the demand for atest that could be suited for all kind of dogs, regardless of their future function, the mentalitytest Beteende- och personlighetsbeskrivning hund (BPH) was developed. BPH consists ofseven subtests that expose dogs to various situations that can be found in everyday life, suchas meeting an unfamiliar person, sudden noises and suddenly appearing objects.The aim of this study was to find out if there are differences in physiological values betweenindividuals, validate the behavior observations during BPH and get aware of how the dogsexperience the situation.