Klinika za male živali

Transuretralna kateterizacija svinj

lukam — Tue, 21 Feb 2023 10:32:08 +0000

Transurethral catheterization of pigs lukam Tue, 02/21/2023 - 11:43 Klinika za male živali transuretralna kateterizacija sečni mehur svinja Research

Transurethral catheterization of female domestic pigs with a Foley catheter

Catheterization of the urinary bladder is a clinical procedure that is rarely used in pigs but may be necessary in certain situations, such as emptying the bladder or continuous collection of urine. Most authors describe catheterization in pigs as a demanding and lengthy procedure.

In this manuscript, catheterization is described in anaesthetized pigs weighing 40 kg. A Foley catheter with an inflatable balloon was used to prevent dislodgement of the catheter from the urinary bladder (Figure 1).

Figure 1: Insertion of the Foley catheter

Speculum enables better visualization
Laryngoscope serves as light source
Curved Rochester Pean forceps helps to insert the catheter
Foley catheter

The depth of catheterization (Figure 2) is important information because injury to the urethra can occur if the catheter is inserted incorrectly. Data on catheterization depth, which indicates the distance between the neck of the urinary bladder (exit of the urethra) and the mucocutaneous junction of the vulva, are not known. The average catheterization depth in 40-kg pigs in this study was 14.5 ± 1.3 cm. The procedure was successfully performed in less than five minutes in almost 80%.

Figure 2: Porcine pelvic organs and transurethrally inserted Foley catheter

The manuscript was published in Laboratory Animals in September 2021. Part of the results were presented in the same year at the 33rd Conference of the European Association of Veterinary Anatomists in Ghent, Belgium. The research was supported by the Slovenian Research Agency (P4-0053 in P3-0043) and by Tertiary funding from the Clinical Department of Anaesthesiology and Intensive Therapy, University Medical Centre Ljubljana, Slovenia. The research was approved by the National Ethics Committee and the National Veterinary Administration (U34401-20/2016/4, U34401-20/2016/9, and U34401-20/2016/13).

Authors: Jurij Žel, Jana Brankovič, Rok Klančnik, Tatjana Stopar Pintarič, Erika Cvetko in Alenka Seliškar

Gensko posredovana terapija s plazmidom za IL-12 v zdravljenju spontanih tumorjev psov

lukam — Thu, 26 May 2022 14:31:52 +0000

Gene electrotransfer treatment with plasmid encoding IL-12 for spontaneous tumours in dogs lukam Thu, 05/26/2022 - 17:03 Klinika za male živali rak genska terapija elektrokemoterapija genski elektroprenos pes onkologija IL-12 Research

Advanced treatments for spontaneous tumors - better prospects for animals and valuable experience for human oncologists.

Gene electrotransfer of immuno stimulating cytokines are one of the advanced therapies, aimed at stimulating the patient's immune response against cancer.

Numerous clinical studies over the years have confirmed that this novel treatment is safe for both the patient and the environment and that has a positive effect on local tumour control and disease progression. The gene gene electrotransfer of immunostimulating cytokines provides the patient with a good quality of life as the side effects are minimal. This was the main reason why the owners found this treatment method suitable and would choose it again if needed.

We have published the results of our research at numerous scientific and professional meetings and in major internationally recognized journals, and we have also endeavored to share our achievements with the public. To get a glimpse of our work and results to date, we invite you to read some of the papers at the links below:

Simpozij o genski terapiji v Sloveniji - SAZU
Pitamic S. Slovenska platforma za razvoj genske terapije, Medicina danes, marec 2022
Čemažar M, T Jesenko, M Bošnjak in soavtorji. Genska terapija v onkologiji, prvi razvojni koraki v Slovenij. Onkologija, junij 2022

Authors: prof. dr. Nataša Tozon (Univerza v Ljubljani, Veterinarska fakulteta), dr. Nina Milevoj (Univerza v Ljubljani, Veterinarska fakulteta), dr. Urša Lampreht Tratar (Onkološki inštitut Ljubljana), prof. dr. Maja Čemažar (Onkološki inštitut Ljubljana)

Izkušnje, stališča in napovedniki uporabe kanabinoidov pri psih in mačkah

lukam — Tue, 22 Mar 2022 12:45:02 +0000

Experience, attitudes and predictors of cannabinoid use in dogs and cats lukam Tue, 03/22/2022 - 13:52 Klinika za male živali kanabidiol kanabinoidi psi mačke anketa postmoderne zdravstvene vrednote Research

The aim of the study was to assess the personal experience and attitudes of Slovenian dog and cat owners regarding the use of cannabinoids (CBDs) and to determine the predictors of first-time use and reuse of CBDs in dogs and cats.

We hypothesized that positive attitudes toward CBDs, postmodern health values (natural remedies, anti-science sentiment, holism, rejection of authority, individual responsibility, consumerism), and personal experience would be significant predictors of CBDs use in animals. An open online survey targeted Slovenian dog and cat owners, regardless of their experience with CBDs. Questions addressed demographic data and personal experiences with CBDs, information about the participant's animal, experiences with CBDs, attitudes toward CBDs or reasons for not using CBDs in their pet, and postmodern health values. A total of 408 completed questionnaires were included in the statistical analysis. A substantial proportion (38.5%) of owners had already used CBDs to treat their pet. A positive attitude and previous personal experience were significant predictors of first-time use and reuse of CBDs in pets, whereas postmodern health values were not. In conclusion, the decision to use CBDs is based on acquired information and personal experience. Due to the increasing use of CBDs to treat and alleviate some disease symptoms, veterinarians should be informed and familiar with CBDs as a treatment option. However, further research is imperative to establish the use of CBDs in veterinary medicine.

Authors: Katerina Tomsič (Univerza v Ljubljani, Veterinarska fakulteta), Kristina Rakinić (Univerza v Ljubljani, Fakulteta za družbene vede), Alenka Seliškar (Univerza v Ljubljani, Veterinarska fakulteta)

Full article was published in Frontiers in Veterinary Science: https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fvets.2021.796673/full

Z zdravljenjem psov s spontanimi tumorji pomembno prispevali k razvoju novega genskega zdravljenja raka

lukam — Thu, 28 Oct 2021 07:46:15 +0000

By treating dogs with spontaneous tumors, we made an important contribution to the development of a new gene therapy for cancer lukam Tue, 11/02/2021 - 10:26 Klinika za male živali rak genska terapija elektrokemoterapija genski elektroprenos Current Research

The first gene therapy trial in Slovenia was approved to treat cancer patients to the Institute of Oncology Ljubljana. Entire development and production of the therapeutic is result of domestic collaboration between research institutions and the industry.

Domestic industry and academic science put Slovenia on the gene therapy world map with the successfully completed SmartGene.si project.

The Agency for Medicinal Products and Medical Devices of the Republic of Slovenia (JAZMP) has approved a clinical trial to the SmartGene.si consortium for the head-and-neck cancer treatment with gene therapy. This makes the Institute of Oncology Ljubljana the first holder of a license to conduct a clinical trial with a novel genetic drug. The therapeutic, preparation and the entire production platform are result of Slovenian knowledge and experience of the project consortium. The SmartGene.si project lasted for more than three years and ended in September this year. In addition to the Institute of Oncology Ljubljana, which is the project applicant, the consortium included COBIK, Iskra PIO, JAFRAL and the Faculty of Electrical Engineering of the University of Ljubljana. The Small Animal Clinic of the Faculty of Veterinary Medicine University of Ljubljana and the Department of Otorhinolaryngology and Cervicofacial Surgery of the University Medical Center Ljubljana (ORL clinic) also helped with the project realization.

The project was partially funded by the Republic of Slovenia and the European Regional Development Fund. Dr. Matjaž Peterka, CEO of COBIK: “We estimate that this is probably the most successful publicly co-funded project in the field of medicine and biotechnology in Slovenia. For the first time, we actually brought innovative therapies to people by developing technologies and an environment that enables the production of such advanced drugs and therapeutic approaches.”

Prof. Dr. Gregor Serša, head of the Department of Experimental Oncology at the Institute of Oncology Ljubljana, said, “A platform for the preparation of gene therapies has been established and a phase I clinical trial is starting, in which we will enroll the first patient. Patients will be treated with gene therapy by first injecting them with an interleukin-12 gene transcript, which will be delivered to the tumor cells by electrotransfer. The cells themselves will produce interleukin-12, which has the ability to stimulate the immune system and thus also has an anti-tumor effect.”

The SmartGene.si project is based on the long experience of all partners, improving the safety, efficiency and accessibility of gene therapy. This collaboration also increases the innovative capacity of domestic biotechnology environment. “We have fully achieved the goal of the project, including the last piece of the puzzle, i.e., the receipt of JAZMP approval to conduct a clinical trial. The start of clinical trials is the first step towards the deployment of the therapy, and the project partners are already in the phase of raising funds for further clinical trials.” explain the project partners. The established production platform for the advanced gene drug opens new avenues for DNA- or RNA-based gene therapies and vaccines. This allows process development, production, preclinical and clinical testing for the domestic and global markets.

A genetic drug for the treatment of cancer, which is developed and produced exclusively on the basis of domestic knowledge, represents a major achievement in both biotechnology and science. Therefore, a symposium on the development and challenges of gene therapy in Slovenia will be jointly organized by the Slovenian Academy of Sciences and Arts (SAZU) and the SmartGene.si consortium at the end of November 2021.

Video statement: dr. Peterka & prof. dr. Serša

Odnos slovenskih veterinarjev do bolečine pri psih in mačkah

lukam — Mon, 29 Mar 2021 07:20:09 +0000

The attitudes of Slovenian veterinarians towards pain in dogs and cats lukam Mon, 03/29/2021 - 09:26 Small Animal Clinic Analgezija mačke psi anketa Dobrobit Research

A survey study on the recognition and treatment of pain in dogs and cats by Slovenian veterinarians.

The aim of the study was to obtain information on pain management in dogs and cats by Slovenian veterinarians, and to compare it with reports from other countries. An online survey was created and questions pertained to demographic data, self-evaluation of acquired and current knowledge, attitudes toward pain and evaluation of actual knowledge, assessment of chronic and acute pain and pain due to surgery or medical conditions, and the use of analgesics.

The response rate was 11%. From 680 registered members of the Veterinary Chamber of Slovenia, 73 veterinarians completed the survey. Most of the respondents were women (71.2%) working in small (60.3%) or mixed (21.9%) animal practices. A more recent year of graduation was positively correlated to the self-reporting of knowledge acquired during undergraduate studies and to current knowledge about the topic. Cats were assigned higher scores for signs of acute pain compared to dogs. Female respondents assigned higher scores compared to male respondents for chronic pain in dogs. Dogs were assigned higher pain scores for surgical procedures or medical conditions than cats. The most frequently used non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs) in dogs and cats were meloxicam and carprofen, and butorphanol was the most commonly used opioid. The choice of NSAID was influenced by perceived effectiveness, experience with use and anti-inflammatory effect. Opioid use was influenced by experience with use and perceived effectiveness. In conclusion, Slovenian veterinarians acknowledged the importance of pain management as reported for other European countries. However, the use of multimodal analgesia is limited, and inadequacies remain in the pain management of cats.

The authors thank students Lana Jurman, Anja Kalin, Matic Mrzdovnik, Lara Ravnik, Eva Regoršek, Laura Vlaj and Anja Zidar who provided help in designing the questionnaire. We also thank Sara Belak Bučar from Genera SI, a member of Dechra Pharmaceuticals PLC group for help in designing the questionnaire and Anita Kermavnar from Veterinary Chamber of Slovenia for allowing the use of the National Veterinary Register and helping with the survey distribution.

The authors acknowledge the financial support from the Republic of Slovenia, Ministry of Education, Science and Sport and European Union from European Social Fund within the programme Creative path to knowledge 2017 – 2020 and Slovenian Research Agency, programme group P4-0053.

Authors: Katerina Tomsič, Kristina Rakinić, Cvetka Sokolov, Alenka Seliškar.

Full article was published in Veterinary anaesthesia and analgesia.

Farmakokinetika karprofena pri anesteziranih prašičih

lukam — Fri, 05 Feb 2021 08:24:25 +0000

Pharmacokinetics of carprofen in anaesthetized pigs lukam Fri, 02/05/2021 - 09:29 Small Animal Clinic Karprofen Farmakokinetika Prašiči Research

The pig is a common research model for translational medicine. From an animal welfare perspective and given the number of experimental pigs used worldwide, it is surprising that the pharmacokinetics of the nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drug carprofen have not been published to date.

We investigated the pharmacokinetics of carprofen after single intravenous and multiple oral doses administered to pigs undergoing electroporation of pancreas. Carprofen had a rapid distribution and a slower elimination phase. The volume of distribution was small, mainly because of the negligible distribution of carprofen from plasma to other tissues.

Pigs showed no signs of pain or distress postoperatively. Because other analgesic drugs were also used as part of the anaesthetic and analgesic protocol, it was not possible to determine the effect of carprofen alone on the severity of pain.

We are proud, that the Editor of Veterinary Anaesthesia and Analgesia honoured our article to be one of the Editors’ choice articles in 2021.

Authors: Maša Bošnjak, Mojca Kržan, Urša Lampreht Tratar, Jožica Dolenc, Maja Čemažar, Alenka Seliškar

The authors acknowledge financial support from the Slovenian Research Agency (P4-0053, P4-0092, P3-0003, P3-0067). The article was published in January 2021 in Veterinary Anaesthesia and Analgesia

Zdravljenje tumorjev ustne votline psov in mačk z metodami elektroporacije

lukam — Fri, 23 Oct 2020 08:47:28 +0000

Electroporation-based treatments for canine and feline oral tumors lukam Fri, 10/23/2020 - 10:52 Small Animal Clinic electroporation electrochemotherapy gene electrotransfer oral tumors dogs cats Research

Electroporation-Based Treatments in Small Animal Veterinary Oral and Maxillofacial Oncology.

Canine and, unfortunatelly less, feline oral tumors are curable if diagnosed early and aggressively treated. In most cases, the best outcome is still achieved with aggressive surgical treatment. If the tumor is large or cannot be completely excised due to its location, surgery can be combined with other treatment types, including electrochemotherapy or gene electrotransfer.

Electroporation is a method in which electrical pulses are used to increase the permeability of the cell membrane. This allows the entry of molecules of interest through the membrane; electrochemotherapy is used to introduce chemotherapeutic drugs inside the tumor cells, whereas gene electrotransfer is used for insertion of plasmid DNA encoding a specific therapeutic gene into cells. Both methods have been proven safe and effective in the treatment of selected cutaneous and subcutaneous tumors in cats and dogs, and are increasingly used in the treatment of oral tumors. They are currently mostly recommended for the treatment of tumors for which clients have declined aggressive surgery and/or radiotherapy, as the treatment results in a good local response, prolongation of survival time and improvement in the quality of life. In the following article, we reviewed all the currently available research describing the use of electroporation-based treatments of canine and feline oral tumors.

At the Small Animal Clinic of the Veterinary Faculty we have been offering electroporation-based treatments for several years as a part of multimodal approach to treatments of tumors. We are committed to the best possible care of your animal while contributing to the development of these treatment methods worldwide. Please, do not hesitate to contact us if your animal was diagnosed with cancer to discuss the possibility of the treatment with electroporation-based methods. In the frame of the new research project “Monitoring of the clinical and immune response to improve the outcome of combined electrochemotherapy and IL-12 gene therapy in dogs with spontaneous peripheral tumours” we are improving these treatment methods further to best serve our patients.

The full article is published in Frontiers in Veterinary Science.

Authors

doc. dr. Ana Nemec¹, Nina Milevoj¹, dr. Urša Lampreht Tratar², prof. dr. Gregor Serša², prof. dr. Maja Čemažar², prof. dr. Nataša Tozon¹

¹ Klinika za male živali, Veterinarska fakulteta
² Oddelek za eksperimentalno onkologijo, Onkološki inštitut Ljubljana

Anestezija in oksidativni stres pri psih z degeneracijo mitralne zaklopke

lukam — Fri, 23 Oct 2020 08:05:03 +0000

Anaesthesia and oxidative stress in dogs with mitral valve degeneration lukam Fri, 10/23/2020 - 10:14 Small Animal Clinic anaesthesia dogs myxomatous mitral valve disease oxidative stress propofol sevoflurane Research

The influence of propofol and sevoflurane anaesthesia on oxidative stress in dogs with myxomatous mitral valve degeneration.

The influence of propofol and sevoflurane anaesthesia on oxidative stress in dogs with myxomatous mitral valve degeneration

The doctoral dissertation of Katerina Tomsič was set out to evaluate whether anaesthesia with propofol, which is believed to have antioxidant properties, causes less oxidative stress in comparison to anaesthesia with propofol and sevoflurane in dogs in which oxidative stress is present due to the myxomatous mitral valve degeneration (MMVD). Anaesthesia with propofol and sevoflurane resulted in increased oxidative stress in dogs with MMVD in comparison to dogs without MMVD, however both anaesthetic protocols can safely be used in dogs with early stage MMVD.

The results of the research were published in two internationally recognized journals:

Authors

Katerina Tomsič, University of Ljubljana, Veterinary Faculty
Alenka Seliškar, University of Ljubljana, Veterinary Faculty
Alenka Nemec Svete, University of Ljubljana, Veterinary Faculty
Ana Nemec, University of Ljubljana, Veterinary Faculty
Aleksandra Domanjko Petrič, University of Ljubljana, Veterinary Faculty
Tatjana Pirman, University of Ljubljana, Biotechnical Faculty
Vida Rezar, University of Ljubljana, Biotechnical Faculty
Tomaž Vovk, University of Ljubljana, Faculty of Pharmacy

Klinična študija: koencim Q10 in srčne zaklopke pri psih

lukam — Sun, 03 Feb 2019 20:11:39 +0000

Clinical Study: coenzyme Q10 and cardiac valves in dogs lukam Mon, 04/06/2020 - 20:48 Small Animal Clinic Clinics

You are invited to bring your dog for a free examination, which will include laboratory tests. As part of the 3-week study period, you will give your dog a nutritional supplement for two weeks, which you will receive free or charge at the first checkup.

Should you decide to participate in the study, you are invited to bring your dog for a free examination, which will include laboratory tests. As part of the 3-week study period, you will give your dog a nutritional supplement for two weeks, which you will receive free or charge at the first checkup. During the study, a small amount of blood will be removed on four occasions from your dog.

Interested owners are kindly requested to send us an email to: druzhaevanatalia@gmail.com with the title ‘For Coenzyme Q10 Research’. Please provide your contact details, including phone number, and basic information about your dog (as well as any medicine that they are currently receiving). You can specify the time when you would like us to call you.

You can call us on weekdays between 9am and 3pm on 01 477 9315 (Cardiology Clinic of the Small Animal Clinic).

The research is conducted in the Cardiology Clinic of the Clinic for Small Animals under the direction of Associate Professor Dr. Aleksandra Domanjko Petric and Associate Professor Dr. Alenka German Saint.

Nova mobilna številka dežurne službe

lukam — Fri, 04 Jan 2019 11:02:07 +0000

New On-Duty Mobile Telephone Number lukam Mon, 04/06/2020 - 20:40 Small Animal Clinic Clinics

We inform you that in order to make communication more accessible, a new free telephone number has been introduced, which will be active during emergency hours at the Small Animal Clinic.

We inform you that in order to make communication more accessible, a new free telephone number has been introduced, which will be active during emergency hours at the Small Animal Clinic, i.e. on weekdays from 7.30pm – 8am, on Saturday from 2pm and on Sundays and public holidays.

In the event of an emergency call: +386 (0)30 716 190.

Outside of emergency hours, please call the central number: +386 (0)1 4779 277.