Page 236 - Small Animal Clinical Nutrition 5th Edition

Food Safety 239

VetBooks.ir CASE 11-1

Ulcerative Dermatitis in a Greyhound
Laine Cowan, DVM, Dipl. ACVIM (Internal Medicine)
College of Veterinary Medicine
Kansas State University
Manhattan, Kansas, USA

Patient Assessment
A two-year-old female greyhound that had been in training at a
racetrack in Arkansas was examined for depression, swelling of
the distal limbs and feet and skin ulceration. Other dogs from the
same racing kennel had been affected with similar problems in
the past.
Results of physical examination included depression,vomiting,
subcutaneous edema involving both rear limbs, primarily distal to
the stifle, and skin lesions. The skin lesions were focal, reddened
areas that became dark red or black on the surface after a few
hours. Several small ulcers were present on the distal extremities
(Figure 1) and a large, well-demarcated ulcer was present on the
left medial thigh (Figure 2). A large area of bruising and ecchy-
moses was evident on the ventral abdomen.
Clinical pathologic abnormalities included leukocytosis with
neutrophilia, thrombocytopenia (29,000 platelets/µl; reference
range = 200,000 to 500,000/µl), and severe azotemia (urea nitro-
gen = 240 mg/dl [10 to 20 mg/dl]; serum creatinine = 5.6 mg/dl
[0.6 to 1.2 mg/dl]).

Assess the Food and Feeding Method
All dogs in the kennel were fed a mixture of raw ground beef, dry
commercial dog food and a powdered vitamin-mineral supple-
ment.The beef was obtained from a commercial vendor in frozen
packages and thawed before it was mixed with the dry food and
supplement. The dogs were fed a portion of this mixture once
daily.

Questions
1. What foodborne illnesses might be responsible for the clinical
signs in this patient?
2. What specific diagnostic tests should be performed to investi-
gate causes of foodborne illness in this patient?
3. What measures should be instituted to prevent outbreaks of
foodborne illness in this kennel?
Answers and Discussion
1. Outbreaks of Salmonella enteritis (“kennel sickness,”
“blowout”) and systemic salmonellosis are common among
greyhounds in kennels. The clinical signs are usually mild to Figure 1. Right distal limb of a two-year-old female greyhound.
severe diarrhea that typically resolves in a few days. Occasional Note the numerous small, well-demarcated ulcers.
systemic infections occur with high morbidity rates, especially
in puppies and young dogs. Racing greyhounds contract salmonellosis primarily by eating contaminated raw meat. Other food-
borne bacterial diseases that result in gastrointestinal or systemic signs include campylobacteriosis, shigellosis and listeriosis.
A syndrome of cutaneous multifocal ulceration, often accompanied by limb edema or acute renal failure, has been recog-
nized in young, adult greyhound dogs.The syndrome has been referred to as “Alabama rot” and described as idiopathic cutaneous