Surgical infections in dogs and cats – prevention and treatment

Hanna-Leena Terhonen, Merja Rantala, Outi Laitinen

SUMMARY

Wound infection is one of the most unfortunate complications in surgery. All wounds are contaminated with bacteria at surgery. Whether the bacterial contamination causes infection depends on the total amount and virulence of the bacteria and the competence of the host’s immune system. The risk of wound infection can be reduced by proper aseptic surgical techniques, appropriate antibiotic prophylaxis and by the support of the animal’s immune system. The incidence of wound infections can be affected by paying attention to the preparation of the patient and the surgical team, as well as the surgery room and the equipment. The amount of surgical wound infections is a good indicator of the aseptic quality of work. This article represents in details the preparation of the patient and the surgeon. There are also examples for the use of antibiotics in different surgical procedures. The recommendations are based on the literature and the current use of antibiotics in the Veterinary Teaching Hospital of University of Helsinki.


Laboratory and mastitis

Anna Pitkälä, Satu Pyörälä

SUMMARY

Mastitis is the most frequent disease in Finnish dairy herds. The bacteriological milk test data collected from a herd are useful when planning therapeutic and prophylactic measures. The present paper discusses laboratory procedures in mastitis bacteriology. The laboratory must be aware of the limitations of the methods being used. The bacteriological diagnosis should be based on accurate identifi cation. The laboratory should have quality control procedures for monitoring the validity of milk sample analyses.