Andrew Lewin

Objective To survey the prevalence of pathogens in shelter‐housed cats with active ocular surface disease (OSD). Animals Studied A total of 255 shelter‐housed domestic cats with evidence of active OSD. No normal, unaffected cats were sampled. Procedure(s) OSD scoring was performed on cats with active OSD. Combined oropharyngeal/conjunctival swabs were submitted for rt‐PCR/PCR for feline herpesvirus (FHV‐1), feline calicivirus (FCV), Chlamydia spp. (CHL), Bordetella bronchiseptica (BORD), and Mycoplasma spp. (MYC). Results Pathogens were detected as follows: 76.4% (195/255) MYC, 57.6% (147/255) FHV‐1, 42.7% (109/255) FCV, 26.7% (68/255) CHL, and 5.5% (14/255) BORD. Monoinfections affected 21.1% (54/255) animals, with MYC being the most common monoinfection (12.5%, 32/255), followed by FHV‐1 (4.7%, 12/255), followed by CHL (2.4%, 6/255), followed by FCV (1.6%, 4/255), with no animals having a BORD monoinfection. Dual infections affected 36.4% of animals (93/255), with MYC detected in 30.1% (77/255) dual infections and FCV detected in 12.9% (33/255) dual infections. Dual infections with MYC and FCV together were detected in 9.8% (25/255) animals. Many animals (35.3%, 90/255) were found to be affected by 3 or more pathogens, and 7.1% (18/255) animals had no pathogens detected. OSD scores were not influenced by any variable assessed, including the number and type of pathogens detected. Conclusion MYC, FHV‐1, FCV, and CHL were commonly detected in this group of animals with OSD. Both MYC and FCV (alone or in combination with each other) were detected in multiple animals with active OSD, supporting prior evidence that either may independently act as a primary ocular surface pathogen.

Objective To report risk factors associated with conjunctival graft failure in dogs at four referral specialty centers. Procedures Records of 203 dogs (229 eyes) undergoing conjunctival graft repair of ulcerative keratitis at four hospitals from 2015 to 2021 were reviewed. Success was defined as full graft integration with globe retention at the last postoperative evaluation; vision status was reported separately. Factors assessed included patient signalment, ophthalmic examination findings, surgical factors, and follow‐up information. Results Conjunctival graft failure occurred in 11% (25/229) of eyes and was significantly associated with ulcer depth, with corneal perforations having increased odds of graft failure compared with descemetoceles (odds ratio [OR] = 3.22, 95% confidence interval [CI] 1.11–9.32; p = .03) and stromal ulcers (OR = 10.89 [95% CI 1.38–86.18], p = .02). Brachycephalic dogs were significantly more likely than non‐brachycephalic dogs to experience graft failure (OR = 5.02 [95% CI 1.42–17.74], p < .01). Surgery on the opposite eye relative to surgeon handedness was significantly associated with an increased risk of graft failure (OR 4.28 [95% CI 1.53–11.94], p < .01). The use of 7‐0 and 8‐0 suture versus 9‐0 ( p = .03) and the use of a combined simple continuous and interrupted pattern ( p = .03) were significantly associated with an increased risk of graft failure. At the last follow‐up, (median 61.5 days), 87% of dogs were visual. Conclusions Corneal perforations, surgery on the opposite eye relative to surgeon handedness, suture size and pattern, and brachycephalic conformation were significantly associated with an increased risk of graft failure in this study. These characteristics can be considered when determining prognosis for ulcerative keratitis requiring surgical intervention.