VN June 2020

Vetnews | June 2020 39 New research published in the Journal of Veterinary Internal Medicine has concluded that supplementing diet withmedium-chain triglyceride (MCT) oil has the potential to reduce the number of seizures and improve the quality of life for dogs with refractory epilepsy. The research, which was conducted by a team at the Royal Veterinary College led by Professor Holger Volk and Dr Benjamin Andreas Berk alongside canine behaviour and welfare scientist Dr Rowena Packer, tested the effects of an MCT oil supplement on seizure frequency in dogs with drug- resistant epilepsy. For the double-blinded study, 28 epileptic dogs receivedMCT oil for threemonths and a placebo oil for threemonths. The researchers say that overall, dogs had significantly fewer seizures during the MCT phase compared the placebo phase, and an improved owner- reported quality of life. New therapies are urgently needed to improve the quality of life of affected dogs and their owners and the results of this study offer a promising addition to other methods commonly used to treat canine epilepsy. Dr Rowena Packer, BBSRC Research Fellow at the RoyalVeterinary College, said:“Epilepsy is oftena challenginganddistressing condition for dog owners to manage, particularly when dogs don’t respond to anti-seizure medications in the way their owner and vet might have expected or hoped. Historically, diet has not been considered a key part of epilepsy management, but along with other recent findings, these results indicate that nutrition likely plays an important role in seizure control. "Our novel findings indicate that a relatively small change to the diet of dogs’ with hard- to-treat epilepsy can potentially reduce the number of seizures they have, while also improving their medication side effects and overall quality of life. MCT oil offers a promising addition to the wider epilepsy management tool-kit." The full paper is open access and can be found at https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/ full/10.1111/jvim.15756 (Source: www.vetsurgeon.org) v First complete German shepherd DNA offers new tool to fight disease Bits and Bobs I Stukkies en Brokkies Scientists have mapped the genome of the German shepherd, one of the world's most popular canine breeds, after using a blood sample from 'Nala,' a healthy five-year-old German shepherd living in Sydney. In a paper published recently in the 'big data' journal GigaScience , a global team of researchers from institutions including UNSW Sydney detailed the mammoth task of unravelling the 38 pairs of dog chromosomes to decode the 19,000 genes and 2.8 billion base pairs of DNA, using advanced genetic sequencing technology. The new genome not only provides science with a more complete biological snapshot of the dog species ( Canis lupus familiaris ) in general, but also offers a reference for future studies of the typical diseases that afflict this much-loved breed. UNSW Science's Professor Bill Ballard, an evolutionary biologist who sequenced the genome of the Australian dingo in 2017, says German shepherds are popular choices in the home and the workplace because of their natural intelligence, balanced temperament and protective nature. But after more than a century of breeding for desired physical characteristics, they are particularly vulnerable to genetic diseases. "One of the most common health problems affecting German shepherds is canine hip dysplasia, says Professor Ballard. “Because German shepherds make such good working dogs, there has been a lot of money spent looking into the causes and predictors of this problem. When working dogs end up getting hip dysplasia, then that's a lot of lost time and money that has gone into the training of that dog. Now that we have the genome, we can determine much earlier in life whether the dog is likely to develop the condition. And over time, it will enable us to develop a breeding program to reduce hip dysplasia in future generations." Nala, who was described in the paper as "an easy going and approachable 5.5 year old," was selected because she was free of all known genetic diseases, including no sign of hip dysplasia. Now we'll be able to look at hip x-rays and all the DNA of affected dogs and compare them back to this healthy reference female," Professor Ballard says. (Source: www.sciencedaily.com ) v New research shows potential for MCT oil in treatment of canine epilepsy