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Item Owner compliance with medication administration in small animal practice in New Zealand : a dissertation submitted in fulfilment off the requirements for the degree of Master of Veterinary Science in the School of Veterinary Science, Massey University, Palmerston North, New Zealand(Massey University, 2023) Odom, Thomas F.Medication compliance is a critical aspect of veterinary care for both cats and dogs. Despite its importance, research suggests that non-compliance is a common problem in veterinary medicine. Understanding the factors that influence medication compliance in cats and dogs is crucial for improving veterinary care and ultimately, the health and wellbeing of these animals. In this thesis, the various factors that impact medication compliance in these pets will be explored. Presented here are the results of a cross-sectional survey of cat and dog owners, investigating their demographic data and their opinions on medicating their pets. Chapter 2 of the thesis is a review of the current literature relating to medication compliance in small animal practice and its importance within the greater context of human medicine. Chapters 3 and 4 represent two original investigations to characterize medication compliance in cats and dogs in New Zealand. These chapters have been written in the format of manuscripts for peer review and publication. These are titled: Prescribing oral antibiotics for home administration by clients to their cats is associated with medication non-compliance and Factors associated with medication non-compliance in dogs. Chapter 5 discusses the overall findings, the implication the findings have for medication compliance within New Zealand and future research options.Item Novel collagen-based wafers as a drug delivery method for local analgesia in deer antlers : a thesis presented in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy in Veterinary Sciences at Massey University, Manawatu, New Zealand(Massey University, 2021) Sahebjam, FarzinIntroduction This study provided a practical and novel solution for post-operative pain mitigation and wound management after velvet antler removal in red deer (Cervus elaphus). Currently, there are no topical methods to mitigate pain for an extended period of time in deer following surgical removal of antlers. The current methods licensed in New Zealand provide only peri-operative analgesia with short-term effects and raise animal welfare concerns about whether animals are still in pain when the effect has worn off, especially in the deer industry in which a large number of animals are being managed. Materials and methods In vitro study: In vitro drug release test (IVDRT) was conducted using the Franz diffusion cell to assess the drug release rates of lidocaine and bupivacaine in two different phases of the pilot and main studies. The pilot in vitro study contained 9 treatment groups and 3 control groups (n=3), which were classified based on collagen extraction technique, whether modified with zinc oxide-polyvinylpyrrolidone (ZnO-PVP) nanoparticles and the difference in the order of adding local anaesthetics and ZnO-PVP nanoparticles. The main in vitro study was comprised of 4 treatment groups of 5%, 10%, and 25% ZnO-PVP nanoparticles (n=6) proportional to dry collagen weight and a control group. In both pilot and main in vitro studies, the samples were taken every 15 minutes in the first hour and every 2 hours up to 12 hours. LC-MS and HPLC were used for the quantification of the samples in the pilot and main in vitro studies, respectively. MNT validation study: Forty male deer (stags) were assigned for the MNT validation study on three alternative days. A handheld algometer (Wagner FPX50) was used for mechanical nociceptive threshold (MNT) assessment of four antler sites (cranial, medial, caudal, lateral) in both right and left antlers. Animal body weight (kg) and antler length (cm) were recorded to investigate the correlation with MNT. The MNT readings from three days were compared with each other. In addition, the MNT reading from all four antler sites and the right and left antlers were compared with each other. In vivo study: Eighteen stags sorted into three groups of 6 animals in each (2 treatment groups and 1 control group) for the pilot in vivo study, and forty yearling age stags assorted into four groups of 10 animals (three treatments and one control), were used in the main in vivo study. All animals had both antlers removed after administration of local anaesthesia. The control group in both pilot and main in vivo studies received a ring block of 4% articaine hydrochloride only, whilst the treatment groups received modified (with ZnO-PVP) or non-modified collagen composite wafers to the wound sites. The modified collagen composite wafers had 50% ZnO-PVP for the pilot in vivo study and had 0%, 5% or 25% ZnO-PVP proportional to dry collagen weight for the main in vivo study. A handheld algometer (Wagner FPX50), was used for mechanical nociceptive threshold (MNT) assessment at different time points (0, 4, 24, 72 hrs, 7 days and 14 days). Thermal imaging with a forward-looking infrared (FLIR) camera was performed for the detection of temperature differences between the groups. Digital photography of the wounds was performed for further quantitative wound healing analysis. Pharmacokinetic study: Blood samples were drawn from deer after the application of collagen composite wafers at time points t0, t1, t2, t4, t6, t8, t12, and t24 hours for the pilot study and at time points t0, t1, t2, t4, t6, t8, and t24 hours for the main in vivo study. The plasma was iv analysed with LC-MS to calculate pharmacokinetic parameters with the non-compartmental method such as Cmax, Tmax, AUC, AUMC, half-life, the volume of distribution and clearance. Statistical analysis: Higuchi model was mainly incorporated to calculate drug release rates for the in vitro studies. For in vivo studies, the statistical analyses were performed with a linear model for repeated measurements that accounted for the fixed effects of day, antler, location within antler or antler sites, antler length and weight of deer as covariates, and the random effect of animals. Results IVDRT did not show any statistically significant difference between the treatment groups; however, the treatment groups had significantly slower release compared to the control group in the pilot in vitro study. IVDRT in the main in vitro study showed the slowest release rate in the treatment group with 25% ZnO-PVP compared to the other groups for both lidocaine and bupivacaine. The control group had the most rapid drug release rates compared to the treatment groups, particularly for lidocaine. Furthermore, lidocaine showed a considerably slower release compared to bupivacaine when zinc oxide nanoparticles were incorporated, and the results significantly differed. MNT validation results showed that antler length (cm) and animal body weight (kg) are directly and positively correlated with the baseline MNT readings. The MNT readings from four sites of antlers, including cranial, medial, caudal and lateral aspects, did not have any significant difference from each other. In addition, the MNT readings from the right and left antlers did not show any significant difference from each other. In vivo results in the pilot study showed a lack of collagen composite wafer adherence for the non-modified wafers (PT2) and 50% adherence for the modified wafers (PT1) in the pilot study. As a result of the main in vivo study, 90%, 70%, and 45% were in group 25%NP (T1), 5%NP (T2), and 0%NP (T3) to the wounds, respectively. A significant difference was observed in the recovery rates of PT1 compared to the control group (P<0.0001) for the pilot study. For the main in vivo study, all three treatment groups also showed a significant difference compared to each other: T1 vs. T2 (P<0.01), T1 vs. T3 (P<0.05), and T2 vs. T3 (P<0.0001). In addition, the treatment groups showed a significantly slower recovery rate from analgesia compared to the control group (P<0.0001 for all). All the treatment groups in the main study demonstrated analgesia beyond 6 hrs and up to 10 hrs. The pharmacokinetics study showed significantly smaller Cmax for T1 and T2 compared to T3 only for bupivacaine. Tmax showed significantly smaller values for T1 compared to T2 for only bupivacaine. Both AUC (0-24), AUC (0-∞), and AUMC (0-∞) showed smaller values for T1 and T2 compared to T3. Conclusion The physically modified collagen composite wafer with zinc oxide-PVP nanoparticles, containing a short-acting (lidocaine) and a long-acting (bupivacaine) local anaesthetic, is a novel method to sustain drug delivery of local anaesthetics after the surgical removal of velvet antlers. Our suggested treatment can deliver analgesia to the wounded antler for up to 10 hours and is a safe and convenient method to use by farmers in the deer industry. Furthermore, the collagen wafer is very adhesive to the wound and can help facilitate wound healing of deer antlers.Item Accelerometry as a tool for evaluating the efficacy of treatment with a green-lipped mussel extract in dogs with joint disease : a thesis presented in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Science in Biological Sciences at Massey University, Manawatū, New Zealand(Massey University, 2019) Bolton, SamanthaAccelerometry is a useful objective measure of a dog’s daily activity, which is most commonly expressed simply as the raw activity count of a defined epoch such as a minute, hour, or day. The accelerometry data has potential as a tool to categorise a dog’s gait or estimate its speed of movement. Thus, accelerometry is a tool that can be used to monitor diseases that affect a dog’s activity, such as osteoarthritis. Osteoarthritis (OA) is the most frequently identified musculoskeletal disorder in dogs, with clinical signs including lameness, swelling, and pain. Although incurable, there are a variety of treatments that can reduce the clinical signs of OA, including green-lipped mussel (Perna canaliculus) extract (GLME), which has evidence of antiinflammatory activity. GLME can alleviate clinical signs such as swelling and pain, when given to dogs with OA. New Zealand farm dogs are highly active dogs with a high frequency of joint disease within the population. The level of management of joint disease in the population is low, thus they are a novel and potentially suitable population for trialling treatments of OA. Accelerometry is an obvious means of detecting an effect of treatment in these working dogs. Therefore, the principle aim of this thesis was to determine if New Zealand working farm dogs are a suitable study population, and if accelerometry is able to detect an effect of GLME nutraceuticals in this population of dogs with mild joint disease. In order to achieve that aim, it was decided to first determine if the chosen accelerometry system could estimate the speed, and characterise the gait of dogs. In the first trial, dogs (n=8) were exercised on a treadmill that was held at speeds that were comfortable for them to walk, trot, and run. Their gait was visually annotated using a motion capture system, and speed was determined from the treadmill. The association between the basic accelerometry output “delta-G”, and the dog’s speed and gait in 10 second intervals was tested. It was concluded that there was a delta-G threshold above which, the dogs would reliably be gaiting faster than a walk. However, the linear association between delta-G and speed was poor, and decreased with increasing speed. Thus, it was not possible to accurately predict speed using the accelerometry system. In the second trial, dogs (n=27) were treated with two dose strengths of a GLME nutraceutical and a placebo for 8 weeks each in a randomised, cross-over, double-blinded study. Linear mixed models were created to estimate the effect of treatment on delta-G, which was collected in 10 second epochs. Accelerometry was able to detect small, but significant effects in this population. In addition, it was concluded that treatment with GLME increased peak activity in working farm dogs with signs of joint disease, and increased night-time activity slightly. While joint disease is highly prevalent in NZ working farm dogs, there were significant problems and limitations that question the suitability of this population for further similar studies. Nonetheless, the research presented in this thesis suggests that farm dogs with signs of joint disease might benefit from treatment with the GLME used here, even when they are mildly affected.Item Efficacy of articaine hydrochloride for disbudding in goat kids and velvet antler removal in red deer, and novel disbudding methods for goat kids : a thesis presented in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy in Veterinary Science at Massey University, Palmerston North, New Zealand(Massey University, 2019) Venkatachalam, DinakaranPainful husbandry procedures are routinely performed in farm animals all over the world. Most of these procedures can be humanely performed under local anaesthesia. Lignocaine is the most commonly used local anaesthetic in veterinary medicine. Even though lignocaine is a cheap and effective local anaesthetic, its use in goat kids and deer has been a concern. In goat kids, lignocaine has been reported to produce toxicity following cornual nerve block. In deer, the presence of lignocaine residue in the harvested velvet antlers following ring block has been a concern as one of its metabolites, 2,6-dimethylaniline (DMA) has been classified as a possible carcinogen in humans. Articaine hydrochloride is an amide-type local anaesthetic with unique pharmacological properties such as rapid hydrolysis in plasma to an inactive metabolite and high lipid solubility. It is widely used in humans for local and regional nerve blocks in dentistry. Several studies in humans suggested that articaine hydrochloride was effective and safer than lignocaine. Given concerns on the use of lignocaine in goat kids and deer, a series of studies were conducted to evaluate the safety and efficacy of articaine hydrochloride as an alternative to lignocaine hydrochloride for disbudding in goat kids and velvet antler removal in deer. As there is a paucity of data on the toxicity of lignocaine in goat kids, the thesis has also investigated the toxicity of lignocaine hydrochloride in goat kids. In addition, novel analgesic and disbudding techniques for goat kids were evaluated. The dose-ranging studies in goat kids suggested that doses up to 8 mg kg–1 and 7 mg kg–1 of articaine hydrochloride and lignocaine hydrochloride, respectively, can be safely used for perineural injections. Pharmacokinetic studies demonstrated that articaine hydrochloride was rapidly hydrolysed and eliminated in goat kids. The elimination half-life of articaine (1.26 ± 0.34 hours) was determined to be shorter than the elimination half-lives of lignocaine (1.71 ± 0.51 hours) and lignocaine’s metabolite, monoethylglycinexylidide (3.19 ± 1.21 hours) in goat kids. The total dose of articaine (16.24 ± 1.79 mg kg–1) required to produce convulsions in goat kids was higher than that of lignocaine (12.31 ± 1.42 mg kg–1). The mean convulsive plasma concentrations of articaine and lignocaine were 9.90 ± 2.38 µg mL–1 and 13.59 ± 2.34 µg mL–1, respectively. Both pharmacokinetic and toxicity data indicate that articaine has a greater margin of safety than lignocaine in goat kids. Cornual nerve block (0.5 mL/site) using articaine hydrochloride (1.5%) and lignocaine hydrochloride (1%) alleviated the acute pain during disbudding in goat kids. However, both the drugs provided analgesia only for a short time which necessitates the use of non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs) for postoperative analgesia. In addition, the injection of these drugs at four sites to anaesthetise both the horn buds caused stress and pain in goat kids. Therefore, it is recommended to use sedatives and NSAIDs along with local anaesthetics for disbudding goat kids. However, future studies should evaluate the safety and efficacy of this protocol for disbudding in goat kids. Similar to goat kids, articaine was rapidly hydrolysed to the inactive metabolite, articainic acid, and rapidly eliminated in red deer. A ring block around the base of the antlers using 4% articaine hydrochloride (1 mL/cm pedicle circumference) provided effective analgesia for velvet antler removal in red deer. The results of the studies in red deer suggested that articaine could be a safe and effective local anaesthetic for velvet antler removal. Residue analysis of harvested antlers using liquid chromatography–mass spectrometry (LC–MS) method revealed that the concentrations of articaine and lignocaine in the harvested velvet antlers were similar. Further studies to evaluate the safety of articaine and its metabolites are warranted in target species before recommending articaine hydrochloride as an alternative to lignocaine hydrochloride for velvet antler removal. The analgesic efficacy of methoxyflurane and a novel topical local anaesthetic formulation for disbudding in goat kids were evaluated. Both methoxyflurane and the novel topical formulation provided cutaneous analgesia but did not provide sufficient analgesia for disbudding in goat kids. Further research is required to evaluate the efficacy of these novel analgesic techniques. The efficacy of mepacrine and eugenol for disbudding in goat kids were investigated following subcutaneous injection (0.2 mL) under the horn buds. Both eugenol and mepacrine produced necrosis of horn buds in goat kids but failed to stop horn bud growth. Injection of these compounds using a needle (26 G) and syringe was painful but no pain-related behaviours were seen after the injection. Future studies should evaluate different injection volumes and different non-invasive or minimally invasive administration techniques to increase the efficacy of this novel technique. Refinement of this novel technique might provide a simple, fast, safe and effective way to stop horn bud growth in goat kids.