What was popular in JSAP this year? – 2025 Round Up
15 December 2025
As the end of the year approaches, we round up the most downloaded papers published this year in the Journal of Small Animal Practice (JSAP).
Don’t forget that BSAVA members can access JSAP for free, as part of their member benefits. To access JSAP, log in to your BSAVA library account here and then scroll down to ‘read latest issues’.
The risk of cranial cruciate ligament disease (CrCLD) is nonlinearly associated with age at gonadectomy and with cumulative gonadal hormone exposure in both female and male dogs, this study showed. The prevalence of CrCLD was 2.49% in female and 1.89% in male dogs. The risk of CrCLD was greatest before 1054 days and 805 days old for females and males, respectively, with the least gonadal hormone exposure. These findings may lay the groundwork for a truly empirical definition of early gonadectomy, in the context of CrCLD risk.
This largest case series of Menrath ulcers to date reports the clinical presentation, treatment, and outcomes of four cats diagnosed with Menrath ulcers causing significant oral haemorrhage. All four cases had similar clinical signs, with oral haemorrhage, ulceration of the rostral hard palate, flea burden, pruritus, and a moderate-to-severe regenerative anaemia. All patients survived to discharge; two had recurrence of oral haemorrhage from the original ulcer despite ligation of the ipsilateral major palatine artery, of which one required revision surgery of the ipsilateral major palatine artery, and one patient developed an acquired palatal defect post-operatively. Vets and clients should be aware of these possibilities.
Bilateral zygomatic sialadenitis is frequently associated with systemic disease, which may play a role in the pathogenesis of the condition in dogs, this study found. MRI features characteristic of BZS were bilaterally enlarged glands, hyperintense on T1 and T2-weighted images, and symmetrically enlarged with marked and heterogeneous contrast enhancement, and on CT images, the zygomatic glands were all hyperattenuating and contrast enhancing. Clinical signs generally improve with systemic antimicrobial and anti-inflammatory treatments, as well as supportive treatment for the concurrent disease when present. The study highlights the importance of associating the imaging, cytological and histopathological results with clinical examination findings.
There is currently insufficient evidence to confidently evaluate the efficacy of biotics in the treatment or prevention of gastroenteropathies, this systematic review concludes. Probiotics significantly reduce the Bacillota/Actinomycetota ratio, with low certainty evidence, in healthy adult cats. Some probiotics improved the inflammatory profile in young cats and kittens, and increased butyric acid concentration in healthy cats. Synbiotics presented no clinically relevant effect in reducing antibiotics-associated vomiting, with very low certainty. The review findings highlight the need for further research, especially on at-risk groups and sick cats, before advocating biotic supplementation.
A lower haematocrit was the only variable associated with a worse prognosis in dogs diagnosed with immune thrombocytopenia (ITP), this retrospective study found. Consistent with previous findings, long-term survival was fair (51% of dogs were alive at 2 years after diagnosis), and dogs surviving over 30 days had an excellent prognosis (a median long-term survival time of 10 years). Dogs with confirmed secondary ITP had an overall shorter median survival time. Neutrophilia was associated with a decreased risk of dying, and band neutrophilia with shorter hospitalisation.
This paper describes current knowledge on the incidence of a variety of non-neoplastic and neoplastic conditions in gonadectomised dogs, and reviews information on whether or not – and at what age – to perform gonadectomy. Recent evidence shows that a variety of non-neoplastic and neoplastic conditions occur more commonly in spayed/neutered than entire dogs, and for several of these conditions, the earlier the age at surgery, the higher the risk. However, the evidence is often conflicting, and it varies depending on the breed, sex and condition. The available data does not support a decision to stop spaying and neutering for all breeds of dogs, and definitive conclusions are hard to reach. As a consequence, advising clients on when – and whether – to have their dogs gonadectomised is becoming a challenge.
Hypoadrenocorticism carries an excellent prognosis, with a median survival time after diagnosis of 5.6 years and a median lifespan of 11 years for dogs with spontaneous hypoadrenocorticism, according to this paper. Dogs with spontaneous hyponatraemic and/or hyperkalaemic hypoadrenocorticism (HHH) were significantly younger at the time of diagnosis compared to dogs with spontaneous eunatraemic eukalaemic hypoadrenocorticism (EEH). Desoxycorticosterone pivalate was the most frequently used mineralocorticoid therapy. Dogs with HHH, EEH and iatrogenic hypoadrenocorticism can live a normal lifespan with appropriate therapy, although side effects, such as polyuria, polydipsia, and polyphagia, can occur.
Peritumoral injection of methylene blue dye allowed for the detection of at least one sentinel lymph node (SLN) in 88% of dogs with cutaneous, subcutaneous or mucosal low-grade mast cell tumours (MCTs), in this study. In this cohort of dogs, all unstained lymph nodes (LNs) were non-metastatic (HN0/HN1) upon histologic examination, and among stained LNs, 15 were metastatic (HN2/HN3) and 14 were non-metastatic (HN0/HN1). There were no complications related to the methylene blue injection recorded. The study concludes that methylene blue injection is a cost-effective alternative technique for detecting SNL for dogs with MCTs, with strong correlation with histologic findings in both stained and unstained LNs, making it a good option, particularly in economically constrained settings.
This retrospective cohort study suggests that veterinarians are using metronidazole largely for its non-antimicrobial properties and frequently in contradiction to antimicrobial use guidelines. In 42% of cases, veterinarians selected metronidazole exclusively for non-antimicrobial targeted therapy, primarily for putative anti-inflammatory and immunomodulatory effects. Metronidazole was most commonly prescribed to treat acute diarrhoea (47%), chronic diarrhoea (24%), or giardiasis (11%). This study also found that 19% of veterinarians selected metronidazole based on a prior positive outcome, either in a similar case or the same patient. These findings highlight that future antimicrobial stewardship programs should adapt guidance specifically to address this prescribing behaviour.
This study is the first of its kind to compare vapocoolant spray and eutectic lidocaine/prilocaine (EMLA) cream, finding no significant difference between the two for improving tolerance of intravenous catheter placement in dogs and cats. Vapocoolant spray was less effective than EMLA in reducing adverse reactions to skin puncture during catheterisation in cats, suggesting that EMLA may be preferable for feline patients. In this context, the use of vapocoolant spray provides a similar degree of relief as EMLA, but with the added advantage of being instantaneous, instead of needing to wait the recommended 60 minutes for EMLA.