Treatment of feline lower urinary tract disease (FLUTD) possesses great concern in small animal clinics. Sambong (Blumea balsamifera) is an ayurvedic herb composed of numerous phytochemical components that have previously evidenced biological actions mainly diuretic, anti-lithic and anti-inflammatory. This study investigated the effect of Sambong (Blumea balsamifera) leaves extract on cystitis and amorphous urates in non-obstructive cases of FLUTD. Ten tomcats were admitted to the internal medicine teaching hospital at Cairo University on 9th. October 2020. The cats were suffering from dysuria, pollakiuria, stranguria and dribbling of urine. Clinical examination revealed a painful urinary bladder with evidence of partial urine retention and suspected acute cystitis, which was confirmed in eight cases via ultrasonography, while two cases revealed abundant crystalluria with normal echogenicity and thickness of the bladder wall. Urine samples were collected via catheterization for urinalysis which showed amorphous urates (+++) with acidic pH (5.41±0.10). After clinical stabilization, cats were subjected to medical boarding for 14 days and classified randomly according to treatment into two equal groups (5 cats each; 4 of them were confirmed cystitis via ultrasonography). The first group (G1) administered urinary alkalinizing solution No. 1 (UAS-1) which was composed of Sodium bicarbonate (1.2%), Potassium citrate (0.83%), Piperazine citrate (1.5%) and Omega-3 (3%). The second group (G2) administered the urinary alkalinizing solution No. 2 (UAS-2) which was typically UAS-1 in addition to an extract of Sambong leaves (1%). Both UAS-1 and UAS-2 were administered orally twice daily at a dosage rate of 1 ml/kg bodyweight for 14 days. Ultrasonography and urinalysis were repeated after 14 days to monitor the efficacy of treatment. Urine pH significantly increased in G1 (7.32 ± 0.09), and G2 (7.20 ± 0.06). Amorphous urates totally disappeared from the urine of G2, while 2 cases in G1 showed urates (+). Ultrasonography of the four cases with cystitis in G2 showed normal thickness and echogenicity of the wall of urinary bladder with minute crystals. Only one case in G1 returned to normal, however, the other 3 cases still suffered from mild to moderate cystitis due to thickening in bladder wall and abundant precipitate. A 14-day oral regimen of 1% Sambong leaves extract has a promising positive effect on treatment of cystitis and amorphous urates accompanied with FLUTD. Inclusion of 1% Sambong leaves should be applied for treatment of cystitis and amorphous urates involved in non-obstructive cases of FLUTD. However, these findings are preliminary and limited by the available number of clinical cases. So, further studies are recommended on numerous clinical cases of FLUTD and urolithiasis in other animal species. Additional research is also indicated to evaluate the therapeutic effect of different parts of the plant extract, dosages and drug combinations.
 

The study aimed to assess how replacing part of soybean meal protein with defatted Black Soldier Fly larvae (DBSFL) meal protein influences growth performance, leukocyte counts, biochemical parameters, immune response, and antioxidant levels in growing Muscovy ducks. A total of 100 one-week-old ducklings were randomly assigned to five groups, with four replicates of five ducklings each. The control group was fed the basal diet, while the experimental groups received diets in which soybean meal protein was partially replaced with DBSFL meal protein. The DBSFL meal levels used were 0%, 3.48%, 6.90%, 10.46%, and 13.95% of the total diet. The experiment lasted for 56 days. Growth performance was recorded weekly, and at the end of the experiment, three birds were randomly selected from each group, and blood samples were collected after slaughter. Serum was separated for biochemical parameters …