Retrospective study of clinical and hematological aspects associated with dogs naturally infected by Hepatozoon canis in Ludhiana, Punjab, India

ABSTRACT

To evaluate clinical and hematological aspects of dogs naturally infected withHepatozoon canis (H. canis) presented at the Small Animal Clinics of Guru Angad Dev Veterinary and Animal Sciences University, Ludhiana. Methods: Blood films of 34 naturally infected dogs were examined for haematological alterations and parasitaemia. Signalment and clinical signs were recorded from the animals. Clinical histories were filled out during the consultation. Results: Of the 34 positive dogs by Giemsa stained peripheral blood films, 88.23% presented parasitaemia by H. canis only, while 11.77% had the combination ofH. canis, Babesia sp. and Ehrlichia sp. Young male dogs less than one-year-old, of non-descript breed, were the most commonly affected. And 26.47% were presented with anorexia/inappetence as the only clinical symptom. Other clinical symptoms were mild to moderate fever, pale mucosae and lethargy; a few were also showing the signs of vomiting and diarrhoea. Haematological alterations showed mainly normochromic-normocytic anaemia, leukocytosis and neutrophilia. Conclusions: The findings of this study substantiate that H. canis caused clinical and haematological alterations of the varied intensity in dogs, even with low parasitaemia, should be taken into consideration.