Peer-reviewed veterinary case report
Clinical signs and blood changes in dogs with Babesia canis
By Turna, Hana et al.·Published in Acta parasitologica·2022·Small Animal Clinic·View original on PubMed →
PetCaseFinder translated the abstract of this peer-reviewed paper into plain English so pet owners can read it. We do not publish original research — every detail traces back to the citation above. How we work →
Original publication title: Clinical and Hematologic Findings in Babesia canis Infection in Eastern Slovakia.
- Species:
- dog
Plain-English summary
A group of 45 dogs in eastern Slovakia showed signs of Babesia canis infection, which is spread by ticks. The dogs exhibited symptoms like extreme tiredness, fever, loss of appetite, dark urine, and jaundice. Blood tests revealed that all the infected dogs had low platelet counts, and many also had low white blood cell and red blood cell counts. Fortunately, most dogs received treatment, and while there was a small mortality rate, many were diagnosed through blood tests, which helped guide effective treatment.
People also search for: dog lethargy fever dark urine treatment · Babesia canis symptoms in dogs · tick-borne disease in dogs
Abstract
PURPOSE: Babesia canis infection occurs in many locations throughout Europe. However, various studies report different clinicopathological findings in affected dogs. This study was focused on changes in clinical and hematologic parameters in dogs with B. canis infection from eastern Slovakia. METHODS: The study was prospective and included 45 dogs with suspected babesiosis. Babesia canis infection was confirmed by PCR in 34 cases and by blood smear microscopy in 24 (70.6%) of them. Hematology results, clinical examination from these dogs, and possible co-infection with other tick-borne pathogens by PCR were subsequently evaluated. RESULTS: The major clinical signs found included lethargy (91%), fever (59%), anorexia (59%), pigmenturia (47%) and icterus (18%). Mortality rate was 6%. Thrombocytopenia was the most common hematologic change, observed in 100% of the dogs with B. canis infection. Other frequent findings were lymphopenia (82%) and anemia (68%). No co-infections were detected. Anaplasma phagocytophilum infection was diagnosed by PCR only in one dog, which was not infected with B. canis. CONCLUSIONS: This study showed that B. canis infection in eastern Slovakia should be diagnosed by PCR when there is clinical suspicion of the disease, as almost 30% of the infected sick dogs did not have demonstrable parasites in their blood smear by microscopy. Lymphopenia is a frequent hematologic finding in B. canis infection and observed even more often than anemia. However, in agreement with previous studies, thrombocytopenia remains the most common hematologic finding associated with B. canis infection.
Find similar cases for your pet
PetCaseFinder finds other peer-reviewed reports of pets with the same symptoms, plus a plain-English summary of what was tried across them.
Search related cases →Original publication on PubMed: https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/35831668/