Peer-reviewed veterinary case report
Dog in Turkey with weight loss and Hepatozoon canis infection
By Voyvoda, H et al.·Published in The Journal of small animal practice·2004·Department of Internal Medicine·View original on PubMed →
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Original publication title: Clinical Hepatozoon canis infection in a dog in Turkey.
- Species:
- dog
Plain-English summary
A 5-year-old female dog in Turkey was brought to the vet after losing weight and not wanting to eat for four weeks. She showed signs of weakness, trouble walking, skin changes, and had a fever. Blood tests revealed anemia and other abnormalities, leading to the diagnosis of a Hepatozoon canis infection, which is caused by a parasite. The vet treated her with a combination of medications, including toltrazuril and trimethoprim-sulfamethoxazole, which successfully improved her symptoms and cleared the infection from her blood.
People also search for: dog weight loss and not eating · Hepatozoon canis treatment · dog skin problems and weakness
Abstract
A five-year-old female dog was presented with a four-week history of inappetence, weight loss, and skin and gait abnormalities. Physical examination revealed weakness, depression, incoordination of the posterior limbs, emaciation, skin and hair coat alterations, peripheral lymphadenopathy, pale mucous membranes and fever. Laboratory analysis of samples revealed abnormalities which included anaemia, neutrophilic leucocytosis, thrombocytopenia, low serum glucose and albumin concentrations, and increased serum alkaline phosphatase activity. The diagnosis was confirmed microscopically, by demonstrating the presence of Hepatozoon canis gametocytes within neutrophils in Giemsa-stained peripheral blood smears. Treatment consisting of toltrazuril and a trimethoprim-sulfamethoxazole combination was effective in relieving the clinical signs and clearing the blood of H. canis gametocytes. To the authors' knowledge, this is the first detailed clinical description of H. canis infection in a dog in Turkey.
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Search related cases →Original publication on PubMed: https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/15600273/