Peer-reviewed veterinary case report
Leukopenia found in healthy Belgian Tervuren dogs
By Greenfield, C L et al.·Published in Journal of the American Veterinary Medical Association·1999·Department of Veterinary Clinical Medicine, United States·View original on PubMed →
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Original publication title: Leukopenia in six healthy Belgian Tervuren.
- Species:
- dog
Plain-English summary
A 6.5-year-old female Belgian Tervuren was found to have low white blood cell counts (leukopenia) during a routine check-up before her spay surgery. Further tests showed that this low count was also present in several other healthy Belgian Tervuren dogs, suggesting that it might be common in this breed. Despite the low white blood cell counts, all the dogs appeared healthy and showed no signs of illness. The findings indicate that while leukopenia can be concerning, it may not always indicate a health problem in Belgian Tervuren dogs.
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Abstract
A healthy 6.5-year-old sexually intact female Belgian Tervuren was found to be persistently leukopenic during preoperative evaluation for routine ovariohysterectomy. Abnormalities of the erythroid or myeloid series were not detected during bone marrow analysis. Blood samples for CBC were collected from 8 additional healthy Belgian Tervuren of both sexes and of various ages. Six of the 9 dogs were leukopenic, with WBC counts between 2.38 and 5.42 x 10(3) WBC/microl (mean +/- SD, 4.13 +/- 1.04 x 10(3) WBC/microl). Leukopenia was a persistent finding in the 3 dogs from which multiple blood samples were collected. All dogs were otherwise clinically normal. Leukopenia, as defined by a WBC count < 6.00 x 10(3) WBC/microl, may be a common finding in the Belgian Tervuren breed.
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Search related cases →Original publication on PubMed: https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/10530325/