RESEARCH COMMUNICATIONS OF THE 28th ECVIM-CA CONGRESS

In this retrospective study, we enrolled 60 dogs diagnosed with B. gibsoni infection confirmed by PCR at the National Taiwan University Veterinary Teaching Hospital between January 2014 and December 2015. The average age of 60 dogs was 6.36 ± 3.78 (95% CI, 5.39‐7.34) years old. The 60 dogs included 35 males (58.3%) and 25 females (41.7%). Seventeen different breeds were included and the most observed species was mongrel (25.8%), followed by Maltese (16.1%), Miniature poodles (12.9%), Miniature schnauzer (8.1%), and Beagle (8.1%). None of the dogs were associated with dog fighting. The most common clinical signs observed in dogs were inappetence, apathy, pale mucous membranes, discoloration of urine, splenomegaly and hyperthermia. The predominant hematological abnormality was anemia (49 out of 60 dogs) (81.7%). The severity of anemia ranged from 18.3 % (11 of 60 dogs), 11.7 % (7/60), 30 % (18/60), 21.7 % (13/60) and 18.3 % (11/60) corresponding to the category of non‐anemia (HCT >37), mild (30 ≤ HCT <37), moderate (20 ≤ HCT <30), severe (13 ≤ HCT <20), and very severe (HCT <13), respectively. Seventy percent of the dogs (42/60) carried an HCT of less then 30, whereas 40% (24/60) of the dogs had a life‐threatening HCT below 20. Regenerative anemia was observed in 66.7% (38/57), whereas non‐regenerative anemia occurred in 32.2% (11/57) of the cases, respectively. Thrombocytopenia was a further common hematological abnormality (37/60) (61.7%). The main biochemical abnormalities were hyperglobulinemia (28/53) (52.8%), hyperbilirubinemia (10/28)(35.7%) and elevated hepatic enzyme activities (7/48) (14.6%).