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

Objective:To evaluate clinical and hematological aspects of dogs naturally infected with Hepatozoon 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 oul during the consultation.Results:Of the 34 positive dogs by Giemsa stained peripheral blood films.88.23%presented parasilaemia by H.canis only,while 11.77%had the combination of H.canis,Babesia sp.and Ehrlichia sp.Young male dogs less than oue-year-old,of nondescript 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 parasilaemia.should he taken into consideration.