Hematology and Blood Chemistry Profile of Dog Infected Chronically by Babesia sp. and Haemobartonella sp. Combination

Abstract

The objective of this experiment was to study the hematology and blood chemistry profiles of dog infected chronically by Babesia sp. and Haemobartonella sp. combination. Twenty eight dogs 2-8 years of age positively infected the combination of Babesia sp. and Haemobartonella sp. were devided into five groups depending on breeds, i.e. BM/Belgian Malinois (n= 4), GR/Golden Retriever (n=3), LR/Labrador Retriever (n=6), GS/German Shepherd (n=6, and RW/Rotweiller (n=9). Physical examination were done to obtain clinical findings. Blood samples were collected from cephalica antibrachii vein to determine the degree of infection, routine hematology (erythrocyte count, hemoglobin concentration, hematocrit, leukocyte count, neutrophyl, eosinophyl, basophyl, limphocyte, monocyte, and thrombocyte count) and clinical chemistry (ALT and AST activity, bilirubin count, conjugated bilirubin, unconjugated bilirubin, protein count, ureum, creatinine, sodium, potassium, pH, pCO2, HCO3, pO2 and sO2). Results of this study indicated that the degree of infection of Babesia sp. dan Haemobartonella sp. were < 1 % at all breed of dogs. Clinical findings were various including pale mucous membrane, hiperemic conjunctiva and sclera, arythmia, bradycardy, tachycardy, splenomegaly, bloody diarrhea, and ticks infestation. The erythrocyte count, hemoglobin concentration, hematocrit, and thrombocyte counts tend to be lower than normal range at all groups. The other findings such as total bilirubin, conjugated bilirubin, ureum, and total protein tend to be higher than normal range, while oxygen tension (pO2) and oxygen saturation (sO2) tend to be lower than normal range at all breed of dogs..