Features of clinical and hematological abnormalities in dogs with hemolytic anemia of unknown origin during initial treatment

Abstract

Anemia is a pathological clinical and hematological syndrome that occurs due to a decrease in the number of red blood cells, which leads to the development of hypoxia of animal organs and tissues [5]. Various pathologies of the red bone marrow, poisoning with zookoumarin derivatives, hereditary hemorrhagic diathesis (hemophilia), oncological and vector-borne diseases, as well as deficiency of vitamins, macro- and microelements can be an etiological factor in the development of anemia in dogs [4,6]. Adequate therapy requires differential diagnosis to rule out the causes of hemolytic anemia. The article presents the results of a study of dogs with signs of hemolytic anemia, which reflect the features of the clinical picture and morphological changes in the blood during the initial visit to the veterinary clinic. Hematological examination made it possible to determine severe anemia (the hematocrit index in the examined animals did not exceed 15.9%). During clinical examination and analysis of anamnestic data, in addition to specific anemia of the mucous membranes, nonspecific symptoms were revealed: lethargy and apathy, hyporexia and/or anorexia in all 100% of dogs. Microscopic examination of blood smears from sick dogs revealed spherocytes, leukemoid reaction (leukocytosis due to neutrophilia), and reticulocytosis with varying degrees of severity in 54% of cases. These changes, taking into account the absence of bone marrow pathologies, oncological, genetic, transmissible and infectious diseases in the studied group of animals, as well as a positive response to immunosuppressive therapy («Prednisolone» and «Mycophenolate» in combination with «Cyclosporine»/ «Azathioprine»/ «Cyclophosphamide»/ «Vincristine»), are more likely to indicate immuno-mediated hemolysis, which corresponds to literary sources [1,2,3,5,6].