Epidemiological Investigation And Treatment Of Canine Hypocalcemia

Calcium is the most abundant inorganic salt in the body,99%of which is deposited in the bones and teeth,and less than 1%in the intracellular and extracellular fluid.Hypocalcemia is common in the clinical dog diseases,when the Ca²⁺decreased in the body and bone calcium salt dissolve into the blood to maintain the calcium concentration balance,when this dynamic balance is broken,there will be a series systemic diseases,which can lead to rickets in puppies,chondropathy in adult dogs,eclampsia postpartum in lactating dogs,osteoporosis and bone spurs in elder dogs,etc.Objective:To investigate the epidemiological characteristics of canine hypocalcemia and conduct clinical treatment trials to provide reference for the clinical diagnosis,treatment and prevention of this disease.Methods:A retrospective study was conducted on dogs with hypocalcemia admitted to NWAFU veterinary teaching hospital from January 2016 to August 2020.The epidemiological investigation of canine hypocalcemia cases included dog breed,sex,feeding composition,age,clinical symptoms,blood biochemical examination and imaging examination,etc.Then,the regularity of canine hypocalcemia cases would be analysised statistically.And 40 cases of canine hypocalcemia admitted in 2019 were randomly selected for the treatment trial,which were divided into the routine group and the experimental group.Two treatment regimens were adopted and the efficacy would be compared.Results:1.Epidemiological characteristics of canine hypocalcemia:From January 2016to August 2020,8918 cases of dog diseases were admitted and treated in the hospital,including 423 cases of simple primary hypocalcemia,accounting for 4.74%of the total number of dogs with diseases.A total of 236 cases of hypocalcemia with complete medical records were included in this study.（1）Breed factor:Poodles,mixed breed dogs and Pomeranians were the most frequent breeds,accounting for 29.24%,16.10%and 11.86%,respectively.（2）Gender factor:The male and female cases were 57.63%（136/236）and42.37%（100/236）,respectively,with a gender ratio of 1.36:1.（3）Diet factor:The proportion of dogs with hypocalcemia fed on human diet was high,which was 37.29%（88/236）.（4）Age factor:The highest incidence rate was 30.08%（71/236）in 7 m～2 y dogs.（5）The main clinical symptoms:The dyskinesia showed in 56.78%（134/236）.（6）The blood biochemical indexes:The blood phosphorus and alkaline phosphatase in dogs with hypocalcemia were significantly higher than those in healthy control group（P＜0.01）.（7）The imageological examination:X-ray examination of the location of bone disease showed that the highest incidence was 75%（9/12）in the vertebrae of the elderly dogs,66.67%（6/9）and 75%（3/4）in the upper or lower limb bones in the puppies and adult dogs,respectively.2.Treatment trials for canine hypocalcemia::Intravenous injection of calcium gluconate injections was given to the routine group,combined with anti-bacterial and anti-inflammatory injections,and oral joint nutrition tablet was given to the experimental group on the basis of the conventional group’s medication.The results of the two treatment regiments showed that the cure rate of the routine group was 70%（14/20）,and the average cure time was 7 d（7.42±2.17）.For the experimental group,the cure rate was 85%（17/20）,the average cure time was 5 d（4.67±1.87）.Conclusion:As a nutritional metabolic disease,hypocalcemia has certain characteristics in its epidemiology.The breeds of dogs with high incidence are poodles,mixed breed dogs and Pomeranians,with males having higher rates than females.This disease is often found in7 m～2 y dogs,and dogs fed with complex ingredients were at high risk for hypocalcemia.Calcium supplementation should be closely followed according to breed and physiological stage,and the concept of dog diet alone should be promoted to owners.Dogs with hypocalcemia have typical movement disorders,and different lesion sites can be observed in imaging examination according to the age of the dog.For example,the lesion sites on the four limb bones are common in young dogs and adult dogs on X-ray,while the vertebrae lesions are mainly found in elder dogs.The presence of early hypocalcemia may be indicated by the abnormality of alkaline phosphatase and blood phosphorus in biochemical examination.In the trial of treatment plan,the routine treatment plan was optimized,intravenous injection of calcium gluconate combined with oral joint nutrition supplement for targeted treatment of dogs with hypocalcemia.The results indicated that the cure rate was improved and the average cure time was shortened.