Hematological indexes of dogs at dirofilariosis
Laboratory diagnostics for any animal pathology refers to special research methods and helps not only in establishing the final diagnosis, but also in expanding data on the course of primary pathology and determining secondary complications based on changes in blood parameters. For this purpose, a clinical study of the blood of dogs with varying degrees of intensity of dirofilariasis invasion was carried out. It was found that the number of erythrocytes decreased in animals of the experimental groups, depending on the intensity of invasion. Severe erythropenia was found in the group of animals with the highest degree of invasion intensity (2.04±0.50 1012/l (p<0.001). It increased with an increasing in the degree of invasion and ESR up to 40.28±12.67 mm/h (p<0.05) and 62.50±14.16 mm/h (p<0.01). Thrombocyto-penia at 199.13±55.31 109/l was found in dogs in the group with the highest degree of invasion. Oligochromemia in animals also depended on the intensity of invasion and was 94.44±12.30 g/l (p<0.05) and 52.00±12.69 g/l (p<0.001). In dogs with the highest number of dirofilaria larvae, the hematocrit was 19.75±6.34 % (p<0.01) and leukocytosis developed (20.53±8.91 109/l). By calculating the leukocyte count in dogs with the highest degree of dirofilariasis invasion, a significant increase in the number of segmented neu-trophils was found to 86.00±10.43 % (p<0.1), eosinophils up to 27.88±5.54 % (p<0.001), basophils up to 1.75±1.39 % (p<0.001), appeared in blood of sick animals young neutro-phils (0.50±1.07 %, p<0.001). The established changes in hematological parameters are associated with the development of hemolytic anemia during invasion and the presence of latent bleeding associated with the destruction of the vascular wall by dirofilariae. The relative leukocytosis, which were diagnosed in sick dogs, is associated with the presence of nematodes and the development of inflammatory processes at the sites of localization and migration of dirofilaria. It is possible that leukocytosis and a shift of the leukocyte formula to the left are associated with intoxication of the body. Key words: dogs, heartworm disease, Dirofilaria im-mitis, blood, erythrocytes, leukocytes, leukocyte formula, hemoglobin, hematocrit, erythrocyte sedimentation rate.