I. Bartonella Incidence in Splenectomized Bile Fistula Dogs

Abstract

This paper deals with the factors responsible for the pigmentary disturbances previously described (8) in the splenectomized bile fistula dog. In the absence of demonstrable infection in such animals it had been assumed that the periods of bile pigment surplus and anemia were of physiological origin related to a lack of spleen and bile constituents. The observations given below point to "Bartonella canis" as the probable cause. The bile fistula dog alone shows no such changes, and the splenectomized dogs in our kennels have not spontaneously developed an anemia. Dogs having a combination of splenectomy and a bile fistula, sooner or later develop the picture of anemia and pigment excess described below. This condition was first described by Hooper and Whipple (2), working with open bile fistula dogs subsequently splenectomized. These dogs always showed moderate infection of the bile fistula tract. The use of the closed sterile bile fistula (10) and the gall bladder-renal fistula (3) did away with bacterial infection of the biliary tree, yet such dogs when splenectomized showed the same periods of anemia and excess pigment ' output.

Haemobartonellosis in a dog

“…Infections with H. canis may be either asymptomatic (Oduye and Dipeolu 1976), or associated with haemolytic anaemia. The development of anaemia is most often recorded in splenectomised dogs (Knutti and Hawkins 1935;Carr and Essex 1944;Benjamin and Lumb 1959;Brodey and Schalm 1963;Martin 1963;Wright 1971, MacWilliams andFurneaux 1973;Pryor and Bradbury 1975;Bundza et a1 1976), dogs with splenic disease (Schalm and Theilen 1974)…”

Hemotrophic mycoplasmas (hemoplasmas): a review and new insights into pathogenic potential

“…More than a decade later, Flint and Moss 39 recognized H felis as the cause of feline infectious anemia, a contagious disease of cats. A report by Benjamin and Lumb 18 in 1959 described a similar disease in dogs; however, in the United States, sporadic cases of hemobartonellosis in dogs were recognized as early as 1935 40,41 …”

Bartonella Bodies in the Blood of a Non-Splenectomized Dog

“…Potatoes and bran were substituted for soy bean in the diet on Dec. 28. The red cell hematocrit had been maintained at 45-50 per cent throughout the first 4 weeks of plasmapheresis but at the close of the 5th week (Jan. 4,1935) it had dropped to 41.3 per cent in spite of replacement of red cells ordinarily adequate to maintain the normal level. The next day the plasma showed rather marked hemolysis and the animal vomited bloody mucus.…”