A total 61 cases of dogs in District Kangra of Himachal Pradesh were surveyed and analyzed for conditions leading to poor or lost appetite during the months of August 2009 to November 2009. The dogs were of different ages belonging to different breeds and many were non-descript. The common feature observed was loss of appetite with and without rise in temperature. Since a loss of appetite was the main reason for which they were brought to clinics, therefore they were mainly examined for liver damage manifested by changes in the activities of alanine amino transferase (ALT) and aspartate amino transferase (AST). The estimation of total serum protein, hematological tests (Hb, PCV, TEC, TLC, ESR) and general body condition assessment were also done. It was seen that only 24% cases of inappetence were due to liver damage as indicated by abnormal rise in ALT. In about 19% cases of in-appetance, there was an increase in AST which is not so specific for liver diseases. About 12% inappetence cases showed hypo-proteinemia mainly due to malnutrition and rarely due to kidney diseases. In-appetence in 3% rare cases had hyper-proteinemia. In about 16% cases inappetence was due to vomiting which was with and without liver damage.
anorexia, liver abnormality, ALT, AST, total protein
