Relationship between degree of anemia and blood gases in cattle with theileriosis

Authors: MEHMET TEMİZ, NURİ ALTUĞ, NAZMİ YÜKSEK

Abstract: This study was conducted to determine the relationship between the degrees of anemia and blood gases in cattle with theileriosis. It included 28 cattle with theileriosis and 7 healthy animals as the control group. The cattle with theileriosis were divided into 4 groups according to their hematocrit (Hct) values: cattle with Hct of >26 were considered as nonanemic (Group 1), Hct of 20-26 as mildly anemic (Group 2), Hct of 14-19 as moderately anemic (Group 3), and Hct of 10-13 as severely anemic (Group 4). The PCO_2, HCO_3, and TCO_2 levels in the study groups were lower than those of the control group. Moreover, reductions in HCO_3 and TCO_2 concentrations were significant only in the severely anemic group. Similarly, the lowest PCO_2 levels were also detected in the severely anemic group. There were no significant differences in the SO_2 levels between the control and study groups. On the other hand, the increase was significant in the severely anemic group when compared to Groups 1 and 2. The results seemed to indicate the trend of uncompensated metabolic acidosis in theileriosis cases with severe anemia; thus, veterinary surgeons should bear this in mind when evaluating the prognosis for such cases.

Keywords: Anemia, blood gases, cattle, theileriosis

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