Table 3 Association of Brachyspira isolation rates with the dogs’ signalment, demographic variables, medical and diet history, and current health status
Variable | Brachyspira isolated | Brachyspira not isolated | Punivariate | Pmultivariate |
|---|---|---|---|---|
Patient characteristics | ||||
Age < 1 year | 8/26 (31%) | 26/206 (13%) | 0.0247 | 0.0140 |
Male gender | 9/23 (39%) | 110/205 (54%) | 0.1852 | |
Neutered/spayed | 10/26 (39%) | 62/200 (31%) | 0.4488 | |
Mixed breed | 18/26 (69%) | 61/201 (30%) | 0.0001 | 0.3283 |
Body weight | ||||
< 10 kg | 3/8 (37%) | 44/174 (25%) | 0.6325 | |
10–25 kg | 4/8 (50%) | 88/174 (51%) | ||
> 25 kg | 1/8 (13%) | 42/174 (24%) | ||
BCS < 5 (scale of 9) | 1/2 (50%) | 15/57 (26%) | 0.4845 | |
Environmental & lifestyle factors | ||||
Shelter origin | 17/26 (65%) | 43/209 (21%) | < 0.0001 | < 0.0001 |
Hunting dog | 2/26 (8%) | 84/206 (41%) | 0.0003 | 0.0531 |
Kennel dog | 17/26 (65%) | 77/202 (38%) | 0.0083 | 0.0706 |
Leashed walks | 15/24 (63%) | 155/197 (79%) | 0.0909 | |
Travel/stay abroad | 10/19 (53%) | 68/192 (35%) | 0.1452 | |
Medical and diet history | ||||
Prior antibiotics | 9/24 (38%) | 60/198 (30%) | 0.4783 | |
Pre-or probiotics | 1/20 (5%) | 18/171 (11%) | 0.3963 | |
Vaccination | 24/26 (92%) | 186/204 (91%) | 0.9847 | |
Deworming | 25/26 (96%) | 168/200 (84%) | 0.0589 | |
Anti-inflammatories | 4/18 (22%) | 45/175 (26%) | 0.7426 | |
NSAID | 2/18 (11%) | 27/175 (15%) | 0.6129 | |
Steroid | 2/18 (11%) | 8/175 (5%) | 0.2893 | |
Raw feeding (BARF diet) | 1/21 (5%) | 10/175 (6%) | 0.8546 | |
Recent diet change | 4/14 (29%) | 43/156 (28%) | 0.9359 | |
Kibble diet | 19/21 (91%) | 150/167 (90%) | 0.9246 | |
Wet/canned diet | 11/21 (52%) | 79/167 (47%) | 0.6609 | |
Commercial diet | 22/23 (96%) | 174/184 (95%) | 0.8219 | |
Home-made diet | 2/23 (9%) | 44/184 (24%) | 0.0701 | |
Dietary supplements | 4/23 (17%) | 25/184 (14%) | 0.6295 | |
Co-infection with Giardia and/or Cryptosporidium | 0/2 (0%) | 7/19 (37%) | 0.1890 | |
Clinical signs of gastrointestinal disease | ||||
Known or suspected chronic enteropathy | 4/25 (16%) | 33/187 (18%) | 0.8370 | |
Defecation frequency* | 1 (0–2) | 1 (0–3) | 0.7564 | |
Fecal consistency AHDi* | 0.5 (0–2.5) | 0 (0–3) | 0.8041 | |
Waltham feces score | 3.5 (1.5–4) | 4 (1–4.5) | 0.7874 | |
Hematochezia/melena | 0/26 (0%) | 11/190 (6%) | 0.0885 | |
Mucus | 2/26 (8%) | 19/188 (10%) | 0.6893 | |
Undigested material | 0/26 (0%) | 9/185 (5%) | 0.1196 | |
Flatulence | 1/13 (8%) | 32/163 (20%) | 0.2431 | |
Abdominal pain | 3/14 (21%) | 13/166 (8%) | 0.1328 | |
Weight loss | 2/25 (8%) | 16/183 (9%) | 0.9003 | |
Vomiting | 3/25 (12%) | 15/172 (9%) | 0.6516 | |
Vomiting score* | 0 (0–1) | 0 (0–1) | 0.6518 | |
Clinical severity score* | 1.5 (0–4.5) | 1 (0–7) | 0.5415 | |
At least one GI sign‡ | 15/25 (60%) | 105/195 (54%) | 0.5592 | |