Evaluation de la santé digestive du chiot en élevage : facteurs de risque des diarrhées

Digestive health of puppies leaving in breeding kennel : risk factors of weaning diarrhea

• Auteur / Autrice : Aurélien Grellet
• Direction : Philippe Cardot, Dominique Grandjean
• Type : Thèse de doctorat
• Discipline(s) : Physiologie et physiopathologie
• Date : Soutenance en 2012
• Etablissement(s) : Paris 6 en cotutelle avec Ecole Nationale Vétérinaire d'Alfort
• Partenaire(s) de recherche : Autre partenaire : École nationale vétérinaire d'Alfort (1765-....)

Mots clés

Mots clés contrôlés

Nourrissons -- Sevrage

Diarrhée

Alimentation

Chiots

Résumé

Les troubles digestifs sont un problème majeur chez les chiots en périsevrage. Les objectifs de ce doctorat furent de (1) mettre en place des systèmes d’évaluation objectifs de la santé digestive chez le chiot, (2) d’étudier les facteurs de risque, infectieux ou environnementaux, sur les diarrhées de sevrage, (3) d’étudier l’impact de pathogènes émergents sur la santé digestive du chiot. Des chiots entre 4 et 14 semaines provenant d’élevages canins Français furent inclus. Une échelle de score fécal fut développée et un score fécal anormal fut déterminé en fonction de l’âge et du poids attendu de l’animal à l’âge adulte. Parallèlement l’intérêt de la calprotectine comme marqueur de la santé digestive fut investigué. La taille et l’âge des chiots, influencent la qualité des selles. Le parvovirus canin de type 2 serait l’agent infectieux ayant la plus forte influence sur la qualité des selles. D’autres entéropathogènes, comme l’astrovirus, et Pentatrichomonas hominis ont été mis en évidence chez le chiot.

In adult dogs, feces quality can be influenced by own characteristics of the animal (breed size and age), diet (change without transition, type and quality of food), lifestyle and environment (stress), and digestive pathogens (bacteria, viruses, parasites). In puppies, weaning diarrhea is a main problem. Different infectious or environmental factors could have an impact on digestive health. However studies are rare and did use a global approach to determine the different risk factors which could influence feces quality. The aim of this work was, first of all, to develop some objective methods in order to evaluate digestive health in puppy. In a second part risk factors of weaning diarrhea in puppies were studied. Prevalence and risk factors of astrovirus infection was considered in the last part. Puppies between 4 and 14 weeks of age from French breeding kennels were included in the different studies. A fecal scale was developed and a pathologic fecal score defined taking into account age and breed size of puppies. Interest of calprotectin as a marker of intestinal inflammation was evaluated in adult dogs with chronic diarrhea and use in puppies infected or not by different parasites. Prevalence of astrovirus was evaluated in puppies living in French breeding kennels. Two physiologic factors (age and breed size) have an impact on feces quality. Canine parvovirus type 2 is a main pathogen impacting feces quality. A higher fecal calprotectin concentration was observed in dogs with chronic diarrhea. Giardia sp could have an impact on fecal calprotectin in puppies. Young dogs can be infected by enteropathogens which are not frequently considered as astrovirus. This work proposes new tools in order to evaluate digestive health in puppy (fecal score, fecal calprotectine). Influence of enteropathogens (viruses and parasites) and physiologic factors (age and breed size) on feces quality was underlined.