Prevalence of diseases in the canine referred to a private practice in Baghdad in 2015-2016

Abstract

Dog ownership is an increasing aspect of veterinary practice in Iraq and it needs special attention since it lacks necessary information such as prevalence of various diseases and other basic information in this regard. In this study 258 dogs referred to a small animal private practice in 2015-6 in Baghdad were assessed. The mean ± SD of these dogs' age was 9.19 ±19.4 months and men presented more dogs than women (222 compared to 36). German shepherd dog was the most popular dog breed presented in this study while the most commonly presented health conditions were GI infections, Canine parvovirus, musculoskeletal conditions, respiratory infections, and canine distemper respectively. Additional 75 dogs were healthy and presented for check up and vaccination. Finally, German shepherd dogs were more likely to be presented with a disease compared to other breeds specially mixed breeds.