Abstract:

The prevalence and colonization sites of Helicobacter spp. in the stomachs of dogs, and their association with gastric pathology were investigated. Scraping cytology, culture, urease test and histology were used to detect helicobacters in the stomachs of necropsied dogs. Gastric Helicobacter spp. were detected in 103 (84.4%) of 122 dogs from 1 month to 14 years of age. The uncultured spiral organisms seen in the most of stomachs were designated as H. heilmannii. Microscopical examination of stained mucosal scrapings was found to be superior for the diagnosis of gastric helicobacters. Six (4.9%) spiral organisms were isolated from 122 stomachs and all were identified as H. felis. Helicobacter spp. were detected in the fundus, corpus and antrum of 103, 101 and 53 dogs, respectively. Organisms were denser in the fundus and corpus than in the antrum. Histological changes comparable to mild chronic gastritis or chronic active gastritis were found in 56.3% of Helicobacter-positive dogs and 47.4% of Helicobacter-negative dogs. H. felis was found only in dogs with chronic active gastritis.

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