title: Risk factors of weaning diarrhea in puppies housed in breeding kennels.
abstract: Diarrhea represents one of the most frequent disorders in dogs. In puppies, degradation of feces quality is associated with a reduced daily weight gain and an increased risk of death. Prevention of diarrhea in puppies requires a global approach encompassing enteropathogens, environment and management practices especially when housed in groups. The purpose of this study was to determine prevalence of enteropathogens in puppies in breeding kennels and to identify risk factors of diarrhea. Two hundred and sixty six puppies (between 5 and 14 weeks of age) from 29 French breeding kennels were included. For each kennel, data about environment, management of the kennel and puppies' characteristics (age, sex and breed) were collected. For each puppy, fecal consistency and fecal excretion of enteropathogens (viruses and parasites) was evaluated. At least one enteropathogen was identified in 77.1% of puppies and 24.8% of puppies presented abnormal feces. The main risk factor of weaning diarrhea was fecal excretion of canine parvovirus type 2 (odds ratio=5; confidence interval 95%: 1.7-14.7). A targeted sanitary and medical prophylaxis against canine parvovirus type 2 should be implemented to decrease risk of weaning diarrhea.
authors.affiliation: Royal Canin Research Center (Grellet, Feugier), 650 avenue de la Petite Camargue, 30470 Aimargues, France. Electronic address: aurelien.grellet@royalcanin.com.
authors.forename: Aurélien
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Grellet
authors.affiliation: Unité Toulousaine d'Elevage et Reproduction (UTER) (Chastant-Maillard), UMR INRA/ENVT 1225, IHAP Interactions Hôte-Pathogènes INP, Ecole Nationale Vétérinaire de Toulouse, 23 chemin des Capelles, BP 87614, 31076, Toulouse Cedex 03, France.
authors.forename: Sylvie
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Chastant-Maillard
authors.affiliation: Université Paris-Est, Ecole Nationale Vétérinaire d'Alfort (Robin, Boogaerts, Grandjean, Polack), 7 avenue du général de Gaulle, 94704 Maisons-Alfort Cedex, France.
authors.forename: Coralie
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Robin
authors.affiliation: Royal Canin Research Center (Grellet, Feugier), 650 avenue de la Petite Camargue, 30470 Aimargues, France.
authors.forename: Alexandre
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Feugier
authors.affiliation: Université Paris-Est, Ecole Nationale Vétérinaire d'Alfort (Robin, Boogaerts, Grandjean, Polack), 7 avenue du général de Gaulle, 94704 Maisons-Alfort Cedex, France.
authors.forename: Cassandre
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Boogaerts
authors.affiliation: Scanelis (Boucraut-Baralon), 9 allée Charles Cros, 31771 Colomiers, France.
authors.forename: Corine
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Boucraut-Baralon
authors.affiliation: Université Paris-Est, Ecole Nationale Vétérinaire d'Alfort (Robin, Boogaerts, Grandjean, Polack), 7 avenue du général de Gaulle, 94704 Maisons-Alfort Cedex, France.
authors.forename: Dominique
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Grandjean
authors.affiliation: Université Paris-Est, Ecole Nationale Vétérinaire d'Alfort (Robin, Boogaerts, Grandjean, Polack), 7 avenue du général de Gaulle, 94704 Maisons-Alfort Cedex, France.
authors.forename: Bruno
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Polack
mesh_terms: D000375:Aging; D000818:Animals; D003967:Diarrhea / Q000209:etiology / Q000469:parasitology / Q000662:veterinary* / Q000821:virology; D004283:Dog Diseases / Q000209:etiology* / Q000469:parasitology / Q000821:virology; D004285:Dogs; D006799:Housing, Animal; D010273:Parasitic Diseases, Animal / Q000150:complications; D012307:Risk Factors; D014777:Virus Diseases / Q000150:complications / Q000662:veterinary; D014886:Weaning
keywords: Diarrhea; Dog; Enteropathogens; Epidemiology; Parvovirus; Puppy; Weaning