Level of manganese in dog's hair as an auxiliary method for the diagnostic of mineral deficiency

Abstract

This study was conducted to determine the levels of manganese in dog's hair. The samples were taken from healthy and sick dogs attended at the Veterinary Hospital of the Faculdade de Medicina Veterinária e Zootecnia da Universidade de São Paulo. Because of some owner's refuse, it was very difficult to collect the hair samples. The minimum sample amount was estipulated as 6g . After washing with bidistilled water the samples were placed in a muffle furnace at 550 °C. Sodium periodate was employed as oxidant agent for the chemical determination. The results obtained for healthy dogs showed levels of manganese ranging from 17.0 ppm to 97.5 ppm with a mean value of 57.4 ppm. Manganese levels of sick dogs varied from 14.1ppm for the animal with prostatic abcess to 254.9 ppm in nutritional secondary hyperparathyroidism, with an average of 58.3 ppm. Further observations will be necessary for a secure interpretation of these data.