Folic acid supplementation does not decrease stillbirths and congenital malformations in a guide dog colony.

Abstract

OBJECTIVES:

To investigate if maternal folic acid supplementation (5 mg) is associated with a reduction of cleft palates, umbilical hernias, stillbirths and caesarean sections in a guide dog breeding colony.

MATERIALS AND METHODS:

Labrador retrievers, golden retrievers and Labrador/golden Crosses from the breeding colony of a professional guide dog training organisation were eligible for inclusion. Dams in the treatment group (n = 137) received 5 mg oral folic acid supplementation daily from the start of pro-oestrous through day 40 of gestation. A historical control group (n = 134) was selected from the previous calendar year for comparison. A logistic regression model identified the relative risk of disease (cleft palates, umbilical hernias, stillbirths and caesarean sections) for puppies whose dams did or did not receive folic acid supplementation.

RESULTS:

A total of 1917 puppies (890 control, 1027 treatment; from 294 litters) were produced during the entire study period, with 994 puppies (494 control, 500 treatment; from 144 litters) born to the subset of dams (n = 72) who produced litters during both the control and treatment periods. All 95% highest posterior densities of relative risk included 1.0, failing to detect differences between the treatment and control groups on incidence rate of cleft palate (control: 2.25%; treatment: 2.34%), umbilical hernias (control: 1.91%; treatment: 3.12%), stillbirths (control: 3.26%; treatment: 2.92%) and caesarean sections (control: 1.45%; treatment: 1.28%).

CLINICAL SIGNIFICANCE:

There was no observable reduction of cleft palate, umbilical hernia, stillbirth or caesarean section associated with folic acid supplementation during pregnancy in the study colony. For a domestic dog cohort with a low tendency of hereditary malformations, such as this study colony, 5 mg dietary folic acid supplementation should not be expected to drastically improve or eradicate these diseases.

• Authors: K L Gonzales, T R Famula, L C Feng, H M N Power, J M Bullis
• Journal: The Journal of small animal practice (J Small Anim Pract) Vol. 62 Issue 4 Pg. 286-292 (04 2021) ISSN: 1748-5827 [Electronic] England
• PMID: 33496345 (Publication Type: Clinical Trial, Veterinary, Journal Article)
• Copyright: © 2021 British Small Animal Veterinary Association.

Chemical References

• Folic Acid

Topics

• Animals
• Cesarean Section (veterinary)
• Dietary Supplements
• Dog Diseases (drug therapy, epidemiology, prevention & control)
• Dogs
• Female
• Folic Acid
• Pregnancy
• Service Animals
• Stillbirth (veterinary)