Chronic Stress Indicators in Canines
With a growing number of dogs abandoned, living in shelters, and being rehomed, it is important to distinguish behavioural responses due to stress in our domestic companions. Cortisol is involved in the stress responses in animals which generally enters the individual’s body into a “state of emergen...
| Main Authors: | , , , , , , |
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
| Published: |
Sciendo
2022-03-01
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| Series: | Folia Veterinaria |
| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | https://doi.org/10.2478/fv-2022-0009 |
| _version_ | 1828724365953335296 |
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| author | Dolan N. S. Lešková L. Lelláková M. Mesarčová L. Skurková L. Kottferová J. Špalková M. |
| author_facet | Dolan N. S. Lešková L. Lelláková M. Mesarčová L. Skurková L. Kottferová J. Špalková M. |
| author_sort | Dolan N. S. |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | With a growing number of dogs abandoned, living in shelters, and being rehomed, it is important to distinguish behavioural responses due to stress in our domestic companions. Cortisol is involved in the stress responses in animals which generally enters the individual’s body into a “state of emergency”. Prolonged stress can lead to exhaustion, disease, and death. Chronic stress can be detected by evaluating cortisol concentration in hair. Most domesticated dogs respond well to hair collection, thus avoiding further stressors. The method is simple, relatively inexpensive, and non-invasive. Our experiment focused on assessing multiple parameters using a modified Canine Behavioural Assessment and Research Questionnaire to evaluate their significance with cortisol in hair samples from a diverse range of dogs. Each stress parameter was tested against cortisol concentration using a t-Test, i. e., the Paired Two Sample for Means. The effect of weight on cortisol levels was statistically significant (P = 0.03). This fact revealed that an increase in body weight correlated with an increase in cortisol levels. |
| first_indexed | 2024-04-12T13:07:38Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-f8cd89cfd7264b95a1778d27bda697f7 |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 2453-7837 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-04-12T13:07:38Z |
| publishDate | 2022-03-01 |
| publisher | Sciendo |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Folia Veterinaria |
| spelling | doaj.art-f8cd89cfd7264b95a1778d27bda697f72022-12-22T03:32:00ZengSciendoFolia Veterinaria2453-78372022-03-01661758210.2478/fv-2022-0009Chronic Stress Indicators in CaninesDolan N. S.0Lešková L.1Lelláková M.2Mesarčová L.3Skurková L.4Kottferová J.5Špalková M.6Department of Public Veterinary Medicine and Animal Welfare, University of Veterinary Medicine and Pharmacy in Košice, Komenského 73, 041 81Košice, SlovakiaDepartment of Public Veterinary Medicine and Animal Welfare, University of Veterinary Medicine and Pharmacy in Košice, Komenského 73, 041 81Košice, SlovakiaDepartment of Public Veterinary Medicine and Animal Welfare, University of Veterinary Medicine and Pharmacy in Košice, Komenského 73, 041 81Košice, SlovakiaDepartment of Public Veterinary Medicine and Animal Welfare, University of Veterinary Medicine and Pharmacy in Košice, Komenského 73, 041 81Košice, SlovakiaDepartment of Public Veterinary Medicine and Animal Welfare, University of Veterinary Medicine and Pharmacy in Košice, Komenského 73, 041 81Košice, SlovakiaDepartment of Public Veterinary Medicine and Animal Welfare, University of Veterinary Medicine and Pharmacy in Košice, Komenského 73, 041 81Košice, SlovakiaDepartment of Public Veterinary Medicine and Animal Welfare, University of Veterinary Medicine and Pharmacy in Košice, Komenského 73, 041 81Košice, SlovakiaWith a growing number of dogs abandoned, living in shelters, and being rehomed, it is important to distinguish behavioural responses due to stress in our domestic companions. Cortisol is involved in the stress responses in animals which generally enters the individual’s body into a “state of emergency”. Prolonged stress can lead to exhaustion, disease, and death. Chronic stress can be detected by evaluating cortisol concentration in hair. Most domesticated dogs respond well to hair collection, thus avoiding further stressors. The method is simple, relatively inexpensive, and non-invasive. Our experiment focused on assessing multiple parameters using a modified Canine Behavioural Assessment and Research Questionnaire to evaluate their significance with cortisol in hair samples from a diverse range of dogs. Each stress parameter was tested against cortisol concentration using a t-Test, i. e., the Paired Two Sample for Means. The effect of weight on cortisol levels was statistically significant (P = 0.03). This fact revealed that an increase in body weight correlated with an increase in cortisol levels.https://doi.org/10.2478/fv-2022-0009caninescortisolhairstresswelfare |
| spellingShingle | Dolan N. S. Lešková L. Lelláková M. Mesarčová L. Skurková L. Kottferová J. Špalková M. Chronic Stress Indicators in Canines Folia Veterinaria canines cortisol hair stress welfare |
| title | Chronic Stress Indicators in Canines |
| title_full | Chronic Stress Indicators in Canines |
| title_fullStr | Chronic Stress Indicators in Canines |
| title_full_unstemmed | Chronic Stress Indicators in Canines |
| title_short | Chronic Stress Indicators in Canines |
| title_sort | chronic stress indicators in canines |
| topic | canines cortisol hair stress welfare |
| url | https://doi.org/10.2478/fv-2022-0009 |
| work_keys_str_mv | AT dolanns chronicstressindicatorsincanines AT leskoval chronicstressindicatorsincanines AT lellakovam chronicstressindicatorsincanines AT mesarcoval chronicstressindicatorsincanines AT skurkoval chronicstressindicatorsincanines AT kottferovaj chronicstressindicatorsincanines AT spalkovam chronicstressindicatorsincanines |