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Thyroid hormones are essential for metabolism, energy homeostasis and reproduction. Hormones can be measured in various biological source materials: blood, feces, urine, saliva and others. The aim of our study was to verify usefulness of thyroid hormone analysis in the urine and feces of the domestic rabbit (Oryctolagus cuniculus f. domesticus), comparing them with the serum analyses. Samples were collected from 27 does in the age of 12–14 weeks. Total thyroxine (tT4), total triiodothyronine (tT3), free thyroxine (fT4) and free triiodothyronine (fT3) were tested using the radioimmunological method in serum, feces and urine. The highest concentration of tT4 was found in feces (104.72 ± 59.52 nmol/mg) and the lowest in urine (3.03 ± 3.11 nmol/mL). The highest tT3 concentration was found in blood serum (3.19 ± 0.64 nmol/L) and the lowest in urine (0.31 ± 0.43 nmol/L). The highest concentration of fT4 was observed in feces (43.71 ± 4.79 pmol/mg) and the lowest in blood serum (14.97 ± 3.42 pmol/L). The statistically highest concentration of fT3 (28.56 ± 20.79 pmol/L) was found in urine, whereas the lowest concentration of this hormone was found in feces (3.27 ± 1.33 pmol/mg). There was a positive and statistically significant correlation between serum and urine fT3 (r = 0.76) and a high positive correlation between serum and feces fT3 concentration (r = 0.62). Correlations between concentrations of other thyroid hormones between serum, urine and feces were found to be insignificant. The results suggest that fT3 can be accurately and reliably measured in the feces and urine of the domestic rabbit.

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This study assessed hematological parameters (especially the neutrophil-to-lymphocyte ratio and the platelet-to-lymphocyte ratio) and the C-reactive protein concentration in the plasma of female cats subjected to ovariohysterectomy: prior to surgery as well as 2 and 10 days after surgery. The animals (n = 26) were patients of a private veterinary clinic between July 2019 and March 2021 and were brought there for ovariohysterectomies. The blood was sampled from the cephalic vein into two tubes. One of the tubes was sent to a commercial veterinary laboratory, where a hematological examination was performed. The second tube was centrifuged (2000 g, 10 min). After separation, plasma samples were stored at –80°C. Next, the CRP concentration was determined using an ELISA kit. We noted a statistically significant increase in NLR two days after surgery. The difference in the NLR value before the surgery and after a 10-day recovery period failed to reach statistical significance. Changes in PLR and the CRP concentration during the experiment were insignificant. The results indicate that NLR is an effective marker of stress and inflammation caused by surgery in female cats, whereas the CRP concentration is of no use in this species.

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