Influence of a vaccination on faecal cortisol metabolite concentrations incats and dogs.

The aim of this study was to apply a cortisol metabolite determination in t he faeces of cats and dogs for monitoring disturbances. In this experiment faeces from every spontaneous defecation of 10 cats and 10 dogs (5 of each sex) were collected starting from one day before until two days after the y early vaccination. Concentrations of 11,17-dioxoandrostanes (cat) and corti sol equivalents (dog) were determined by enzyme immunoassay (EIA). Faecal c ortisol metabolites increased and reached peak concentrations (median: 412 % in cats and 417 % in dogs, respectively above baseline values) in one of the next two samples following the vaccination. This indicated an activatio n of the adrenocortex, the degree to which the different parts (physical an d psychological components) of the whole vaccination procedure contributed to it was not evaluated. From this experiment we conclude that measuring co rtisol metabolites in the faeces is a non-invasive method to monitor stress ful conditions in cats and dogs and thus is a valuable tool for evaluating animal welfare.