Objectives: The aims of this study were to validate a commercially available chemiluminescent assay for measurement of feline plasma adrenocorticotropic hormone concentration (ACTH), to determine the normal reference interval (RI) of plasma ACTH in healthy cats, to assess plasma ACTH in cats with...

A commercial immunoradiometric assay kit designed for the measurement of endogenous adrenocorticotropin (ACTH) concentrations in human plasma does not detect the molecule in plasma samples from cats. It was hypothesized that the inability of the assay to detect the molecule was related to...

Background: Because of the lack of a current validated assay for feline endogenous adrenocorticotropic hormone (ACTH) in response to administration of currently available ovine corticotropin-releasing hormone (oCRH) preparations, a complete evaluation of the hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal axis in ...

Background: Diagnosis of pituitary-dependent hyperadrenocorticism (PDH) in cats is challenging because there is no specific diagnostic test. Hypothesis/Objective: The determination of plasma ACTH precursor (POMC and pro-ACTH) concentration might facilitate the diagnosis of PDH in cats. The aim of...

Jaguars are threatened with extinction throughout their range. A sustainable captive population can serve as a hedge against extinction, but only if they are healthy and reproduce. Understanding how jaguars respond to stressors may help improve the captive environment and enhance their wellbeing....

The ex situ population of fishing cats (Prionailurus viverrinus) has become increasingly important for the conservation of this species. Unfortunately, captivity-induced stress is a concern and potential factor for lack of breeding success in this small felid, resulting in an unsustainable...

Many neotropical felids are threatened with extinction and information on their physiology is required to assist in conservation. Their reproduction in captivity is poor, particularly for the smaller species. Several factors may be responsible, but stress is probably the most important. We assayed...

An 8 year old male castrated Russian Blue cat with polyuria, polydipsia, polyphagia, abdominal enlargement, unkempt and easily epilated hair coat and abdominal alopecia is described. As a first step diabetes mellitus was diagnosed. Further work-up by ultrasonography revealed severe bilateral...

In 100 clinically normal cats the median plasma concentration of immunoreactive (IR) ACTH was 2.7 pmol/litre (range ≤1.1-22); β-endorphin/β-lipotropin (βEND/βLPH) 28 pmol/litre (3.8-130); α-melanocyte stimulating hormone (αMSH) 36 pmol/litre (≤3.6-200) and cortisol 35 nmol/litre (5-140). Plasma...

Measurement of glucocorticoid metabolites in faeces has become an accepted method for the noninvasive evaluation of adrenocortical activity. The objective of this study was to determine if a simple cortisol enzyme immunoassay (EIA) was suitable for monitoring adrenocortical activity in a variety of ...