Abstract
Hematological, serum biochemistry, and urinalysis values were determined for nine (two females and seven males) adult, free-living European wildcats (Felis silvestris) in the Kocevje Forests of the southern Slovenia. Samples were collected from August 1999 to March 2001. Cats were anesthetized with ketamine and medetomidine. Blood samples were taken by jugular venipuncture and urine samples by bladder puncture. A control group of domestic cats (F. silvestris catus) was assembled to determine if differences exist among blood and urine values between free-living European wildcats and domestic cats. Hematological, biochemical, and urine parameters were similar to those of the control group. Values of glucose, blood urea nitrogen, albumin, mean corpuscular value, basophile count, and alanine aminotransferase were significantly higher than values of the control group. All urine samples contained white blood cells and proteins, and seven of them contained red blood cells.
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Acknowledgements
We thank Miha Adamič from the project Conservation Management of Threatened Wildlife Species in Slovenia, who made this study possible and all collaborators who were of great help in monitoring the traps and during the handling procedures, especially Jure Marolt and Tina Rabzelj. We thank all the collaborators on the Small Animal Clinic, especially Aleksander Jenko from the Laboratory of Small Animal Clinic Veterinary Faculty, University of Ljubljana. The study was funded by the Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry, and Food Technology and the Ministry of Science and Technology.
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Račnik, J., Skrbinšek, T., Tozon, N. et al. Blood and urine values of free-living European wildcats in Slovenia. Eur J Wildl Res 50, 44–47 (2004). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10344-003-0034-8
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10344-003-0034-8