Research Communications of the 27(th) ECVIM-CA Congress: Intercontinental, Saint Julian's, Malta, 14th to 16th September 2017

Disclosures: No disclosures to report. Feeding of biologically appropriate raw food (BARF) including gullet is popular: Due to the close anatomical position of the thyroid gland and the respective muscle tissue such diets are likely to be contaminated with thyroid gland tissue and may cause alimentary thyrotoxicosis. However, as controlled studies are missing, it is unclear which effect the absorbed total thyroxine (T 4 ) and triiodothyronine (T 3 ) may have on the thyroid hormone status. Because T 4 levels are still routinely checked in the elderly dog and commonly in dogs suspicious of behavioral issues it would be of high diagnostic interest, if potential thyroid gland feeding may interfere with the diagnostic approach. Therefore, the present study aimed in investigating the short term effect of thyroid gland feeding on the thyroid hormone concentration in dogs. Bovine thyroid gland from the slaughterhouse (0.5 g/kg body weight) was fed after 12 h fasting together with a complete dry diet. Blood samples were taken 19 days before the experiment in order to verify euthyroidism in the healthy beagle dogs (n = 5). On the day of the feeding experiment blood was taken before (0 and 4, 8, 24, 52 h as well as 6 days after feeding. In the samples T 4 -, free T 4 -, T 3 and thyroid stimulating hormone (TSH) as well as thyroglobulin autoantibodies (TgAA) were measured either using an automated chemiluminescence immunoassay (ImmuliteÒ 1000 System, Siemens Diagnostics, USA) or a commercially available TgAA assay (Oxford Laboratories, MI, USA).. No dog had TgAA. After feeding thyroid gland there was an increase up to 7.8 fold basal levels of T 4 , free T 4 and T 3 serum concentrations. Serum levels returned to basal levels after 52 h, however, three of five dogs showed T 4 and fT 4 concentrations below the reference range 52 h and 6 days after single controlled thyroid gland feeding. TSH levels were suppressed after feeding for 52 h. None of the dogs showed any clinical symptoms of hyperthyroidism. Feeding of thyroid tissue to healthy dogs resulted in distinct effects on the thyroid hormone blood concentration. Initially single feeding of thyroid gland lead to considerably higher T 4 levels but afterwards also to lower T 4 and fT 4 concentrations. Therefore, if euthyroidism should be diagnosed, administration of dog food containing thyroid gland should be carefully ruled out for the last seven days. Disclosures: No disclosures to report. C-reactive protein (CRP) is a major acute phase protein and a marker of systemic inflammation in dogs. C-reactive protein, and indirectly the innate immune system, has not previously been evaluated in dogs with Hypoadrenocorticism (HA). Accordingly, the aim of this study was to investigate if dogs with HA were able to mount an acute phase response assessed by an elevated CRP. Medical records were reviewed for patients newly diagnosed with hypoadrenocorticism between May 2010 to March 2017. Dogs were considered having HA if both a pre-and post ACTH stimulation cortisol were ≤55 nmol/L. Dogs were excluded if they were not newly diagnosed with HA, or had received treatment for either hypoadrenocorticism or hyperadrenocorticism, or if they did not have a CRP measured around the time of diagnosis.