Evaluation of the Schirmer Tear Test in Clinically Normal Turkish Hunting Dogs (turkish Greyhound)

The aim of this stu dy was to de ter mi ne the nor mal va lu es for the Schir mer tear test (STT) in Tur kish Hun ting Dogs. This was per for med in or der to fa ci li ta te the di ag no sis of xer ophthal mia or ke ra to con junc ti vi tis sic ca (KCS), which is cha rac te ri zed by de fi cien cies in tear pro duc ti on and the re sul ting ab nor mal STT. Fif teen Tur kish Hun ting Dogs (8 fe ma le and 7 male) were used in this stu dy. The dogs rang ed from 6 months to 9 ye ars old (mean 3.6 +2.8) and the mean weight was 21.3 kg (13 to 27). The mean STT-1 and STT-2 va lu es were 17.1 +3.7 mm per mi nu te and 7.7 +2.8 mm per mi nu te, res pec ti ve ly. Neit her body weight nor age had a sta tis ti cal ly sig ni fi cant ef fect on the se va lu es. The re were sig ni fi cant dif fe ren ces in both STT-1 and STT-2 va lu es be tween fe ma les and ma les (p<0.05), as well as dai ly and wee kly fluc tu a ti ons for STT-1 and STT-2 va lu es (P<0.01, P<0.05, res pec ti ve ly). This stu dy has shown that the STT-1 and STT-2 va lu es in the Tur kish Hun ting Dogs are nor mal ly dis tri bu ted and are sig ni fi cant ly af fec ted by sex and by me a su re ment se quen ces.