Assessment of the collection of saliva from small dogs using a swab

Abstract

Saliva collection using a swab has recently been used to check the stress levels of dogs and can be used in the near future for diagnosing stress in dogs at animal hospitals. However, a suitable technique for collecting saliva from small dogs has not yet been established, despite these being the most popular pets in Japan. Therefore, the objective of this study was to investigate whether the swab technique can be used to collect the required amount of saliva for analysis from small dogs without causing excessive stress. Saliva was collected three times from five small and two medium-sized dogs using a swab, and the salivary cortisol concentration, behavioral response of the dog during saliva collection, and subjective evaluation of the dog’s stress level by the saliva collector and the restrainer of the dog were used as stress indicators. We found that the required amount of saliva (median = 0.35ml) for analysis was collected from all seven dogs. Furthermore, the average salivary cortisol concentration was 0.14μg/dl, and the average frequencies with which each dog licked itself and lifted its paw during the collection were 7.0 and 2.8 times, respectively, indicating that the dogs were not experiencing any severe stress. This was further supported by the subjective evaluation of the dogs’ stress levels by the saliva collector and the restrainer of dogs. Thus, our results suggest that the collection of saliva using a swab is also suitable in small dogs.