Abstract
Temperature measurements are relatively important for checking the health of animals, but measuring the rectal temperature is not always easy. Although several studies have shown that axillary temperature measurements are viable alternatives to rectal temperature measurements for dogs, similar studies have not yet been conducted on cats. In this study, the rectal and axillary temperatures of cats in good health were measured concurrently. The resulting regression line was expressed by y = 0.909x+3.436 (r 2 =0.829, p<0.01). In the normal rectal temperature range (from 37.5 to 38.5°C), the axillary temperature data, to which -0.03 to 0.07°C were added, were almost the same as those measured at the rectal position. The findings of this study suggest that the measurement of axillary temperature is a legitimate substitute for measuring rectal temperature in routine clinical examinations.
