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difference in rectal temperature, which differs from the finding presented here. Again however, the two studies differ in their investigations, methodology, and statistical analysis, and so are difficult to directly compare. The current study could have been improved by recruiting a larger cohort with a wider distribution of BCSs. Of the 99 dogs enrolled in the study, 55( 55.55 %) were assigned an over ideal BCS( 6-9), 39( 39.39 %) were considered ideal BCS( 4-5) and only 5( 5.05 %) were assigned a BCS of 1-3. To allow a thorough and fair comparison and investigation, BCS groups of equal or similar sizes should have been recruited. Assigning the BCS to a patient induces subjective opinions from the observer( Chun et al, 2019). The subjective nature of assigning a BCS was overcome in the study by Piccione et al( 2010) as two experienced observers independently assessed every dog, and the final score was determined by consensus between the two scores. A similar method should have been used in the current study, for example a singular person assigning a score to every dog enrolled.
5.2 Interpretation of patient age affecting body temperature The current study was unable to demonstrate a correlation between patient’ s age and decreases in body temperature. This was surprising to the author, as previous studies have found that older dogs and people have lower core body temperatures than those that are younger. Zanghi et al( 2016) found that older dogs had a lower core body temperature by approximately 0.3 ° C, which was consistent with the age-related decrease of 0.4 ° C that Blatteis( 2011) stated is seen between geriatric people( ages 65-95) and healthy adults( ages 20-64). When investigating factors associated with changes in rectal temperature during anaesthesia, Clark-Price et al( 2021) found however that age was not significantly associated with a decrease in rectal temperature, consistent with the results of the current study. There are several possible explanations for the inconsistent results across the studies due to number of variables involved. One explanation may be that the patients enrolled in the current study were not necessarily considered healthy and were undergoing investigations for numerous neurological disorders. This is important to consider as certain neurological diseases can influence body temperature and cause pyrexia, for example steroid-responsive meningitis-arteritis( SRMA)( Grapes, Packer and De Decker, 2020) and discospondylitis( Platt and Freeman, 2013). Additionally, patients enrolled in the study may have presented with
ANIM32126 – EBVN Project 27