Stress level in companion dogs with and without atopic dermatitis

Geun-Woo Park¹^,², Mohammad Ataallahi¹, Kyu-Hyun Park¹^,^*

¹Department of Animal Industry Convergence, Kangwon National University, Chuncheon 24341, Korea.

²CO-ANI, Chuncheon 24232, Korea.

^*Corresponding Author: Kyu-Hyun Park, Department of Animal Industry Convergence, Kangwon National University, Chuncheon 24341, Korea, Republic of. Phone: +82-33-250-8621. E-mail: kpark74@kangwon.ac.kr.

© Copyright 2024 Korean Society of Animal Science and Technology. This is an Open-Access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution Non-Commercial License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/) which permits unrestricted non-commercial use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.

Received: Dec 05, 2023; Revised: Feb 16, 2024; Accepted: Feb 27, 2024

Published Online: Feb 27, 2024

Abstract

Dogs with atopic dermatitis (AD) often exhibit behaviors such as scratching and rubbing. This discomfort may cause stress in affected dogs. Thus, we investigated the association between stress levels in companion dogs with and without AD using hair cortisol concentration (HCC). In total, 202 dogs were involved in this study, including bichon frise (24 AD, 38 non-AD, 5.3 ± 1.8 kg), Maltese (17 AD, 51 non-AD, 3.4 ± 0.8 kg), and poodle (14 AD, 58 non-AD, 4.4 ± 1.4 kg). Hair samples were collected by the owners once from the dog’s neck, close to the skin, using scissors from 2019 to 2023 in Korea. The HCC was determined using a commercial enzyme immunoassay kit. Based on these results, the HCC in bichon frise and poodle with AD were higher (<italic>p</italic> < 0.05) than those without AD. No difference (<italic>p</italic> > 0.05) in HCC was observed in Maltese with AD and without AD. Pooled data showed a higher HCC (<italic>p</italic> < 0.05) in AD dogs compared to those without AD dogs. The HCC in female bichon frise and female Maltese with AD were higher (<italic>p</italic> < 0.05) than those without AD. Conversely, no differences (<italic>p</italic> > 0.05) in HCC were observed between AD and non-AD in male bichon frise and male Maltese dogs. Higher (<italic>p</italic> < 0.05) HCC was observed between the AD and non-AD in female and male poodles. In conclusion, the AD condition in dogs can act as a stressor, and analysis of HCC can help to better monitor the chronic stress level of dogs affected by AD.

Keywords: Atopic dermatitis; Canine; Companion dog; Hair cortisol; Stress