IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/caa/jnlvet/v66y2021i8id31-2020-vetmed.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Age and sex-related differences in the haematological parameters of captive African grey parrots (Psittacus erithacus)

Author

Listed:
  • H Gaspar

    (Animal and Veterinary Research Centre (CECAV), Trás-os-Montes e Alto Douro University, Quinta de Prados, Vila Real, Portugal)

  • F Bargallo

    (Zoològic Veterinaris, Badalona, Barcelona, Spain)

  • J Grifols

    (Zoològic Veterinaris, Badalona, Barcelona, Spain)

  • E Correia

    (Mathematics Departament, Trás-os-Montes e Alto Douro University, Quinta de Prados, Vila Real, Portugal)

  • ML Pinto

    (CEMAT/IST-ID, Center for Computational and Stochastic Mathematics, Instituto Superior Técnico, University of Lisbon, Lisbon, Portugal)

Abstract

African grey parrots (Psittacus erithacus) are very popular pets, commonly seen in avian clinical practice. Haematological profiles are critical to the understanding of several disease processes, being particularly useful as diagnostic tools in clinical practice, since birds tend to hide clinical signs of disease. We have previously proposed new haematological reference intervals (RI) for captive African grey parrots, and in the present work the basic data obtained was studied in detail to investigate the influence of factors, such as age and sex, on the haematological profile of this bird species. During an 8-year period (March 2009 to July 2017), animals (n = 239) examined in first consultations or check-ups at the Zoològic Veterinaris (Barcelona) were submitted to blood collection at different time points, rendering a total of 459 blood samples. The haematological testing was performed according to the guidelines of the American Society of Veterinary Clinical Pathology to determine the packed cell volume (PCV), haemoglobin (Hb), mean haemoglobin concentration (MHC), mean corpuscular volume (MCV), mean corpuscular haemoglobin concentration (MCHC), total erythrocyte count (TRBC), total leukocyte count (TWBC), and differential leukogram with absolute and relative counts. All the haematological testing was performed in an in-house laboratory as previously described. Animals with 0 to 4 years of age showed higher values of PCV (P < 0.001), Hb (P = 0.023) and RBC (P = 0.018), and lower values of MCHC (P = 0.008), WBC (P = 0.012) and heterophils (P < 0.001) than older animals. There were significant differences exhibited in the monocytes (P = 0.035) between different age groups. Females presented higher PCV, Hb and RBC values (P < 0.001) compared to males. Our results suggest that the age and sex influence the haematological parameters in a significant manner in African grey parrots and should be accounted for when assessing the health status of individuals from this species.

Suggested Citation

  • H Gaspar & F Bargallo & J Grifols & E Correia & ML Pinto, 2021. "Age and sex-related differences in the haematological parameters of captive African grey parrots (Psittacus erithacus)," Veterinární medicína, Czech Academy of Agricultural Sciences, vol. 66(8), pages 330-341.
    • Handle: RePEc:caa:jnlvet:v:66:y:2021:i:8:id:31-2020-vetmed
    DOI: 10.17221/31/2020-VETMED
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://vetmed.agriculturejournals.cz/doi/10.17221/31/2020-VETMED.html
    Download Restriction: free of charge
    File URL: http://vetmed.agriculturejournals.cz/doi/10.17221/31/2020-VETMED.pdf
    Download Restriction: free of charge
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.17221/31/2020-VETMED?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    As the access to this document is restricted, you may want to search for a different version of it.

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:caa:jnlvet:v:66:y:2021:i:8:id:31-2020-vetmed. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    We have no bibliographic references for this item. You can help adding them by using this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Ivo Andrle (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://www.cazv.cz/en/home/ .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.