Donkey Haematology

WIKINORMALS DONKEY SECTION

Parameter/units	Average	Range	Interpretation
RBC 1012/l	5.5	(4.4 - 7.1)	Red blood cells, packed cell volume, haemoglobin: Elevations in RBC, PCV, and Hb may occur in dehydration and with stress, excitation and exercise. A reduction in these values may occur with acute haemorrhage, chronic inflammation, renal disease, hepatic disease, parasitism, haemolysis, and haematopoietic neoplasia.
PCV %	33	(27 - 42)	As above
Hb g/dl	11.0	(8.9 - 14.7)	As above
MCH pg	20.6	(17.6 - 23.1)	Mean corpuscular haematology: Elevations occur with haemolysis. Reductions usually indicate iron deficiency.
MCHC g/dl	34	(31 - 37)	Mean corpuscular haematological concentration: Elevations occur with haemolysis. Reductions may indicate iron deficiency.
MCV fl	60	(53 - 67)	Macrocytosis seen with regenerative anaemia. Microcytosis seen with iron deficiency.
WBC 109/l	10	(6.2 - 15)	White blood cells. The total number of WBC is influenced by the numbers of neutrophils, lymphocytes, eosinophils, monocytes and basophils. Leucocytosis is seen with septic and non-septic inflammatory conditions. Leucopaenia can occur during viral infection and severe leucopenia with acute bacterial infections.
NEU %	38.3	(23 - 59)	Neutrophils. Neutrophilia can arise transiently due to exercise, excitement and stress. Elevations are seen with septic and non-septic inflammatory conditions and acute bacterial infections. Corticosteroids, exogenous and endogenous, also cause a neutrophilia. Neutropenia can occur during viral infections.
NEU T 109/l	3.7	(2.4 - 6.3)	As above
EOS %	4.0	(0.9 - 9.1)	Eosinophils. Eosinophilia may be seen as a result of parasitism, allergic respiratory disease and eosinophilic leukaemia. Eosinopaenia is hard to evaluate as the numbers of eosinophils in normal donkeys are low.
EOS T 109/l	0.4	(0.1 - 0.9)	As above
BAS %	0.05	(0 - 0.5)	Basophils. Basophilia is rare in donkeys.
BAS T 109/l	0	(0 - 0.07)	As above
LYM %	54	(34 - 69)	Lymphocytes. Lymphocytosis occurs in response to chronic viral infections, autoimmune disease and with excitement or exercise. Large elevations in lymphocyte numbers can be seen in lymphoma. Lymphopaenia occurs as a result of stress, exogenous corticosteroid administration, severe bacterial or viral infections, endotoxemia and immunodeficiency.
LYM T 109/l	5.5	(2.2 - 9.6)	As above
MON %	3.0	(0.5 - 7.5)	Monocytes. Monocytosis can occur as a result of chronic suppurative and granulomatous inflammation. It may also be seen during recovery from viral infections of the upper respiratory tract.
MON T 109/l	0.3	(0 - 0.75)	As above
Platelets 109/l	201	(95 - 384)	Thrombocytes. Thrombocytosis is rare but can occur in bacterial infections. Thrombocytopaenia may be seen in disseminated intravascular coagulopathy (DIC), immunemediated thrombocytopenia, equine infectious anaemia (EIA), endotoxemia, equine ehrlichiosis, neoplasia, or as a result of severe haemorrhage. Artifactual reductions in platelet numbers can occur as a result of platelets clumping in EDTA.
RDW %	18.3	(16.1 - 22)	Red Cell Distribution Width. A marker of the variation in red cell volume; the greater variation in mean corpuscular volume (anisocytosis), the higher the RDW value. Anaemias with significant anisocytosis will result in increased RDW.
Fibrinogen g/l		(0.6 - 2.6)	An acute phase protein which may be increased as a result of inflammatory responses. Plasma fibrinogen concentrations may take 24-48 hours to show an increase above normal ranges and up to 7 days to peak and so may be more useful in assessing chronic inflammatory responses.
Prothrombin seconds		(8.9 - 14.5)	PT (prothrombin time) is used to assess the extrinsic pathway of the clotting cascade. Most clotting disorders (e.g hepatopathy, DIC) result in prolonged PT. Prolonged PT may be detectable prior to prolonged aPTT (intrinsic and common pathway).

Burden, F.A., Hazell-Smith, E., Mulugeta, G., Patrick, V., Trawford, R., Brooks Brownlie, H. (2015). Reference intervals for biochemical and haematological parameters in mature domestic donkeys (Equus asinus) in the UK. Equine Veterinary Education, 28 (3), 134-139

This section was sponsored and content provided by THE DONKEY SANCTUARY