Abstract:
The study was conducted over a period of 2 months, between March and May 2020, in collaboration with 3 private clinics in Moldova
region on 23 dogs of different breeds, sex and ages, paraclinically examined by hematological and biochemical tests. The inclusion
criterion in the study was the ownership of all subjects by elderly persons affected.by COVID 19 limitations during the emergency
state in Romania. The study aimed to establish the correlation between the limited walking time in dogs and the level of stress induced
by it. Each subject underwent 2 paraclinical check-ups in term of hematological testing and cortisol dosage at the end of March and
beginning of May. Also, a control group of 13 dogs owned by active people was examined in a similar manner, both at the beginning
of the experiment and also at the end of it. Compared with the initial values which were highly elevated (10,89±1,66 μg/dl) in all dogs
owned by elderly people, the second testing revealed values comparable to normal, but still increased (4,85±1,22 μg/dl) . The study
demonstrates the impact of COVID 19 limitations in terms of outdoor time for dogs which produced transitional changes in cortisol
levels, but also the adaptive compensatory mechanisms used to cope with modified environmental conditions.
