The agreement of rectal temperature with gingival, ocular and metacarpal pad temperatures in clinically healthy dogs

Aims To compare alternative methods of recording body temperature (BT) with rectal temperature (RT) in clinically healthy dogs. Methods This prospective study included 97 healthy mixed-breed dogs (43 females and 54 males). The gingival temperature (GT) was collected by using a human non-contact, infrared forehead thermometer, while ocular temperature (OT) and metacarpal pad temperature (MPT) were obtained with an infrared thermal camera. The degree of agreement was determined using the Bland-Altman method, with RT considered as the reference temperature. Results A total of 382 readings were obtained from four different anatomical regions. The mean difference and their 95% limits of agreement for the differences between RT-GT, RT-OT, and RT-MPT were 0.18 degrees C (-0.95 degrees C-1.32 degrees C), 0.79 degrees C (-0.45 degrees C-2.04 degrees C), and 0.50 degrees C (-0.63 degrees C-1.62 degrees C), respectively. The GT, OT, and MPT values were within +/- 0.5 degrees C of RT for 65.9%, 19.5%, and 52.5% of dogs, respectively.