Peer-reviewed veterinary case report
Saliva testing at home and in hospital for dogs with Cushing's
By Meunier, Solène M et al.·Published in BMC veterinary research·2025·Clinic for Small Animal Internal Medicine·View original on PubMed →
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Original publication title: Feasibility and usefulness of in-hospital and at-home salivary sampling in healthy dogs and trilostane-treated dogs with Cushing's syndrome: a prospective observational study.
- Species:
- dog
Plain-English summary
A group of dogs with Cushing's syndrome (a condition that causes excessive cortisol) were tested to see if taking saliva samples at home would be easier and less stressful than doing it at the vet's office. While healthy dogs had no issues with saliva collection, only about half of the dogs with Cushing's could provide samples successfully, and those taken at home showed lower cortisol levels. However, some dogs still had high cortisol levels despite being treated, indicating that home testing needs improvement. Overall, while at-home saliva sampling is promising, it currently isn't as reliable as traditional blood tests for monitoring this condition.
People also search for: dog Cushing's syndrome treatment · at-home saliva test for dogs · monitoring cortisol levels in dogs
Abstract
BACKGROUND: Monitoring Cushing's syndrome (CS) in dogs remains a significant challenge and currently relies on clinical signs, biochemistry results and hormone tests, such as prepill or post-ACTH cortisol. Salivary cortisol testing at home, effective in humans, could benefit dogs by minimizing in-hospital fear impacts on cortisol measurements. The objectives of this study were to (1) assess the feasibility of saliva sampling in client-owned dogs and (2) compare at-home and in-hospital salivary cortisol concentrations for monitoring trilostane treatment. Ten healthy controls and 38 trilostane-treated dogs with CS were included in this prospective observational clinical trial. Saliva was collected using a ginger-dipped Salimetricsswab held in the dogs' mouths for 30 seconds. Saliva was collected from controls at the hospital and at home. For trilostane-treated dogs, saliva was collected in the hospital before blood sampling for prepill serum cortisol and at home by owners. Salivary cortisol concentrations were measured using liquid chromatography high-resolution mass spectrometry (LC-HRMS), and serum cortisol by LC-HRMS and chemiluminescence immunoassay. Dogs with CS were classified as well-controlled if clinical signs had resolved. RESULTS: In-hospital and at-home saliva sampling was successful in all 10 controls, but only in 18/38 (47%) and 7/18 (39%) dogs with CS, respectively. Salivary cortisol was significantly lower at home in CS dogs but not in controls. Among the 7 CS dogs sampled at both locations, the uncontrolled dog had the highest at-home cortisol level. Four of 6 well-controlled dogs had prepill serum cortisol above the target range, with at-home salivary cortisol undetectable in 3 and lower than the uncontrolled dog in one. CONCLUSION: Saliva sampling remains challenging in CS dogs. This method needs further refinement before stress-free, at-home salivary cortisol evaluation surpasses current monitoring techniques, such as prepill serum cortisol measurement. Registry: animex-ch, TRN: ZH076/19 and ZH153/22, Registration dates: 27 Juli 2019 and 22 September 2022.
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Search related cases →Original publication on PubMed: https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/41131585/