Complete Blood Count and Biochemistry Reference Intervals for Healthy Adult Donkeys in the United States

Simple Summary Although donkeys and horses share many similarities, their clinical presentations of disease and other physiological attributes can be quite different. Veterinarians working on donkeys can find it quite challenging to definitively diagnose their disease condition based on physical examination findings alone and must frequently rely on clinical pathology data from bloodwork. This study aimed to utilize healthy adult captive and free-roaming donkeys from across the United States to create robust reference intervals for complete blood count and serum biochemistry values. The findings from this study will help veterinarians with the interpretation of these common clinical pathology diagnostic tests in this unique equid species.Abstract Previous hematologic and serum biochemistry reference interval (RI) values have been established for donkeys in various geographic regions, life-stages, or for specific donkey breeds. The last extensive investigation establishing RIs for adult donkeys in the United States (U.S.) was published over three decades ago. We aimed to establish updated robust RIs using a reference population of apparently healthy adult donkeys from across the U.S. Standard sized (n = 102), miniature (n = 17), and mammoth (n = 1) donkeys from four different states were enrolled, with 20% of the study population including donkeys captured directly from the wild in Death Valley National Park, CA. RIs were established in accordance with the American Society for Veterinary Clinical Pathology and Clinical Laboratory Standards Institute guidelines. The findings will assist practitioners with the interpretation of their complete blood count and biochemistry panel results in U.S. donkeys. This study also highlights a comparison of results for some important analytes in U.S. donkeys compared to U.S. horses and previously established donkey RIs.