Ocular Temperature Measured by Infrared Thermography in Shelter Dogs Varies with Biological and Environmental Factors
ORCID
Rostami: https://orcid.org/0009-0005-1023-0840
MSU Affiliation
College of Veterinary Medicine; Department of Pathobiology and Population Medicine; College of Arts and Sciences; Department of Mathematics and Statistics
Creation Date
2026-03-03
Abstract
Objective. To quantify the association between eye temperature (ET) and rectal temperature (RT) in apparently healthy shelter dogs, and to identify physiological and environmental factors associated with ET and RT. Methods. Experiment 1. In an observational study at an animal shelter, ET was obtained with a thermal camera up to 3 times per visit (~10-minute intervals), followed by RT measurement. ET was the maximum temperature recorded from either eye for each capture. Main mixed-effects linear regression model evaluated ET in relation to times (1–3), RT, age, sex, body size, coat length, ambient temperature, and relative humidity. Experiment 2. Temperature at a fixed target within an insulated box was recorded every 5 minutes for 1 hour and analyzed with repeated- measures mixed model regression. Results. Experiment 1. We analyzed 129 observations from 78 dogs. In the final ET model, both RT (β=0.77°C; 95% C.I. 0.512-1.019°C) and humidity (β=0.01°C; 95% C.I. 0.002-0.013°C) were positively and significantly associated with ET. Experiment 2. No time-related change in recorded temperature was detected over 1 hour. Conclusions. According to this study ET is associated with RT but is not interchangeable and is slightly affected by humidity level of environment. These results support further investigation of using ET as a rapid, noncontact temperature monitoring procedure. Clinical relevance. In shelter intake and daily rounds, ocular thermography may help triage dogs for prompt confirmatory rectal thermometry and clinical assessment when rapid, low-handling screening is needed, with attention to humidity.
Publication Date
3-2-2026
Publisher
Zenodo
Creative Commons License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-No Derivative Works 4.0 International License.
Recommended Citation
Rostami, S., McBride, A., Shi, J., Woodruff, K. A., & Smith, D. R. (2026). Ocular temperature measured by infrared thermography in shelter dogs varies with biological and environmental factors. Zenodo. https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.18842080
