{"status":"ok","message-type":"work","message-version":"1.0.0","message":{"indexed":{"date-parts":[[2026,9,2]],"date-time":"2026-09-02T08:23:51Z","timestamp":1788337431739,"version":"build-2803163510"},"reference-count":45,"publisher":"MDPI AG","issue":"17","license":[{"start":{"date-parts":[[2026,9,2]],"date-time":"2026-09-02T00:00:00Z","timestamp":1788307200000},"content-version":"vor","delay-in-days":0,"URL":"https:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by\/4.0\/"}],"funder":[{"name":"ITA Grant Agency of the University of Veterinary Sciences Brno","award":["2021ITA15"],"award-info":[{"award-number":["2021ITA15"]}]},{"award":["2021ITA15"],"award-info":[{"award-number":["2021ITA15"]}],"id":[{"id":"https:\/\/ror.org\/04rk6w354","id-type":"ROR","asserted-by":"publisher"}]}],"content-domain":{"domain":[],"crossmark-restriction":false},"short-container-title":["Animals"],"abstract":"<jats:p>Background: This study evaluated physiological responses to repeated handling and blood collection in laboratory rabbits using infrared thermography, serum cortisol, and faecal cortisol metabolites (FCMs), and assessed responses in non-handled rabbits housed in the same room. Methods: Sixteen healthy adult rabbits were randomly allocated to experimental (n = 8) and non-handled control (n = 8) groups. Experimental rabbits underwent nine blood collections over 5 h as part of a pharmacokinetic study, with periocular surface temperature measured by infrared thermography before each collection. Controls underwent thermography at identical time points without handling or blood sampling. Serum cortisol was measured in experimental rabbits, whereas FCMs were analysed in both groups. Results: Following the first blood collection, periocular temperature increased by 1.0 \u00b0C in experimental and 1.3 \u00b0C in control rabbits. Experimental serum cortisol increased from 13.6 \u00b1 5.5 to 23.7 \u00b1 7.3 ng\/mL at 30 min and declined to 8.1 \u00b1 2.1 ng\/mL at final sampling. FCMs increased approximately 9 h after the first collection in both groups and remained elevated for up to three days in experimental rabbits. Conclusions: Repeated handling and blood collection elicited measurable physiological responses. Changes in controls suggest that procedure-related environmental cues may also influence nearby non-handled rabbits.<\/jats:p>","DOI":"10.3390\/ani16172731","type":"journal-article","created":{"date-parts":[[2026,9,2]],"date-time":"2026-09-02T07:53:11Z","timestamp":1788335591000},"page":"2731","update-policy":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.3390\/mdpi_crossmark_policy","source":"Crossref","is-referenced-by-count":0,"title":["Infrared Thermal Imaging and Blood and Faecal Cortisol Measurements for Stress Assessment in Rabbits During Blood Sampling"],"prefix":"10.3390","volume":"16","author":[{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0003-2733-0432","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Jana","family":"Dole\u017ealov\u00e1","sequence":"first","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Physiology, Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, University of Veterinary Sciences Brno, 612 42 Brno, Czech Republic"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0002-4653-4695","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Gabriela","family":"Kadlecov\u00e1","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Animal Protection and Welfare & Veterinary Public Health, Faculty of Veterinary Hygiene and Ecology, University of Veterinary Sciences Brno, 612 42 Brno, Czech Republic"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0001-8320-1286","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Vladim\u00edr","family":"Jekl","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Pharmacology and Pharmacy, Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, University of Veterinary Sciences Brno, 612 42 Brno, Czech Republic"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0001-9973-6082","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Monika","family":"\u0160eb\u00e1nkov\u00e1","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Animal Protection and Welfare & Veterinary Public Health, Faculty of Veterinary Hygiene and Ecology, University of Veterinary Sciences Brno, 612 42 Brno, Czech Republic"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0002-6060-9083","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Edita","family":"Jeklov\u00e1","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Infectious Diseases and Preventive Medicine, Veterinary Research Institute v.v.i., Hudcova 296\/70, 621 00 Brno, Czech Republic"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Eva","family":"J\u00e1nov\u00e1","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Forest Ecology, Faculty of Forestry and Wood Technology, Mendel University in Brno, Zemedelska 1665\/1, 613 00 Brno, Czech Republic"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0001-7783-9179","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Petra","family":"Bakulov\u00e1","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Physiology, Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, University of Veterinary Sciences Brno, 612 42 Brno, Czech Republic"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0002-4334-2487","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Eva","family":"Vosl\u00e1\u0159ov\u00e1","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Animal Protection and Welfare & Veterinary Public Health, Faculty of Veterinary Hygiene and Ecology, University of Veterinary Sciences Brno, 612 42 Brno, Czech Republic"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Krist\u00fdna","family":"\u0158eh\u00e1kov\u00e1","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Small Animal Clinical Laboratory, Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, University of Veterinary Sciences Brno, Palack\u00e9ho 1946\/1, 612 42 Brno, Czech Republic"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0009-0007-6230-0649","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Zuzana","family":"Tomiczkov\u00e1","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Pharmacology and Pharmacy, Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, University of Veterinary Sciences Brno, 612 42 Brno, Czech Republic"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Jan","family":"Chloupek","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Pharmacology and Pharmacy, Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, University of Veterinary Sciences Brno, 612 42 Brno, Czech Republic"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]}],"member":"1968","published-online":{"date-parts":[[2026,9,2]]},"reference":[{"key":"ref_1","unstructured":"Suckow, M.A., and Schroeder, V. 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