DIFFERENTIAL LEUKOCYTE COUNTS IN CAPTIVE NON-DOMESTIC FELIDS: A COMPARISON OF THE AUTOMATED CELLAVISION DC-1 VET® AND A MANUAL METHOD.

Automated reading systems have recently been developed for differential leukocyte counts in veterinary patients and showed good correlation with manual readings in human medicine and in some animal species. Differential leukocyte counts were performed on 127 banked blood smears from captive Felidae (46 individuals from 10 species) manually by one human operator and by the CellaVision DC-1 VET^®. Excellent correlation (r > 0.90) was observed for neutrophils and lymphocytes. Lower correlations were seen for eosinophils (r = 0.47) and monocytes (r = 0.43), but reclassification by the human operator improved the correlation to very high. Despite good correlations, only neutrophil results were acceptable according to the American Society for Clinical Veterinary Pathology (ASCVP) guidelines. The performance of the CellaVision was overall better for Felinae (n = 63) compared with Pantherinae (n = 64), except for eosinophils. The correlations between the manual and the CellaVision readings were overall higher for animals with a normal medical status compared with animals with an abnormal status (mostly infectious and degenerative diseases). Differential leukocyte counts were performed significantly quicker by the CellaVision. The CellaVision is a time-efficient tool in the determination of leukocyte differential counts in non-domestic felids. A control of the leukocyte preclassification by a human operator is necessary for lymphocytes, monocytes, eosinophils, and basophils, particularly for samples collected from Pantherinae and clinically unhealthy animals.