LEUCOCYTE CHANGES AFTER ADRENAL REMOVAL

Abstract

The normal total and differential leucocyte counts of the cat are given together with an enumeration of factors affecting the normal. Removal of the adrenal glands of the cat is followed, in long-surviving animals (average 8 days), by a decrease in the percent of polymorphonuclear neutrophiles and an increase in the percent of small mononuclear lymphocytes. Cats surviving only a few days, fail to show this change, presenting instead the high total and neutrophile counts associated with infection. Exposure to cold increases the total leucocyte count in the cat, but does not seem to affect the differential. The sympathetic nervous system appears to be related to this leucocyte response to cold.