A Comparative Study of Non-contact Infrared and Digital Rectal Thermometer Measurements of Body Temperature in the Horse

Equine body temperature taken with a non-contact infrared thermometer (NCIT) does not correlate well with the equine body temperature taken with a digital rectal thermometer (DRT), when it comes to absolute temperatures. There is significant variation in body temperature readings depending on the site at which the temperature was taken. NCIT may still may have, in that it does seem to be able to reliably detect when temperatures are more than that which is clinically normal, and does not seem to give falselyelevated readings in clinically normal horses. In horses that resent having their temperatures taken rectally, the NCIT seems to offer the equine clinician a quick and easy way to at least determine whether the horseʹs temperature is at or more than normal, even if it does not agree with DRT results.