The effect of gender and season on tear secretion in rabbits

In this study, the effect of gender and season on tear secretion in rabbits was carried out to investigate. We profit by the resource of Adnan Menderes University, Facult of Veterinary Medicine, Department of Surgery and Adnan Menderes University, Experimental Animals Unit. In this study, we used 12 New Zeland white rabbit, 6 female and 6 male, which have healty eyes. The rabbits were divided into two groups as male and female and numbered. Schirmer tear test was applied per mount for a year, on the first five days and 14th, 21st and 28th days of each mount at 9:00-11:00 am. Right and left eyes were evaluated separately for comparison and the values were noted.In conclusion, our study revealed that tear secretion of female rabbits is statistically significantly lower than male rabbits. The comparison of seasons presented that the difference between the seasons is statistically significant.Key words: Rabbit, Schirmer tear test, tear secretion, gender, season.