Comparison of total white blood cell count and total protein content of lumbar and cisternal cerebrospinal fluid of healthy dogs.

Lumbar and cisternal CSF from 31 healthy dogs were analyzed and compared statistically. The mean total protein of the lumbar CSF samples was 28.68 mg/dl; the mean total protein of cisternal CSF was 13.97 mg/dl. The mean total WBC count of lumbar CSF was 0.55 cells/microliter; the mean WBC count of cisternal CSF was 1.45 cells/microliter. Statistical analysis indicated that the protein and WBC differences between the 2 types of CSF were significant (P = less than 0.001 and P = less than 0.01, respectively).