¹Department of Small Animals and Horses, Equine Clinic, Section Internal Medicine and Infectious Diseases, University of Veterinary Medicine Vienna, Veterinärplatz 1, 1210 Vienna, AUSTRIA DOI : 10.9775/kvfd.2017.17760 The respiratory efforts of the thorax and abdominal muscles of donkeys have not adequately been quantified. According to our knowledge, there is no objective, non-invasive monitoring system of lung mechanics in donkeys. This study is the first to describe the nature of thoracoabdominal asynchrony in donkeys. From 22 June 2016 to 19 January 2017 in turn all donkeys (n=18) owned by the Schlosshof GmbH were used for this study. The aim of this study was to analyse the differences of thoracic and abdominal excursions during breathing by using Respiratory Ultrasound Plethysmography (RUP). Synchronisation, rhythm and relative contribution of the thoracic and abdominal muscles were analysed. The final goal was to contribute to a reference data base for diagnostic purposes and find out if RUP could be a simple diagnostic technique for use in the field. The RUP system in its current form is too sensitive to signal noise and generated data are difficult to quantify. Nevertheless, using an alternative algorithm the respiratory strategy of healthy and coughing donkeys appeared different. Keywords : Donkey pulmonary function, Respiratory ultrasound plethysmography, Thoracic abdominal asynchrony