Peer-reviewed veterinary case report
Blood test for diagnosing pancreatic insufficiency in cats
By Steiner, J M & Williams, D A·Published in Journal of veterinary internal medicine·2000·Department of Small Animal Medicine and Surgery, United States·View original on PubMed →
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Original publication title: Serum feline trypsin-like immunoreactivity in cats with exocrine pancreatic insufficiency.
- Species:
- cat
Plain-English summary
A group of 20 cats with low levels of a specific enzyme (feline trypsin-like immunoreactivity) were tested for exocrine pancreatic insufficiency (EPI), a condition where the pancreas doesn't produce enough digestive enzymes. In 17 of these cats, strong evidence confirmed they had EPI, while the other 3 showed some supportive signs. This study suggests that measuring this enzyme level can help diagnose EPI in cats more accurately. If your cat is showing signs of weight loss, poor appetite, or diarrhea, it might be worth discussing this test with your veterinarian.
People also search for: cat weight loss symptoms · feline pancreatic insufficiency treatment · cat diarrhea causes
Abstract
Exocrine pancreatic insufficiency is thought to occur rarely in cats. This assumption has been made based on the lack of a specific test for this disease in the cat. Clinical data from the 1st 20 cats with serum feline trypsin-like immunoreactivity (fTLI) concentrations < or = 8 microg/L are presented. In 17 of these 20 cats compelling evidence for a diagnosis of exocrine pancreatic insufficiency (EPI) was present and in the remaining 3 supportive evidence for a diagnosis of EPI was available. The conclusion was made that serum fTLI concentration is a specific test for EPI in the cat.
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Search related cases →Original publication on PubMed: https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/11110385/