Faecal analysis for maldigestion in pancreatectomised dogs

Faecal analysis for protease activity and the presence of undigested/unabsorbed food particles was done for four consecutive days on four pancreatectomised dogs fed a commercial complete pet food (Pal). All dogs produced faeces of similar appearance. The stools were bulky, light red-brown, well formed but soft and had a slight rancid odour. Generally, microscopic findings for undigested/unabsorbed food particles were similar. Starch was usually present in large quantities and often visible macroscopically when stained with Lugol's iodine. Undigested muscle fibres ranged from none to four per low powered field. The presence of large numbers of neutral fat droplets was inconsistent in Sudan III A stained faecal smears but Sudan III B stained faecal smears usually contained at least 20 neutral fat droplets with diameters greater than 20 microns per high powered field. Faecal protease activity was consistently low and varied between 0.5 and 2.8 azoalbumin units with the azoprotein method. No protease activity could be detected using the X-ray film gelatin digestion test.