2017 ACVIM Forum Research Abstract Program

A.-C. Duchaussoy 1 , K.L. Boedec 2 , C. Mansfield 3 . 1 UVET Hospital, Faculty of Veterinary and Agricultural Sciences, University of Melbourne, Moorabbin, Victoria, Australia, 2 Centre Hospitalier Veterinaire FREGIS, Arcueil, Ile-de-France, France, 3 UVET Hospital, Faculty of Veterinary and Agricultural Sciences, University of Melbourne, Werribee, Victoria, Australia Genetic, environmental, defective immune system and dysbiosis have been identified as main factors involved in the pathophysiology of chronic enteropathies. Short Chain Fatty Acids (SCFA) are volatile compounds that are directly correlated to the quantitative and qualitative bacterial population of the gastrointestinal tract. An increasing number of publications assessing gastrointestinal health and inflammation include SCFA measurements in fecal matter. However, there is scant information about the repeatability and reliability of SCFA analysis in dogs and cats. As SCFA are highly volatile and unstable, and our preliminary results in feces from both dogs and cats showed high variability for the same animal and between healthy animals, we investigated repeatability and variability of SCFA measurement.