Zoetis – Vetscan Canine cPL Rapid Test – Box of 10

INTENDED USE  Pancreatitis in dogs is a painful and potentially fatal disease that can be difficult to diagnose due to non-specific signs of disease that are also present in many other ailments. Signs of pancreatitis may include: • Fever • Vomiting • Diarrhea • Anorexia • Dehydration • Lethargy • Restlessness • Depression • Abdominal pain • Elevated heart rate • Respiratory distress Inflammation of the pancreas can disrupt the flow of enzymes into the digestive tract and these enzymes can leak out of the pancreas into the abdominal cavity causing severe discomfort. The enzymes may begin to break down fat and proteins in the pancreas and may also affect nearby organs, such as the liver and kidneys. Pancreatitis can progress rapidly in dogs if not recognized and treated quickly. With timely treatment and monitoring, the illness may be cured without lasting damage to the organs. Inflammation of the pancreas leads to leakage of a substance, “pancreatic lipase,” into the peripheral blood stream. Published studies have shown abnormally elevated concentrations of pancreatic lipase in plasma and serum may be indicative of pancreatitis or another whole body inflammatory condition. Pancreatic lipase concentration in the peripheral blood is well accepted as a more reliable method of diagnosis than serum amylase or lipase activities (1,2). There are various sources for both lipase and amylase in the body which makes measuring these analytes an unreliable method for detecting pancreatitis (3). Thus, a pancreatic lipase assay is useful in determining the health of the pancreas; an elevated cPL is suggestive of pancreatitis. The VetScan cPL Rapid Test employs affinity purified antibodies that bind to canine pancreatic specific lipase to assess its concentration. These purified polyclonal antibodies are bound to colloidal gold particles and use a cross-species double antibody sandwich assay to visualize the presence of pancreatic lipase. Once bound to antibody-coated gold particles, the lipase flows through the strip and is captured by immobilized antibodies on the test strip. The accumulation of the captured gold particle/enzyme complex causes color to become visible on the Test line (T). Signal is further amplified by use of a competitive antibody calibration scheme employed on the Control line (C). The darkness of the lines is quantified by densitometric analysis in the VetScan VUE. The darkness of the test and control line correlate predictably with the concentration of pancreatic lipase in the sample. A Control Line (C) will always appear whether the sample is high or low. A Test line (T) may appear even in normal or healthy dogs – the presence of a test line is not necessarily indicative of abnormal levels of cPL. This test cannot be read visually – it must be read with a VetScan VUE.