Specificity of a canine pancreas-specific lipase assay for diagnosing pancreatitis in dogs without clinical or histologic evidence of the disease.

Objective: To evaluate the specificity of a canine pancreas-specific lipase (cPSL) assay for diagnosing pancreatitis in dogs without clinical or histologic evidence of the disease.

Animals: 20 dogs from another study with macroscopic evidence of pancreatitis and 44 dogs surrendered for euthanasia or expected to die.

Procedures: Prior to death, physical examination of each dog was performed and blood samples were collected for serum biochemical, serum cPSL, and hematologic analyses.