BACKGROUND: Canine chronic enteropathies (CE) are a group of disorders defined by persistent or recurrent clinical signs of gastrointestinal disease without a primary neoplastic, metabolic, parasitic, or other infectious cause. In this prospective, multicentre, uncontrolled, open-label study, a commercial dry diet with a protein source of extensively hydrolysed poultry feather was assessed in the management of dogs with CE that had not responded to previous dietary and antibacterial therapies. Dogs with moderate or marked protein-losing enteropathy were excluded. After screening, dogs entered stage 1 and started the test diet. Gastrointestinal endoscopy was performed, and only dogs with histopathological evidence of small intestinal inflammation confirming CE could continue to stage 2 of the trial. The test diet was fed for 10 weeks throughout stages 1 and 2, and the primary outcome measure was clinical success defined as a reduction in canine inflammatory bowel disease activity index (CIBDAI) of ≥ 75%. Secondary outcomes included body condition score (BCS, scale 1-9) and faecal consistency score (scale 1-5). Results (median [range]) for dogs with confirmed CE that participated in both study stages are reported. RESULTS: A total of 15 dogs commenced stage 1, and 13 of these progressed to stage 2 (age 4.2 [1.1-7.1] years
BCS 3 (2-4)
previous diet therapies 2 [1-3]) of which two were withdrawn at week 5 for protocol deviations. CIBDAI scores decreased from 9 (7-16
n = 13) at baseline to 2 (1-11
n = 13) at week 2 (P <
0.001), 2 (0-6
n = 13) at week 5 (P <
0.001), and 1 (0-3
n = 11) at week 10 (P <
0.001). Treatment success was achieved by 8/13 dogs at week 5 and 10/11 dogs at week 10. Faecal score (n = 11) and BCS (n = 11) improved between baseline (1 [1-3] and 3 [3-4], respectively
P <
0.001) and week 10 (4 [3-5] and 4 [3-5], respectively
P <
0.001). CONCLUSIONS: Dogs with CE that had failed to respond to previous dietary and antibacterial therapy showed clinical improvement within 10 weeks when fed a dry extruded diet with a single protein source hydrolysed to amino acids and oligopeptides, without concurrent immunosuppressant treatment.