question about Fpli testing

Morris had a Fpli test done in Feb which confirmed that he was indeed having his first pancreatitis flare. I was speaking with my vet yesterday & she was saying that she would like to repeat that test again in the near future (he has not had any p~itis problems since recovering from that first flare).

My question.....is this test worth doing if the cat is not having p~itis symptoms? Should he have a 'normal' range result now since he does not have any symptoms?

Just curious if you think this is a reasonable request or not. The test itself is not all that expensive, if combined with other labwork. He does not really need to have any other labwork done right now...if this test is not needed when he is symptom free, I may ask my vet if we could delay this test until the fall when Morris is due for his yearly full check-up.

 

I believe the only time the test is accurate is if it is done during a flare up

 

My vet goes by Gandalf's Amylase value now, since we had the fPLI test done to confirm his first attack. His Amylase value during the first episode was in the 1900s on the Idexx lab test. So when he was puking and not eating again 3 months later, they did blood work and his Amylase was again in the 1900s, so that was evidence enough for them to diagnose his second flare.

There are a few other things measured on the fPLI test such as Cobalamin & Folate, which may indicate deficiencies with those. Perhaps an ultrasound would be a good idea if that was not done during or soon after the flare. It would show the health of the pancreas now - whether it's inflamed or has nodules. We did that a couple weeks following resolution of p-titis symptoms and it revealed inflammation as well as nodules, which have since subsided on follow-up US 5 months later.

Blood work for Gandalf's recent dental showed his Amylase in the 1100s (1500 is high end of normal) and he is symptom free and eating well. FYI, according to my definitions paper they gave me, high amylase can also be associated with kidney disease.

Hope this helps. If you have blood work from that first episode, check the Amylase. It was probably significantly elevated. But then Gandalf's fPLI test was 28.7 when high normal is 3.5! So no wonder his Amylase was 1900+!

And probably by the time you've gone through p-titis again, you won't need the Amylase even to tell you it's a flare!

 

H has had the fPLI several times - every time high and every time he was not in a flare at the time. So I don't think it is just when they are having a flare.

The accuracy can be affected by sample handling and not fasting though. Did you get your results though Idexx or the Texas A&M? If Texas A&M then it's important to send the sample off on a Monday FedEx or UPS overnight on a frozen gel pack. USPS causes unnecessary delays in university mail systems. And samples arriving at the end of the week can sit unnecessarily over the weekend. For one of our vets we give them our FedEx number to send sample off.

If the cat is having a Pflare is is pretty obvious - they are in pain, perhaps vomiting and not eating. Attention need to be given to treat it. The treatment for a flare is fairly symptomatic: liquids, pain meds etc. None of these things are horrible for a cat to have anyway.

So in my experience the test is 1000% useful to know that the cat HAS [chronic in our case] pancreatitis and perhaps to monitor the progress of any long term treatment. But it sounds like you may already know that your kitty suffers from this and I'm not sure of any long term treatment you have undertaken. So in the case of a flare, emphasis should be on treating the symptoms when they arrive. It can take days to get result for fPLI in the mean time if it is jumped on you may get lucky and have smothered the fire by treating it.