Amylase Lipase Serum activity of these enzymes is measured as an (imperfect) aid to the clinical diagnosis of pancreatic injury. Idiopathic inflammatory disease (acute-to-chronic pancreatitis) is the most common disease entity (mainly dogs, occasionally cats, rarely, horses). Less commonly, pancreatic tumors (adenocarcinoma) or trauma (HBC) can be the cause of clinical signs and elevated enzyme activity. With regard to the diagnosis of pancreatitis, results must be interpreted in light of the history and clinical signs in the patient, and correlated with physical, radiographic, hematologic, and other clinical chemistry findings: vomiting, diarrhea, history of recent fatty meal, table scraps, garbage ingestion painful abdomen, dehydration, sometimes icterus hazy cranial abdomen on plain films neutrophilic leukocytosis azotemia (often), lipemia (sometimes), hypocalcemia (occasionally), cholestasis Newer tests, such as trypsin-like immunoreactivity (TLI) can be used to diagnose pancreatitis and are thought to be more sensitive than measurement of these enzymes in dogs. Values of TLI are increased in pancreatitis in dogs (although there is an overlap in TLI values in normal dogs and dogs with pancreatitis). Furthermore, TLI is not predictive of severity of pancreatitis in dogs. Unfortunately, diagnosis of pancreatitis in cats is very difficult as elevations in either amylase or lipase are inconsistent and recent studies indicate that TLI values are not always increased in cats with confirmed pancreatitis. Other diagnostic procedures, such as abdominal ultrasonography, are used to aid in the diagnosis of pancreatitis in cats.