The swab-sampled dry fecal cytology in healthy dogs and in dogs with acute and chronic diarrhea: a pilot study

Dry-mount fecal cytology is a little explored procedure that is potentially useful for dogs with gastrointestinal diseases. This study describes fecal cytology using swab sampling in healthy dogs (HD) and in dogs with acute and chronic diarrhea. Forty HD, 40 dogs with acute diarrhea (AD; diarrhea < 5 days) and 40 dogs with chronic diarrhea (CD; diarrhea > 3 weeks) were also enrolled. Sixteen different cytological features were scored for each fecal sample. Twenty HD were used to establish normal reference range for each cytological feature. Exact tests were used to evaluate associations between the three groups. The presence of red blood cells, cocci bacterial monomorphism and spore-forming bacteria were significantly higher in AD than the HD. Neutrophils, lymphocytes and macrophages were significantly higher in AD and CD groups compared to HD. Plasma cells were significantly higher in CD and the HD and AD groups. Bacterial phagocytosis was significantly higher in AD group than CD and HD. In conclusion, swab-sampled fecal cytology, as a cheap and feasible procedure, can be a useful diagnostic and monitoring technique. Although, our pilot study results showed differences between HD and enteropathic dogs, further investigations are necessary.