Reproducibility of breath hydrogen concentration measurements in dogs after change of diet

Abstract

Objective - To assess reproducibility of breath hydrogen (H2) concentration measurements in dogs on 3 consecutive days after introduction of a new diet. Animals - 10 healthy colony-source dogs. Procedure - Dogs were fed a commercial pet food for a minimum of 10 days before introduction of a high-carbohydrate commercial diet. Expired breath samples were collected at baseline and every 90 minutes for 18 hours on the first 3 days after introduction of the new diet. The area under the curve (AUC) for breath H2 concentration versus time on days 1, 2, and 3 were compared by use of repeated-measures ANOVA. Results - The (AUC) did not differ significantly among test days 1, 2, and 3. Conclusions - Expired breath H2 concentration in dogs indicated good reproducibility during the first 3 days after introduction of a new diet. Clinical Relevance - It is not necessary to provide a period for adaptation to a test diet prior to performing breath H2 tests in dogs.