Response to letter regarding “ACVIM consensus statement on pancreatitis in cats”

During the 18-month period the consensus statement was crafted by the expert panel, we spent more than 40 working hours as a team in addition to individual time working on sections and produced more than 100 drafts, which led to a document of approximately 14 000 words. [...]we had no choice but to remove some content. Dr Kook and Dr Oppliger cite 1 study that showed a correlation of 1 1,2-o-dilauryl-rac-glycero-3-glutaric acid-(6'-methylresorufin) ester (DGGR)-lipase assay and Spec feline pancreas-specific lipase (fPL) with a Spearman r of .82 and refer to such agreement as “almost perfect.” While we agree that this is important, the authors of the consensus panel would like to note that turn-around time for a DGGR-based lipase assay should be no faster than that for fPLI as currently, almost all DGGR-based assays have to be performed by a clinical pathology laboratory rather than in-clinic. [...]while there may be a turn-around advantage for clinicians at academic institutions, this would not translate to a similar advantage to the veterinary profession at large.