DIABETES-MELLITUS IN DOGS - A STUDY OF THE CRITICAL DIFFERENCE FOR CANINE SERUM FRUCTOSAMINE

The purpose of this study was to calculate the critical difference bet ween two analytical measurements of serum fructosamine concentration i n dogs. The critical difference can be used to judge whether the diffe rence between two consecutive analytical results from the same animal is duc to natural variation. Blood samples from 15 apparently clinical ly healthy beagle dogs were collected once a week for six consecutive weeks. The serum fructosamine concentration was measured by the reduct ion test with nitroblue tetrazolium and the critical difference was ca lculated from the component of variance for weeks within dogs (sigma(s )(2)) and the residual variance (sigma(e)(2)). The critical difference between two consecutive analytical results was 33.5 mu mol/litre.