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Abstract
The objective of our first study was to identify correlations between enteric histological lesions and the severity of clinical signs in ferrets with inflammatory bowel disease (IBD). No significant correlation was identified using 2 grading schemes developed for cats and dogs. After dividing the histologic samples into groups based on clinical severity, other histologic characteristics that differed between groups were identified, and those correlated with clinical severity. The established retrospective grading scheme may have clinical utility in determining severity of IBD in ferrets. The objective of our second study was to determine the agreement in the diagnosis of IBD versus lymphoma reached solely using hematoxylin and eosin (HE)-stained sections versus using a combination of HE and immunohistochemistry (IHC). Results suggest that while IHC is not necessary to distinguish IBD from intestinal lymphoma in ferrets, it can be a useful tool in ambiguous cases.