Source: AVMA
The American College of Veterinary Internal Medicine (ACVIM) has endorsed updated guidance on diagnosing and treating canine chronic inflammatory enteropathy (CIE), emphasizing dietary trials and discouraging routine antibiotic use. Published January 21 in the Journal of Veterinary Internal Medicine, the consensus statement reflects more than a decade of new research since the 2010 guidelines.
CIE remains a diagnosis of exclusion, but the updated recommendations promote a stepwise, two-tier diagnostic approach based on disease severity and patient factors. Notably, 38%–89% of dogs with CIE respond to dietary modification, making food trials the preferred first-line diagnostic and therapeutic step for clinically stable dogs. The guidance advises reserving antibiotics for cases that fail other treatments due to relapse risk and long-term gut dysbiosis. Additional recommendations include assessing nutritional status, using disease activity indices, and limiting fecal cultures to high-risk cases. The update also highlights emerging roles for microbiome analysis, digital health tools, and artificial intelligence in managing CIE.