Originally Posted by Yorkiemom1  There are occult blood strips that you can buy at the pharmacy. These strips detect blood any place it is....human stool, baby stool, dog stool, counter top, floor, etc.
"A small amount of fresh stool is all that is needed. The veterinarian or veterinary technician may collect stool material directly from the pet's rectum using a gloved finger, or the pet owner may be asked to provide a sample of fresh stool from the pet. Ideally, the stool sample should be less than 24 hours old.Blood contains a substance called hemoglobin. When a stool sample containing blood is placed on a special testing material, the chemical activity of hemoglobin causes a visible color change in the testing material. This color change signals the presence of blood.
Although the fecal occult blood test is simple and easy, it may give incorrect results in certain situations.
For example, the test may fail if blood is not distributed evenly throughout the stool sample, or if bleeding occurs intermittently rather than continuously. In these situations, the amount of blood in the stool will be quite variable and as a result a particular stool sample could show Negative for occult blood, even though there is blieeding the digestive system.
"Diet can affect the accuracy of the fecal occult blood test."
Diet can also affect the accuracy of the fecal occult blood test. If a pet eats raw or undercooked meat, raw vegetables, or even some types of canned food, the test for fecal occult blood may be positive, even though the pet is not bleeding into the digestive tract. To avoid this problem, the veterinarian may suggest feeding dry kibble exclusively for 3 days prior to the test, and recommend that meat, meat scraps, and raw vegetables not be fed to the pet during this interval.
Because of variability in the success of the fecal occult blood test, your veterinarian may suggest repeating the test to ensure an accurate diagnosis.....".
It is my understanding you can possibly get false positives, but not a false negative if there is any blood present at all and it comes in contact with that test strip. Go buy you some strips and do your own test! |