To date, factors such as anorexia, hypoalbuminemia and hypoproteinemia have been reported to be associated with poor prognosis in dogs with chronic enteropathy [1, 7, 19]. However, no significant differences in symptoms or laboratory findings were detected between the Shiba and non-Shiba groups. Interpretation of clinical signs is inevitably subjective and might have some effect on the results. Recently, clinical indices to assess the severity of canine IBD (canine inflammatory bowel disease activity index (CIBDAI)) and canine chronic enteropathy (canine chronic enteropathy activity index (CCECAI)) have been described, and some studies have indicated their clinical usefulness [1,14, 16]. In the present study, however, data for CIBDAI or CCECAI could not be obtained because of the retrospective study design.