Even the foodiest dogs have days when they don’t want to eat anything. You might have had days with your dog when it does not want to eat anything and is even throwing up. As any pet owner, you wish for it to be just a passing thing, which is many times, but there is a chance your dog may be suffering from a condition called pancreatitis. The condition occurs if the pancreas of the dog, which an organ near the stomach that controls blood sugar and helps in digesting food, becomes inflamed. Pancreatitis can be a come and go condition, or it may stay for longer periods. In any case, your dog may need to be treated by a vet.
Symptoms
Often when a dog is suffering from pancreatitis it loses appetite, vomits everything it eats, has belly pain, etc. Some other symptoms are fever or low body temperature, diarrhea. The dog may have a hard time breathing and not energy along with dehydration and irregular heartbeat.
If you notice some of these symptoms in your dog for more than a day, or if they keep coming back take your dog to the vet and have it diagnosed for pancreatitis. There are chances that it could be pancreatitis, but it could be something else too. Either way, there is no harm in getting it checked out.
Causes of pancreatitis
The exact cause of the pancreas irritation is unknown to experts, but some breeds, especially schnauzers, are more prone to it than others. Old and overweight dogs are also more prone to the disease. But pancreatitis may have some other reasons too; it may be a side effect of a drug prescribed to the dog after surgery. More commonly unhealthy eating habits like a fatty meal, bacon grease, or table scraps, trigger it. Dogs usually recover on their own from mild cases, but if it is severe, it can sometimes lead to even death if not treated.
In medical terms, the pancreas normally produces enzymes in an inactive state that travel through the pancreatic duct to the duodenum, a part of the small intestine. Once the enzymes reach the small intestine, they get activated to begin the digestion process. The pancreatitis condition means that these enzymes are activated prematurely in the pancreas only instead of the small intestine later. It can be seen as if a time-release capsule suddenly bursts before reaching its intended target. Similarly, in pancreatitis cases, the pancreatic enzymes start the digestion mechanism before they should. This results in digestion of the organ pancreas itself. The clinical signs of pancreatitis are diverse, and the intensity of the disease depends upon the number of enzymes that were prematurely activated in the pancreas.
How is pancreatitis diagnosed?
Pancreatitis is diagnosed with a blood test, which usually reveals an elevated white blood cell count. As previously mentioned, pancreatitis is difficult to diagnose because an elevated white blood cell count can be a sign of many other diseases besides pancreatitis. The most helpful criteria in detecting pancreatic disease are the elevation of pancreatic enzymes in the blood but, even that is not 100%reliable because some dogs, even with pancreatitis, have normal enzyme levels. In recent years, a new pancreatic test has come up that can quite accurately diagnose pancreatitis, even if pancreatic enzymes levels are normal.
Ultrasound studies often provide a diagnosis of inflammation of the pancreas or local peritonitis that may be caused by this condition. Unfortunately, some dogs with pancreatitis, especially chronic pancreatitis, are not diagnosed as they escape detection with many of the other tests. The diagnosis of pancreatitis is presumptive in most cases.
Treatment
Alike any treatment, the vet may try to figure out what caused pancreatitis and then try to deal with that cause first. For example, if your dog’s pancreatitis is a side effect of a drug, then the vet may take the dog off it. If the condition is related to diet, the vet may put it on prescription food.
Sometimes it is harder to figure out the reason that may have caused the condition, so the focus shifts to comforting the dog. If there is no treatment to practice, then the vet will try to keep the dog as comfortable as possible until the attack of pancreatitis passes.
For the first 24 hours of treatment, it is recommended to keep the dog off food and water. Pain suppressors are injected directly into the blood. This is done to give the pancreas a rest. Giving your dog IV fluids is common as it is not eating the fluids will keep the body running. It is a common procedure for pancreatitis.
As the owner your job to make sure that your dog does not get dehydrated. To do that you will have to give it a lot of water. The dog may need medication for pain, too. The vet will probably prescribe drugs to help ease nausea and vomiting.
When your dog starts eating again, you have to feed it a low-fat diet so that it is easy on the pancreas. The easy to digest food will be the diet for a few days. Your vet will inform you about the food options and the changes that need to be made. If case this was a single sudden pancreatitis attack, it is a good idea to stick with a low-fat diet for a week or so. However, if your dog has experienced multiple episodes, then the low-fat diet should be the new permanent diet for a lifetime.
Preventive care
The best prevention of pancreatitis is to watch the dog’s diet. Make sure the diet does not include too much high-fat food. Your dog is different from you. Hence it needs different food too. Don’t cave against those puppy eyes; they don’t need to eat human food. Keep your garbage bins secure and closed. More cases of pancreatitis are reported during holidays because owners let their dogs eat high-fat food.
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