Understanding Pancreatitis in Dogs
Pancreatitis can occur in dogs as well; this is the inflammation of the
pancreas. This occurs when the active digestive enzymes leak into the tissues of
the pancreas. This can result in severe abdominal pain for your dog and as a
result they won’t eat normally. They can also suffer from vomiting and diarrhea.
If the pancreatitis is severe they can end up in sock or even collapsing. Some
dogs will suffer from chronic pancreatitis with the same symptoms but they won’t
be as severe.
The pancreas is more important to the body of your dog than you might think.
This is where digestive enzymes are products that are necessary for food to be
broken down into molecules that the body absorbs through the intestines. There
are special clusters of cells found in the pancreas that produce insulin. When
they aren’t functioning like they should, diabetes can form for your dog to have
to deal with as well.
Generally, it is the diagnosis of chronic pancreatitis that leads to diabetes
though. Very rarely will you find a dog with acute pancreatites and diabetes as
well. When diabetes is diagnosed you will need to pay close attention to the
insulin and to their blood sugar levels. Make sure you know what you are doing
though as too much insulin given to your dog can result in them going into
shock.
Those digestive enzymes that the pancreas makes are necessary for food to be
digested properly. This is a process that is commonly taken for granted until it
doesn’t work like it should. When there is leaking of these mechanisms then
pancreatitis is most likely to be developed. If your dog is overweight there is
a higher risk of this happening. When you keep your dog at a healthy weight you
significantly lower the risk of it developing.
A diet that is high in fat and low in protein tends to cause pancreatitis to
occur as well. This is very important to understand as it can only take one meal
like this to cause it for your dog. Many veterinarians will find a sharp
increase in these types of diagnosis around the holidays. That is because people
tend to give their dog’s leftover foods from these larger meals.
There are some types of medications given to dogs that can also result in
pancreatitis taking place. Prednisone isn’t one of them even though this is a
common myth out there. Plenty of testing has taken place to make sure this data
is valid. Those medications that have been linked to causing pancreatitis
include Azathioprine, Potassium Bromide which is commonly give for seizures, L-Asparaginase
which is given for chemotherapy, and Zinc.