If Your Dog is Diagnosed with Pancreatitis

Pancreatitis in dogs varies in severity, and the best treatment for your dog depends on the stage of the condition.

27

Your dog has lost his appetite and perhaps has started to have unremitting episodes of vomiting, and maybe diarrhea, too, not to mention fever. And when you go to touch or hold him around his abdomen, it’s clear that the pressure is causing him pain. Get him to the vet’s office. He may have pancreatitis, and it needs to be treated. It’s not going to go away on its own.

dog with pancreatitis

The pancreas, an organ located in the abdominal cavity near the stomach, has two functions. One is to help regulate blood sugar; cells in the pancreas called islet cells secrete the hormone insulin, which allows sugar to be removed from the bloodstream and be taken up by all the cells in the body, where it fuels the various cellular functions. The pancreas’s other role is to secrete enzymes that aid in digestion by breaking down food in the small intestine so it can be absorbed into the bloodstream and used to nourish all the dog’s tissues. But when pancreatitis develops, those digestive enzymes misfire.

Normally, explains Tufts veterinarian Linda Ross, DVM, an expert in all things gastrointesintal tract, the pancreatic enzymes that aid in digestion go through the pancreatic duct right to the small intestine where they break nutrients like carbohydrates and fats into smaller components so they can be directly taken up by the blood. But sometimes, instead of going through the duct, these enzymes “escape the cells” where they’re manufactured and “actually start digesting the cells of the pancreas” itself, Dr. Ross explains. That causes inflammation of that organ; hence, the term “pancreatitis” – the suffix “itis” means inflammation.

Once the escaped enzymes start digesting the pancreas itself, that leads to more inflammation, and it “gets into a vicious cycle,” says Dr. Ross.

Pancreatitis Cases in Dogs Increase at Holiday Time

“We see a lot of pancreatitis in dogs after Thanksgiving, Christmas, and Easter,” Dr. Ross notes. Why?

The most common cause of pancreatitis in a dog is the ingestion of a lot of fat. “People feed a lot of high-fat treats in the wake of these holidays, or the dog gets hold of them inadvertently,” the veterinarian notes. The fat then increases the production of the digestive enzymes in the pancreas, which is what gets the process going.

There are also a number of other things that can predispose a dog to developing pancreatitis.

  • Breed. “There are some breeds,” says Dr. Ross, “particularly schnauzers, that can have a genetic defect that causes their blood lipids, or fats, to remain elevated, thereby raising the risk that too many digestive enzymes will be secreted by the pancreas and start eating away at it. Terriers also are predisposed, she says, although “we don’t know why. It just is.”
  • Disease. Certain diseases cause more fat in the blood. These include diabetes and Cushing’s disease.
  • Drugs. Cortisone, a commonly used medicine prescribed for dogs to treat everything from allergies to certain cancers to diseases that affect the immune system, can set the stage for the development of pancreatitis. Others drugs can, too, but they are not used nearly as frequently.
  • Trauma. If a dog gets hit by a car, the impact can damage the pancreas to the point that it overshoots the mark in enzyme secretion. The pancreas can also become traumatized inadvertently during an abdominal surgery taking place on a nearby organ or tissue. The pancreatic trauma causes leakage of enzymes from the enzyme-producing cells, and they go and attack other parts of the pancreas.
  • Obesity. “So much of pancreatitis is related to fat,” Dr. Ross comments. Obesity is no exception and can make a dog more likely to develop the disease.

Making a Pancreatitis Diagnosis

Neither you nor the veterinarian will be able to make a definitive diagnosis based on the way the dog acts or feels. Signs and symptoms occur along a continuum — it’s not a fixed set of specifics. For instance, sometimes a case of pancreatitis is mild enough that you won’t even think to take your dog to the doctor. He may just not seem himself for a day or two, vomit once or twice, and then recover. It’s as benign as if he ate too much grass.

On the other hand, some dogs can suffer severe, recurrent vomiting episodes, diarrhea, and fever (from the inflammation, which sometimes spreads even to tissues in the abdomen near the pancreas). They’ll get dehydrated. They might also be in a lot of pain — picking them up by the belly can prove excruciating for them. In the illness’s most severe form — acute necrotizing pancreatitis — cells of the pancreas are actually dying, which can prove fatal for the dog.

In the middle of the curve, though, are loss of appetite, vomiting, pain, maybe some distention of the abdomen. Then, if it gets worse, there can be dehydration, kidney problems, perhaps even heart arrhythmias. Jaundice can occur, too. “The pancreas is right next to the liver,” Dr. Ross points out, “so sometimes the inflammation spreads there.” In addition, she notes, “the pancreatic duct and the bile duct connecting to the liver are right together, so the bile duct can also become compressed by inflammation. That’s what actually causes the dog to become jaundiced, or yellow.” (Because dogs’ skin is almost completely covered by hair, jaundice is often easiest to appreciate in the gums or the whites of the eyes.)

If your dog’s signs are very mild, “often times we don’t even run tests,” Dr. Ross says. The doctor doesn’t need to because treatment is the same whether it’s a mild stomach upset or mild pancreatitis: withhold food and sometimes water for 36 to 48 hours, then reintroduce food gradually via a bland diet.

But if symptoms are more severe, tests are called for. The arsenal of diagnostic testing for pancreatitis includes the following:

  • Complete Blood Count. “That would help us look for inflammation,” Dr. Ross says. If there’s inflammation, “the dog’s white blood cell count will be increased.”
  • Chemistry profile. Also performed with a blood draw, a chemistry profile will look at evidence for increased fat in the blood, particularly in the form of triglycerides.
  • Pancreatic enzymes.There’s a test to see whether the levels of two pancreatic enzymes have increased. These are amylase (which helps digest carbohydrates) and lipase (which helps digest fat). This is a more specific test for pancreatitis than a complete blood count or a chemistry profile. But, says Dr. Ross, “there can be false positives and false negatives,” so you can’t view the results with 100 percent confidence.

In fact, no one test provides a definitive diagnosis for pancreatitis. “You have to put all the test results together, then add in the dog’s clinical signs, and come up with a probable diagnosis from there,” Dr. Ross says. The only gold standard test for a foolproof diagnosis is a biopsy. “But you don’t want to do that,” she says. “It’s invasive, and it inherently means you’re going to be going in and damaging the pancreas and making things worse.”

pancreatitis in dogs

Beth Mellow

Fortunately, blood work can reveal more than just white blood cell count and the amount of fat in the blood. A low blood calcium level can also be indicative of pancreatitis. Consider that the release of digestive enzymes by the pancreas leads to the saponification of fat, which literally means soap formation. Calcium is involved in that reaction, so the lower the blood calcium, presumably, the more that has been precipitated out of the blood to participate in that chemical process.

Blood work can also show telltale elevations in liver enzymes. Again, because the pancreas is right next to the liver, pancreatitis can affect that organ’s ability to properly regulate its own enzyme release system.

Finally, there’s a test that many vets call a cPLI, which stands for circulating pancreatic-lipase immune reactivity. But this, too, can have false negatives and false positives, “so it’s not a 100 percent indication,” says Dr. Ross. “It’s just another test whose results we look at combined with all the others.”

If the damage to the pancreas is unusually extensive, or there’s a tremendous amount of inflammation, sometimes the islet cells there that release insulin in order to regulate blood sugar stop working properly, and the vet will see too high a concentration of sugar in the bloodstream. “That usually goes away when the pancreatitis gets better,” Dr. Ross says, “but occasionally results in permanent diabetes.”

Along with blood tests, a veterinarian might be able to zero in on pancreatitis with diagnostic imaging, an ultrasound in particular. There are signs on an ultrasound that provide an indication of inflammation of the pancreas. A vet will also use an ultrasound to look for cysts or abscesses that may form within the pancreas during pancreatitis.

Treating a Dog’s Pancreatitis

Mild cases of pancreatitis can be treated on an outpatient basis. As we said before, all you have to do is withhold food and water for 36 to 48 hours and then reintroduce food with a bland diet. “One of the key things is to make sure to feed a diet that’s low fat,” says Dr. Ross. “A typical low-fat diet for the short term,” she says, “is rice and skinless chicken breast, microwaved or baked. You can also use lean ground beef,” she adds but notes that “I always find it has more fat than the chicken. Low-fat cottage cheese can be used as well. It depends on what the dog will eat.”

You can also choose a low-fat over-the-counter diet or low-fat prescription diet, checking with your veterinarian, or perhaps a veterinary nutritionist, to see which brands meet the necessary requirements.

How long should the dog remain on a low-fat meal plan? “If the pancreatitis is on the mild side and was caused by your pet’s getting into the Christmas turkey,” Dr. Ross says, “it might not need to be long-term — just until your dog is better.”

More severe cases of pancreatitis are going to require more involved treatment. “If your dog is vomiting a lot and is dehydrated or is running a fever, the vet will likely recommend hospitalization,” says Dr. Ross. “She will give intravenous fluids to correct any dehydration and will keep the dog from eating or drinking for a period of time that might go longer than a day and a half to two days. New studies are questioning whether that’s totally necessary,” she says. “But for now, the standard is to withhold food and water until the dog is no longer vomiting or is no longer nauseated. You can tell a dog is suffering from nausea if he’s licking his lips a lot. If the nausea is severe, he may have a lot of drooling.”

The vet will most likely also give the dog some medication to stop the vomiting. Pain medication often goes into the treatment protocol, too. The pain experienced by a dog with severe pancreatitis can be “almost as bad as appendicitis pain,” Dr. Ross remarks. (What the dog will most likely not get is antibiotics. “In people,” says Dr. Ross, “pancreatitis is often associated with infection. That’s usually not true in dogs.”)

In the most dire of cases, a dog can become critically ill. The pancreatitis can cause inflammation throughout the body, requiring intensive care. “A dog can develop blood clots, kidney failure, fluid in both the abdomen and the chest,” says Dr. Ross. If not properly handled or if the disease rages out of control too fast, death can ensue.

To help a dog heal, he will be kept in the hospital on his cocktail of different treatments until his fever goes away; he’s hydrated again; he has stopped vomiting; and he is experiencing no more abdominal pain. Even then he cannot go home right away. “We’ll start him back on some water to drink. If the dog does okay with that, we’ll go to tiny amounts of a bland diet — and make sure he can deal with it before moving forward. Then we’ll gradually wean him off the IV fluids, finally sending him home on a low-fat diet. How long he stays on it depends on how severe the disease is. Sometimes we recommend it permanently.”

Preventing a Pancreatitis Recurrence in Your Dog

For most dogs, preventing a recurrence means no fatty meat, no gravy, no sweet potatoes or other vegetables made with loads of oil, no buttery desserts….you get the drift. That’s generally all it takes to make sure pancreatitis doesn’t repeat itself in your dog. But if the dog is on a diet that the vet determines is high-fat, or at least higher in fat than necessary, she may advise you to go with a different formula — again, sometimes for a while, sometimes permanently. It depends on the severity of the bout of pancreatitis the dog just went through. In most cases, it will have been moderate to mild. Keep the trash can tightly sealed, and keep your dog away from your own rich foods.

27 COMMENTS

  1. I swear on the Holy Bible if my dog makes it through this pancreatitis I will not give human food ever again unless it’s highly recommended for a dog suffering from pancreatitis. I will put her in my room while I eat my dinner so those puppy dog eyes don’t get to me. I just need my best friend home with me and I want her to live a long and healthy life. She is 7 and I hope to see her live until 16/17. I learned a very valuable lesson I hope. I feel terrible looking back and seeing all the bad foods I was giving her. I’m to blame if anything happens to her. Pup cups from Starbucks, butter on bread, bacon, candy licks, ice cream, buttered popcorn.. a list to long. I shared it all with her and had no idea what could happen. I think anyone with a dog or a first time dog owner should be aware of this condition and how easily it can happen.

    • Our dog Rosie who is nearly 8 was hospitalised and the vet told us her best option is to put her down when the vet came to our house the next day she stopped and looked at her again and told us she will make it through it. She now recovering at home after only 24 hours in hospital. I know it’s been a week or 2 since your comment but I hope your doggy is feeling better I will never be giving her human food ever again 💔 I feel ya I don’t know what I’d do without my girl

    • I feel your pain ‘ I’m in the same boat with my baby girl she’s a chihuahua 7 years old and I thought I had killed her for sure , Thank god for her wonderful vet she’s not at 100% yet but she’s home with me 3 days before Christmas and doing better ,

    • I see this was a little over a year ago. I hope your sweet dog is doing okay. Ours is newly diagnosed. He spent the night in the ER on IV fluids and meds. We bought the Science Diet food and she said we could cook chicken breasts and rice. He just got back from our regular vet with another foster up and he told us absolutely no chicken and no food other than the prescribed dog food. I feel terrible! We did this to him. Now he has to go for
      3 days with no food or water! I don’t think I can take it. I feel horrible and how can he survive with no water for 3 days?

  2. I believe this may have killed my dog. I made him low fat beef in slow cooker in august and he threw up 20 times in 24 hours. er said mild pancreatitis and sent him home. He never recovered and lost 5 pounds from august through nov 12. nov 12 began to choke. er said xrays normal. nov 28 had seizure. low calcium, pancreatic enzymes 20 times normal, sky high kidney values. i brought him home dec 1 as the hospital gave up. he died in my arms dec 2. he was my service dog and my whole heart. i knew it was a serious disease and i gave him low fat but i swear thi killed him. im waiting for autopsy results to know exactly what happened.

  3. I want to thank you so much for your wisdom, knowledge, experience and advice. I have been trying to keep my dog alive since I got her 5 years ago as a 9 week old puppy. She has been a guiding light for me when I am in a bout of Bipolar Depression and anxiety. I have always tried to feed her healthy foods but she still becomes extremely ill at times with pancreatitis episodes that I feel like she won’t pull through. I am going to take your advice and follow it to the best of my abilities. Thank you

  4. My 12yr old dachshund vomited from a beef hotdog 1st week in Feb for almost 6days but she was drinking lots of water took her to vet he done blood work said it was pancreatitis white blood cells were a little elevated gave her an antibiotic. Metronidazole and a nausea pill cerinea and said she was dehydrated gave fluids and said to give the metronizole every 12hours and she would recover. She drank plenty of water on the medicine but she refused to eat the bland diet. 2nd week in Feb she still refused food so the Feb 11 took back and informed them still no eating. He then gave me a recovery food. And entice. Still refuses all foods. The recovery food I had to give 5ml thru a syringe and she pooped finally Tuesday all out. And was drinking fine but after I let them know she still refusing her bland diet or anything just to get her to eat. Still no food and since Tuesday night of this week she now refusing her water. I can’t afford alk these pymts when I first took her I asked for xrays. But her vet said it was a little pancreatitis and she probably would recover. She still refuses to eat and now she isn’t taking metronidazole nor the nausea pill. But still she looks at water and food and stares at it but doesn’t touch it. So what could it be. The metronidazole gives dog a bitter taste and now she doesn’t wana drink nor eat she getting very weak. Have any suggestion she is my life beside my parents and family.

    • Has she had an abdominal ultrasound? If not, I would do that next. My 16 yo chihuahua is going through it now. Don’t know what caused it. Was having gelatinous diarrhea every 2 hours. The ERs have been full. Our vet kept him for the day on Friday and Saturday. Gave him fluids, long acting antibiotic, med for nausea and diarrhea. He would perk up by the time we picked him up. But as the night went on, he would withdraw and not feel well. He is eating a bland diet without difficulty. I add extra water to his food. His labs showed elevated kidney numbers ( hopefully just from dehydration), elevated liver numbers and elevated
      cPL. We are scheduled to see internal medicine tomorrow for evaluation with ultrasound. I’m so nervous.

    • How is your pup doing now? My dog won’t take the pills either so my vet is having me dissolve them in water and use the oral syringe

    • i feel really bad for you. i have a 12 year old bulldog boxer mix who has been diagnosed with severe pancreatitis it is constantly touch and go some days she will eat and others she wont i have been giving her the id prescription diet recommended by my vet.this morning she would not touch it she had diahrrea episodes last night which is indicative of the disease.i too am racking up very high vet bills i have pet insurance do you if not suggest you look into it if you are able may help with payments i dont care about the money so much this is a real emotional toll on me i really want her to pull through i know how nerve wracking this can be i cant take any more any suggestions out there

  5. My dog Charlie is a 10 year old collie, a week ago today I thought I’d treat him to a bone. What a mistake, by Tuesday I was at the vets with him, feeling not well, by Wednesday night he was admitted he was very very poorly inflammation levels through the roof, temperature high ,wouldn’t eat or drink, I thought I was going to loose him, the vet diagnosed pancreatitis, they’ve pulled in through and he’s now home after 4 half days in hospital. It’s looking like a slow process with him as he’s not that interested in food..
    Fingers crossed now hes on low fat
    diet , he will make a full recovery…
    I’d like to say.Thanks to the vets

  6. My 13 yr old chihuahua has had bouts of pancreatitis every couple of weeks since March 2022, I feed nothing but vet prescribed dog food and only very small amounts every few hours. Yet still keeps flaring up! I honestly can’t afford to take her to vet each time. At no less than $200 each time is unaffordable for me!
    I feel so bad, but I’ve spent over $1800 in just the last few months
    I don’t know what else to do
    Please any suggestions?

  7. Pancreatitis is the worst thing to deal with. I told my vet the cost is killing me so I got the IV to do myself at home I give the nausea pill by crushing it & mixing it with a little water & giving by the mouth. I always feel so guilty thinking I fed him something cause he won’t eat bland diet good. I still so cautious with his food & no fat none of the recommended dog foods work. It’s so hard to do & breaks my heart on every flare up. U have someone looking at u so sick & u done everything & I feeling guilty thinking maybe I gave him too much food the day before flare ups ??? I just keep trying & treating him & pray it won’t happen again but it does!

  8. My 13 year old poodle has. Mild case of pancretatis t took him to the vet on Monday fluid for dehydration antibiotic and pill for upset stomach. Now it’s Wednesday I soak his low-fat food from vet in water to make it soft because for some reason he will not drink water at all. Will this keep him from dehydrating? He is keeping the food down and urinating and pooping ok all he wants to do is sleep. I am so worried please any advice

  9. My little yorkie was vomiting a lot so I took her to vet they diagnosed her with pancreatits and gave her fluids and anti vomit meds and a few cans of food and antibiotics and sent us home. With no knowledge on her diagnosis or any info or what to expect. I didn’t know how serious it was. By time we got home she was vomiting blood and couldn’t hold her bowels. Being a Friday vet had left already, I called emergency and the said they didn’t have any room for her, they would have to transfer her to a different city an hour away. I didn’t think she would make it. I started to give her water and pedialyte by syringe every 1/2 hr. She was so weak she couldn’t even hold up her head. We both fell asleep and I woke up after about an hour and we were both saturated in water and blood, she wasn’t able to hold it in, now she is barely breathing with a faint heartbeat. I thought I had lost her. I prayed harder then I ever prayed. I held her and told her how much I loved her and continued to giver her fluids all day long That night was touch and go. That next morning my prayers were answered! She was jumping on my head wanting breakfast! I don’t know how I got so lucky, but somehow God had heard me. Yet now she won’t eat the bland diet, but she will have to get used to it. The past three days were the worst days of my life. Pancreatits is horrible!

  10. My dog is on week two. He is 14 years old. Not drinking water! He is eating so I’ve added a little water to his food to help keep him hydrated. He’s always been a big water drinker so I’m wondering if it is related to the drugs he is on for pancreatitis.

  11. How did you give fluids to your dog without having a vet hospital. My 3 yr old pug got diagnosed. He eats no vomit, normal poop but the only thing he won’t drink water. He’s under medication but he won’t drink water . I have to give him under a syringe in the mouth. Any suggestions.

  12. This is the 3rd time giving my baby Suzy Q Lylu medication, something all dogs get for this horrible sickness. My friend that ends up getting her meds and taking her to the vet all the time always tells me when he drops food, ” That isn’t hurting her.” He just don’t care because I take care of her and pays her bills which I don’t mind, I’d just wish and aways cry and pray she’s going to get better. She ends up getting crumbs, I constantly vacuum. I’ve been wondering why since I’ve got her she’d start out with diarrhea and it would end up all blood, no answer’s from any of the vet’s because she’s had IBD too. People don’t understand how really bad this is when you feed your dog table food.well.. When my baby goes, I’m next because I can’t take this anymore.

  13. My dog was diagnosed with pancreatitis on Friday during Memorial Day weekend. The vets were all full with a week out for applicants some were closed. I rushes her to the animal e.r i refused to leave her there so I took her home with pills. The next day she was still sick and by then day 2 she would not eat and would not swallow her pills. Day 3 Sunday b4 Memorial Day she started vomiting with Ayer all the water she had drank rushes her back to the e.r they did X-rays and an ultrasound hospitalized her the charges per night weee $1200 I went to see her on Tues after Memorial Day she was on iv fluids potassium and pain med I was told she was getting just a bit better. By Tues night I was given the possibility of Medical Boarding where she will be taken off the iv and give her blended good and pills. I went back wed am cause at $1200 a night I was already at 3800. They were telling me that she had no improvement and with a decease this severe beat option was to put her down. My heat fell to the floor I reuse to put her down she is eating very little but no vomiting sleeps a lot drinks a lot of water she goes out to owe only pooped once yesterday she Hera on and off the couch barks once in. While she ate a few treats yesterday so today is day 6 let’s see if she makes it through. I am going to try giving her white rice tmm and boil some skinless chicken she is on the low fat gastrointestinal soft food

    • How did your dog make it through? I had to blend up baby food rice and Pedialyte and put it in a syringe to feed my dog just one day! The next day she was fine! But today she is having another bout of pancreatitis so I’m giving her warm water to see if that helps the grease she ingested go down better! What she hasn’t thrown up already! I pray your dog is better 🙏❤️🐾

  14. My ex was treating our 11 yr old staffy to regular pig stomach with associated fats with it. I complained to her regularly that ‘Honey’ needed to lose weight.
    3 weeks ago she told me Honey was rarely eating. I drove down and took Honey to vet. Blood tests revealed nothing other than slightly low protein. She now had only eaten a small handful over last 10 days. Ultrasound confirmed something up with her pancreas. But she was still full of life, running 50 m at park, rolling in grass After 1st day on iv fluid she crashed. Staring into space, not same dog. Vet removed opiods and she was a bit better. After 2.5 days she lost more weight. Now 21 kgs, from 34 kg (she was solid and aa bit overweight). Today we are meant to be putting her down, as she is drinking loads of water, hardly vomiting, but no food after another week. Vet said shes not in pain bet no oil in her engine. She just turns away from every food. Should I be forcefully syringing liquid food into her ??the only intake other than water, which she’s still having loads of, is lacking any diarrhea left around her bum. She’s just over 11 and was running 5 days ago, but now understandably no energy. If she ate and then vomited after, I wld understand a need to have her put to sleep, but everything else is fine. Vet did kidney blood test to confirm she had kidney failure but results came back normal. How to I get her to eat?
    She won’t touch chicken…nothing.
    So exhausted

  15. Sorry about spelling mistakes. Her only food intake was licking her but after diarrhea. I let her do it as may have had some iv nutrients still in there. Still not touching rice, chicken… aanything

  16. I can personally identify with the comments already posted & hope each of the dogs noted have been able to make a good, full recovery. I identify so closely because my 8yo mixed breed dog was also diagnosed with pancreatitis. I initially kind of ignored his likely 1st symptoms of lethargy, apparent confusion, poor appetite, then refusing food, even usually well loved treats. He didn’t seem to be in any pain. After about 3 days of refusing all oral intake. I initially felt that his lethargy & depression were related to missing my neighbors (who had cared for him while I was hospitalized) tremendously since they had been away for several wks. On other similar occasions when the same beloved neighbors were absent, he had become lethargic & depressed, had limited intake, but it all resolved immediately on the return of the neighbors he loved. I was also thinking he was “bored” with his diet the same diet of dry food that he’d always emptied his full dish in the blind of an eye. Not so since this episode began, so I decided to offer some lo fat, moist canned food. He immediately gobbled the entire dish full of the moist, canned food. I was thrilled with his improvement & thought he’d be OK without a vet visit. But, he had vomited every molecule he had eaten, was more lethargic & had some unusual motor activity that appeared seizure-like, & appeared to be very confused (refused eye contact & seemed unable to find his way both within the apt & outside in the yard he knew well. At that point I was terrified he was actually dying before my eyes. I described symptoms to vet who determined my dog, Triscuit, required an emergency vet visit. His abnl blood work indicated pancreatitis & need for emergent diagnosis & treatment. He was given sub q fluids & an injectable anti nausea medication, given prescription diet lo fat moist, canned food. He refused the prescription food until I added extra water & mixed in a very sm amt of his regular food to try to entice him to eat & drink the yucky looking combo of food & extra fluid. He did begin to munch on the offering & was also noted to drink both from his H2O dish & excess H2O added to his food. His lethargy improved, the appearance his stool was much more nl looking & he continued munching on his described mix of food with lots of added fluid. After vet visit, he continued to slowly improve & his regular food was slowly reintroduced to his regular food as his appetite returned to baseline, so that it seemed as if his pancreatitis was resolving. It took at least a wk for all symptoms to resolve, & I knew I’d recognize those same symptoms if pancreatitis ever returned. Then, unfortunately, several mos later, he began exhibiting the same symptoms again. He was giver more subq fluids, an additional dose of the anti nausea med, food was withheld but fluids were pushed to ensure he was sufficiently hydrated. With early recognition of changed behavior, symptoms that were identical to those of his 1st bout, he especially received early treatment so that, thank goodness, all his parameters quickly returned to his nl baseline within 24-36 hrs. I was very lucky that his 1st bout didn’t progress to the point that it wouldn’t respond to treatment so that he very possibly would have died! I was terrified at the thought of losing him. But he survived! I’ll never “misdiagnose” his symptoms again & I think keeping him well hydrated right from the start of similar symptoms made a huge impact on resolving his likely his 2nd episode of pancreatitis. Hopefully he’ll have no additional episodes of this frightening, potentially fatal illness.

  17. You need to remove this content as it over 10 years old and out of date. Research has improved on almost every wrong comment made in this article.
    In fact, if someone follows most of this advice, their dog will die

LEAVE A REPLY

Please enter your comment!
Please enter your name here