Pancreatitis in Pets: More Common than You Think

Many dogs and cats have acute or chronic gastrointestinal signs such as vomiting, diarrhea, and/or anorexia which is sometimes also associated with lethargy. In these cases, some minor outpatient supportive care can be effective at getting them back to normal without major treatment. In many of these cases, the cause for these signs is unknown until the pet has more severe clinical signs, in which case more tests are run which can point to pancreatitis.

What is the pancreas and what is pancreatitis?

The pancreas is an organ in the upper part of the abdomen responsible for producing enzymes that break down the food that we eat in the small intestine, as well as producing insulin that helps regulate blood sugar. Pancreatitis occurs when the pancreas becomes inflamed which causes abdominal pain, nausea, diarrhea, and lethargy. Sometimes pancreatitis is initiated by an increase in fat in the diet, but also there is an increase in incidence in dogs with obesity, certain hormonal imbalances, cancer, certain drugs and particular breeds that are predisposed (such as miniature schnauzer, yorkie, poodle, cocker spaniel). Sometimes we don’t actually have a reason why the pancreas flares up.

How do you make the diagnosis?

The diagnosis can be made using several different tests paired with exam findings and clinical signs consistent with pancreatitis. X-rays are used to rule out other causes for gastrointestinal disease such as foreign body obstruction, constipation, and tumors, but here can be some subtle changes on x-ray that point to pancreatitis. Bloodwork including a routine chemistry that includes amylase and lipase can be an initial screening tool, but a cPL pancreatitis test is the most specific blood test. This test can many times be run immediately in the office, with a result in approximately 30 minutes. Abdominal ultrasound is another tool that can be used that has a 65% sensitivity in detecting pancreatitis.

How do we treat pancreatitis?

Pancreatitis can be treated either on an outpatient basis or many patients can benefit from hospitalization with more aggressive supportive care. Care is aimed at treatment of nausea, pain, dehydration, low fat diet, appetite stimulants, motility problems, +/- antibiotics. Most patients require a few days in the hospital with intravenous fluids in addition to the medications mentioned above. A long term prescription low fat diet will be recommended long term.

New treatment recommendation:

A brand new drug that will revolutionize our way of treating pancreatitis has just become available. PANOQUELL®CA1 is an injectable medication that is administered intravenously once daily for 3 days and it works by blocking the inflammatory cells that flare up the pancreas. This drug results in a faster recovery, sometimes without the need for hospitalization. It is only labeled to work in dogs and has been shown to be very effective and with a low risk of side effects.

Most cases of pancreatitis can be treated with good success, however, most patients do have waxing and waning signs during their lifetime of varying degrees. A low fat diet can definitely help reduce the frequency and severity of pancreatitis. In rare cases, pancreatitis can result in diabetes or worse case scenario, death can occur. With this new treatment available, we hope to be able to treat this condition with a more targeted effective drug that can save lives and improve the outcome for many of our canine patients.