Dog Pancreatitis

Dog pancreatitis begins for unknown reasons and quickly becomes a worrying and uncomfortable illness for your dog that can also be very damaging to the dog's body and vital organs. To rectify this condition though may take constant observations and medication for a period of time from the vet. Despite this, the condition will be curable easily.

In this article we will first look at why dog pancreatitis happens and some common theories about what causes the condition, and then we will look at what can be done to renew your dog's health and help your dog return to its normal happy condition in the shortest time.

To begin with this condition may make your dog noticeably unwilling to eat, bouts of severe vomiting or sickness, and generally feeling unwell and pain around stomach and surrounding areas when touched or moved.

The pancreas (the area in which this condition effects) is situated at the top of the upper intestines/ bottom of the stomach. One of the many functions of the pancreas is to begin to break down the food that travels through into the intestines by releasing enzymes so the food can be digested properly and easily.
Pancreatitis then happens when for some reason the pancreas becomes inflamed and over sized in a short period of time and too many of the enzymes are released into the correct area and the surrounding area which then breaks down the tissue cells and pancreas cells causing further inflammation. This then turns into a vicious cycle because the over sized pancreas is causing itself to become further inflamed and causing the dog more pain.

When you suspect this condition you should inform your vet straight away where they will then normally begin to take many different tests on your dog including X-rays, ultrasounds and blood tests before confirming that dog pancreatitis is the condition affecting your canine. From here the vet will probably stop the dogs food and drink consumption so that the pancreas will stop making the dangerous enzymes and the inflammation will go down and it can return to its normal size and create the correct amount of enzymes again. Until this process has time to return to normal though the dog will have to be on an intravenous drip so the dog can still get its nutrition and foods to live.

After this your dog should return to its normal self again and no further damage will have been done. Please note this is not a diagnosis of your dog and many other conditions may be associated with the symptoms you are seeing, to get a proper diagnosis please contact your vet as soon as you suspect any problems with your dog.

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