Top Six Causes of Pancreatitis in Pets
Join Dr. Sugerman on Vetsplanation to explore the six main causes of pancreatitis in pets and how to prevent it. This episode covers the critical signs, necessary treatments, and practical tips for managing your pet's health. Stick around for some delightful animal dad facts to celebrate Father's Day. Enhance your pet care knowledge with this essential podcast episode.
What You’ll Learn:
Understanding what pancreatitis is and how it affects pets
Identifying the six main causes of pancreatitis in pets
Recognizing common symptoms of pancreatitis in dogs and cats
Knowing the diagnostic tests used to confirm pancreatitis
Exploring treatment options and supportive care for pancreatitis
Implementing diet changes to prevent and manage pancreatitis
Understanding the importance of weight management in preventing pancreatitis
Learning how to manage pancreatitis in pets with chronic conditions
Fun facts about animal dads in honor of Father's Day
Ideas Worth Sharing:
"Pancreatitis is the inflammation of the pancreas itself. This is an organ that plays a really crucial role in things like digestion and also to help regulate blood sugar." - Dr. Tyler Sugerman-McGiffin
"Preventing pancreatitis is really all about maintaining a really healthy lifestyle for our pets: a proper diet, regular exercise, routine veterinary care." - Dr. Tyler Sugerman-McGiffin
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Read The Transcript:
Dr. Sugerman: [00:00:00] Hello everyone and welcome back to another episode of Vetsplanation, where we break down veterinary topics to help you better understand your pet's health. I'm your host, Dr. Sugerman, and today we're going to talk about the six things that can cause pancreatitis in our pets. Pancreatitis can be a really serious condition and it's important to understand the signs, the causes, and treatments to ensure that our furry friends stay healthy.
Dr. Sugerman: If you stick around to the end of the episode, we're going to talk about some great Animal Dad Facts, especially because this weekend coming up is going to be Father's Day. We're going to make sure we give our fathers some love out there. So let's get started.
Dr. Sugerman: Alright, to start things off, let's talk about what pancreatitis actually is. We're just going to do this real quick. So pancreatitis is the inflammation of the pancreas itself. This is an organ that plays a really crucial role in things like digestion and also to help regulate blood sugar.
Dr. Sugerman: The pancreas produces enzymes, that are things that help [00:01:00] break down food and hormones and it also produces hormones like insulin that help control our blood sugar. So when the pancreas becomes really inflamed, these enzymes or those things that break down other things, they start to digest the pancreas itself.
Dr. Sugerman: So it leads to it just eating itself essentially, and this leads to a variety of other health issues. So pancreatitis can be acute, meaning it just comes on very suddenly, and it's often pretty severe when it does. Or chronic, meaning it develops over time, and they will usually have like reoccurring episodes.
Dr. Sugerman: So now that we understand what pancreatitis is, let's talk about what causes it, those six things I talked about that cause it. Alright, so first thing we're going to talk about is the number one thing that I see in pets that causes pancreatitis.
Dr. Sugerman: And this is some high fat diet. Or a really sudden change in the diet that triggers the inflammation of the pancreas. This is especially true if pets are fed [00:02:00] table scraps. And the reason why is because they are not used to things that are like fatty or greasy or spicy. Or even things like really fatty treats that they'll get.
Dr. Sugerman: And so often times when I ask pet parents about why their pet is vomiting, pancreatitis is at the top of my list, and one of the first things I ask is, is there been any changes in food in the past week? Any changes to any treats? Any new bones? Because bones also have a lot of fat in it.
Dr. Sugerman: People don't think about that, but the bone marrow inside the bone is a lot of fat. Or, I also ask about table scraps. Does anybody in the house feed table scraps? This is pretty important and I'd say the number one cause of pancreatitis in pets.
Dr. Sugerman: Alright, our second cause is actually obesity. Overweight pets are at a really high risk for developing pancreatitis and this is due to the high levels of triglycerides, which is fat, essentially.
Dr. Sugerman: These high levels of fat that are going around in [00:03:00] the bloodstream, and they lead to this inflammation of the pancreas because the pancreas is supposed to be breaking all of this down, and if there's so much fat around there, it essentially breaks down itself.
Dr. Sugerman: Number three is medications. So certain medications can cause inflammation of the pancreas. I always say consult your vet before giving any pet medication, just to make sure. Most medications, though, are not ones that we commonly use. But there are two medications that people are probably aware of, especially if you have a pet who has seizures. So those two medications that will cause pancreatitis that are pretty common are phenobarbital and potassium bromide. So just talk to your vet about that if your pet does have a history of having pancreatitis and they need to go on seizure medications.
Dr. Sugerman: Number four is genetic predisposition. So this means that there are some breeds that are just more prone to pancreatitis than others. The most common ones I'd say are miniature schnauzers and Yorkies.
Dr. Sugerman: They are [00:04:00] known to have higher risks for this, especially because miniature schnauzers will have more triglycerides or more fat in their body to cause a worsening of this pancreatitis. So unfortunately with those guys, I always talk to people about just don't give them any table scraps. Try to make sure they're on a low fat diet. We want to try to make sure that they are as least likely to be able to get pancreatitis knowing that this is something that they're genetically predisposed to.
Dr. Sugerman: Alright, the fifth thing that we're going to talk about is trauma. So actual physical trauma to the pancreas can cause inflammation. What I mean by this is it could be when a pet gets hit by a car, it's their pancreas sits on their left side. It wraps from like the stomach down the left side and then comes over to the right side. But the left side, when they get hit by a car or something like that can cause this trauma to the pancreas.
Dr. Sugerman: This can also be even like trauma due to things like being in surgery. So when we're in surgery and we have to take out things like a foreign object from [00:05:00] that area, the trauma from the object can lead to pancreatitis or the trauma from us having to take out that object can lead to pancreatitis.
Dr. Sugerman: Trauma can also be like not getting enough blood flow to that pancreas, which can occur during surgery, which is why we give fluids during surgery to make sure that doesn't happen.
Dr. Sugerman: All right, number six on our list is going to be other medical conditions. So diseases like diabetes, hypothyroidism, and Cushing's disease can all increase the risk of pancreatitis.
Dr. Sugerman: And that happens because of that increase in fat again, or that increase in triglycerides. Because a lot of those diseases cause more fat to occur. So that can end up causing a pancreatitis.
Dr. Sugerman: All right, now that we've talked about the six things that can cause pancreatitis, let's move on to just recognizing the symptoms so we know what we should be looking for, right?
Dr. Sugerman: So recognizing these symptoms of pancreatitis early can really make a significant difference in the outcome for what happens with your pet. So here are some common signs to look for. [00:06:00]
Dr. Sugerman: Vomiting. So frequent vomiting is a pretty common sign of pancreatitis. It's not that they can't get anything through there because of something stopping them getting anything through their small intestines. It's that their pancreas hurts so badly, it just won't allow any food to move through, and so they commonly will have vomiting.
Dr. Sugerman: A loss of appetite is one. So basically, if your pet has a sudden loss of appetite, not really wanting to eat, this could be a sign of pancreatitis. Number three, I think, is the more common thing that I use to be able to diagnose pancreatitis, and that's abdominal pain.
Dr. Sugerman: So pets who have pancreatitis have a pretty tender abdomen, especially like up towards like where their chest is. A lot of times they'll yelp or they'll even try to bite when their belly is touched there. And I especially feel this is true for cats that when they're touched in the area of their pancreas, that they are very painful. So to me, that is definitely one indicator that I am more worried about a pancreatitis.
Dr. Sugerman: Lethargy is another [00:07:00] one. Lethargy just means that there's a noticeable decrease in energy and activity and that can be a sign of pancreatitis as well. And then the fifth thing is gonna be diarrhea.
Dr. Sugerman: So with watery stools or diarrhea, or just softer stools, can be a sign of pancreatitis. The hard part about this, though, is I've listed a bunch of things that can actually be differentials for so many other diseases. It could be that your pet does have diabetes. It could mean that your pet has a foreign object. It could mean salmon poisoning.
Dr. Sugerman: There's so many things that this could potentially be. If you notice any of these symptoms, it is really important to contact your veterinarian as soon as possible, to make sure that we have the right diagnosis and know what the correct treatment is going to be.
Dr. Sugerman: I will say real quick, some people will think that fever is part of this. Most pancreatitis patients that I see do not have a fever, even though it is inflammation which does cause a fever. I don't see it that often because I think that unless they're really, [00:08:00] really bad, that's pretty much the only time that I usually see a fever with them.
Dr. Sugerman: Alright, let's talk about the diagnosis and the treatment now.
Dr. Sugerman: So when you bring your pet into the vet with these symptoms of pancreatitis, usually the vet's going to perform like a series of tests to diagnose what's going on. Like I said, there are many other things that could potentially cause this. So some of these things are going to be like an abdominal x-ray or abdominal radiographs is the correct term for that.
Dr. Sugerman: Mostly that is to help make sure that there's not something that's causing an obstruction. That there's no object in the small intestines or in the stomach that is making it so that that pet is vomiting all of this food up or bile up.
Dr. Sugerman: The next thing is probably going to be blood work. Blood work is a little bit hard because it can show that there are elevated levels in the pancreas or, elevated pancreatic enzymes, it's called lipase.
Dr. Sugerman: So it can show those things, but it doesn't always mean that pancreatitis is the cause because you can get pancreatitis from other things. Remember, like I said, that [00:09:00] if your pet has a foreign object and it passes by the small intestines where the pancreas is, that can cause really bad inflammation. And so sometimes the pancreas and pancreatic enzymes will be elevated, but that's not the initial cause of this.
Dr. Sugerman: So we still want to make sure that even if we have diagnosed your pet with pancreatitis, that we've looked to make sure there's not something else that's caused this pancreatitis. We can do blood work, because it's going to show, potentially, that there are elevated enzymes of the pancreas. Usually, there are two ways of doing this.
Dr. Sugerman: Some people send it out to the lab, and then they run this very special test that gives you a number as to like how likely it is that it's pancreatitis. Like how high those enzymes are. The other way is that people will do it in house, and you can do a SNAP test in house. So we'll do regular blood work, which shows us the kidney levels, how the liver is functioning, if there are signs of diabetes, things like that.
Dr. Sugerman: But we'll also run something called a CPL, which is a canine pancreatic lipase enzyme [00:10:00] test. But we're going to run that snap test in house to be able to see if that potentially shows that the enzymes are really high.
Dr. Sugerman: But it has to be over a certain level in order for that test to be positive. So maybe your dog or cat does have pancreatic enzymes that are a little bit elevated, but we may not catch it on that test. I would say if we do it in house that doesn't mean that your pet doesn't have pancreatitis, it just means that the enzymes are not high enough to be able to show pancreatitis.
Dr. Sugerman: The third thing that people will often use is going to be an ultrasound or an abdominal ultrasound. So we're going to look on ultrasound at things like the pancreas to see if it looks really inflamed. The pancreas is really hard to find on ultrasound actually. I do ultrasounds constantly, and even for me, if it's not inflamed, it can definitely be hard for me to see sometimes.
Dr. Sugerman: So if we see a really inflamed pancreas, then definitely we have a pancreatitis going on, but again, that may not have been the initial cause. There could be something else that's going on as well. Which is why it's really [00:11:00] important to run all the other tests too.
Dr. Sugerman: Alright, so let's talk about treatment for pancreatitis.
Dr. Sugerman: So treatment of pancreatitis usually involves a combination of therapies. There is no drug that we can give to be able to make pancreatitis go away.
Dr. Sugerman: Unfortunately, that's going to be that we are going to be doing a lot of just trying to help support your pet until your pet has been able to get over the pancreatitis or resolve things with their own body on their own. So some of those things that we're going to do to help support them is going to be fluid therapy.
Dr. Sugerman: So we want to prevent dehydration and to help support organ function. So we do that by giving fluids. Ideally we want to do this giving IV fluids, so fluids directly into the vein because we're able to get as much fluid as possible in that way and we know it's going directly into the blood vessels. You can give sub-q fluids, or fluids that go under the skin.
Dr. Sugerman: That can help for pets who do not have really bad pancreatitis, but it does take 24 hours for [00:12:00] that fluid to be able to reabsorb. And our goal is we want to try to help prevent dehydration. And they're getting dehydrated by vomiting, not eating, not drinking. And a lot of times they drink, but they're vomiting it right back up.
Dr. Sugerman: And then they have diarrhea on top of it. So we want to try to make sure that we help prevent that dehydration. Again, it's also going to help support organ function and really get to that pancreas which is where we need it to go. Because if the pancreas does not have enough fluid going to it, just like with our surgical patients, it could actually make pancreatitis worse. So we want to make sure that we get them really well hydrated.
Dr. Sugerman: Pain management is the second most important thing. We want to control that pain and discomfort. Like I said, when you push on the belly, it hurts. I've had pancreatitis myself. It was so painful. Like I, like I used to not give pain medication before I had pancreatitis, not knowing just how painful it was. And then after having pancreatitis, it is [00:13:00] definitely pushed me to give all of my pets who have pancreatitis pain medications.
Dr. Sugerman: The third thing we want to implement is going to be diet changes. So we want a low fat, easily digestible diet. That's usually what we recommend to try to help reduce stress on the pancreas, so it doesn't have so much fat that it's going to have to break down.
Dr. Sugerman: This can be in multiple different forms. This could be in a special diet that you get from the vet office. So there are certain ones like Hill's I/D, or Royal Canin Gastroenteritis that we'll give to try to help make sure that we have a low fat diet especially for people who don't want to cook. The other thing that you can do is you can give a boiled chicken and rice diet. So it needs to be chicken breast. No skin. No bones. No seasoning. Nothing. Very plain and it has to be boiled.
Dr. Sugerman: You don't want to barbecue it. You don't want to put it in the oven because it's just going to sit in fat. We want all of that fat to be able to be boiled out. So make sure you boil the chicken breast. [00:14:00] Same thing with the rice. Boiled, nothing added to it. No butter, no seasoning, nothing. Very, very plain.
Dr. Sugerman: You're going to want to do that for about three to five days, or at least until this pancreatitis is under control. For some of those pets who have this chronic pancreatitis. So if your pet has a pancreatitis that comes off and on, the pancreas is never going to be fully back to itself again.
Dr. Sugerman: Some of the things that you can do there. I have a lot of people who try to feed just chicken and rice all the time. That's not a balanced diet. I highly suggest you look at the episode that tells you how to balance their nutrition.
Dr. Sugerman: It's from a website called Balance.It. That way you can make sure that you can feed them a really low fat diet and also make sure to have a well balanced, nutritious diet as well. So I highly recommend looking at that.
Dr. Sugerman: A lot of people ask me about antibiotics. So most of the time, we do not need antibiotics. This is not an infection that's going to the pancreas. This is the [00:15:00] pancreas that's eating itself that's causing it. So 99 percent of the time, we do not need antibiotics for this.
Dr. Sugerman: Some people will give antibiotics to help stop diarrhea. It's called metronidazole. We want to try to get away from that though because we really don't need to be giving a lot of antibiotics. It has shown that if we give those antibiotics for multiple times or, or even just one long period that it can cause the GI flora, so all the normal bacteria that we have in there, to not grow correctly.
Dr. Sugerman: We want the good bacteria to outgrow the bad bacteria. So oftentimes instead of doing antibiotics, usually doing a bland diet and doing some probiotics, even prebiotics and probiotics, can really help with that. Psyllium husk can help with that as well. So I will usually put on my discharges like how much psyllium husk to get and you can just get that from your local grocery store or pharmacy. So antibiotics are usually not needed.
Dr. Sugerman: The last thing we have to consider is going to be hospitalization. So in [00:16:00] severe cases for pets, they may need to be hospitalized, especially if they have those other problems going on. If there's some other medical issue, then most likely they're going to need to be hospitalized.
Dr. Sugerman: And I'd say the number one thing that people have a hard time with that is that they don't want to be away from their pet. But I usually tell people they're going to be more comfortable, they're going to be able to get treatment faster, and we're going to be able to get them home faster when they're hospitalized.
Dr. Sugerman: We want them to be better faster, we don't want them to have this go on for weeks, and then at the very end hospitalize them, and it could have been something we could have done very quickly. Hospitalization for the severe cases, but ones that aren't severe usually will do a lot of outpatient treatment, meaning we're just giving them fluids, medications, sending them home.
Dr. Sugerman: With those medications, often times, like I said, it's going to be some sort of probiotic, sometimes we'll give something else to try to help with diarrhea that has psyllium husk in it. Most of the time, we're going to give Cerenia, which is a medication to help stop vomiting.
Dr. Sugerman: And then, besides that, it [00:17:00] just depends on your veterinarian. You got to remember that every veterinarian is going to be different as to how that they're going to be treating your pet. But these are pretty common things that you're going to see for us to give.
Dr. Sugerman: Alright, now let's talk about managing and preventing pancreatitis. That's the most important thing. That's the thing I harp on all the time, right? We want to prevent these things. So managing precreatitis really involves monitoring and adjusting your pet's lifestyle to a couple of things.
Dr. Sugerman: First of all, diet. We said that diet is the number one thing that causes pancreatitis. So stick to some sort of low fat diet and avoid giving table scraps or any sort of fatty treats. Table scraps, again, are the number one thing that I see. So avoid giving table scraps and that's going to help you avoid your pet getting pancreatitis.
Dr. Sugerman: Number two, regular checkups. Regular veterinary visits can help catch any of those early signs of pancreatitis or other health issues like diabetes or hypothyroidism that can lead to [00:18:00] pancreatitis later on.
Dr. Sugerman: Weight management, it's a big one. Keeping your pet at a really healthy weight is going to reduce the risk of pancreatitis. I usually tell people to ask your veterinarian to see like how much they should weigh or at least how much the weight that they should potentially lose. To try to help keep them a healthy weight. A lot of people will see other people's dogs like, Oh, like I'll give you my Great Dane, for example, a lot of people will see another Great Dane, who is very overweight. They look like they are very barrel and that's not what they're supposed to look like.
Dr. Sugerman: Yes, their chest can be a little bit barrel like, but not their abdomen. You should be able to see their chest as a flat line, and then tuck in towards their back after that.
Dr. Sugerman: They should be a nice healthy way to try to help prevent that pancreatitis because then we're not going to have a lot of fat or triglycerides that are roaming around in the bloodstream, helping them to not get pancreatitis.
Dr. Sugerman: The next thing is going to be monitoring medications. Being aware of any medications that might increase the [00:19:00] risk of pancreatitis. And then discuss alternatives with your vet. There are other alternatives for things like phenobarbital and potassium bromide that we can give. And so it might just mean that we just need to change medications. So again if you have a pet who has a history of having chronic pancreatitis, just talking to your vet about is this something that's going to potentially cause pancreatitis or cause a flare in pancreatitis. So we can try to help, navigate that if we need to.
Dr. Sugerman: So preventing pancreatitis is really all about maintaining a really healthy lifestyle for our pets. A proper diet, regular exercise, routine veterinary care, those are the things that are the key components to this.
Dr. Sugerman: So before we wrap up, I'm just going to address some frequently asked questions about pancreatitis in pets.
Dr. Sugerman: First thing is, can pancreatitis be cured? Pancreatitis can be managed, but it cannot really be cured, especially if it becomes a chronic thing. The goal is to help manage these symptoms and prevent the flare [00:20:00] ups. Once we've had some sort of insult to the pancreas, I can't fix that pancreas. I can't make it go back to what it was before. But we can help prevent it from happening again.
Dr. Sugerman: Alright, second most common question, is pancreatitis more common in dogs or in cats? So pancreatitis is most commonly diagnosed in dogs. It can definitely occur in cats, and I think it is underdiagnosed in cats. Because people are always like, oh, cats don't typically eat table scraps.
Dr. Sugerman: But they do. Lots of cats will try to get into people's food and lick the plates, people will give them things like milk or ice cream because they're like, Oh, it's just this cute little treat for them. But all of those things can potentially cause a pancreatitis for them. They definitely can both get them, I just think that cats are probably under diagnosed with pancreatitis.
Dr. Sugerman: Alright, third most common question, how long does it take to recover from pancreatitis? Recovery times really vary, because it depends on the severity of that condition. Mild cases may be just a few days, [00:21:00] whereas severe cases can take weeks or even longer.
Dr. Sugerman: Alright, next question is, can diet alone prevent pancreatitis?
Dr. Sugerman: So diet does play a significant role in pancreatitis, but there are so many other factors, like I said, right? There's genetics, you have underlying conditions like hypothyroidism and Cushing's disease that can cause this. So really we have to think about your pet as a whole, not just as just the diet is what's going to help fix this.
Dr. Sugerman: Alright, so that brings us to the end of today's episode on pancreatitis. Pancreatitis can be a really serious condition, but with proper care and attention, you can help your pet lead a really happy, healthy life. If you have concerns about your pet's health, like I said, always consult a veterinarian. Don't just go off of what we say. You need to make sure that there's not something else that's going on. So definitely consult with your veterinarian.
Dr. Sugerman: So now we're going to talk about some fun animal dad facts. So seeing as Father's Day is coming up, I thought we would celebrate our amazing dads.
Dr. Sugerman: So let's talk about some animal dad [00:22:00] facts. Some animal dads are great protectors, right? Like the lion we know of is a great protector of the herd, but he also finds time to play with his cubs. You have the jawfish daddy, which is a fish that protects the eggs and keeps them warm by holding them in his mouth.
Dr. Sugerman: You might be wondering, how does he eat then if he just is holding these eggs in his mouth? He spits the eggs out for a second, eats his food, and then sucks them right back in when he's done eating. So he has them in there for quite a long time.
Dr. Sugerman: There's also the Oreophryne frog. Man, I wish that they had made, they would make these a lot easier and, I feel like everybody is gonna say these, these words different ways, but we try our best.
Dr. Sugerman: The Oreophryne frog, who stands guard over the eggs until they hatch. He just sits on top of them until they hatch. Some dads even take a more active approach to child rearing, like the marmosets, who groom and feed their offspring, [00:23:00] which are usually twins by the way. Or the African jacana bird, who builds the nest, he sits on the eggs until they hatch, and then he carries them under his wing until they have grown up enough to be able to fly away on their own.
Dr. Sugerman: There's also the emperor penguin dad. He plays his role by carrying the egg on his feet to help protect the egg from those really harsh arctic winters. And in fact, he also starves himself for two months while the mother penguin goes to find food. The female emperor penguin, she actually looks to find a mate that can hold out without food for the longest period of time to determine that that's going to be the best mate.
Dr. Sugerman: And if you want to find a dad who is really invested, then we cannot forget about male seahorses. Or seahorse? Male seahorse? He actually gives birth to baby seahorses.
Dr. Sugerman: He holds up to 2,000 eggs in a pouch that's in his stomach. Where he fertilizes them, and then holds on to them for 30 days while they start to develop. [00:24:00] And then he can pop them out when he's ready.
Dr. Sugerman: So this Father's Day, you can thank your dad, or your stepdad, or your grandpa, or any other father figure that you have. Based on the type of dad he is, right? Just be like, Hey dad, I appreciate you being like the emperor penguin dad. He'll get it, I'm sure.
Dr. Sugerman: All right, so thank you for tuning in to Vetsplanation. Next week we're going to talk to the CEO of Torigen, which is a breakthrough technology to help us save our pets after being diagnosed with cancer. So don't forget to subscribe to our podcast for more insights into your pet's health, and feel free to leave a review or send in your questions.
Dr. Sugerman: Until next time, keep your pets happy, healthy, and safe. Thanks guys.