Pancreatitis in Dogs - Dog Pancreatitis

 in this segment let's talk about dog pancreatitis or pancreatic sin dogs .

First of all what is the pancreas?

 The pancreas is an organ that produces and stores enzymes for digestion like digestion of sugars and proteins, you can imagine the pancreas is also structured and made of proteins and sugars and fats and things like that .
So this organ has to be very carefully put together such that it doesn't digest itself if you're storing an enzyme let digest proteins then you have to be careful that this stuff doesn't start digesting the walls around it which are made of protein.
 It's sort of like storing gunpowder or explosives you've got to keep a careful watch you don't get everything put together like oxygen flame the Gunpowder when they are put together you're going to have an explosion ,same sort of thing with the pancreas now the pancreas has all sorts of checks and balances to make sure it doesn't digest itself .
When it becomes inflamed that checks and balance system starts to break down and you have the pancreas almost sort of digesting itself and you get inflammation of the pancreas.

Signs of Pancreatitis in Dogs - Dog Pancreatitis : 

 It can be very painful symptoms such as :
- Vomiting.
- Dehydration.
- Intense abdominal pain.

Causes of Pancreatitis in Dogs - Dog Pancreatitis : 

 A lot of dogs are predisposed to pancreatitis and the most common one is the miniature schnauzer is a dog that's very predisposed to pancreatitis 
The other factor is a lot of rich foods that stimulate the pancreas that can sometimes start about a pancreatitis so with the schnauzer for example you don't want to be feeding it lots of rich foods.
 The other factors are sometimes there are stress factors involved sometimes other medications can cause pancreatitis.

Symptoms of Pancreatitis in Dogs - Dog Pancreatitis : 
- Vomiting .
- Not eating .
- Intense stomach pain 
- Weakness and dehydrated .

Diagnosis of Pancreatitis in Dogs - Dog Pancreatitis : 

1- Clinical Symptoms .
2-  Blood test : will see if some of those enzymes that are stored in the pancreas e.g: amylase and lipase emzyme if they're increased in the blood then we know there's probably some sort of problem in the pancreas because the pancreas is releasing all those enzymes into the bloodstream and you can get some quite dramatic increases in those two enzymes amylase and lipase in the blood when you have dog pancreatitis , They're not always elevated but most of the time in the case of pancreatitis they're elevated.

Treatment of Pancreatitis in Dogs - Dog Pancreatitis : 

 - The main aim of treatment is to tone down the pancreas so most veterinarians will do some sort of fasting, they'll do some IV fluids and IV nutrition .
- Some antibiotics because when you have a breakdown of the system you may get some bacteria come through the intestinal wall and protection against these bacteria may not be has enhanced as normal .
- And then once everything calms down your dog is going to be fed some very bland, low-fat, non stimulatory foods to get back on its feet .
- Some pancreatitis bouts last several days some just last a day or two and some are very serious and you have a very ill dog and some are very mild .
- It can be treated just by withholding food for 24 hours and then starting back on a bland food.
- Now pancreatitis and the dog is not the same as pancreatitis in people there is an association with pancreatitis and people with cancer we do not have that strong association in dogs so that will ease your mind a little bit when you get the diagnosis of pancreatitis for your dog....