June 11, 2024 • 24 mins
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.
In this episode:
- 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
Resources Mentioned
Balance.It
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker (00:01):
Hello everyone and welcome back to another episode
of Vetsplanation, where we breakdown veterinary topics to help
you better understand your pet'shealth.
I'm your host, Dr.
Sugerman, and today we're goingto talk about the six things
that can cause pancreatitis inour pets.
Pancreatitis can be a reallyserious condition and it's
important to understand thesigns, the causes, and
(00:22):
treatments to ensure that ourfurry friends stay healthy.
If you stick around to the endof the episode, we're going to
talk about some great Animal DadFacts, especially because this
weekend coming up is going to beFather's Day.
We're going to make sure we giveour fathers some love out there.
So let's get started.
Alright, to start things off,let's talk about what
pancreatitis actually is.
(00:42):
We're just going to do this realquick.
So pancreatitis is theinflammation of the pancreas
itself.
This is an organ that plays areally crucial role in things
like digestion and also to helpregulate blood sugar.
The pancreas produces enzymes,that are things that help break
down food and hormones and italso produces hormones like
(01:04):
insulin that help control ourblood sugar.
So when the pancreas becomesreally inflamed, these enzymes
or those things that break downother things, they start to
digest the pancreas itself.
So it leads to it just eatingitself essentially, and this
leads to a variety of otherhealth issues.
So pancreatitis can be acute,meaning it just comes on very
(01:27):
suddenly, and it's often prettysevere when it does.
Or chronic, meaning it developsover time, and they will usually
have like reoccurring episodes.
So now that we understand whatpancreatitis is, let's talk
about what causes it, those sixthings I talked about that cause
it.
Alright, so first thing we'regoing to talk about is the
number one thing that I see inpets that causes pancreatitis.
(01:49):
And this is some high fat diet.
Or a really sudden change in thediet that triggers the
inflammation of the pancreas.
This is especially true if petsare fed table scraps.
And the reason why is becausethey are not used to things that
are like fatty or greasy orspicy.
Or even things like really fattytreats that they'll get.
(02:10):
And so often times when I askpet parents about why their pet
is vomiting, pancreatitis is atthe top of my list, and one of
the first things I ask is, isthere been any changes in food
in the past week?
Any changes to any treats?
Any new bones?
Because bones also have a lot offat in it.
People don't think about that,but the bone marrow inside the
(02:31):
bone is a lot of fat.
Or, I also ask about tablescraps.
Does anybody in the house feedtable scraps?
This is pretty important and I'dsay the number one cause of
pancreatitis in pets.
Alright, our second cause isactually obesity.
Overweight pets are at a reallyhigh risk for developing
pancreatitis and this is due tothe high levels of
(02:54):
triglycerides, which is fat,essentially.
These high levels of fat thatare going around in the
bloodstream, and they lead tothis inflammation of the
pancreas because the pancreas issupposed to be breaking all of
this down, and if there's somuch fat around there, it
essentially breaks down itself.
Number three is medications.
(03:14):
So certain medications can causeinflammation of the pancreas.
I always say consult your vetbefore giving any pet
medication, just to make sure.
Most medications, though, arenot ones that we commonly use.
But there are two medicationsthat people are probably aware
of, especially if you have a petwho has seizures.
So those two medications thatwill cause pancreatitis that are
(03:35):
pretty common are phenobarbitaland potassium bromide.
So just talk to your vet aboutthat if your pet does have a
history of having pancreatitisand they need to go on seizure
medications.
Number four is geneticpredisposition.
So this means that there aresome breeds that are just more
prone to pancreatitis thanothers.
The most common ones I'd say areminiature schnauzers and
(03:58):
Yorkies.
They are known to have higherrisks for this, especially
because miniature schnauzerswill have more triglycerides or
more fat in their body to causea worsening of this
pancreatitis.
So unfortunately with thoseguys, I always talk to people
about just don't give them anytable scraps.
Try to make sure they're on alow fat diet.
(04:19):
We want to try to make sure thatthey are as least likely to be
able to get pancreatitis knowingthat this is something that
they're genetically predisposedto.
Alright, the fifth thing thatwe're going to talk about is
trauma.
So actual physical trauma to thepancreas can cause inflammation.
What I mean by this is it couldbe when a pet gets hit by a car,
it's their pancreas sits ontheir left side.
(04:41):
It wraps from like the stomachdown the left side and then
comes over to the right side.
But the left side, when they gethit by a car or something like
that can cause this trauma tothe pancreas.
This can also be even liketrauma due to things like being
in surgery.
So when we're in surgery and wehave to take out things like a
foreign object from that area,the trauma from the object can
(05:02):
lead to pancreatitis or thetrauma from us having to take
out that object can lead topancreatitis.
Trauma can also be like notgetting enough blood flow to
that pancreas, which can occurduring surgery, which is why we
give fluids during surgery tomake sure that doesn't happen.
All right, number six on ourlist is going to be other
medical conditions.
So diseases like diabetes,hypothyroidism, and Cushing's
(05:25):
disease can all increase therisk of pancreatitis.
And that happens because of thatincrease in fat again, or that
increase in triglycerides.
Because a lot of those diseasescause more fat to occur.
So that can end up causing apancreatitis.
All right, now that we've talkedabout the six things that can
cause pancreatitis, let's moveon to just recognizing the
(05:46):
symptoms so we know what weshould be looking for, right?
So recognizing these symptoms ofpancreatitis early can really
make a significant difference inthe outcome for what happens
with your pet.
So here are some common signs tolook for.
Vomiting.
So frequent vomiting is a prettycommon sign of pancreatitis.
It's not that they can't getanything through there because
(06:06):
of something stopping themgetting anything through their
small intestines.
It's that their pancreas hurtsso badly, it just won't allow
any food to move through, and sothey commonly will have
vomiting.
A loss of appetite is one.
So basically, if your pet has asudden loss of appetite, not
really wanting to eat, thiscould be a sign of pancreatitis.
Number three, I think, is themore common thing that I use to
(06:29):
be able to diagnosepancreatitis, and that's
abdominal pain.
So pets who have pancreatitishave a pretty tender abdomen,
especially like up towards likewhere their chest is.
A lot of times they'll yelp orthey'll even try to bite when
their belly is touched there.
And I especially feel this istrue for cats that when they're
touched in the area of theirpancreas, that they are very
(06:51):
painful.
So to me, that is definitely oneindicator that I am more worried
about a pancreatitis.
Lethargy is another one.
Lethargy just means that there'sa noticeable decrease in energy
and activity and that can be asign of pancreatitis as well.
And then the fifth thing isgonna be diarrhea.
So with watery stools ordiarrhea, or just softer stools,
(07:15):
can be a sign of pancreatitis.
The hard part about this,though, is I've listed a bunch
of things that can actually bedifferentials for so many other
diseases.
It could be that your pet doeshave diabetes.
It could mean that your pet hasa foreign object.
It could mean salmon poisoning.
There's so many things that thiscould potentially be.
If you notice any of thesesymptoms, it is really important
(07:38):
to contact your veterinarian assoon as possible, to make sure
that we have the right diagnosisand know what the correct
treatment is going to be.
I will say real quick, somepeople will think that fever is
part of this.
Most pancreatitis patients thatI see do not have a fever, even
though it is inflammation whichdoes cause a fever.
I don't see it that oftenbecause I think that unless
(07:59):
they're really, really bad,that's pretty much the only time
that I usually see a fever withthem.
Alright, let's talk about thediagnosis and the treatment now.
So when you bring your pet intothe vet with these symptoms of
pancreatitis, usually the vet'sgoing to perform like a series
of tests to diagnose what'sgoing on.
Like I said, there are manyother things that could
potentially cause this.
(08:19):
So some of these things aregoing to be like an abdominal
x-ray or abdominal radiographsis the correct term for that.
Mostly that is to help make surethat there's not something
that's causing an obstruction.
That there's no object in thesmall intestines or in the
stomach that is making it sothat that pet is vomiting all of
this food up or bile up.
The next thing is probably goingto be blood work.
(08:41):
Blood work is a little bit hardbecause it can show that there
are elevated levels in thepancreas or, elevated pancreatic
enzymes, it's called lipase.
So it can show those things, butit doesn't always mean that
pancreatitis is the causebecause you can get pancreatitis
from other things.
Remember, like I said, that ifyour pet has a foreign object
(09:01):
and it passes by the smallintestines where the pancreas
is, that can cause really badinflammation.
And so sometimes the pancreasand pancreatic enzymes will be
elevated, but that's not theinitial cause of this.
So we still want to make surethat even if we have diagnosed
your pet with pancreatitis, thatwe've looked to make sure
there's not something elsethat's caused this pancreatitis.
(09:23):
We can do blood work, becauseit's going to show, potentially,
that there are elevated enzymesof the pancreas.
Usually, there are two ways ofdoing this.
Some people send it out to thelab, and then they run this very
special test that gives you anumber as to like how likely it
is that it's pancreatitis.
Like how high those enzymes are.
The other way is that peoplewill do it in house, and you can
(09:43):
do a SNAP test in house.
So we'll do regular blood work,which shows us the kidney
levels, how the liver isfunctioning, if there are signs
of diabetes, things like that.
But we'll also run somethingcalled a CPL, which is a canine
pancreatic lipase enzyme test.
But we're going to run that snaptest in house to be able to see
if that potentially shows thatthe enzymes are really high.
(10:05):
But it has to be over a certainlevel in order for that test to
be positive.
So maybe your dog or cat doeshave pancreatic enzymes that are
a little bit elevated, but wemay not catch it on that test.
I would say if we do it in housethat doesn't mean that your pet
doesn't have pancreatitis, itjust means that the enzymes are
not high enough to be able toshow pancreatitis.
(10:26):
The third thing that people willoften use is going to be an
ultrasound or an abdominalultrasound.
So we're going to look onultrasound at things like the
pancreas to see if it looksreally inflamed.
The pancreas is really hard tofind on ultrasound actually.
I do ultrasounds constantly, andeven for me, if it's not
inflamed, it can definitely behard for me to see sometimes.
(10:48):
So if we see a really inflamedpancreas, then definitely we
have a pancreatitis going on,but again, that may not have
been the initial cause.
There could be something elsethat's going on as well.
Which is why it's reallyimportant to run all the other
tests too.
Alright, so let's talk abouttreatment for pancreatitis.
So treatment of pancreatitisusually involves a combination
(11:09):
of therapies.
There is no drug that we cangive to be able to make
pancreatitis go away.
Unfortunately, that's going tobe that we are going to be doing
a lot of just trying to helpsupport your pet until your pet
has been able to get over thepancreatitis or resolve things
with their own body on theirown.
So some of those things thatwe're going to do to help
(11:29):
support them is going to befluid therapy.
So we want to preventdehydration and to help support
organ function.
So we do that by giving fluids.
Ideally we want to do thisgiving IV fluids, so fluids
directly into the vein becausewe're able to get as much fluid
as possible in that way and weknow it's going directly into
the blood vessels.
(11:50):
You can give sub-q fluids, orfluids that go under the skin.
That can help for pets who donot have really bad
pancreatitis, but it does take24 hours for that fluid to be
able to reabsorb.
And our goal is we want to tryto help prevent dehydration.
And they're getting dehydratedby vomiting, not eating, not
drinking.
And a lot of times they drink,but they're vomiting it right
(12:11):
back up.
And then they have diarrhea ontop of it.
So we want to try to make surethat we help prevent that
dehydration.
Again, it's also going to helpsupport organ function and
really get to that pancreaswhich is where we need it to go.
Because if the pancreas does nothave enough fluid going to it,
just like with our surgicalpatients, it could actually make
pancreatitis worse.
(12:32):
So we want to make sure that weget them really well hydrated.
Pain management is the secondmost important thing.
We want to control that pain anddiscomfort.
Like I said, when you push onthe belly, it hurts.
I've had pancreatitis myself.
It was so painful.
Like I, like I used to not givepain medication before I had
(12:53):
pancreatitis, not knowing justhow painful it was.
And then after havingpancreatitis, it is definitely
pushed me to give all of my petswho have pancreatitis pain
medications.
The third thing we want toimplement is going to be diet
changes.
So we want a low fat, easilydigestible diet.
That's usually what we recommendto try to help reduce stress on
(13:15):
the pancreas, so it doesn't haveso much fat that it's going to
have to break down.
This can be in multipledifferent forms.
This could be in a special dietthat you get from the vet
office.
So there are certain ones likeHill's I/D, or Royal Canin
Gastroenteritis that we'll giveto try to help make sure that we
have a low fat diet especiallyfor people who don't want to
(13:35):
cook.
The other thing that you can dois you can give a boiled chicken
and rice diet.
So it needs to be chickenbreast.
No skin.
No bones.
No seasoning.
Nothing.
Very plain and it has to beboiled.
You don't want to barbecue it.
You don't want to put it in theoven because it's just going to
sit in fat.
We want all of that fat to beable to be boiled out.
(13:57):
So make sure you boil thechicken breast.
Same thing with the rice.
Boiled, nothing added to it.
No butter, no seasoning,nothing.
Very, very plain.
You're going to want to do thatfor about three to five days, or
at least until this pancreatitisis under control.
For some of those pets who havethis chronic pancreatitis.
(14:18):
So if your pet has apancreatitis that comes off and
on, the pancreas is never goingto be fully back to itself
again.
Some of the things that you cando there.
I have a lot of people who tryto feed just chicken and rice
all the time.
That's not a balanced diet.
I highly suggest you look at theepisode that tells you how to
balance their nutrition.
It's from a website calledBalance.It.
(14:39):
That way you can make sure thatyou can feed them a really low
fat diet and also make sure tohave a well balanced, nutritious
diet as well.
So I highly recommend looking atthat.
A lot of people ask me aboutantibiotics.
So most of the time, we do notneed antibiotics.
This is not an infection that'sgoing to the pancreas.
This is the pancreas that'seating itself that's causing it.
(15:03):
So 99 percent of the time, we donot need antibiotics for this.
Some people will giveantibiotics to help stop
diarrhea.
It's called metronidazole.
We want to try to get away fromthat though because we really
don't need to be giving a lot ofantibiotics.
It has shown that if we givethose antibiotics for multiple
times or, or even just one longperiod that it can cause the GI
(15:24):
flora, so all the normalbacteria that we have in there,
to not grow correctly.
We want the good bacteria tooutgrow the bad bacteria.
So oftentimes instead of doingantibiotics, usually doing a
bland diet and doing someprobiotics, even prebiotics and
probiotics, can really help withthat.
Psyllium husk can help with thatas well.
(15:45):
So I will usually put on mydischarges like how much
psyllium husk to get and you canjust get that from your local
grocery store or pharmacy.
So antibiotics are usually notneeded.
The last thing we have toconsider is going to be
hospitalization.
So in severe cases for pets,they may need to be
hospitalized, especially if theyhave those other problems going
(16:05):
on.
If there's some other medicalissue, then most likely they're
going to need to behospitalized.
And I'd say the number one thingthat people have a hard time
with that is that they don'twant to be away from their pet.
But I usually tell peoplethey're going to be more
comfortable, they're going to beable to get treatment faster,
and we're going to be able toget them home faster when
they're hospitalized.
We want them to be betterfaster, we don't want them to
(16:28):
have this go on for weeks, andthen at the very end hospitalize
them, and it could have beensomething we could have done
very quickly.
Hospitalization for the severecases, but ones that aren't
severe usually will do a lot ofoutpatient treatment, meaning
we're just giving them fluids,medications, sending them home.
With those medications, oftentimes, like I said, it's going
to be some sort of probiotic,sometimes we'll give something
(16:50):
else to try to help withdiarrhea that has psyllium husk
in it.
Most of the time, we're going togive Cerenia, which is a
medication to help stopvomiting.
And then, besides that, it justdepends on your veterinarian.
You got to remember that everyveterinarian is going to be
different as to how that they'regoing to be treating your pet.
But these are pretty commonthings that you're going to see
for us to give.
Alright, now let's talk aboutmanaging and preventing
(17:11):
pancreatitis.
That's the most important thing.
That's the thing I harp on allthe time, right?
We want to prevent these things.
So managing precreatitis reallyinvolves monitoring and
adjusting your pet's lifestyleto a couple of things.
First of all, diet.
We said that diet is the numberone thing that causes
pancreatitis.
So stick to some sort of low fatdiet and avoid giving table
(17:34):
scraps or any sort of fattytreats.
Table scraps, again, are thenumber one thing that I see.
So avoid giving table scraps andthat's going to help you avoid
your pet getting pancreatitis.
Number two, regular checkups.
Regular veterinary visits canhelp catch any of those early
signs of pancreatitis or otherhealth issues like diabetes or
(17:56):
hypothyroidism that can lead topancreatitis later on.
Weight management, it's a bigone.
Keeping your pet at a reallyhealthy weight is going to
reduce the risk of pancreatitis.
I usually tell people to askyour veterinarian to see like
how much they should weigh or atleast how much the weight that
they should potentially lose.
To try to help keep them ahealthy weight.
(18:18):
A lot of people will see otherpeople's dogs like, Oh, like
I'll give you my Great Dane, forexample, a lot of people will
see another Great Dane, who isvery overweight.
They look like they are verybarrel and that's not what
they're supposed to look like.
Yes, their chest can be a littlebit barrel like, but not their
abdomen.
You should be able to see theirchest as a flat line, and then
(18:40):
tuck in towards their back afterthat.
They should be a nice healthyway to try to help prevent that
pancreatitis because then we'renot going to have a lot of fat
or triglycerides that areroaming around in the
bloodstream, helping them to notget pancreatitis.
The next thing is going to bemonitoring medications.
Being aware of any medicationsthat might increase the risk of
pancreatitis.
(19:01):
And then discuss alternativeswith your vet.
There are other alternatives forthings like phenobarbital and
potassium bromide that we cangive.
And so it might just mean thatwe just need to change
medications.
So again if you have a pet whohas a history of having chronic
pancreatitis, just talking toyour vet about is this something
that's going to potentiallycause pancreatitis or cause a
(19:23):
flare in pancreatitis.
So we can try to help, navigatethat if we need to.
So preventing pancreatitis isreally all about maintaining a
really healthy lifestyle for ourpets.
A proper diet, regular exercise,routine veterinary care, those
are the things that are the keycomponents to this.
So before we wrap up, I'm justgoing to address some frequently
(19:44):
asked questions aboutpancreatitis in pets.
First thing is, can pancreatitisbe cured?
Pancreatitis can be managed, butit cannot really be cured,
especially if it becomes achronic thing.
The goal is to help manage thesesymptoms and prevent the flare
ups.
Once we've had some sort ofinsult to the pancreas, I can't
fix that pancreas.
(20:05):
I can't make it go back to whatit was before.
But we can help prevent it fromhappening again.
Alright, second most commonquestion, is pancreatitis more
common in dogs or in cats?
So pancreatitis is most commonlydiagnosed 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
(20:25):
table scraps.
But they do.
Lots of cats will try to getinto people's food and lick the
plates, people will give themthings like milk or ice cream
because they're like, Oh, it'sjust this cute little treat for
them.
But all of those things canpotentially cause a pancreatitis
for them.
They definitely can both getthem, I just think that cats are
probably under diagnosed withpancreatitis.
(20:47):
Alright, third most commonquestion, 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 fewdays, whereas severe cases can
take weeks or even longer.
Alright, next question is, candiet alone prevent pancreatitis?
(21:08):
So diet does play a significantrole in pancreatitis, but there
are so many other factors, likeI said, right?
There's genetics, you haveunderlying conditions like
hypothyroidism and Cushing'sdisease that can cause this.
So really we have to think aboutyour pet as a whole, not just as
just the diet is what's going tohelp fix this.
Alright, so that brings us tothe end of today's episode on
(21:30):
pancreatitis.
Pancreatitis can be a reallyserious condition, but with
proper care and attention, youcan help your pet lead a really
happy, healthy life.
If you have concerns about yourpet's health, like I said,
always consult a veterinarian.
Don't just go off of what wesay.
You need to make sure thatthere's not something else
that's going on.
So definitely consult with yourveterinarian.
(21:51):
So now we're going to talk aboutsome fun animal dad facts.
So seeing as Father's Day iscoming up, I thought we would
celebrate our amazing dads.
So let's talk about some animaldad facts.
Some animal dads are greatprotectors, right?
Like the lion we know of is agreat protector of the herd, but
he also finds time to play withhis cubs.
You have the jawfish daddy,which is a fish that protects
(22:13):
the eggs and keeps them warm byholding them in his mouth.
You might be wondering, how doeshe eat then if he just is
holding these eggs in his mouth?
He spits the eggs out for asecond, eats his food, and then
sucks them right back in whenhe's done eating.
So he has them in there forquite a long time.
There's also the Oreophrynefrog.
(22:36):
Man, I wish that they had made,they would make these a lot
easier and, I feel likeeverybody is gonna say these,
these words different ways, butwe try our best.
The Oreophryne frog, who standsguard over the eggs until they
hatch.
He just sits on top of themuntil they hatch.
Some dads even take a moreactive approach to child
rearing, like the marmosets, whogroom and feed their offspring,
(23:00):
which are usually twins by theway.
Or the African jacana bird, whobuilds the nest, he sits on the
eggs until they hatch, and thenhe carries them under his wing
until they have grown up enoughto be able to fly away on their
own.
There's also the emperor penguindad.
He plays his role by carryingthe egg on his feet to help
(23:20):
protect the egg from thosereally harsh arctic winters.
And in fact, he also starveshimself for two months while the
mother penguin goes to findfood.
The female emperor penguin, sheactually looks to find a mate
that can hold out without foodfor the longest period of time
to determine that that's goingto be the best mate.
And if you want to find a dadwho is really invested, then we
(23:42):
cannot forget about maleseahorses.
Or seahorse?
Male seahorse?
He actually gives birth to babyseahorses.
He holds up to 2,000 eggs in apouch that's in his stomach.
Where he fertilizes them, andthen holds on to them for 30
days while they start todevelop.
And then he can pop them outwhen he's ready.
(24:03):
So this Father's Day, you canthank your dad, or your stepdad,
or your grandpa, or any otherfather figure that you have.
Based on the type of dad he is,right?
Just be like, Hey dad, Iappreciate you being like the
emperor penguin dad.
He'll get it, I'm sure.
All right, so thank you fortuning in to Vetsplanation.
Next week we're going to talk tothe CEO of Torigen, which is a
breakthrough technology to helpus save our pets after being
(24:27):
diagnosed with cancer.
So don't forget to subscribe toour podcast for more insights
into your pet's health, and feelfree to leave a review or send
in your questions.
Until next time, keep your petshappy, healthy, and safe.
Thanks guys.
Hello everyone and welcome back to another episode
of Vetsplanation, where we breakdown veterinary topics to help
you better understand your pet'shealth.
I'm your host, Dr.
Sugerman, and today we're goingto talk about the six things
that can cause pancreatitis inour pets.
Pancreatitis can be a reallyserious condition and it's
important to understand thesigns, the causes, and
(00:22):
treatments to ensure that ourfurry friends stay healthy.
If you stick around to the endof the episode, we're going to
talk about some great Animal DadFacts, especially because this
weekend coming up is going to beFather's Day.
We're going to make sure we giveour fathers some love out there.
So let's get started.
Alright, to start things off,let's talk about what
pancreatitis actually is.
(00:42):
We're just going to do this realquick.
So pancreatitis is theinflammation of the pancreas
itself.
This is an organ that plays areally crucial role in things
like digestion and also to helpregulate blood sugar.
The pancreas produces enzymes,that are things that help break
down food and hormones and italso produces hormones like
(01:04):
insulin that help control ourblood sugar.
So when the pancreas becomesreally inflamed, these enzymes
or those things that break downother things, they start to
digest the pancreas itself.
So it leads to it just eatingitself essentially, and this
leads to a variety of otherhealth issues.
So pancreatitis can be acute,meaning it just comes on very
(01:27):
suddenly, and it's often prettysevere when it does.
Or chronic, meaning it developsover time, and they will usually
have like reoccurring episodes.
So now that we understand whatpancreatitis is, let's talk
about what causes it, those sixthings I talked about that cause
it.
Alright, so first thing we'regoing to talk about is the
number one thing that I see inpets that causes pancreatitis.
(01:49):
And this is some high fat diet.
Or a really sudden change in thediet that triggers the
inflammation of the pancreas.
This is especially true if petsare fed table scraps.
And the reason why is becausethey are not used to things that
are like fatty or greasy orspicy.
Or even things like really fattytreats that they'll get.
(02:10):
And so often times when I askpet parents about why their pet
is vomiting, pancreatitis is atthe top of my list, and one of
the first things I ask is, isthere been any changes in food
in the past week?
Any changes to any treats?
Any new bones?
Because bones also have a lot offat in it.
People don't think about that,but the bone marrow inside the
(02:31):
bone is a lot of fat.
Or, I also ask about tablescraps.
Does anybody in the house feedtable scraps?
This is pretty important and I'dsay the number one cause of
pancreatitis in pets.
Alright, our second cause isactually obesity.
Overweight pets are at a reallyhigh risk for developing
pancreatitis and this is due tothe high levels of
(02:54):
triglycerides, which is fat,essentially.
These high levels of fat thatare going around in the
bloodstream, and they lead tothis inflammation of the
pancreas because the pancreas issupposed to be breaking all of
this down, and if there's somuch fat around there, it
essentially breaks down itself.
Number three is medications.
(03:14):
So certain medications can causeinflammation of the pancreas.
I always say consult your vetbefore giving any pet
medication, just to make sure.
Most medications, though, arenot ones that we commonly use.
But there are two medicationsthat people are probably aware
of, especially if you have a petwho has seizures.
So those two medications thatwill cause pancreatitis that are
(03:35):
pretty common are phenobarbitaland potassium bromide.
So just talk to your vet aboutthat if your pet does have a
history of having pancreatitisand they need to go on seizure
medications.
Number four is geneticpredisposition.
So this means that there aresome breeds that are just more
prone to pancreatitis thanothers.
The most common ones I'd say areminiature schnauzers and
(03:58):
Yorkies.
They are known to have higherrisks for this, especially
because miniature schnauzerswill have more triglycerides or
more fat in their body to causea worsening of this
pancreatitis.
So unfortunately with thoseguys, I always talk to people
about just don't give them anytable scraps.
Try to make sure they're on alow fat diet.
(04:19):
We want to try to make sure thatthey are as least likely to be
able to get pancreatitis knowingthat this is something that
they're genetically predisposedto.
Alright, the fifth thing thatwe're going to talk about is
trauma.
So actual physical trauma to thepancreas can cause inflammation.
What I mean by this is it couldbe when a pet gets hit by a car,
it's their pancreas sits ontheir left side.
(04:41):
It wraps from like the stomachdown the left side and then
comes over to the right side.
But the left side, when they gethit by a car or something like
that can cause this trauma tothe pancreas.
This can also be even liketrauma due to things like being
in surgery.
So when we're in surgery and wehave to take out things like a
foreign object from that area,the trauma from the object can
(05:02):
lead to pancreatitis or thetrauma from us having to take
out that object can lead topancreatitis.
Trauma can also be like notgetting enough blood flow to
that pancreas, which can occurduring surgery, which is why we
give fluids during surgery tomake sure that doesn't happen.
All right, number six on ourlist is going to be other
medical conditions.
So diseases like diabetes,hypothyroidism, and Cushing's
(05:25):
disease can all increase therisk of pancreatitis.
And that happens because of thatincrease in fat again, or that
increase in triglycerides.
Because a lot of those diseasescause more fat to occur.
So that can end up causing apancreatitis.
All right, now that we've talkedabout the six things that can
cause pancreatitis, let's moveon to just recognizing the
(05:46):
symptoms so we know what weshould be looking for, right?
So recognizing these symptoms ofpancreatitis early can really
make a significant difference inthe outcome for what happens
with your pet.
So here are some common signs tolook for.
Vomiting.
So frequent vomiting is a prettycommon sign of pancreatitis.
It's not that they can't getanything through there because
(06:06):
of something stopping themgetting anything through their
small intestines.
It's that their pancreas hurtsso badly, it just won't allow
any food to move through, and sothey commonly will have
vomiting.
A loss of appetite is one.
So basically, if your pet has asudden loss of appetite, not
really wanting to eat, thiscould be a sign of pancreatitis.
Number three, I think, is themore common thing that I use to
(06:29):
be able to diagnosepancreatitis, and that's
abdominal pain.
So pets who have pancreatitishave a pretty tender abdomen,
especially like up towards likewhere their chest is.
A lot of times they'll yelp orthey'll even try to bite when
their belly is touched there.
And I especially feel this istrue for cats that when they're
touched in the area of theirpancreas, that they are very
(06:51):
painful.
So to me, that is definitely oneindicator that I am more worried
about a pancreatitis.
Lethargy is another one.
Lethargy just means that there'sa noticeable decrease in energy
and activity and that can be asign of pancreatitis as well.
And then the fifth thing isgonna be diarrhea.
So with watery stools ordiarrhea, or just softer stools,
(07:15):
can be a sign of pancreatitis.
The hard part about this,though, is I've listed a bunch
of things that can actually bedifferentials for so many other
diseases.
It could be that your pet doeshave diabetes.
It could mean that your pet hasa foreign object.
It could mean salmon poisoning.
There's so many things that thiscould potentially be.
If you notice any of thesesymptoms, it is really important
(07:38):
to contact your veterinarian assoon as possible, to make sure
that we have the right diagnosisand know what the correct
treatment is going to be.
I will say real quick, somepeople will think that fever is
part of this.
Most pancreatitis patients thatI see do not have a fever, even
though it is inflammation whichdoes cause a fever.
I don't see it that oftenbecause I think that unless
(07:59):
they're really, really bad,that's pretty much the only time
that I usually see a fever withthem.
Alright, let's talk about thediagnosis and the treatment now.
So when you bring your pet intothe vet with these symptoms of
pancreatitis, usually the vet'sgoing to perform like a series
of tests to diagnose what'sgoing on.
Like I said, there are manyother things that could
potentially cause this.
(08:19):
So some of these things aregoing to be like an abdominal
x-ray or abdominal radiographsis the correct term for that.
Mostly that is to help make surethat there's not something
that's causing an obstruction.
That there's no object in thesmall intestines or in the
stomach that is making it sothat that pet is vomiting all of
this food up or bile up.
The next thing is probably goingto be blood work.
(08:41):
Blood work is a little bit hardbecause it can show that there
are elevated levels in thepancreas or, elevated pancreatic
enzymes, it's called lipase.
So it can show those things, butit doesn't always mean that
pancreatitis is the causebecause you can get pancreatitis
from other things.
Remember, like I said, that ifyour pet has a foreign object
(09:01):
and it passes by the smallintestines where the pancreas
is, that can cause really badinflammation.
And so sometimes the pancreasand pancreatic enzymes will be
elevated, but that's not theinitial cause of this.
So we still want to make surethat even if we have diagnosed
your pet with pancreatitis, thatwe've looked to make sure
there's not something elsethat's caused this pancreatitis.
(09:23):
We can do blood work, becauseit's going to show, potentially,
that there are elevated enzymesof the pancreas.
Usually, there are two ways ofdoing this.
Some people send it out to thelab, and then they run this very
special test that gives you anumber as to like how likely it
is that it's pancreatitis.
Like how high those enzymes are.
The other way is that peoplewill do it in house, and you can
(09:43):
do a SNAP test in house.
So we'll do regular blood work,which shows us the kidney
levels, how the liver isfunctioning, if there are signs
of diabetes, things like that.
But we'll also run somethingcalled a CPL, which is a canine
pancreatic lipase enzyme test.
But we're going to run that snaptest in house to be able to see
if that potentially shows thatthe enzymes are really high.
(10:05):
But it has to be over a certainlevel in order for that test to
be positive.
So maybe your dog or cat doeshave pancreatic enzymes that are
a little bit elevated, but wemay not catch it on that test.
I would say if we do it in housethat doesn't mean that your pet
doesn't have pancreatitis, itjust means that the enzymes are
not high enough to be able toshow pancreatitis.
(10:26):
The third thing that people willoften use is going to be an
ultrasound or an abdominalultrasound.
So we're going to look onultrasound at things like the
pancreas to see if it looksreally inflamed.
The pancreas is really hard tofind on ultrasound actually.
I do ultrasounds constantly, andeven for me, if it's not
inflamed, it can definitely behard for me to see sometimes.
(10:48):
So if we see a really inflamedpancreas, then definitely we
have a pancreatitis going on,but again, that may not have
been the initial cause.
There could be something elsethat's going on as well.
Which is why it's reallyimportant to run all the other
tests too.
Alright, so let's talk abouttreatment for pancreatitis.
So treatment of pancreatitisusually involves a combination
(11:09):
of therapies.
There is no drug that we cangive to be able to make
pancreatitis go away.
Unfortunately, that's going tobe that we are going to be doing
a lot of just trying to helpsupport your pet until your pet
has been able to get over thepancreatitis or resolve things
with their own body on theirown.
So some of those things thatwe're going to do to help
(11:29):
support them is going to befluid therapy.
So we want to preventdehydration and to help support
organ function.
So we do that by giving fluids.
Ideally we want to do thisgiving IV fluids, so fluids
directly into the vein becausewe're able to get as much fluid
as possible in that way and weknow it's going directly into
the blood vessels.
(11:50):
You can give sub-q fluids, orfluids that go under the skin.
That can help for pets who donot have really bad
pancreatitis, but it does take24 hours for that fluid to be
able to reabsorb.
And our goal is we want to tryto help prevent dehydration.
And they're getting dehydratedby vomiting, not eating, not
drinking.
And a lot of times they drink,but they're vomiting it right
(12:11):
back up.
And then they have diarrhea ontop of it.
So we want to try to make surethat we help prevent that
dehydration.
Again, it's also going to helpsupport organ function and
really get to that pancreaswhich is where we need it to go.
Because if the pancreas does nothave enough fluid going to it,
just like with our surgicalpatients, it could actually make
pancreatitis worse.
(12:32):
So we want to make sure that weget them really well hydrated.
Pain management is the secondmost important thing.
We want to control that pain anddiscomfort.
Like I said, when you push onthe belly, it hurts.
I've had pancreatitis myself.
It was so painful.
Like I, like I used to not givepain medication before I had
(12:53):
pancreatitis, not knowing justhow painful it was.
And then after havingpancreatitis, it is definitely
pushed me to give all of my petswho have pancreatitis pain
medications.
The third thing we want toimplement is going to be diet
changes.
So we want a low fat, easilydigestible diet.
That's usually what we recommendto try to help reduce stress on
(13:15):
the pancreas, so it doesn't haveso much fat that it's going to
have to break down.
This can be in multipledifferent forms.
This could be in a special dietthat you get from the vet
office.
So there are certain ones likeHill's I/D, or Royal Canin
Gastroenteritis that we'll giveto try to help make sure that we
have a low fat diet especiallyfor people who don't want to
(13:35):
cook.
The other thing that you can dois you can give a boiled chicken
and rice diet.
So it needs to be chickenbreast.
No skin.
No bones.
No seasoning.
Nothing.
Very plain and it has to beboiled.
You don't want to barbecue it.
You don't want to put it in theoven because it's just going to
sit in fat.
We want all of that fat to beable to be boiled out.
(13:57):
So make sure you boil thechicken breast.
Same thing with the rice.
Boiled, nothing added to it.
No butter, no seasoning,nothing.
Very, very plain.
You're going to want to do thatfor about three to five days, or
at least until this pancreatitisis under control.
For some of those pets who havethis chronic pancreatitis.
(14:18):
So if your pet has apancreatitis that comes off and
on, the pancreas is never goingto be fully back to itself
again.
Some of the things that you cando there.
I have a lot of people who tryto feed just chicken and rice
all the time.
That's not a balanced diet.
I highly suggest you look at theepisode that tells you how to
balance their nutrition.
It's from a website calledBalance.It.
(14:39):
That way you can make sure thatyou can feed them a really low
fat diet and also make sure tohave a well balanced, nutritious
diet as well.
So I highly recommend looking atthat.
A lot of people ask me aboutantibiotics.
So most of the time, we do notneed antibiotics.
This is not an infection that'sgoing to the pancreas.
This is the pancreas that'seating itself that's causing it.
(15:03):
So 99 percent of the time, we donot need antibiotics for this.
Some people will giveantibiotics to help stop
diarrhea.
It's called metronidazole.
We want to try to get away fromthat though because we really
don't need to be giving a lot ofantibiotics.
It has shown that if we givethose antibiotics for multiple
times or, or even just one longperiod that it can cause the GI
(15:24):
flora, so all the normalbacteria that we have in there,
to not grow correctly.
We want the good bacteria tooutgrow the bad bacteria.
So oftentimes instead of doingantibiotics, usually doing a
bland diet and doing someprobiotics, even prebiotics and
probiotics, can really help withthat.
Psyllium husk can help with thatas well.
(15:45):
So I will usually put on mydischarges like how much
psyllium husk to get and you canjust get that from your local
grocery store or pharmacy.
So antibiotics are usually notneeded.
The last thing we have toconsider is going to be
hospitalization.
So in severe cases for pets,they may need to be
hospitalized, especially if theyhave those other problems going
(16:05):
on.
If there's some other medicalissue, then most likely they're
going to need to behospitalized.
And I'd say the number one thingthat people have a hard time
with that is that they don'twant to be away from their pet.
But I usually tell peoplethey're going to be more
comfortable, they're going to beable to get treatment faster,
and we're going to be able toget them home faster when
they're hospitalized.
We want them to be betterfaster, we don't want them to
(16:28):
have this go on for weeks, andthen at the very end hospitalize
them, and it could have beensomething we could have done
very quickly.
Hospitalization for the severecases, but ones that aren't
severe usually will do a lot ofoutpatient treatment, meaning
we're just giving them fluids,medications, sending them home.
With those medications, oftentimes, like I said, it's going
to be some sort of probiotic,sometimes we'll give something
(16:50):
else to try to help withdiarrhea that has psyllium husk
in it.
Most of the time, we're going togive Cerenia, which is a
medication to help stopvomiting.
And then, besides that, it justdepends on your veterinarian.
You got to remember that everyveterinarian is going to be
different as to how that they'regoing to be treating your pet.
But these are pretty commonthings that you're going to see
for us to give.
Alright, now let's talk aboutmanaging and preventing
(17:11):
pancreatitis.
That's the most important thing.
That's the thing I harp on allthe time, right?
We want to prevent these things.
So managing precreatitis reallyinvolves monitoring and
adjusting your pet's lifestyleto a couple of things.
First of all, diet.
We said that diet is the numberone thing that causes
pancreatitis.
So stick to some sort of low fatdiet and avoid giving table
(17:34):
scraps or any sort of fattytreats.
Table scraps, again, are thenumber one thing that I see.
So avoid giving table scraps andthat's going to help you avoid
your pet getting pancreatitis.
Number two, regular checkups.
Regular veterinary visits canhelp catch any of those early
signs of pancreatitis or otherhealth issues like diabetes or
(17:56):
hypothyroidism that can lead topancreatitis later on.
Weight management, it's a bigone.
Keeping your pet at a reallyhealthy weight is going to
reduce the risk of pancreatitis.
I usually tell people to askyour veterinarian to see like
how much they should weigh or atleast how much the weight that
they should potentially lose.
To try to help keep them ahealthy weight.
(18:18):
A lot of people will see otherpeople's dogs like, Oh, like
I'll give you my Great Dane, forexample, a lot of people will
see another Great Dane, who isvery overweight.
They look like they are verybarrel and that's not what
they're supposed to look like.
Yes, their chest can be a littlebit barrel like, but not their
abdomen.
You should be able to see theirchest as a flat line, and then
(18:40):
tuck in towards their back afterthat.
They should be a nice healthyway to try to help prevent that
pancreatitis because then we'renot going to have a lot of fat
or triglycerides that areroaming around in the
bloodstream, helping them to notget pancreatitis.
The next thing is going to bemonitoring medications.
Being aware of any medicationsthat might increase the risk of
pancreatitis.
(19:01):
And then discuss alternativeswith your vet.
There are other alternatives forthings like phenobarbital and
potassium bromide that we cangive.
And so it might just mean thatwe just need to change
medications.
So again if you have a pet whohas a history of having chronic
pancreatitis, just talking toyour vet about is this something
that's going to potentiallycause pancreatitis or cause a
(19:23):
flare in pancreatitis.
So we can try to help, navigatethat if we need to.
So preventing pancreatitis isreally all about maintaining a
really healthy lifestyle for ourpets.
A proper diet, regular exercise,routine veterinary care, those
are the things that are the keycomponents to this.
So before we wrap up, I'm justgoing to address some frequently
(19:44):
asked questions aboutpancreatitis in pets.
First thing is, can pancreatitisbe cured?
Pancreatitis can be managed, butit cannot really be cured,
especially if it becomes achronic thing.
The goal is to help manage thesesymptoms and prevent the flare
ups.
Once we've had some sort ofinsult to the pancreas, I can't
fix that pancreas.
(20:05):
I can't make it go back to whatit was before.
But we can help prevent it fromhappening again.
Alright, second most commonquestion, is pancreatitis more
common in dogs or in cats?
So pancreatitis is most commonlydiagnosed 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
(20:25):
table scraps.
But they do.
Lots of cats will try to getinto people's food and lick the
plates, people will give themthings like milk or ice cream
because they're like, Oh, it'sjust this cute little treat for
them.
But all of those things canpotentially cause a pancreatitis
for them.
They definitely can both getthem, I just think that cats are
probably under diagnosed withpancreatitis.
(20:47):
Alright, third most commonquestion, 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 fewdays, whereas severe cases can
take weeks or even longer.
Alright, next question is, candiet alone prevent pancreatitis?
(21:08):
So diet does play a significantrole in pancreatitis, but there
are so many other factors, likeI said, right?
There's genetics, you haveunderlying conditions like
hypothyroidism and Cushing'sdisease that can cause this.
So really we have to think aboutyour pet as a whole, not just as
just the diet is what's going tohelp fix this.
Alright, so that brings us tothe end of today's episode on
(21:30):
pancreatitis.
Pancreatitis can be a reallyserious condition, but with
proper care and attention, youcan help your pet lead a really
happy, healthy life.
If you have concerns about yourpet's health, like I said,
always consult a veterinarian.
Don't just go off of what wesay.
You need to make sure thatthere's not something else
that's going on.
So definitely consult with yourveterinarian.
(21:51):
So now we're going to talk aboutsome fun animal dad facts.
So seeing as Father's Day iscoming up, I thought we would
celebrate our amazing dads.
So let's talk about some animaldad facts.
Some animal dads are greatprotectors, right?
Like the lion we know of is agreat protector of the herd, but
he also finds time to play withhis cubs.
You have the jawfish daddy,which is a fish that protects
(22:13):
the eggs and keeps them warm byholding them in his mouth.
You might be wondering, how doeshe eat then if he just is
holding these eggs in his mouth?
He spits the eggs out for asecond, eats his food, and then
sucks them right back in whenhe's done eating.
So he has them in there forquite a long time.
There's also the Oreophrynefrog.
(22:36):
Man, I wish that they had made,they would make these a lot
easier and, I feel likeeverybody is gonna say these,
these words different ways, butwe try our best.
The Oreophryne frog, who standsguard over the eggs until they
hatch.
He just sits on top of themuntil they hatch.
Some dads even take a moreactive approach to child
rearing, like the marmosets, whogroom and feed their offspring,
(23:00):
which are usually twins by theway.
Or the African jacana bird, whobuilds the nest, he sits on the
eggs until they hatch, and thenhe carries them under his wing
until they have grown up enoughto be able to fly away on their
own.
There's also the emperor penguindad.
He plays his role by carryingthe egg on his feet to help
(23:20):
protect the egg from thosereally harsh arctic winters.
And in fact, he also starveshimself for two months while the
mother penguin goes to findfood.
The female emperor penguin, sheactually looks to find a mate
that can hold out without foodfor the longest period of time
to determine that that's goingto be the best mate.
And if you want to find a dadwho is really invested, then we
(23:42):
cannot forget about maleseahorses.
Or seahorse?
Male seahorse?
He actually gives birth to babyseahorses.
He holds up to 2,000 eggs in apouch that's in his stomach.
Where he fertilizes them, andthen holds on to them for 30
days while they start todevelop.
And then he can pop them outwhen he's ready.
(24:03):
So this Father's Day, you canthank your dad, or your stepdad,
or your grandpa, or any otherfather figure that you have.
Based on the type of dad he is,right?
Just be like, Hey dad, Iappreciate you being like the
emperor penguin dad.
He'll get it, I'm sure.
All right, so thank you fortuning in to Vetsplanation.
Next week we're going to talk tothe CEO of Torigen, which is a
breakthrough technology to helpus save our pets after being
(24:27):
diagnosed with cancer.
So don't forget to subscribe toour podcast for more insights
into your pet's health, and feelfree to leave a review or send
in your questions.
Until next time, keep your petshappy, healthy, and safe.
Thanks guys.
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