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Pancreatitis
is a disease caused by inflammation of the pancreas. The pancreas is an
organ located next to the small intestine, that assists in the digestion
of food. The pancreas provides enzymes that help breakdown the
proteins, fats, and carbohydrates that make up food. These enzymes are
normally stored within the pancreas and cause no problem. However, when
the pancreas is inflamed, these enzymes leak into the surrounding tissue
and begin to digest it. This leads to the symptoms that we see
associated with this disease which are:
Nausea,
Lack of appetite,
Listlessness
Vomiting
Diarrhea
Dehydration.
Pancreatitis can be quite painful, and many pets will appear to have a
painful belly. Pancreatitis presents to us in varying degrees of
severity. It can range from just mild lack of appetite to severe
uncontrollable vomiting and dehydration. If left untreated,
pancreatitis can be fatal.
What
causes pancreatitis?
We do not know
all of the factors that contribute to the development pancreatitis in
pets or in people. The most common cause of pancreatitis is the sudden
addition of fatty foods into the diet. Sometimes pancreatitis has been
associated with stress, administration of certain drugs, and in
association with any disease that can cause vomiting. Often times, we
cannot find the precipitating cause for pancreatitis in your pet.
How do we diagnose pancreatitis?
The diagnosis of
pancreatitis is not always simple. In the dog, there are enzymes that
can be tracked in the blood that are fairly accurate diagnosing
pancreatitis. However, these enzymes are not always elevated even in
animals that have confirmed pancreatitis. In cats, the diagnosis of
pancreatitis is more difficult. The enzymes that week tracked in the
dog I'm not necessarily reliable in the cat. X-rays and ultrasound can
be used to help confirm a diagnosis of pancreatitis and help rule out
other problems that could be contributing to or causing the pancreatitis.
Sometimes, the combination of clinical signs, and the lack of other
specific diseases present, lead us to the diagnosis of pancreatitis by
exclusion.
How do we treat pancreatitis?
There are no
specific drugs at this time that can be used to cure pancreatitis. Our
goal in therapy is to support the pet while the pancreas has a chance to
settle down. Because eating stimulates the pancreas, we must prevent
the pet from taking anything by mouth until the urge to vomit has
subsided. Generally this can take from 2 to 6 days of hospitalization
during which time your pet will be maintained on intravenous fluids and
injectable drugs to control nausea, vomiting, and pain. Once your pet
has stopped vomiting and is willing to drink, eat and hold the food
down, we can generally discharge him or her.
In general, we
will discharge your pet with any combination of the following drugs:
Give the following antinausea drug;
Reglan ______ tabs/CC's
______ times daily for ____ Days
Give the following antacids drug;
Famotidine Ranitidine _____ tabs/CC's ____
Times daily for ____ Days
Give the following antibiotic;
Baytril Cephalexin Metronidazole ___ tabs/cc's __
Times Daily for __ Days
Low-fat diet is one of, if not the
most important part of therapy and long-term prevention of this disease.
Please feed _____________ diet
________ cans and/or _______ cups _____ times daily.
Be sure to avoid all treats and
snacks, in particular any foods containing fat for the
foreseeable future.
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