Is There A Way To Prevent Pancreatitis?

[Wonder]

I've been seeing posts about hounds having Pancreatitis so wondering if there's a way to prevent it?

[Guest Energy11]

Here is some info. on the subject.

 

http://greythealth.com/pancreatitis.htm

[krissn333]

Not sure if it's preventable but Sutra's will flare if he has a hard time digesting food (basically his pancreas goes bonkers to produce digestive enzymes)...so now he gets digestive enzymes in his food to lighten the load on the pancreas (don't know if giving digestive enzymes would prevent pancreatitis or not).

 

Fatty foods are tough on the pancreas, so Sutra eats a low fat diet. He's not allowed any people food either except for the occasional pizza crust or marshmallow.

 

In some cases, I think it *just happens* but I have also known dogs to have a bout if they've gotten into the garbage and/or eaten foods they shouldn't.

[Guest 3greysinPA]

Thank you for this information, i was wondering the exact thing.

[heartdogs]

Low fat, no grain foods help. Small meals, 3-4 a day, instead of 2 large also help & keep stress down same as with people stress can make the problem worse.

[Guest KennelMom]

My SIL who's a vet (though she now works as a board certified vet. pathologist) has told me that they (vets) see an increase of pancreatitis during the holiday season when pets either steal food from the garbage and overeat, or humans intentionally feed Fluffy "special treats" of people food which are just too rich for dogs, esp those used to eating just commercial kibble.

 

If people want to give their dogs special meals of human food, best to stick to lean meats and veggies, preferably rinsed of special seasoning and salt. And be sure not to overdo it...Avoid gravies, fatty meat like bacon and ham, turkey skin and things like that.

Edited December 12, 2009 by KennelMom

[Guest mike]

Yes, the things listed are true. Once a dog has pancreatitis their chances can be increased that it will happen again. Pancreatitis is an extremely serious condition. Many dogs dies from this as well as people. I see an increase in cases around the Holidays; Christmas, July 4th etc. Getting in to cat litter is a big trigger for canine pancreatitis too. True pancreatitis is a medical emergency.

[Guest Heehoo]

I had a norwegian elkhound who got it from table scraps. He was about 6 months old with his first case. He died from it when he was 4 because we had gone out for a "fun run" and he & the other elkhounds found a dead animal before I could get to them. 

[grey14me]

Avoid fatty treats, too...like pigs ears.

[Guest mcsheltie]

This is an example of eating things they shouldn't.

 

My friend's dog became deathly ill right before they were going to bed. They took him to an Evet who also runs a day time clinic. That turned out to be a nightmare. If she hadn't gone to visit him the following evening he would have died. She immediately moved him to another Evet. They redid all the tests and still misdiagnosed him. 24 hours later she moved him to one of the best vets in the area and he was determined to have Pancreatitis. He was barely hanging on at this point.

 

After four days of no sleep and being constantly at the vets, my friend settled back into her routine. She went to make breakfast and all the eggs were gone. She started quizzing everyone... what happened to the eggs? Turned out her five year old grandson had taken them upstairs and dropped them out the window, he wanted to see what happened when they landed. He was dropping them into the dog run and Percy had eaten a carton of eggs! That ended up costing over $4000!