Canine PancreatitisCanine pancreatitis is an ailment that affects dogs of any age, breed or size and can sometimes be pretty dangerous to a dog's wellbeing, depending on the severity of the case. This problem in dogs is essentially the swelling or inflammation of the pancreas due to the premature release of enzymes in the pancreas instead of in the small intestine. Why this happens is often due to a few reasons, although there is no definite reason as to why this happens. The culprit is sometimes the fatty and rich food that some dogs are being fed. Others also believe that the culprit when it comes to this problem that canines experience is when cortisone is administered. There are also cases when the reason for the pancreatitis is unknown. Two Kinds of Canine Pancreatitis Canine pancreatitis actually comes in two types, the mild form and the hemorrhagic form. The edematous or mild type of pancreatitis is easily treatable and may offer your dog a chance of recovery if treated early on. The hemorrhagic form is the more dangerous of the two and may offer little chance of recovery even after treatment. The tendency of recurrence when it comes to this ailment is called chronic, relapsing pancreatitis. Diagnosing Canine Pancreatitis Finding out if your pet has this ailment requires a careful study of the symptoms and the diagnosis is often a result of x-rays, laboratory tests and clinical observations. Some of the symptoms include nausea, vomiting, abdominal pain, diarrhea and fever. If your dog has a severe case of this problem, he may also manifest signs like depression and even acute shock. This can sometimes lead to death. Laboratory results that show a high count of the dog's white blood cell numbers can also be an indication of this ailment as well as the increase in the dog's pancreatic enzyme levels. One of the adverse effects that canine pancreatitis gives to these dogs includes the disruption of the surfactants that are found in the dog's lung tissue. Disruptors like this can be dangerous and deadly to your dog. Such a disruptor can cause lung failure in your dog. Treatments and Help for Your Pet There are a few treatments that can help your dog recover from this and one of the main parts of any of these treatments is totally stopping the intake of any food or water into the dog's system. This treatment will cause your dog to lose some mass but intravenous support through intravenous lines will prevent the dog from dehydrating while being treated. Other treatments have pain relievers as part of the treatment since canine pancreatitis can be very painful for your dog and these can be administered through the same intravenous line you use for the dog's support. A review of the dog's food intake in the past is also needed to be able to determine which foods are to be avoided in the future. Reviews like these can also help your other dogs avoid the kinds of foods that will make them susceptible to pancreatitis. These days, more laboratories are experimenting with new cures with the use of DNA transfection and such. Hopefully, a more effective and faster cure can be found for your dog with this kind of research going on. |