By Dr. Anne Chauvet, DVM, DACVIM, Neurology
Pancreatitis – The Cause, Diagnosis and Treatment
What is the cause?
- diet
- viral
- bacterial
- other
What are the signs?
- vomiting with or without diarrhea
- refusal to eat
- belly pain
How do we diagnose it?
- blood work: CBC, chemistry analysis, urinalysis
- ultrasound of the belly/abdomen with or without aspirate of the pancreas
- specific lipase enzyme – 80% accuracy
- response to therapy
- Note that sometimes pancreatic cancer and pancreatitis can be hard to tell apart
How do we treat it?
- intravenous fluids
- medications to control nausea and vomiting and diarrhea
- sometimes antibiotics
- often plasma administration to find the enzymes of the inflamed pancreas
- sometimes we have to place feeding tubes
- expect at least 2 days in hospital, sometimes more
- hyperbaric oxygen therapy (only available at CriticalVetCare)
Most dogs and cats with pancreatitis improve with early and proper treatment. At CriticalVetCare, our goal is to work closely with your veterinarian and manage the care of your baby, so that you can be together again as quickly as possible.
For more information about pancreatitis contact CriticalVetCare at 941-9291818 or [email protected]. Passion to Care, Mission to Cure. www.criticalvetcare.com
About Dr. Chauvet
Dr. Chauvet is one of less than 250 neurology diplomats in the U.S., has been involved in gene therapy research for brain cancer, has developed a neurology and neurosurgery course that is widely used for veterinary neurologist, and has been published numerous time in veterinary and human medical journals alike