Introduction
Pancreatitis refers to inflammation of the pancreas, and it can be acute or chronic – meaning that it can come on suddenly (acutely), or can creep up slowly (and become chronic). There are no known age or sex predispositions to this disease in dogs, but Miniature Schnauzers appear to be more commonly affected than other dogs.
Acute pancreatitis symptoms will occur suddenly, and the signs are generally severe. Chronic pancreatitis normally causes more mild symptoms that appear and then disappear, resolving on their own; or the symptoms may keep appearing due to repeated flair-ups that need to be treated. The diagnosis of pancreatitis in dogs is often based on the dog’s history, symptoms and blood chemistry results. In some cases, ultrasound and pancreatic biopsy are used to diagnose pancreatitis.
Diagnosing Pancreatitis
While a dog’s history, symptoms, and blood chemistry results do not give veterinarians a 100% definitive pancreatitis diagnosis, in most cases if all these factors point towards pancreatitis a veterinarian will begin pancreatitis treatments. Ultrasound can be very expensive, and how accurate the results are depends on the skill of the ultrasonagrapher. Though pancreatic biopsy is a more definitive test, it is not often used as a method of diagnosis because most dogs with pancreatic symptoms are in no condition to undergo this type of surgical procedure.
Many dogs that develop pancreatitis are overweight, eat a high fat diet, recently ate a single meal that was high in fat, or are on a medication which has been linked to pancreatitis. Some breeds of dogs seem to develop pancreatitis more often than others, and a veterinarian will take the dog’s breed as well as history into consideration when making a pancreatitis diagnosis. In most cases, pancreatitis also causes specific symptoms in dogs, such as vomiting, diarrhea, abdominal pain, and refusal to eat.
Abnormalities on a blood chemistry panel, including elevated white blood cells and elevated liver enzymes, may also show up in dogs with pancreatitis. These blood tests are not always conclusive, and this is why a veterinarian takes a full history, asks you about symptoms, and pursues blood tests before a diagnosis is made. There are developing blood tests that can help in the diagnosis of canine pancreatitis.