How to Comfort a Dog With Pancreatitis

By :Becki Baumgartner, PhD 0 comments

In this article, we'll teach you how to naturally comfort a dog with pancreatitis.

Please note, many people don't realize how severe pancreatitis can be. If you think your dog may have pancreatitis, please get in touch with your veterinarian as soon as possible.

What Is Canine Pancreatitis?

Pancreatitis is a severe inflammation of the pancreas. And, it can make your dog very ill.

The pancreas sits in the abdomen, just below your dog's stomach.

Its job is to produce digestive enzymes to break down dietary fats, proteins, and carbohydrates.

In addition, the pancreas produces insulin to help move glucose from the blood to cells for energy.

Sometimes, and for various reasons, digestive enzymes activate while still in the pancreas.

The activated digestive enzymes irritate the pancreas, creating the condition we call pancreatitis.

As mentioned earlier, pancreatitis is painful for your dog.

Unfortunately, pancreatitis can also lead to a host of other health challenges like:

dehydration
diabetes
insufficient enzyme production
organ damage

And, in severe cases, pancreatitis can even lead to death.

What Causes Pancreatitis in Dogs?

Most pancreatitis cases happen after a dog ingests too much fat.

For example, canine pancreatitis cases typically increase during the holiday season.

On holidays, families gather together to eat holiday meals. Food gets dropped on the floor, and the dog gobbles it down.

Sometimes pet parents or house guests give the dog ham drippings or turkey trimmings to make him feel like part of the family.

The excess fat in the food stimulates a sudden release of lipase (fat-digesting pancreatic enzyme).

Then, the sudden release of lipase causes internal pancreatic digestion, inflammation, and tissue damage.

Shortly afterward, the damaged tissues release toxins, which in turn cause a systemic inflammatory response and illness.

What are the Signs of Pancreatitis?

Pets with pancreatitis can become very ill and experience:

abdominal pain
anorexia
diarrhea
fever
lethargy
vomiting

If your dog suffers vomiting and/or diarrhea for more than 24 hours or doesn't eat for more than 24 hours, you should contact your vet immediately.

What to Feed a Dog With Pancreatitis

First, you should follow your veterinarian's instructions to help your dog overcome pancreatitis.

Our vets typically recommend home-cooking chicken, turkey, or low-fat beef and rice. Keep:

protein at 60-80%
fat below 10-15%

You may also add in a small amount of bland cooked vegetables.

Our vets recommend PET | TAO Harmony Limited Ingredient Canned Formula if you prefer a pre-made dog food.

When your dog is stable, the next step is feeding an energetically appropriate diet.

Don't worry; this isn't as difficult as it sounds!

Just look at the feeding chart on the PET | TAO website and feed the appropriate PET | TAO formula.

Or, try making the recipe yourself. You will find many different recipes on the PET | TAO recipe page.

Supplements for Dogs Suffering From Pancreatitis

In addition to feeding nutritious food, you can help ease and prevent pancreatitis by adding specific supplements to your dog's regimen.

Harmonize Liver Supplement

Our vets recommend PET | TAO Harmonize Liver for dogs prone to pancreatitis.

Harmonize Liver helps by providing digestive enzymes and probiotics for digestion and gut health to help alleviate and prevent further bouts.

Also, it contains milk thistle and other ingredients to support the liver.

Liver support is vital because pancreatitis stresses your dog's liver.

Spleen Treats

Our vets also recommend feeding PET | TAO Spleen Freeze Dried Raw Treats for dogs prone to pancreatitis.

Spleen treats are great for keeping "everything digestive" in balance.

In addition, spleen treats help dogs suffering from:

diarrhea
weight loss
muscle atrophy
weakness
sensitive stomach

TCVM Herbs to Comfort Dogs with Pancreatitis

TCVM offers several different herbal formulas to help comfort a dog with pancreatitis.

Some examples are:

Three Seeds Combination (San Ren Tang) helps resolve chronic pancreatitis and helps reduce the risk of future episodes.
Four Marvels Combination (Si Maio San) - stimulates insulin sensitivity, and studies have verified its beneficial antioxidant effects in pancreatitis.
Glenhia and Rehmannia Combination - helps resolve mild low-grade pancreatitis and prevents recurrences. However, the formula is contraindicated in acute active pancreatitis.
Huo Xiang Zheng Qi San - helps with chronic pancreatitis in young animals. Especially helpful if pancreatitis is associated with diarrhea and/or intestinal bacterial overgrowth.

The formulas listed above are just a few of many options.

Therefore, to find the appropriate formula for your pet, you need the help of a TCVM-trained veterinarian. We also require veterinary authorization before shipping TCVM herbal formulas.