Pancreatitis one of the severe diseases your pets might get. If you have a cat or dog at home, he might get pancreatitis, too. As you know, pancreas is a vital organ located on the right side of the abdomen.
Its job is to produce enzymes that are beneficial for assisting food digestion and hormones, such as insulin. This is a vital organ of the body, so if it is inflamed, some of the body functions won’t work properly.
Pancreatitis in cats happens when the pancreas in inflamed. It occasionally occurs in cats. Pancreatitis in cats is commonly followed by the liver and intestine inflammation.
Pancreatitis does not depend on age, body size, and sex or even breed predisposition. Pancreatitis in cats might be mild, severe of hemorrhagic. Before going further to the pancreatitis in cats, you may see these signs of pancreatitis in dogs.
Let’s see everything you need to know about pancreatitis, including the clinical signs of pancreatitis in cats. As a cat owner, you must know about these items.
Causes of Pancreatitis in Cats
The cause of pancreatitis in cats is unknown, but it is mainly associated with some conditions, such as trauma, parasitic infections, or even poisons.
When a cat is getting pancreatitis, she also might have inflammatory bowel disease. In dogs, pancreatitis is mainly caused by consuming too much fatty food, while in cats, some researchers still study about the link of too much fat and pancreas problems.
Clinical Signs of Pancreatitis in Cats
As explained before, pancreas has some jobs, such as producing enzymes to assist digestion and also producing hormones, such as insulin that is in charge of regulating blood sugar level.
The wide range of pancreas’ jobs often makes the symptoms of pancreatitis similar to other medical conditions. However, here are the common clinical signs of pancreatitis you can spot in cats:
- Lethargy or weakness
- Dehydration, also read causes and treatment of dehydration in cats
- Weight loss
- Loss of appetite, even lead to poor appetite
- Increased frequency of urinating and drinking (these two are often mistaken as diabetes symptoms too).
There are some other clinical signs that can tell that your cat is suffering from pancreatitis such as vomiting and abdominal pain. Vomiting blood is also a serious problems, see the reasons your pet cat is vomiting blood.
However, commonly these two signs are experienced by dogs and humans with pancreatitis. Though it might be mistakenly figured out as signs of other diseases, still, you need to take action immediately.
You should consult with your vet once any of the symptoms appears. Immediate action is needed as severe pancreatitis might lead to death.
Diagnosing Pancreatitis in Cats
Pancreatitis in cats can be diagnosed through blood test in a laboratory. However, the blood test can also be misleading to other conditions beside pancreatitis.
Recently, there has been a new pancreatic test that will be able to analyze pancreatitis. It is able to check the level of the pancreatic enzyme levels.
Emergency Treatment for Cats with Pancreatitis
Early diagnosis of pancreatitis will make the treatment process more successful. By having early diagnosis, you can give medical and prompt treatment and therapy as well.
If your cat suffers from mild pancreatitis, you just need to “rest” the pancreas and allow the body to heal by itself. Resting the pancreas can be done by withholding all the oral fluids and food so that your cat’s pancreas doesn’t have to secrete any digestive enzymes.
Different with the mild ones, the severe ones might need some medical treatments. In most cases, antibiotics are given if there is any infection suspected.
Most cats suffering from pancreatitis will be hospitalized within 2 to 4 days with intravenous fluids and medications are administered and re-introducing food is done gradually.
The hemorrhagic pancreatitis will require intensive care. It uses intravenous fluids and medications.
Additional Tips of Feeding Cats with Pancreatitis
You might be confused about the way to feed your cats while she recovers from pancreatitis. You might be worried if the pancreatitis will get worse once you feed your cat again.
You can feed your cat with the food that is appetizing and easy to be digested. You can consult with your vet about the type of food you can feed to your cat.
Regarding to cats’ diet, you might want to know best nutrition facts that should be contained in cat food. Make sure these nutrients are present in your cat food, so you are able to prevent your cat from getting any illnesses, like pancreatitis. If you wish to cook the food for your cat by yourself, then you might need yummy recipe of homemade cat food.