Keep your dog healthy with regular vet exams.
Mar Vista Animal Medical Center explains that the pancreas is "a pale pink glandular organ that nestles cozily just under the stomach." The pancreas serves two purposes: it releases enzymes for digestion, and it secretes insulin and glucagons to metabolize sugar. If a dog's pancreas becomes inflamed, it produces the digestive enzymes prematurely, and they begin to destroy the dog's bodily tissues. The result is a serious condition called pancreatitis that, in severe cases, can be fatal to the dog. (Ref. 1)
Liver Damage
As the digestive enzymes feed on the bodily tissues they, too, become inflamed, and this irritation can spread to the dog's liver, which lies adjacent to the pancreas. If that happens, the liver will produce and release more enzymes into the dog's blood stream, according to the website of Doctors Foster and Smith.
Overall Inflammation
Watch for signs that your dog might not be feeling well.
Another complication of pancreatitis in dogs is an overall inflammatory response in its body, reports Mar Vista Animal Medical Center. As the tissue dies off from being eaten, it releases toxins into the dog's bloodstream that spread throughout the body.
Diabetes Mellitus
The website of Doctors Foster and Smith states that diabetes mellitus can be caused by, or cause, pancreatitis. In severe cases of pancreatitis, the pancreas can lose its ability to produce insulin, causing a temporary or permanent case of what is called diabetes mellitus.
Respiratory Failure
Another complication associated with pancreatitis in dogs is the "disruption of 'surfactants' in the lung tissue," according to the Mar Vista Animal Medical Center. Surfactants prevent the alveoli in the lungs from collapsing after exhalation. If the surfactants are damaged during the tissue feeding, the alveoli do collapse, and the dog will go into respiratory failure.
Fat Destruction
Weber-Christian Syndrome occurs during the destruction of the dog's fat tissue in its body. This situation becomes more severe when the digestion of the fats surrounding the dog's central nervous system creates a certain type of brain damage called pancreatic encephalopathy.
Disseminated Intravascular Coagulation
Mar Vista Animal Medical Center shortens this condition by simply referring to it as "DIC." As their website describes it, DIC is an irregular, yet simultaneous, "bleeding and clotting of blood throughout the body;" a very serious condition.
Maldigestion Syndrome
According to the website of Doctors Foster and Smith, pancreatic insufficiency, or maldigestion syndrome, can actually cause a dog to starve to death. Usually only dogs that have had severe or recurring cases of pancreatitis develop this condition. The starvation is caused by the pancreas' insufficient ability to produce digestive enzymes, resulting in undigested food.
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