Quick tips on understanding and treating pancreatitis

Jörg M. Steiner, Med Vet, Dr Med Vet, PhD, DACVIM-SAIM, DECVIM-CA, AGAF sat down with dvm360 in a video interview and explained how most cases of pancreatitis are idiopathic, however some things could attribute to the development of this disease and it's important to speak to owners about certain feeding habits that can negatively affect their health. Steiner also discussed a new treatment option for acute pancreatitis in dogs that has been conditionally approved by the FDA.

The following is a partial transcript of the video.

Jörg M. Steiner, Med Vet, Dr Med Vet, PhD, DACVIM-SAIM, DECVIM-CA, AGAF: The truth of [the] matter is that over 90% of pancreatitis in dogs and cats is actually idiopathic. So we don't really know what the underlying causes [are]. There's a variety of things that are considered risk factors: hypertriglyceridemia, high-fat diets, hypercalcemia, car accidents, surgical trauma, hypovolemia, etc.

As an educational tool, make sure [owners] understand that feeding their dog a really high-fat treat, and a lot of it (like on Thanksgiving and Christmas), it has risks associated with it.