Pancreatitis in Dogs: How to Recognize the Signs and What to Do

In brief

There are five things you should know about inflammation of the pancreas. First: it is very painful—in people, acute pancreatitis ranks among the very painful conditions, and in dogs the pain is often underestimated. Second: a typical sign is the prayer position—front end lowered, hindquarters raised. Third, and this surprises most people: no single test proves or rules out pancreatitis. Several findings taken together, on the other hand, can support the diagnosis very well. In one study, the common rapid test missed a good third of cases, and the old values amylase and lipase from the standard blood panel are of little help. Fourth: the old rule of “nothing to eat for three days” is outdated—feeding early and correctly is now part of treatment. Fifth: there is no drug that directly stops the inflammation—what gets treated is fluid balance, pain, nausea and complications.

The pancreas is the organ people think of last—and one that should be at the very top of the list when a dog is vomiting acutely and has abdominal pain. This article explains what happens, why the diagnosis is harder than you might think, and what actually helps.

Note: This article is general information and does not replace a veterinary examination. A dog with severe abdominal pain and repeated vomiting needs to be seen promptly.

👉 All about prevention and health: an overview of dog health

1. What the pancreas does

It has two completely separate jobs, and that explains an important part of what comes later.

The one part produces digestive enzymes that break down fat, protein and starch. They are released through a duct into the small intestine—and in inactive form. They are only activated in the gut. This is a safety mechanism: enzymes that can digest tissue are not supposed to do so inside their own organ.

The other part produces hormones, above all insulin, and releases them into the blood.

In pancreatitis, this safety mechanism fails. The enzymes become active inside the organ and start digesting it. It becomes inflamed and swells, and in severe cases the inflammation spreads to the surrounding area—the lining of the abdomen, the liver, the intestines. In very severe cases, an inflammatory reaction of the whole body develops, with circulatory failure and clotting disorders.

That explains two things: why it hurts so much, and why severe pancreatitis is life-threatening.

The separation of the two jobs also explains something that comes up again in section 12: both parts can be damaged independently of each other. After repeated bouts of inflammation, a dog can lose digestive enzymes without insulin production being affected—or vice versa. That is why the two long-term consequences are two different diseases with two different treatments, even though they involve the same organ.

2. How to recognize it

The signs are nonspecific, except for one.

• Repeated vomiting, often violent and with nothing seeming to help
• Abdominal pain: the dog does not want to be touched, walks stiffly, looks hunched
• The prayer position: front end and elbows lowered, hindquarters raised. It looks like an invitation to play, but it is interpreted as a relieving posture for pain in the upper abdomen. Together with vomiting, it is a clear warning sign.
• Loss of appetite, up to refusing food completely
• Lethargy, withdrawal, restlessness when lying down
• Diarrhea, common but not always present
• Fever or, conversely, low body temperature in severe cases

It becomes serious with weakness, pale mucous membranes, rapid breathing or collapse—then a severe course is on the table, and that is a case for the emergency clinic, not for an appointment the next day.

To tell it apart: unproductive retching in a large dog with a distended belly points more toward gastric dilatation-volvulus (bloat), and that cannot wait.

👉 If your suspicion points in that direction: bloat (GDV) in dogs

2.1 How urgent is it?

Because the signs are nonspecific and the course can be anything from harmless to life-threatening, the most important practical question is not “what is it?” but “how fast do I have to act?” Three levels help you make your own assessment.

Straight to the emergency clinic, even at night. Weakness or collapse, pale or gray mucous membranes, rapid shallow breathing, a dog that will no longer get up. Likewise: unproductive retching in a large dog with a distended belly—that is the case from section 3 that cannot wait.

Have your dog seen today. Repeated vomiting over several hours, obvious abdominal pain, the prayer position, complete refusal of food, a dog that cannot even keep water down.

Soon, but it can be scheduled. A single episode of vomiting in an otherwise lively dog that is eating and seems normal. Here, watching is reasonable—with the caveat that any deterioration changes the assessment.

The reason for this grading is in section 9: on the first day, it is often impossible to say which way a case will go. A mild case treated early is over within a few days. A severe case where two days were spent waiting is a different case.

And one tip that saves time: call ahead instead of showing up unannounced. A practice that knows a dog with a suspected acute abdomen is on the way can keep the ultrasound and a treatment space free.

3. What else it could be

Vomiting with abdominal pain has several possible causes, and telling them apart is not an academic exercise—it leads to completely different actions.

Gastric dilatation-volvulus (bloat). Unproductive retching and a tight, swollen belly in a large dog. This is the most time-critical case and belongs in the clinic immediately.

Foreign body or intestinal obstruction. Persistent vomiting where even water does not stay down. Common in young dogs and in habitual swallowers.

Gallbladder disease, which sits in the same region of the body and can be distinguished well on ultrasound.

Poisoning, especially from anti-inflammatory painkillers meant for humans.

Kidney and liver disease, which trigger vomiting through metabolic changes.

Diseases of the uterus in intact females—a uterine infection often looks like a stomach upset at first and is an emergency.

That is exactly why ultrasound is so valuable: it does not just assess the pancreas, it rules out several of these possibilities in the same examination.

4. No single test proves it

This is the part that is consistently missing from advice articles—and it explains why diagnoses are sometimes shaky here.

The diagnosis of acute pancreatitis rests on a combination: history, clinical examination, an elevated value of pancreas-specific lipase, and the ultrasound findings. None of these elements is enough on its own.

The numbers show just how clear this is. In a study that used the tissue itself as the reference standard, the specific lipase test detected 63.6 percent of cases—so a good third were missed. These numbers, however, are based on only 22 tissue samples; they indicate an order of magnitude, not an exact value. A negative test therefore does not rule out pancreatitis.

Conversely, how much a positive result tells you varies considerably depending on what it is compared against: one study in dogs without tissue evidence of inflammation found a very high specificity (the proportion of correctly negative results) of 97.5 percent, another, against a clinical reference standard, only 74 to 81 percent. In other words: an elevated value in a dog that does not look clinically like it has pancreatitis should be read with caution.

For you, this has a practical consequence. A rapid test is a building block, not a verdict. If your dog has clear symptoms and the test comes back negative, that is no reason to drop the subject—and if an incidental finding is positive without your dog seeming ill, that is no reason for long-term treatment.

5. Why amylase and lipase on the standard panel are of little help

One point that still shows up in many lab reports: the classic values amylase and general lipase.

For amylase, the data are sobering. In the same study, it detected only 18.2 percent of cases. The reason is simple: amylase does not come only from the pancreas but from several tissues. Dogs whose pancreas has been completely removed still have measurable amylase in their blood.

That does not mean these values are worthless—they just say little about the pancreas. So if someone explains a pancreatitis to you based on an elevated amylase alone, it is worth asking a follow-up question.

5.1 How to make sense of a lab report

The printout often lists several values with similar names, and that regularly causes confusion. Three terms are worth distinguishing.

Amylase and general lipase come from the standard panel. Both say little about the pancreas, for the reasons given in the previous section.

Pancreas-specific lipase is the value that matters. It goes by different names depending on the lab, and it is available as a rapid in-clinic test and as a quantitative measurement in the laboratory. The rapid test as a rule only reports “abnormal” or “normal,” the lab value gives a number.

The practical consequence: an abnormal rapid test often leads to a quantitative measurement, and unlike the rapid test, the numerical value is also suitable for tracking the course over time. If your dog is tested more than once, that is not duplication but a different question.

And the point that applies to all three and is laid out in section 4: the value is read together with the clinical picture. An abnormal value in a dog with nothing wrong is something different from the same value in a dog in the prayer position.

6. The ultrasound

Abdominal ultrasound is the second load-bearing building block. What the examiner is looking for is a triad: an enlarged pancreas that appears darker, conspicuously bright fat tissue all around it—a sign that the surrounding tissue is reacting too—and pain on pressure under the probe that can be provoked specifically when exactly this spot is targeted. Free fluid is often present as well. Important here: not every case of pancreatitis shows all three signs—particularly in the early stage, individual signs may be missing.

At least as important is what the ultrasound rules out: foreign bodies, intestinal obstruction, tumors, gallbladder problems.

Good to know: ultrasound is highly operator-dependent, and in the early stage the pancreas can still look unremarkable. An unremarkable ultrasound on the first day rules nothing out.

7. Triggers and risk factors

In many dogs, no clear trigger is found in the end. What is frequently associated with it:

A very high-fat meal—the classic case after the holidays, a barbecue or meat drippings. The association has been observed and is plausible; it is not proven cause and effect for every individual case.

Overweight and high-fat feeding in general.

Certain medications, which is why the complete list of medications belongs in the history.

Pre-existing conditions, especially hormonal disorders and disorders of fat metabolism.

Breed predisposition, among others in Miniature Schnauzers, Cocker Spaniels, Yorkshire Terriers and terriers in general.

Blunt abdominal trauma and abdominal surgery.

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7.1 What you can influence

The list above mixes things that are fixed with things that are in your hands. For practical purposes, it is worth separating them.

Not within your control: breed and predisposition, past abdominal injuries, some of the pre-existing conditions. And in many dogs, no trigger at all is found in the end—a point that takes the pressure off owners who are wondering what they did wrong.

Within your control, and to a large extent: the fat content of what the dog gets—in the food and on the side. Weight. Access to table scraps, trash cans and things found on walks. And the medication list, which should be given in full at every appointment.

Partly within your control: pre-existing conditions, which matter less when well managed than when poorly managed.

For a dog that has never been affected and does not belong to one of the breeds mentioned, this calls for no special treatment—apart from what applies anyway: meat drippings and sausage scraps do not belong in the bowl. For a dog that has been through an episode, on the other hand, the same list is the aftercare from section 13.

8. Treatment: there is no specific one

This is the second thing that surprises people: there is no drug that directly stops the inflammation of the pancreas. The self-digestion cannot be switched off. That does not mean there is no targeted treatment—it is simply aimed at fluid balance, pain, nausea and complications rather than at the inflamed organ itself. And it is exactly this support that substantially influences the course.

IV fluids come first. Fluid loss from vomiting and the shift of fluid into the inflamed tissue are the main problem, and good blood flow to the pancreas is crucial for recovery.

Pain management—more on this below.

Anti-nausea medication, which does not just stop the vomiting but creates the conditions for the dog to eat again.

Stomach protectants are no longer given routinely, only when specifically indicated.

Antibiotics are not indicated in uncomplicated pancreatitis—it is not a bacterial disease. They come into consideration when there are signs of additional bacterial involvement—for example, a confirmed infection, suspected passage of gut bacteria into the bloodstream, or a septic course. These are exceptions, not the rule.

Electrolytes are monitored and corrected. Persistent vomiting shifts potassium and chloride in particular, and a dog with derailed values recovers less well—regardless of how well everything else is going.

A feeding tube is used when the dog does not eat on its own despite anti-nausea treatment. That is not an escalation but the way to put the early feeding from section 10 into practice at all.

Severe cases need intensive care over several days.

8.1 What a hospital stay means

In moderate and severe cases, the dog stays in the clinic, and for many owners that is the hardest part. So here is what happens there and why it cannot be done on an outpatient basis.

The continuous drip is the core. IV fluids over several days cannot be replaced at home—what is meant here is a continuous infusion through an IV line, not the under-the-skin fluids that are possible with other conditions. Blood flow to the inflamed pancreas determines recovery, and it depends on fluid balance.

Pain and nausea treatment are adjusted, sometimes several times a day. That requires someone to be watching the dog.

The course is monitored—blood values, circulation, clotting. It is especially in the first few days that it becomes clear whether this is a mild or a severe case.

What you can ask: When can I visit, and does it help? The answer varies—some dogs calm down, others get worked up after a visit. How is the pain management set up? Is he eating, and if not, is he being helped along with a tube? And: what has to happen before he can come home?

That last question is the most useful, because it turns an open-ended wait into one with milestones—as a rule, the answers are: vomiting under control, pain manageable without a continuous drip, and the dog eating on its own.

9. What comes next: prognosis and risk of relapse

The range is wide, and that makes prognoses difficult.

A mild course is common and usually resolves within a few days with timely treatment. Many of these dogs never have another episode.

A severe course with circulatory involvement, clotting disorders or organ failure, on the other hand, is life-threatening and requires intensive care over days to weeks. On the first day, it is often impossible to say with certainty which way a dog will go—another reason to have your dog seen early rather than waiting.

Two things play a major part in determining what happens next. How much tissue was destroyed, because the pancreas has reserves, but not unlimited ones. And whether the triggering factors remain—a dog that gets meat drippings again after recovering from pancreatitis is the classic repeat case.

After an episode of inflammation, the risk of further episodes remains elevated. That is why permanent low-fat feeding is not a hassle for a few weeks but the actual aftercare.

10. Feeding instead of fasting

For decades, the rule was: rest the pancreas, which meant feeding nothing at all for several days. Today this approach is considered outdated.

The reasoning is the same as for acute diarrhea: the cells of the intestinal lining get a substantial part of their nourishment directly from the gut contents. If that supply is cut off, the barrier function of the gut suffers—of all things in a situation in which an intact barrier is especially important.

The current approach is therefore: start feeding again as early as possible, as soon as the vomiting is under control—in small, frequent portions, low in fat and easy to digest. If a dog does not eat voluntarily, a feeding tube is used rather than waiting longer.

“Low-fat” is meant literally here, and this is where the most common mistake at home happens. Boiled stewing hen with the skin on, fatty ground meat or rice with a splash of oil count as a bland diet for many people—for an irritated pancreas, they are not. Suitable options are chicken breast without skin, nonfat quark (or a similar low-fat fresh cheese) or a low-fat diet prescribed by your veterinarian. As a guideline, a fat content below about 15 percent on a dry matter basis is often cited; the specific target for your dog is set by the practice.

For you, this means: if the clinic starts feeding your dog again the day after admission, that is not a mistake but the current standard.

👉 The same question with diarrhea: diarrhea and vomiting in dogs

11. Pain: the underestimated part

In people, acute pancreatitis ranks among the very painful conditions. There is no reason to assume it is any different in dogs—and yet pain management is regularly handled too cautiously here.

There is an identifiable reason for this: dogs show abdominal pain quietly. They lie curled up, seem “just tired,” withdraw. If you wait for whimpering, you will often wait in vain.

Adequate pain management is not just a question of comfort—it is part of the therapy. A dog in pain does not eat, does not move and recovers less well. And because early feeding is part of the treatment, the two are directly connected.

If in doubt, ask specifically what the pain management looks like. That is a legitimate question and, in this case, a particularly sensible one.

👉 How to really recognize pain: recognizing pain in dogs

11.1 How to recognize abdominal pain at home

Because dogs show abdominal pain quietly and, as section 11 explains, pain management is part of the therapy, it is worth having a list of what you can observe—also after discharge, when the question is whether the dose is enough.

Posture. Lying curled up with the hind legs drawn in, the prayer position, a hunched back when standing, a stiff gait with short steps.

Lying behavior. Frequently changing position because no position is bearable for long. A dog that needs twenty minutes to settle down usually has a reason.

Reaction to touch. Turning away, tensing the abdominal wall, getting up when touched in the area behind the ribs.

The face. Squinted eyes, tense jaw muscles, ears turned back, a fixed stare.

Panting. At rest, without heat and without exertion—an important and frequently misread sign.

Withdrawal. A dog that lies down in an unusual spot and stays there may not simply be getting comfortable.

What to do with this: write down what you see, with the time and in relation to when the medication was given. “He gets restless two hours before the next tablet” is usable information and leads to a different adjustment than “he’s not doing well.”

12. The chronic form

The view that this form is more common than assumed comes from post-mortem studies—that is, from tissue examinations of dogs that have died. What they show is that corresponding changes are found in animals that were never diagnosed with the condition during their lifetime. What they do not show is how common it is in the living dog population: in many of these dogs, the finding probably had no clinical significance, and post-mortem data are not a representative sample anyway.

The useful conclusion is therefore not “almost every dog has this,” but: this form often goes unrecognized—and when it is a possibility, it is worth looking into.

Chronic pancreatitis is less well known precisely because it is inconspicuous: a smoldering inflammation that comes in flare-ups and often goes unrecognized for years.

Typical are recurring episodes with loss of appetite, occasional vomiting, changing stool and a generally poorer condition, with the dog seeming normal in between. Owners often describe a dog that “gets an upset stomach now and then.”

Two long-term consequences can develop when tissue is destroyed over years. If the enzyme-producing part fails, exocrine pancreatic insufficiency develops—a digestive weakness with voluminous, greasy stool and weight loss despite a good appetite. If the hormone-producing part fails, diabetes can develop.

A distinction is worth making here, because the two are regularly confused. In exocrine pancreatic insufficiency, enzymes are missing, and they are added to the food—that is the treatment. In pancreatitis, the opposite is the case: the organ has too much active enzyme in the wrong place. Enzyme powder is not a treatment here, and adding it to the food on your own initiative makes no sense. If you have such a product in the cupboard, ask first what it was intended for.

That is why a dog with recurring, unexplained gastrointestinal episodes should be examined thoroughly once—instead of only treating the current episode each time.

12.1 How the chronic form gets noticed—and why it often doesn’t

Because this form can go unrecognized for years, it is worth looking at how it usually does get noticed and why it typically takes so long.

The pattern is the information. Each individual episode looks like a stomach upset—and is treated as one. Only the accumulation stands out: four or five such days a year, always following a similar course, with a completely normal dog in between.

That is why keeping a record is crucial. A slip of paper or a note on your phone with the date, duration and anything unusual turns five isolated events into a pattern. Without this list, nobody in the exam room remembers the incident from February.

The second clue is the trigger question. If, looking back, a high-fat occasion can be linked to several episodes—a party, visitors, something found on a walk—that is a clue and a valuable piece of information for the practice.

Diagnosis is harder than in the acute case: between flare-ups, lab values and ultrasound can be unremarkable. That is why examinations are often done during an episode rather than afterward—another reason to have a dog with this history seen early instead of waiting until it is over.

And the point that takes the pressure off owners: a dog that “gets an upset stomach now and then” is not necessarily just a sensitive dog. It may have a disease that can be treated and whose course can be influenced through feeding.

13. Feeding afterward—the actual core of aftercare

Section 9 says that permanent low-fat feeding is the actual aftercare. Because relapse depends on it, and because “low-fat” is regularly misunderstood in everyday life, it deserves a closer look.

13.1 What “low-fat” actually means

The decisive figure is not on the front of the package. The “crude fat” value in the guaranteed analysis refers to the food as fed—which, for wet food, includes the water, which can make up as much as eighty percent.

The numbers only become comparable once you convert them to a dry matter basis. A wet food with 5 percent crude fat and 80 percent moisture contains 25 percent fat on a dry matter basis—considerably more than the number on the can suggests, and more than a dry food with 12 percent.

The calculation is simple: crude fat divided by (100 minus moisture), times 100. If you do this once for your dog’s food, you know where you stand—and you understand why two products with similar-sounding values can be completely different.

The specific target is set by the practice, because it depends on the course of the disease. What matters for you is being able to compare two foods in the first place.

13.2 Where the hidden fat comes from

In most relapses, the problem is not the main food but everything else—and that does not show up in any calculation.

Chews. Bully sticks, cow ears, pig ears and dried lung differ considerably in fat content. Pig ears are near the top, beef scalp well below.

Treats and training rewards. Cheese, sausage and liver paste from a tube are the usual suspects, and in total they add up to more than you think.

Table scraps. The edge of the roast, the sausage casing, the fat from the pan poured over the bowl. That is exactly the classic trigger from section 7.

Oil in the food. A tablespoon of salmon oil for a shiny coat is unproblematic in a healthy dog, but in this dog it only makes sense after consulting the practice.

What the dog finds on walks. For a dog that eats things by the roadside, the best diet at home is of little value.

In practice, this means: for the duration of aftercare, rewards are given with the diet food, dried and broken into pieces—the same logic as with an elimination diet in other contexts. And everyone in the household has to know, otherwise it fails because of the person who gives “just a little piece.”

13.3 The holidays are the risk period

The association from section 7 is no coincidence. Christmas, New Year’s Eve, barbecues and family celebrations bring three things together: high-fat food, lots of people handing things out, and a dog standing between everyone’s legs.

What helps is mundane and effective: announce beforehand that nothing is to be handed out, give the dog its own spot with something it is allowed to have, secure the trash can and clear away leftovers immediately. For a dog that has had pancreatitis, that is not overcautious.

14. What you can do at home

Do not feed high-fat scraps. Meat drippings, sausage ends, cheese rind, leftover gravy—that is the classic trigger, and it is completely avoidable. Mention this to visitors too, especially during the holidays.

Keep your dog lean and the feeding consistent.

Write down all medications your dog is given, and mention them at every appointment.

Take the prayer position seriously. When it occurs together with vomiting or a lack of appetite, it is not an invitation to play.

After recovery from pancreatitis, keep an eye on appetite, stool consistency and weight—recurring episodes need to be investigated, not dismissed one by one.

Stick with the recommended diet, usually low-fat and over a longer period. The most common reason for relapse is going back to the old food as soon as the dog is doing better.

But: not all fat is the same. What matters are the heavy, long-chain cooking and frying fats—lard, beef fat, skin, oils in larger amounts. They are a strong stimulus for the release of digestive enzymes and therefore exactly what should be avoided. Essential fatty acids, on the other hand, above all the long-chain omega-3 fatty acids from fish oil, can have an anti-inflammatory effect and may even be desirable in a well-balanced amount. So do not cut all fats to zero on your own; instead, discuss the composition with your veterinarian—a dog needs essential fatty acids.

15. Limits of the evidence

The test accuracy figures cited come from studies with small numbers of cases and with different reference standards—once tissue examination, once a clinical standard including ultrasound. That is exactly where the wide range comes from, and that is why individual values are less meaningful than the direction: a test on its own does not carry the diagnosis.

It is also worth mentioning that one of the authors of the cited review works as a paid consultant and speaker for the manufacturer of the lipase tests discussed. That does not invalidate the work—it is the authoritative review on the subject—but it belongs in the context.

As for feeding: the move away from fasting is based on the physiology of the intestinal lining and on findings from human medicine, not on large controlled comparative studies in dogs.

And the link with high-fat food is an observed clustering, not a proven trigger in the individual case.

On the structure of the evidence: the figures for the lipase test come from studies with very different reference standards—once against tissue samples, once against clinical assessment. Hence the diverging numbers, and hence the caution in section 4: they reflect the order of magnitude and the direction, not exact values for a particular laboratory. The tissue study is based on 22 samples, which is little for a single figure but sufficient for the statement “a negative test rules nothing out.”

The recommendations on feeding and treatment reflect the established state of internal medicine. There is no large randomized comparative study in dogs for the move away from fasting; the change follows the evidence from human medicine and from small animal critical care on the intestinal barrier.

16. Conclusion

Inflammation of the pancreas is painful, life-threatening in severe cases—and harder to diagnose than the existence of a rapid test would suggest. No single value proves it, a negative test does not rule it out, and the old values amylase and lipase from the standard panel are of little help. What counts is the overall picture from history, examination, specific lipase and ultrasound. Two things have changed in treatment: dogs are fed again early instead of fasting for days, and pain management is not an add-on but a prerequisite for a dog to start eating again. And the most important avoidable trigger is at your table.

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If you take only one thing from this article: the prayer position together with vomiting is not play and not just an upset stomach. It is a clear sign of abdominal pain—and the moment to call rather than wait, even though on its own it does not yet tell you anything about the cause.

Key takeaways on pancreatitis in dogs

No single test proves or rules out pancreatitis. The diagnosis rests on history, examination, the specific lipase value and ultrasound—none of these elements is enough on its own, but several together support it well.

The rapid test misses some cases. Against tissue samples as the reference standard, it detected 63.6 percent; the figure is based on 22 samples and indicates an order of magnitude. A negative test rules nothing out.

Amylase says little about the pancreas. It detected 18.2 percent of cases and comes from several tissues—dogs without a pancreas still have measurable levels.

The prayer position is a striking sign of pain and is regularly mistaken for an invitation to play. Together with vomiting, it is a clear warning sign—it is not specific to the pancreas, however; other painful abdominal problems trigger it too.

An unremarkable ultrasound on the first day rules nothing out. The examination is highly operator-dependent, and in the early stage the organ can still look normal.

There is no drug that stops the inflammation. What gets treated is fluid balance, pain, nausea and complications—and it is exactly this support that substantially influences the course.

Antibiotics are not part of standard treatment, because it is not a bacterial disease.

Fasting is outdated. Early, low-fat feeding in small portions is part of the treatment—via a feeding tube if necessary.

Pain management is part of the therapy, not a comfort measure. A dog in pain does not eat and recovers less well—and because early feeding is part of the treatment, the two are connected.

References

• Cridge, H., Twedt, D. C., Marolf, A. J., Sharkey, L. C. & Steiner, J. M. (2021): Advances in the diagnosis of acute pancreatitis in dogs. Journal of Veterinary Internal Medicine 35(6): 2572–2587. https://doi.org/10.1111/jvim.16292 (diagnosis as a combination of history, clinical examination, elevated pancreas-specific lipase and imaging; sensitivity of specific lipase 63.6% compared with tissue examination, amylase only 18.2%; specificity 97.5% or 74.1–81.1% depending on the reference standard; amylase still measurable even after complete removal of the pancreas)
• Watson, P. J., Roulois, A. J. A., Scase, T., Johnston, P. E. J., Thompson, H. & Herrtage, M. E. (2007): Prevalence and breed distribution of chronic pancreatitis at post-mortem examination in first-opinion dogs. Journal of Small Animal Practice 48(11): 609–618. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1748-5827.2007.00448.x (chronic pancreatitis considerably more common in post-mortem studies than clinically diagnosed)
• Haworth, M. D., Hosgood, G., Swindells, K. L. & Mansfield, C. S. (2014): Diagnostic accuracy of the SNAP and Spec canine pancreatic lipase tests for pancreatitis in dogs presenting with clinical signs of acute abdominal disease. Journal of Veterinary Emergency and Critical Care 24(2): 135–143. https://doi.org/10.1111/vec.12158
• Cridge, H., Sullivant, A. M., Wills, R. W. & Lee, A. M. (2020): Association between abdominal ultrasound findings, the specific canine pancreatic lipase assay, clinical severity indices, and clinical diagnosis in dogs with pancreatitis. Journal of Veterinary Internal Medicine 34(2): 636–643. https://doi.org/10.1111/jvim.15693

Frequently asked questions about pancreatitis in dogs

The questions asked most often in the exam room