This episode focuses on the nutritional management of acute pancreatitis in dogs and cats answering questions such as:

The episode is largely based around the following clinical practice review article:

Jensen KB, Chan DL. Nutritional management of acute pancreatitis in dogs and cats. J Vet Emerg Crit Care 2014. 24(3):240-250.

As mentioned in the episode, if you would like a FREE copy of some general notes on acute pancreatitis in dogs and cats that cover more than 'just' the nutritional aspects, please click the link below and follow the instructions: 

Get your FREE copy of notes on acute pancreatitis

In the episode I also mention a blog post on syringe feeding which you can find HERE.

One paragraph from the paper that I read out in the episode and promised to include here was as follows:

“The traditional approach to AP centered on the premise that withholding food would reduce pancreatic autodigestion by decreasing pancreatic stimulation and enzyme release. However, the pathogenesis of pancreatitis more likely involves premature intracellular activation of proteolytic enzymes rather than pancreatic stimulation. Avoidance of feeding as a means to decrease pancreatic stimulation may be unwarranted and could lead to malnutrition and impaired gastrointestinal barrier function. Lack of enteral nutrition results in the loss of normal physiologic intestinal motility, is associated with intestinal villus atrophy, and compromises intestinal mucosal blood flow. If sustained, the lack of enteral nutrition could lead to a compromise of local immunoglobulin and biliary salt production with consequent disruption of normal internal bacterial flora and gastrointestinal barrier function. It also has been demonstrated in experimental rodent models and in people with naturally occurring disease that exocrine pancreatic secretion actually decreases during pancreatitis and that the decrease is more pronounced with increasing severity of inflammation. The practice of withholding food for several days from the time of initiation of therapy may prove detrimental as a period of anorexia often precedes the initial clinical presentation to veterinarians in patients with AP. Implementation of nutritional support may be critical for successful management of patients with AP.”

And the list of summary points from the paper is as follows: