In life, there are many people who keep pet dogs. Pet owners want their dogs to be "white and fat". They feed them a lot of dog food and various snacks, but the dogs still cannot gain weight. Even Getting thinner and thinner! In this case, you should be careful about the lack of exocrine pancreatic secretion in dogs.

There is a very inconspicuous small organ deep in the upper abdomen of our body - the pancreas. Although the pancreas is small, it is one of the important organs in the human body. The pancreas is divided into two parts: exocrine glands and endocrine glands. The exocrine glands can produce and secrete the necessary enzymes needed to digest food, such as:

Amylase, used to digest carbohydrates such as sugar and starch in grains, fruits and vegetables

Lipase, used to digest fat;

Trypsin and protease, used to digest proteins.

Pancreatic exocrine insufficiency, as the name implies, is the inability to secrete these digestive enzymes. Once these digestive enzymes are missing, they will be malabsorbed, and undigested food will lead to bacterial overgrowth in the small intestine, thus affecting intestinal function.

The cause of this disease is usually secondary to diseases such as pancreatic acinar atrophy and chronic chronic pancreatitis, but it may also be genetically related. It has nothing to do with age, and there are individual differences in the severity of symptoms (German Shepherds and Rough Collies are the most common dog breeds).

Visual differences between sick dogs and healthy dogs

Common Symptoms

Suffering from pancreatic exocrine insufficiency will not only cause weight loss to the point of being uncontrollable, but also cause drastic changes in personality. Even dogs that are usually docile will become irritable, nervous, and even have aggressive behaviors, which requires attention.

· The abdomen often makes noises;

· Flatulence becomes more frequent;

· Strong appetite, but losing weight day by day;

· Intermittent diarrhea and vomiting (some);

· The frequency of defecation increases to once every 1-2 hours;

· The occurrence of pica, such as swallowing one's own feces;

· The feces is greasy and shapeless, mostly yellow/gray mushy (even mixed with undigested food);

Sick dog excrement

In addition to the above, some dogs may not show any symptoms in the early stage. This is because the dog’s body has a huge digestive capacity reserve, and the above symptoms will not appear until 90% of the secretory cells are destroyed. That is to say, if the dog once If these symptoms appear, it is likely that the condition is already in a more serious stage.

How to diagnose?

Currently, the most accurate way to detect pancreatic exocrine insufficiency is the serum trypsin-like immunoreaction test (TLI). You must fast for at least 12 hours before doing the test. In addition, it is recommended to test the vitamin B12 and folic acid content at the same time to eliminate the presence of intestinal Possibility of bacterial overgrowth from leftover food.

The normal serum trypsin-like immunoreaction detection value is between 5.7 - 45.2 µg/L. If the value is lower than 2.5, it can be basically diagnosed as pancreatic exocrine insufficiency. If the value is between 2.6 - 5.7, there may be a tendency for pancreatic acinar cell destruction, and another test is required in the short term.

Treatment

Fortunately, although the incidence of dogs suffering from exocrine pancreatic insufficiency is not low, it is not difficult to treat. However, some dogs with this disease need to take lifelong medication and adjust their diet, which is also a long-term battle for parents. war.

· Supplement pancreatic enzyme

Supplementing pancreatic enzymes is the main method to treat pancreatic exocrine insufficiency. Pancreatic enzyme powder is usually recommended, followed by pancreatic enzyme capsules, and finally coated tablets (which need to be crushed and taken). Today, we mainly recommend the first two.

The dosage of pancreatic enzyme powder is:

1 cup dry food (250ml) + 1 teaspoon trypsin powder

1 cup wet food (250ml) + 3/4 teaspoon trypsin powder

Not every dog ​​takes this dosage. Make corresponding adjustments according to the weight of your own dog. We remind everyone to add 1/4 cup of warm liquid food (such as water, broth, etc.) to each cup of food. Do not overcool or overheat. , will destroy the activity of pancreatic enzyme, and then let it sit for 20 minutes to soften the food, allowing the pancreatic enzyme powder to be better distributed in the food, and try to avoid oral ulcers caused by the corrosive nature of the pancreatic enzyme powder.

Dosage of pancreatic enzyme capsules:

Just break the capsule and mix it into food, no need to let it sit. Take 1 capsule with each meal for 3-5 days. If there is no change in stool, add another half pill with each meal.

Note: If it is sold in domestic pharmacies, it is recommended to buy brands marked with Abbot Labs in Germany and Solvay in Belgium.

· Improve your diet

Is this step difficult? The main thing is to increase the food intake to 150% when adjusting the diet at the beginning, and do not limit fat intake during this period (unless there are other diseases that require limiting fat intake), which is more conducive to their recovery. It should be noted that some dogs with this disease are more interested in grain-free food (fiber content is at least less than 4%). Of course, some also like high-protein and low-carbohydrate food, but high-fiber food must be avoided. Food is difficult to digest and increases stool volume.

Feeding method:

· In the form of small meals and frequent meals, it is recommended to feed 3-4 meals a day, leaving 2 hours in between for digestion;

· If you have acid reflux, you can try adding 1 teaspoon of canned pure pumpkin to your meal, or add elm powder (elm capsules can also be used, but elm powder is more effective), or cimetidine, as well as Check to see if B12 drops.

· If you experience itchy skin, try adding essential fatty acids, the recommended dose is 180 mg per 10 pounds per day, or 1/2 teaspoon of coconut oil (raw) every other day.

· Antibiotic treatment

Antibiotic treatment is used when sick dogs suffer from pancreatic exocrine insufficiency and also suffer from intestinal flora dysbiosis (that is, the growth of bacteria in the small intestine from food residues mentioned above), and they need to take the lowest dose of antibiotics for life.

Currently, the most effective antibiotic is tylosin, the dosage is 25 mg/kg, twice a day, for 7 to 10 days. If symptoms improve, continue taking it for another 4 to 6 weeks. If there is no obvious improvement, you can switch to metronidazole. Some dogs have greater side effects after taking metronidazole. (Or in some cases, pet-specific amoxicillin)

If symptoms recur after stopping antibiotics, such as yellow soft stools, flatulence, bowel sounds, acid reflux, and vitamin B12 deficiency, take another course of treatment.

· Supplement vitamin B12

Among the sick dogs with pancreatic exocrine insufficiency, at least 82% of the sick dogs are deficient in vitamin B12, and any vitamin B12 equal to or lower than the normal value is considered to be deficient.

Supplementation is available as an oral or injectable form, with the same dosage used for both applications. The recommended universal dose is 1mg/ml, which is 1000μg/ml. If you choose to take it orally, do not use B12 multivitamin or B12 complex, because this amount is definitely not enough and will sting the dog. A conservative serum dosing regimen is one dose per week for six weeks, then one dose every two weeks for six weeks, and then monthly with review of vitamin B12 levels.

Dogs of different weights should take/inject vitamin B12 as follows:

Above 5 kg, 250 µg (0.25ml)/time

5-15kg, 400 µg (0.4ml)/time

15-30 kg, 800 µg (0.8ml)/time

30-45 kg, 1200 µg(1.2ml)/time

Above 45 kg, 1500 µg (1.5ml)/time

NOTE: For some dogs, especially smaller breeds, it is sometimes difficult to maintain B12 levels even with weekly injections.

Warm Tips

In 2012, Clemson University in the United States made statistics on 509 dogs diagnosed with EPI through TLI testing. Among them, 200 were German Shepherds, and there were 28 German Shepherd hybrids. The remaining 55% were Other breeds of dogs. Article source: Pet Everything House