Feline Pancreatitis Symptoms
Cats are often masterful at hiding illness, including feline pancreatitis. Unfortunately, if you don't notice and treat this disease early, its initial subtle symptoms can turn into severe problems such as impaired breathing and heart arrhythmias. Eventually, there may be permanently harmful or fatal consequences. You can prevent these problems if you are on the alert for the early symptoms of feline pancreatitis.
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Definition
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Feline pancreatitis refers to acute or chronic inflammation of a cat's pancreas, a V-shaped organ that sits behind the stomach and small intestine. This inflammation inhibits its function, which is normally to produce insulin and enzymes that help the cat digest and metabolize sugar, fat and nutrients in its food.
Common Symptoms
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According to Doctors Foster and Smith, the most common symptoms of feline pancreatitis are loss of appetite, weight loss, dehydration and lethargy. These symptoms are often low grade and may be difficult to notice at the onset of the disease.
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Less Common Symptoms
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Pancreatitis causes abdominal pain and vomiting in some cats; however, Doctors Foster and Smith say that this typically happens in less than 50 percent of felines. Other less common symptoms may include fever, a higher heart rate, a disturbed breathing pattern and jaundice.
Advanced Symptoms
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As pancreatitis advances in a cat, the symptoms turn more severe. The cat typically develops heart arrhythmias and may get a body-wide infection called sepsis. Its breathing problems may progress, and it may eventually develop disseminated intravascular coagulation (DIC). Doctors Foster and Smith warn that this condition, which causes multiple hemorrhages, may be fatal. Increased inflammation of the pancreas may cause surrounding organs to be attacked and digested by excess pancreatic enzymes.
Diagnosis
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The early symptoms of feline pancreatitis are often subtle and can mimic other conditions. A veterinarian diagnoses feline pancreatitis by ruling out other causes for those symptoms. She typically starts with blood tests and a urinalysis. If tests indicate a problem with the cat's pancreatic enzymes, the vet can perform a more specific test that will pinpoint pancreatitis as the definite cause of the signs and symptoms.
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- Photo Credit Photo: stock.xchng
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Comments
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be extra vigilant, my beautiful cat has just died from this and I noticed hardly any symptoms at all. He slept a lot anyway as he was 11 and a half and he had lost a little weight, but not enough to warrant me to worry. He was not vomiting or if he did it was outside where I didn't see. When I picked him up he showed no signs of being in pain. Absolutely heartbreaking, I had no idea he was ill and came back to find him dead on my living room floor. The autopsy revealed Feline Pancreatitis. Be on extra alert for this fatal disease which cats can hide very well like mine did.
