What Causes Pancreatitis in Dogs and Cats

Most canine and feline pancreatitis is idiopathic, but clear risk factors exist — breed predisposition, high-fat diets and hypertriglyceridemia in dogs, trauma, surgery, infections, and several drugs. The disease turns deadly when prematurely activated digestive enzymes trigger pancreatitis and then flood the body with cytokines, causing systemic complications.