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EARLY FEEDING IN PANCREATITIS CASES MAY BE BENEFICIAL

First broadcast on www.provet.co.uk  


This information is provided by Provet for educational purposes only.

You should seek the advice of your veterinarian if your pet is ill as only he or she can correctly advise on the diagnosis and recommend the treatment that is most appropriate for your pet.

Conventional wisdom is that pancreatitis cases should be given no food by mouth for 3-4 days however recently early nasogastric feeding has been shown to be beneficial in humans and cats with pancreatitis.

In one publication (Williams D.A., Veterinary Clinics of North America March 1999) it is recommended that in cats with pancreatitis  :

  • Vomiting cats - should be given no food by mouth for 2-3 days, then small volumes of a highly digestible carbohydrate-rich, low-fat ration. Under such conditions parenteral nutrition should be considered through the early stages of the disease, although administration of fats should be avoided.
  • Cats that are not vomiting should be fed small volumes of food - by nasogastric tube if necessary. This can be justified because secretory activity in the pancreas decreases early in feline pancreatitis and stimulation of secretory activity might be beneficial.

In humans it is common practice (2013) to use nasojejunal tubes to by-pass the upper gastrointestinal tract

Update in preparation