Question about pancreatitis..

and I probably didn't spell it correctly..lol While on a farm forum, a woman mentioned that her house dog got loose and ran with the 'farm' dogs (guess they are outdoors mostly). They found leftovers from hunters dressing a deer in the woods...and had a feast. Just the house dog became seriously ill with pancreatitis. (he's doing better, but almost died) Was it because the house dog wasn't used to gorging himself on this raw material??? The vet had said that was the cause, and alot of people seemed familiar with it. I don't let my dogs run (probably why Addie is in such a bad mood) I've realized it's too dangerous on many levels, so I'm not so much worried about it for my dogs....more curious. Supposedly this is a danger if your dog eats any roadkill. Is this illness common for other reasons? I just thought it was odd that just the house dog became ill.........and thought it was good info to pass along, in case anyone's dog gets loose.

That's a new one on me, and I'm not too sure the vet isn't letting her think that maybe to give her a reason more than there being any basis. That's me - the perennial skeptic But, seriously, mine eat all sorts of wild stuff. This is gross, but there have even been occasions where there's been a dead calf that we didn't find for a few days and they've gorged themselves. The only reason we know about those is because Shiva invariable drags the remains to the house. UGH!

I'd be more inclined to think that any problem with the dog digesting the wild food might be more related to a genetic problem than any difference in being a "house dog" versus a "farm dog." And dogs are scavengers. You do have to keep your eyes open for symptoms of worms though.

The biggest danger to eating roadkill is ending up that way!

Pancreatitis is basically inflammation of the pancreas, it can be caused by a overweight dog eating fatty food, or food they are not used to, it can be serious and once a dog has had pancreatitis you have to be very careful in the future to not feed them fatty foods which could flare it up again. So usually they go home on a low fat food and they have to stay on it forever. You dont see it very often in skinny dogs but thats not to say its not possible its just they have not as much fat surrounding their pancreas. Symptoms are vomiting, sometimes blood, lethargic and diarrhea can sometimes follow, Blood tests are required to give diagnoses.

Debi (and all); here's a good link with information. Chell's on the money, but there's a lot more good information, like what to look for and what to do.

http://www.vetinfo.com/dencyclopedia/depancrea.html