Canine Pancreatitis: NAVLE Study Guide

Canine pancreatitis shows up on the NAVLE reliably, and the exam tests it in a specific way: they give you a signalment, a dietary history, and a set of clinical signs, then ask you to pick the right diagnostic test or treatment decision. Know the breeds, know cPLI interpretation, and know why the old NPO rule got thrown out.

Pathophysiology

The pancreas secretes digestive enzymes as inactive precursors — trypsinogen, chymotrypsinogen, proelastase. Normally, activation happens in the small intestine via enteropeptidase. Pancreatitis begins when trypsinogen activates prematurely inside the pancreatic acinar cells. Once trypsin is active in the wrong place, it sets off a cascade: autodigestion of pancreatic tissue, release of inflammatory mediators, local edema and necrosis, and — in severe cases — systemic spillover causing SIRS, DIC, and ARDS.

Dietary fat is the key trigger. High-fat meals cause a surge in pancreatic secretion. In dogs with impaired lipid clearance (hypertriglyceridemia), the pancreatic environment is already primed for this kind of insult.