Digestive Enzymes

There are two basic types of digestive enzymes, plant-based and pancreatic or animal-based. In another article, we talk about plant-based enzymes. This article discusses pancreatic enzymes, which are far stronger at aiding the digestion of food.

Dogs and cats will commonly have problems with digestion. Symptoms would include vomiting in the morning, bouts of diarrhea, an appetite that comes and goes, and an appetite that vanishes after eating a couple of bites of food.

Some dogs will routinely eat items that should not be eaten (dietary indiscretion).

Animals with some of these symptoms might benefit from the addition of a digestive enzyme supplement.

Exocrine pancreatic insufficiency is a common finding in dogs. Many dogs seem to have marginal pancreatic activity, where they do not easily digest food. Dipan will help provide the digestive enzymes needed in these patients.

Acute or chronic pancreatitis is seen routinely in clinical practice. Therapy for pancreatitis includes resting the pancreas, thus allowing it to heal itself. Supplementing the diet with pancreatic enzymes should help allow the pancreas to produce fewer of its own enzymes, hopefully allowing it to heal itself.

WellVet.com also recommends Small Animal Antioxidants for Pancreatitis (click here to read about Small Animal Antioxidants).

Dogs with a chronic history of poor digestion, mucous coated stools and soft formed stools might show improvement with the use of this product.

Alternately, Similase, a plant source digestive enzyme, can be used in animals sensitive to porcine products.

Dipan is pure, undiluted pancreatin, and does not contain lactulose, which is commonly found in other pancreatic enzyme products.

Indications:

  • Acute pancreatitis
  • Chronic Pancreatitis
  • Chronic Diarrhea
  • Chronic Soft Formed Stools
  • Birds with seeds in droppings
  • Chronic vomiting animals
  • Bad Breath
  • Maldigestion/Malassimilation
  • Exocrine Pancreatic Insufficiency (pancreatic enzyme deficiency)
  • Low EPL levers


Rationale:

Digestion requires hydrochloric acid and pepsin (digestion of proteins) produced in the stomach.

Digestion also requires adequate digestive enzymes that are produced in the pancreas. Dipan 9 is a pancreatic sourced digestive enzyme supplement. It contains:

Amylase 125,000 USP Units (Amylase is required for digestion of carbohydrates)

Protease 115,000 USP Units (Protease is needed for digestion of proteins)

Lipase 18,000 USP Units (Lipase is required for digestion of fat)

Pancreatic enzyme supplements aid digestion. They can be very helpful, however, if your companion animal has significant inflammation of the stomach, they can cause vomiting. If this happens, open the capsule and place it on the food for 20 minutes prior to feeding.


Dosage:

Cats

1/4 capsule per meal

Dogs

1/2 to 2 capsule per meal

Birds

1/32 capsule per meal

2 capsules mixed into cup soft food

Ferrets

1/8 capsule per meal

Warning: Pancreatic enzyme supplements aid digestion. They can be very helpful, however, if your companion animal has significant inflammation of the stomach, they can cause vomiting. If this happens, open the capsule and place it on the food for 20 minutes prior to feeding.

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