Pancreatitis in cats is a painful inflammatory condition of the pancreas that is often chronic, difficult to diagnose, and requires careful management to maintain quality of life.
Pancreatitis causes significant pain in cats — the inflamed pancreas and surrounding tissues are innervated and the condition causes visceral discomfort that cats, as stoic animals, often conceal until severely ill. Chronic pancreatitis leads to persistent, low-grade pain, reduced appetite, weight loss, and deteriorating quality of life that owners may not recognise for months. The non-specific nature of signs means many cats are not diagnosed or are misdiagnosed, delaying pain relief. Hepatic lipidosis — a serious complication of reduced food intake — can develop rapidly in anorexic cats with pancreatitis, creating a compounding welfare emergency. Effective pain management is the most important welfare intervention and is sometimes insufficiently prioritised.