Dog pancreatitis is inflammation of the pancreas. It’s primarily caused by diet and stress. Foods that are high in fat and foods that are processed, including grain-based kibble, are hard for your dog to digest, and stress causes high levels of cortisol in the body.Dogs’ digestive tracts are shorter than ours, making them well suited to handle meats, bones, organs, veggies and fruit, but not starches. Starch and grains shouldn’t be part of your dog’s diet. When you feed your dog kibble, his pancreas has to work harder than it should, causing it to become inflamed.Most veterinarians recommend that dogs eat a highly digestible, low-fat dog food as they are recovering from pancreatitis. Dietary fat is thought to be a major stimulus for the pancreas to secrete digestive enzymes, which may worsen pancreatic inflammation. A low-fat dog food can promote pancreatic healing while still providing all the nutrition dogs need to heal. If your dog has a history of repeated bouts of pancreatitis, your veterinarian may recommend that you continue to feed a low-fat dog food to prevent flare-ups.