Pancreatitis and triaditis are two of the more common reasons cats end up seriously unwell, seriously off their food, and sometimes needing a level of medical support that feels frightening. They are also two of the most misunderstood conditions in feline medicine, particularly when it comes to what causes them and what recovery actually looks like.
If you are currently watching your cat sniff food and walk away, counting mouthfuls, or lying awake wondering whether you made a wrong decision somewhere, this post is for you.
Pancreatitis and triaditis.. what is the difference?
Pancreatitis is inflammation of the pancreas. The pancreas has two major roles: producing digestive enzymes and helping regulate blood sugar. When inflamed, those digestive enzymes can activate too early, irritating the pancreas itself. This causes significant pain and nausea.
Cats with pancreatitis often eat very little or stop eating entirely. They may seem unusually withdrawn, hide more than normal, or show subtle signs of nausea like lip licking, drooling, or sniffing food and then walking away. Cats hide pain extremely well, so pancreatitis can look mild externally while feeling severe internally. Some cases resolve quickly. Others become chronic or recur in flares.
Triaditis means inflammation of three organs simultaneously.. the pancreas, the liver, and the intestines. In cats, these organs are anatomically connected, and inflammation rarely stays isolated. This is why triaditis is common and why recovery is often more complex and slower than pancreatitis alone. Signs may include prolonged poor appetite, weight loss, changes in stool, elevated liver enzymes and dehydration. Good days and setbacks are both part of the picture.
What actually causes it?
Most people want to know what caused it. The answer is rarely simple.
In cats, pancreatitis and triaditis are usually multifactorial. Several things may contribute at once, including chronic gut inflammation or IBD, bacterial migration from the intestines into the bile duct, infections, stress, trauma, certain medications, previous episodes of pancreatitis, underlying liver disease, or immune-mediated inflammation. In many cases, no single trigger is ever identified.
What is important to understand is this: pancreatitis and triaditis in cats are not usually caused by one food, one meal, or one decision. They are medical conditions that develop due to internal inflammation, anatomy and physiology. Not owner failure.
Why appetite becomes the most urgent concern
Cats are obligate carnivores and are not designed to fast. Unlike dogs or humans, a cat that stops eating even for 24 to 48 hours begins breaking down stored fat for energy. That fat is then processed by the liver, and in cats the liver simply cannot handle this efficiently. It becomes overwhelmed quickly, leading to hepatic lipidosis, a condition caused directly by not eating. Hepatic lipidosis is serious and life-threatening, and it can develop fast. This is why getting food into a sick cat is so urgent, and why waiting to see if appetite comes back on its own can be genuinely dangerous.
Pain and nausea must come first
If pain and nausea are not properly managed, appetite stimulants often fail, cats begin to associate food with discomfort, food aversion can develop, and what starts as a medical problem becomes a behavioural one too.
If there is one thing I say to anyone going through a pancreatitis or triaditis flare, it is this: the three things that will get your cat through are pain relief, anti-nausea medication, and food. In that order. Pain and nausea have to be controlled before food becomes possible, and keeping nutrition going through the flare is imperative. Food is not just supportive.. it is part of what gets your cat through. A cat that is not eating is not healing.
Your vet may also add medications such as liver support supplements or antibiotics depending on what is going on. Always be guided by your vet on this. The combination of good medical management and consistent nutritional support is what gives these cats the best chance of coming out the other side.
Tube feeding.. what it actually is
Tube feeding is often feared because it feels like a last resort. In reality it is supportive care, not a sign of failure.
A feeding tube allows nutrition, fluids and medications to be delivered reliably during a period when appetite is unreliable or absent. It prevents dangerous calorie deficits, protects the liver, removes pressure from the cat to eat, and supports healing. It does not mean your cat has given up. It means you are stepping in temporarily while the body recovers.
One thing many people do not realise: a feeding tube does not stop voluntary eating. Many cats continue to eat small amounts on their own alongside tube feeding, gradually increasing their intake over time and using the tube only as backup. This often leads to a smoother and faster transition back to normal eating than waiting for appetite to return on its own.
Without adequate nutrition, healing slows, inflammation persists, weakness worsens and medication delivery becomes difficult. With proper nutritional support, the gut heals more effectively, energy returns and recovery is generally quicker. Many cats improve significantly once nutritional support is in place early.
Feeding tubes are usually short-term and are removed once the cat is consistently eating enough on their own. The goal is always the same.. a comfortable cat that eats willingly without support.
Feeding through the tube.. you don't have to use prescription food
Most vets will default to a prescription recovery formula for tube feeding. In a raw fed cat, suddenly switching to a heavily processed prescription food can add extensive and foul diarrhoea to an already stressful situation.. the last thing you need when you are trying to support a sick cat through recovery. It is also expensive, and frankly not something I would do. Each time I have had to tube feed, including with Ava, I have defaulted to a raw based product. The gut knows what it knows, and introducing something completely foreign during an already compromised period rarely ends well.
Our Freeze Dried Lamb meal works beautifully through a feeding tube. It wizzes up into a fantastically smooth slush that passes through without issue. One thing worth knowing is that it is slightly less calorie dense than prescription recovery foods, so you may need to feed a little more volume to meet daily requirements. Your vet can help you calculate the right amount based on your cat's weight and condition. But the quality of what is going in is genuinely better, and for a cat whose gut is already under significant stress, that counts.
If you are going through this right now
One last thing, and it is important. This is an incredibly stressful situation for you too. The fear, the exhaustion, the constant watching and waiting.. it is a lot. But your cat feels your energy, and calm, steady care makes a real difference to their recovery. Do what you need to do to keep yourself grounded through it.
Reach out for support in our Australian Raw Fed Cats Facebook group. There are people there who have sat exactly where you are sitting, who have tube fed, who have counted mouthfuls, who have cried in a vet car park. I am one of them. I have been through this countless times and have tube fed all of my cats at one point or another. You do not have to navigate this alone.
And please, through all of it, remember: none of this is your fault.
Sources: Cornell Feline Health Center, Pancreatitis in Cats. Merck Veterinary Manual, Pancreatitis in Cats.