Anyone have experience with canine pancreatitis? UPDATE post #34

[Tucked_Away]

My guy was hospitalized for 24 hours last October for pancreatitis. Very scary – he was totally fine and normal Sunday night, kind of dopey but within normal limits when we left for work at 6:00am on Monday, shaking and very lethargic by 11am when my boyfriend stopped home to check on him. (They went straight off to the vet hospital.)

In my dog’s case, we never were able to figure out what the trigger had been. In retrospect, he had probably not been feeling well for a while. No big clear signs – he never had the vomiting or decreased appetite, abnormal stools only after coming home from the hospital, etc. – just some creakiness and decreased activity, slowly developing over time, that I had chalked up to him finally showing his age (he’s at least 13). But his energy level and overall condition now is consistently much better than for some time before the attack. I’m sorry I didn’t catch it earlier, but glad he’s so happy-bouncy now!

He was pretty out of it for the first few days…I was pretty scared. I ended up taking him back to the hospital for anti-nausea meds and those made a big difference. It probably took him a few weeks to be totally back to himself. He doesn’t tolerate kibble now, but old dog gets what old dog needs and he’s doing great on a rotation of the lowest-fat canned Natural Balance LID foods. If his stools start to get a little iffy, he goes on the veterinary low-residue food for a couple of days. Knock wood, I think he has s’more good years left.

Hope your girl does well.

[TheHorseProblem]

Tucked Away, that’s so interesting because she had been limping for a few weeks and Rimadyl wasn’t helping her. Her blood panel was normal just four weeks ago when we first took her in, but I bet it was pancreatitis all along.

[grayarabpony]

My husband’s aunt had a dog that had acute pancreatitis after getting into some garbage. He was very ill for over a week and hospitalized during that time. He recovered and was well until getting pancreatic cancer some years later.

[pinkpony321]

My 11(ish) year old Jack Russell has been diagnosed with “chronic pancreatitis” after experiencing three rather severe episodes within the span of 3 months. This was 2 years ago, RIGHT after we adopted him from the shelter. (Hubby was none-too-pleased, as I had spent a while convincing him that we needed a dog, and it would be no trouble, blah blah blah…$3500 later…here we are, lol) I have a GREAT vet, and we have been very successful with managing it. My doggie lives on low-fat foods. He LIVES on the Royal Canin low-fat, low-residue food mentioned previously in this thread. The only issue with that is that it is prescription, so you can’t just march in to PetSmart to get it. Because it is so expensive to procure, I mix it with the Wellness CORE low fat food at a 1 to 1 ratio to cut back on my costs. He likes it, the crunchies are good for his teeth instead of just the straight wet, and so far his episodes have been kept pretty infrequent and mild. When he has an episode, he vomits bile and is very ouchy, but luckily, the symptoms have been subsiding after 6-8 hours. We just try to keep him comfy and quiet. The last time he had an episode was when he managed to grab a Chik-fil-a nugget from me in the car…bad news bears!
I’d say the most important thing for your pup, now that you know she is prone to this, is to find a low-fat low-residue food you can live with, and make sure she gets NO PEOPLE FOOD, EVER. Something else to remember is that many dog treats and chews can cause a flair up too- for example, pig ears are TERRIBLE for a dog with pancreatitis, according to my vet. The only chewie my little man can have are bully sticks. I feed dehydrated sweet potato for treats. He likes them and I don’t have to worry about them setting him off.
Hang in there, pancreatitis is scary and miserable for the little ones!

[TheHorseProblem]

I’m worried. She has good moments, but mostly sleeps or mopes. It has been a week and a half. She was always a high energy hard keeper of a dog, and I bet she’s lost 8 pounds in the last two weeks. We’ll go back to see the vet, but what can they do?

[cute_lil_fancy_pants]

There is ALOT the vet can do. They will 1st do a very thorough physical exam that will point them in the right direction, assess her current status with blood tests, maybe some diagnostic imaging, put the dog on IV fluids if indicated and try to balance her electrolytes, give the dog more powerful pain medication to make her feel better and you will get a good assessment of where she is at right now and what the prognosis is given her current state.

[pinkpony321]

I agree with Fancy Pants…take doggie to the vet. Sometimes just IV fluids can make all the difference. Don’t wait any longer…there could be something that they could do!

[GraceLikeRain]

[QUOTE=cute_lil_fancy_pants_pony;6174655]

Yep, seeing a lot of pancreatitis now with people trying to feed their animals raw food diets and grain free diets high in fat.[/QUOTE]

Now thats something I’ve never heard before. Why do you say that raw causes pancreatitis?

[SquishTheBunny]

I would get an abdominal ultrasound done - for peace of mind. If there is a mass on the pancrease (or liver, or gallbladder involvement) that can also increase amylase/lipase in some cases.

I would ask for a referral to an internist. Not too pricey, and you are getting the best advice on these type of issues. They will go over paliative treatment, conservative care, medical management and potential further diagnostics. Often, they will just review your RDVM bloodwork, take a history and give you a wealth of information for you to make decisions with. Its worth a consult fee to see.

[TheHorseProblem]

[QUOTE=GraceLikeRain;6179989]
Now thats something I’ve never heard before. Why do you say that raw causes pancreatitis?[/QUOTE]

I think because of the high fat content.

[TheHorseProblem]

[QUOTE=SquishTheBunny;6181284]
I would get an abdominal ultrasound done - for peace of mind. If there is a mass on the pancrease (or liver, or gallbladder involvement) that can also increase amylase/lipase in some cases.

I would ask for a referral to an internist. Not too pricey, and you are getting the best advice on these type of issues. They will go over paliative treatment, conservative care, medical management and potential further diagnostics. Often, they will just review your RDVM bloodwork, take a history and give you a wealth of information for you to make decisions with. Its worth a consult fee to see.[/QUOTE]

We’re going in for more diagnostics tomorrow. She’s still eating, drinking, and eliminating, but her pain is a constant.

I just got down on the floor with her with an exercise mat and a pillow. We really miss snuggling with her on the bed.:sadsmile:

[cute_lil_fancy_pants]

Have radiographs and an abdominal ultrasound been performed yet? I’m still concerned about the possibility of a mass or foreign body.

[Diamondindykin]

@lcw579;6173176

I’ve dealt with it before. Ours was vomiting too. It was a pretty severe case - brought on the vet thought by his gorging on the cat food. We did have an ultrasound.

It was a few years ago now but he went on the bland diet and was treated with meds and back to himself in no time.

Yep…our dog kept taking nibbles of high fat kitten food and got a bad case of Pancreatitis. He is now on a permanent low fat diet and NO PEOPLE FOOD of any kind. That one night stay at the vet cost us $1200 :eek:

[TheHorseProblem]

[QUOTE=cute_lil_fancy_pants_pony;6182765]
Have radiographs and an abdominal ultrasound been performed yet? I’m still concerned about the possibility of a mass or foreign body.[/QUOTE]

To recap: dog was limping, Vet #1 treated her for hip dysplaysia and since there was bacteria in her urine, an antibiotic. The Rimadyl never relieved her pain and her limp never seemed to feel better.

Three weeks later: dog stops eating and is lethargic and in more pain than ever. Vet #2 thinks it’s because of all the meds and treats her for an upset tummy.

Two days later: still not eating and obviously in pain, protecting abdomen, etc. Vet #3 does a blood panel and diagnoses pancreatitis because of her high AMYL and LIP values. She gets fluids and orders for a bland low-fat diet.

One week later: Back to Vet #2, who now thinks since there was never any vomiting, diarrhea, or painful-to-palpate abdomen, that she may never have had pancreatitis. Her temp is 102.9 and her lymph nodes are slightly swollen. She gets more antibiotics and more testing, this time the definitive pancreatitis test, which she never had, with hopes of knocking out the infection or inflammation that is causing the fever and to find out what the cause may be.

This is one sick dog.

If she’s not improved in three days, we need to go for an US.

[Tucked_Away]

Poor pup. Poor you. Hope something improves ASAP.

[SquishTheBunny]

Sorry to hear

I wouldnt wait any longer,request the ultrasound ASAP. Swollen peripheral lymph nodes mean there could be something severe going on in the belly. Please dont wait.

We had a VERY similar situation a few weeks ago with a schnauzer. Dog was 14, and just doing poorly. Vet figured it was pancreatitis. Didnt respond well to treatment, amy/lipase high. Vet biopsied pancrease (yikes), dog declined even further. Came into us for an ultrasound and noticed there was a small mass in the small intestine that had perforated. The dog was septic, and had fluid in his abdomen. Lymph nodes all swollen, high fever and generally quite dumpy. Went to surgery, removed the small mass and and repaired small intestine. Histo results came back as a benign adenoma. The dog came back for his repeat ultrasound today and is doing great!!!

So - I guess what im trying to say is that it could be something serious, but please dont wait. If its something treatable, get the diagnosis asap then you can make an educated decision on treatment. Even is something like “cancer” is found, often oral chemo or prednisone will get them into remission for a while to give them some more quality time with you.

[LauraKY]

I know I sound like a broken record, but the symptoms sound very similar to my cocker’s years ago. Have you tested for tick borne diseases?

[TheHorseProblem]

[QUOTE=LauraKY;6183658]
I know I sound like a broken record, but the symptoms sound very similar to my cocker’s years ago. Have you tested for tick borne diseases?[/QUOTE]

Yes, Vet #3 ran that test and it was negative, and also negative for pancreatitis!! Her white blood cell count was depressed, so the vet thinks she had some sort of infection all along that simply did not respond to the first round of antibiotics. He said the antibiotic prescribed by Vet #1 would “not be my choice.”

After some subcutaneous fluids and two days of Clavamox, she is MUCH improved.

We may have our dog back!!!

It is really frustrating to think that one decision would have prevented a month of suffering, but we will just never know.

[vacation1]

[QUOTE=TheHorseProblem;6183933]
After some subcutaneous fluids and two days of Clavamox, she is MUCH improved. We may have our dog back!!! It is really frustrating to think that one decision would have prevented a month of suffering, but we will just never know.[/QUOTE]

Glad to hear she’s doing better! Poor dog, she’s been through the wars.

[SquishTheBunny]

Yay, thats great news!!! Any idea what was causing an infection? Regardless, glad to hear your dog is doing better.