HGE and pancreantitis in dogs

[JackandMo]

My 3 year old Doberman was rushed to our vet this morning after a night of sudden onset explosive diarrhea that quickly went from a soft stool to pure blood shooting out.

After a blood test, he was diagnosed with Hemorrhagic Gastroenteritis (HGE) and later, pancreantitis after we left him there for the weekend. According to some literature I read, HGE isn’t all that well known as far as how dogs “get” it (it’s not contagious) other than stress, and pancreantitis is often a catalyst. Blood work indicated otherwise, he’s a healthy dog. We have been addressing some behavioral issues (and apparently, I’m the one to blame ) and bad skin (blue Doberman, poorly bred, rescue)

The care he’s being given is similar to dogs being treated for parvo (he was hospitalized at 12 weeks for 7 days in the ICU with parvo, despite vaccinations) - supportive care, IV therapy, antibiotics, etc. This is the same vet that handled his parvo, and so he’s in excellent hands.

Have any of you dealt with this? How was the after care once your dog came back home? Unfortunately, stress isn’t something I know how to help him handle - we are a family of 7, with 5 teens, 2 cats, and 2 small terriers. Lots of commotion here on a regular basis. Advice? He doesn’t like to be left alone.
Vet approves of his diet, and he probably doesn’t as much exercise and mental stimulation that he needs, so we will work on that.

Seems that dogs that experience HGE can often be prone to the condition again, and I would like to avoid that if at all possible.

Vet wants him on an rx diet for a few days once this issue is resolved and probiotics.

Just looking for advice, personal experience, etc.
I expected a far worse outcome than this, so I am happy treatment can lead to a resolution.

[SquishTheBunny]

We see it all the time, in a vast range of dogs. Usually it’s very self limiting and within a few days of supportive treatment they are back on track. Not much you can do to prevent it if the actual trigger isn’t 100% known. It can be viral, bacterial or inflammatory in nature so often we just symptomatic ally treat with antibiotics and bland diets at the beginning stages.

[Horsegal984]

Treat symptomatically until things resolve, then I would discuss with your vet if he shows other symptoms of being stressed. If so, maybe medication for anxiety could be helpful. But he could have just as easily have eaten something in the yard, picked up a virus or bacterial infection on a walk, etc. I wouldn’t worry too much about a single episode, but if it recurs then I would be looking deeper into possible causes.
With him being a dilute and having some allergy type issues it could also be a sensitivity to a food ingredient that he’s developed. With dogs, they most often develop problems with foods they’ve been on for a while as far as allergies go.

[glfprncs]

My “old” man, TC, had an attack of acute pancreatitis this past December. It started on a Thursday morning (Wednesday night, he was just fine). IV fluids all day Thursday, visit to internal specialist Friday (normal vet took x-rays and his spleen looked suspicious, so we thought we were looking at some sort of cancer) which showed everything normal except inflammation around pancreas.

My vet, bless him, allowed me to drop him off each morning at 7:00 a.m. over the weekend for supportive IV fluids and antibiotics, would pump him full of subcutaneous fluids at 7:00 p.m. when I would pick him up. By Sunday, he was allowed to restart bland, low fat food in small quantities.

I was pretty amazed at how quickly he bounced back because on Thursday, the entire office thought he was going to die.

He went on Hills RX low fat food, but I found another food called Anamaet Lean which was about half the cost of Hills, with similar fat/protein/carb percentages and he did very well on it.

New veterinary protocols, however, don’t withhold food for 72 hours post acute pancreatitis (according to the ER vet that I met with in January)…instead they start to refeed as soon as they can through a nasal tube.

T.C. had also been treated for Cushing’s disease for the 3 years prior to his pancreatitis. Pancreatitis is pretty common in Cush pups.

[thatmoody]

Just went through this with my large chi-cross (20 lbs). He was in the emergency vet for a couple of days on IV and bland diet, and I guess it’s been about a month ago and is doing MUCH better. He’s still on the Rx diet (we don’t know what caused it - he’s not overweight and gets plenty of exercise, but it was a pretty severe attack and so I’m taking no chances). He IS under quite a lot of stress (moved to a multi-dog household this year, although he seems to be adjusting quite well now) but that was the only thing I could come up with, although tbh, there IS a small possibility that the big dog pulled something off the counter (he’s not normally a counter surfer, but I think he may from time to time) and he got a load of fat or something - it WAS right after a dinner party, so…

Good luck with yours, and yes, we didn’t withhold food from him once the vomiting and diarrhea had passed somewhat - they refed him carefully at the ER, and while he was pretty darned sick for a while, I am glad that he has perked up now.

[thatmoody]

And I also understood that the possibility of another occurrence was fairly high - we shall see with mine, but I’m hoping he does well (he’s only 8). My big lab had it a few times in his lifetime, btw - he was a TERRIBLE garbage eater and no closed garbage can was even safe from him - we had to keep it in a separate, closed ROOM (I still keep mine under the cupboard with a lock on the door out of force of habit LOL). He did quite well despite a few attacks of severe pancreatitis and several hospitalizations and died when he was 14, so a good long life.

[Nezzy]

We think out younger male terrier got Pancreatitis from rawhide or else it was rabbit poop in the yard. We have the yard chain link fenced, but the rabbits still manage to get in. He ended up with Pancreatitis and hepatitis. $2000 later and he has been fine for a couple of years now. we stopped allowing the dogs to have rawhide.

[WildandWickedWarmblo]

My dogs have never had HGE but I did own one dog who had pancreatitis and one dog who had ulcers. They were 3/4 sisters from same breeder who had given me great dogs for years.

The dog with pancreatitis got it when she was a year old. She vomited yellow bile. Solution was to cut out all butter and fat in her diet, and no more pigs ears or cattle ribs or fatty foods. She lived for many years with no reoccurrence. Died of colon cancer.

The other dog with ulcers got them when she was 2 years old and I adopted some stray dogs. She vomited blood. She was given prozac for about 6 months. She too lived for many years with no reocurrence. Died of heart attack.

Both dogs resolved their issues as soon as they went to the vet when they vomited.

So try some prozac and see if it helps your dog. And cut out butter and fat and pigs’ ears and ribs, etc.

[2Jakes]

My 30# Heeler X had a super scary bout of HGE in December of 2014. She recovered with a few days of pretty intensive supportive care but she has had to stay on a prescription diet ever since. I’ve tried to change her over very gradually, but each time I get past the 50% point with the new food she gets loose stools, so I guess it’s Iams Intestinal Plus for her forever. She has had a few bouts with diarrhea since her HGE, never sure why, but as soon as I see it she gets an Imodium and NO food (water is always available) for 24 hours. So far that has fixed the problem.

[JackandMo]

[QUOTE=Nezzy;8653975]
We think out younger male terrier got Pancreatitis from rawhide or else it was rabbit poop in the yard. We have the yard chain link fenced, but the rabbits still manage to get in. He ended up with Pancreatitis and hepatitis. $2000 later and he has been fine for a couple of years now. we stopped allowing the dogs to have rawhide.[/QUOTE]

We have a single wild rabbit that lives in our yard. Is rabbit poop a culprit?
The dogs are so used to it now that they don’t even chase him when they go outside (and I have two terriers!)

[JackandMo]

Thanks everyone. Vet called and said he’s stable today and there is no blood. His attitude is pretty negative about being crated and the IV, but is tolerating it as best he can.
Hoping tomorrow shows more improvement!

[Nezzy]

[QUOTE=JackandMo;8654554]
We have a single wild rabbit that lives in our yard. Is rabbit poop a culprit?
The dogs are so used to it now that they don’t even chase him when they go outside (and I have two terriers!)[/QUOTE]

the vet said YES rabbit poop can be a cause.

[seeuatx]

My JRT had 2 bouts of HGE about a year apart from each other. Both were relatively mild, but both required a few days of overnight stays and fluids. We never did figure out what caused it (though now that I read rabbit poop, I wonder) but his first seizure came right around the same time so I always wondered if it was caused by the epilepsy. The last bought was 8 years ago, and he as been fine ever sinc. Still a JRT that digs and eats things so I am always on guard. He is on a grain free food with Lamb for skin allergies as well.

Jingles for your pup. Hoping he is feeling better soon

[islgrl]

My Heeler mix had HGE, the first time it was so scary I came home to what looked like a murder scene in my house. The next few times we were able to catch it early. I was sure it was caused by something he was allergic to because each time his face would swell first. My vet didn’t think I was right until he recently had another patient that appeared to have an allergic reaction before the HGE hit.

[JackandMo]

My boy is home and although a little tired, is pretty alert and happy to be home.

He’s on medication for the diarrhea and antibiotics. He chewed through two e-collars and three IV lines!

Vet didn’t give him the rx food and recommended instead I feed him smaller meals several times a day.

It was scary because there was SO much blood - agreed about the murder scene!

As soon as he got into the back yard, he started eating off the ground - it could only be rabbit poop. We are going to have to watch him very, very closely.

[SarahandSam]

My dachshund had a bout of HGE a few years back and after that had many minor episodes. We always watched her closely if she seemed a little off or if her stool seemed loose, and put her right on a bland diet and pumpkin and meds (the vet gave us a prescription so we always had some on hand). It was usually brought on by eating something unusual, often when my parents dog-sat and fed her table scraps. She did eventually die from pancreatitis, but that was also chronic and recurring, brought on from an episode eating chocolate a few months before she passed. Her digestive system was just a general mess. The HGE itself is a pain, but if you always keep an eye on him and you’re ready to nip it in the bud you can usually keep it under control quickly.