Pancreatitis Flare Up - Any Postive Stories?

[Giveitago]

Hi All,

Casey my almost 12 y.o red Cattle had a bad bout of Pancreatitis in March, and we have been working very, very hard to keep at at bay. We've had a few hiccups along the way (who would have thought there dog would be allergic to carrots). But all this money spent and hard work we've out in may have all been undone by one stupid mistake by me.

I fed Casey some sunflower seeds )not the shell) on Friday night - honestly believing they were a 'healthy' treat. (I had been hand feeding a poor little lost bird we had just found outside our house)

We had a vomiting episode the follwoing morning, and only the ten sunflower seeds came up and they were in a thick, strong smelling orange liquid (last time we had a flare up it was a yellow, thin, bubbly vomit). I spoke to the vet (not our usual as he was off), but still one we've seen before, and well trusted. He said that sunflower seeds can cause a pancreatitis flare up and to keep and eye on her. I 've emailed our regular vet and am awaiting a response. I have been unable to find any info on the net - it all says sunflower seeds are fine for dogs. Theres no real info about dogs with pancreatitis and sunflower seeds (maybe everyone else isn' so stupid as to feed their pancreatitis dog seeds )

Here's a rundown of whats happemed over the weekend. (This is the email I've sent the vet)

On Friday evening (15/10/10) I was feeding a bird we found some sunflower seeds and fed Casey about ten (without the shell). I actually thought it was something ‘healthy’ that she would see as ‘treat’. She’d eaten dinner of rice, chicken and pasta about 2 hours prior.

• At 7 am on the 16/10/10 Casey vomited up JUST the sunflower seeds (no rice, chicken or pasta) in a very strong smelling thick, orange fluid. Rang vet clinic and the nurse checked with Murray (vet) who told me that Sunflower seeds are very very bad for pancreatitis and to keep an eye on her.

• Evening of the 16/10/10 we didn’t feed her, and we slept through the night without incident.

• The morning of the 17/10/10 we fed her about ¼ of her normal intake of rice, chicken, pasta, and there was no incident while we were home in the following 4 hours. When we returned in the afternoon we found some regurgitated grass in the backyard. So I think at some point during the day she may have eaten some grass to make herself vomit again.

• In the evening she again only had about ¼ of her normal intake of food, and all was fine until 1.30am this morning. She woke me up dry retching. It actually sounded like she was trying to catch her breath as well, but her stomach was contracting in and out. She did not vomit and she refused water. The rest of night she slept in our bed (she slept, we didn’t!) and although she was not sick, her stomach was making a lot of gurgling noises.

• This morning, she awoke her happy usual self, had a drink of water and went to the toilet as per normal. She was VERY keen for breakfast, but as I was really unsure of the best course of action to take, I only fed her about 6 pieces of pasta. More to make her THINK she’s eaten.

At no point has she appeared to be in any great amount of pain, nor depressed, nor has shown a disinterest in food like she was in March. I’m not sure whether I should not feed her for a couple of days to again let her pancreas rest, or to feed her very minimal amounts. My biggest concern is that she is now down to 18 kilos so I don’t want to withhold food if it’s at a further detriment to her. Any advice you have would be great, and of course, we are more than happy to bring Casey in to see you if required.

We have worked so so hard to keep this at bay and I am so disappointed in myself that I may have undone it all with 10 sunflower seeds.

SO - does anyone have any positive good news stories for me about dogs who have had pancreatitis flare ups?

[Rappie]

Dogs with pancreatitis will occasionally have flare up, and sometimes there is no identifiable reason behind it. It's important also to realise that normal dogs will occasionally have gut upsets that make them vomit (particularly if they've even something 'new'), so not every episode of sickness is going to be a pancreatitis flare up. It is certainly good that you're so vigilant, not all owners are! Without testing her pancreatic lipase it's hard to say 'yes, definitely' to it being pancreatitis.

If she is no longer vomiting, then I would continue to feed her normal diet, but perhaps divided into several smaller meals. When treating pancreatitis in hospital, I generally work on offering water after 24 hours with no vomiting, and if that stays down after several hours then starting food. Since she has only been vomiting, but not had accompanying pain, depression, diarrhoea etc then I would continue to feed her now that the vomiting has stopped.

[Giveitago]

Dogs with pancreatitis will occasionally have flare up, and sometimes there is no identifiable reason behind it. It's important also to realise that normal dogs will occasionally have gut upsets that make them vomit (particularly if they've even something 'new'), so not every episode of sickness is going to be a pancreatitis flare up. It is certainly good that you're so vigilant, not all owners are! Without testing her pancreatic lipase it's hard to say 'yes, definitely' to it being pancreatitis.

If she is no longer vomiting, then I would continue to feed her normal diet, but perhaps divided into several smaller meals. When treating pancreatitis in hospital, I generally work on offering water after 24 hours with no vomiting, and if that stays down after several hours then starting food. Since she has only been vomiting, but not had accompanying pain, depression, diarrhoea etc then I would continue to feed her now that the vomiting has stopped.

Thank you so much for your response Rappie.

We're both super vigilant as we still want many more years out of our girl. I've been beating myself up about it since Friday, for undoing our hard work.

My sister just went to check on her (i'm at work) and she is still fine ann in good spirits. Hopefully things will settle down from here.

We had given her much smaller meals so hopefully this will help.

Thanks again for taking the time to respond, its greatly appreciated.

[poodlefan]

Given that they make oil out of sunflower seeds, my guess is that was the issue - too high in fat. They can have up to a 50% fat content.

I have a friend with a dog that suffers from pancreatitis. She is EXTREMELY careful about treats and stopping others from giving them to the dog.

I think she's had some success with using beef jerky but she is a good label reader - anything over 10% fat isn't fed.

[Giveitago]

Given that they make oil out of sunflower seeds, my guess is that was the issue - too high in fat. They can have up to a 50% fat content.

I have a friend with a dog that suffers from pancreatitis. She is EXTREMELY careful about treats and stopping others from giving them to the dog.

I think she's had some success with using beef jerky but she is a good label reader - anything over 10% fat isn't fed.

We use a light snack (7%) fat and low protein that I have only found so far at the RSPCA stores. As well as Denta bones to counteract the fact that there is no Bones in her diet - they are also low fat and low protein.

The Sunflower seeds were just very very poor judgement on my behalf.

[poodlefan]

Given that they make oil out of sunflower seeds, my guess is that was the issue - too high in fat. They can have up to a 50% fat content.

I have a friend with a dog that suffers from pancreatitis. She is EXTREMELY careful about treats and stopping others from giving them to the dog.

I think she's had some success with using beef jerky but she is a good label reader - anything over 10% fat isn't fed.

We use a light snack (7%) fat and low protein that I have only found so far at the RSPCA stores. As well as Denta bones to counteract the fact that there is no Bones in her diet - they are also low fat and low protein.

The Sunflower seeds were just very very poor judgement on my behalf.

Don't beat yourself up. When folk say things are good treats for dogs, they often don't have particular dog illnesses at the front of their minds.

Incidentally, wild bird mix would be a better bet than sunflower seeds for the birds - too many sunflower seeds lead to dietary insufficiency in birds.

[Giveitago]

Given that they make oil out of sunflower seeds, my guess is that was the issue - too high in fat. They can have up to a 50% fat content.

I have a friend with a dog that suffers from pancreatitis. She is EXTREMELY careful about treats and stopping others from giving them to the dog.

I think she's had some success with using beef jerky but she is a good label reader - anything over 10% fat isn't fed.

We use a light snack (7%) fat and low protein that I have only found so far at the RSPCA stores. As well as Denta bones to counteract the fact that there is no Bones in her diet - they are also low fat and low protein.

The Sunflower seeds were just very very poor judgement on my behalf.

Don't beat yourself up. When folk say things are good treats for dogs, they often don't have particular dog illnesses at the front of their minds.

Incidentally, wild bird mix would be a better bet than sunflower seeds for the birds - too many sunflower seeds lead to dietary insufficiency in birds.

The bird was just a visitor - we found him freaking out in front of the neighbours house. I was hand feeding him the sunflower seed component of the bird seed mix as they were the easiest to pick up

[Little Gifts]

My old staffy girl got diagnosed in 2000 - she turned 16 in August this year! She was incredibly ill and I never even knew dogs could get this problem. Apparently it is incredibly painful. We always keep some nux vomica bolle on hand (from my vet) in case she has a flare up but there has been no problem now for years. The most important thing I've found is controlling her food. She went straight on Hills Prescription W/D (tins and dry) and her quantities have always been measured. Her only treat items are bits of my toast crust (no topping), raw carrots, vegetarian pigs ears and dog choc chip cookies (one small one every morning). We have been very strict with people trying to give her tid bits from the table. She stopped trying to scab scraps or other treats many years ago and always eats her W/D heartily. We also monitor once she has finished eating so she doesn't try and lick the other dogs empty bowls. I would love to give her other things but this has worked so well for her. She has cancer now and is still doing very well. I don't want to temp fate by changing things.

Good luck with Casey - ours has certainly been manageable. We have 3 dogs who all eat different things but you get into a routine and it doesn't take long.

[7464]

I hope Casey is ok. Don't beat yourself up, it was an honest mistake.

[TangerineDream]

My previous GSP Cadence had the occasional bout of pancreatitis (after the 1st really bad one at 18 months old) and if he ended up with a fat content that was too high (might take 2 days if he was eating a slightly different diet to the 'controlled' diet I had him on), the minute he threw up like that, it was a standard routine that he would go onto boiled rice and yoghurt for 12 hours or 1 poo whichever came first, then have boiled chicken breast added and then 24 hours later go back onto his normal diet. he could tolerate 8% fat and the only time I really had a problem was if we were travelling and I couldn't keep his normal meals frozen.... it just became a routine...don't panic...just work out a routine for times like this and stick to it...it makes life a lot easier because you don't have to keep making decisions each time, you simply give them gut rest by going back to the rice and yoghurt and then coming back to normal....

[Giveitago]

My old staffy girl got diagnosed in 2000 - she turned 16 in August this year! She was incredibly ill and I never even knew dogs could get this problem. Apparently it is incredibly painful. We always keep some nux vomica bolle on hand (from my vet) in case she has a flare up but there has been no problem now for years. The most important thing I've found is controlling her food. She went straight on Hills Prescription W/D (tins and dry) and her quantities have always been measured. Her only treat items are bits of my toast crust (no topping), raw carrots, vegetarian pigs ears and dog choc chip cookies (one small one every morning). We have been very strict with people trying to give her tid bits from the table. She stopped trying to scab scraps or other treats many years ago and always eats her W/D heartily. We also monitor once she has finished eating so she doesn't try and lick the other dogs empty bowls. I would love to give her other things but this has worked so well for her. She has cancer now and is still doing very well. I don't want to temp fate by changing things.

Good luck with Casey - ours has certainly been manageable. We have 3 dogs who all eat different things but you get into a routine and it doesn't take long.

Thanks for such a postive story. Knowing that your girl was diagnosed ten years ago makes me feel very hopeful. Casey is beyond spoilt and due to her very 'relaxed' lifestyle, and her breed, the vet was hopeful we should at least get to 16 as well. This diagnosis made me very concerned that that number would be greatly reduced. I hope you have as positive an outcome as you manage her cancer as well.

Casey was on Royal Canin Prescription Gastrointestinal Kibble and immeditaley developed an allergy to it. (which I don't mind, I nearly had an allergic reaction to the $140 price lol)

She usually eats rice, Chicken breast and pasta - it seems dogs with pancreatitis eat better than most other people i know. We removed the vegetable component after the allergy to carrots developed as well.

She ate a very very minimal amount of food last night, but we had an uneventful night, other than the fact that my husband and I didn't sleep because of the extra body laying sideways across the bed. But fact of the matter is she sleeps better in our bed than in hers, and a couple of nights of discomfort for her benefit is definitely worth it.

Thank you for taking the time to read and respond - its greatly appreciated.

[Giveitago]

My previous GSP Cadence had the occasional bout of pancreatitis (after the 1st really bad one at 18 months old) and if he ended up with a fat content that was too high (might take 2 days if he was eating a slightly different diet to the 'controlled' diet I had him on), the minute he threw up like that, it was a standard routine that he would go onto boiled rice and yoghurt for 12 hours or 1 poo whichever came first, then have boiled chicken breast added and then 24 hours later go back onto his normal diet. he could tolerate 8% fat and the only time I really had a problem was if we were travelling and I couldn't keep his normal meals frozen.... it just became a routine...don't panic...just work out a routine for times like this and stick to it...it makes life a lot easier because you don't have to keep making decisions each time, you simply give them gut rest by going back to the rice and yoghurt and then coming back to normal....

Thansk for your response Tangerine Dream. I had not even considered having a 'battle plan' to deal with this sort of thing. I used to be a vet nurse (and a human nurse), but when it comes to Casey all the stored information seems to disappear from my brain and I'm simply just a scared mummy. Its like the medical knowledge just doesn't work when its your own!!!!

As I said above, we had a good night last night so hoping that we've turned the corner. Am going to discuss with my vet about introducing yoghurt to Casey's diet, as its not something we even considered. I know she would just love the additional flavour and texture.

We have a permanent diet of chicken breast, rice and pasta - other kibbles we introduced seem to irritate her skin, all which developed AFTER the 1st pacreatitis attack.

Thansk so much for your ideas!!!

[matilda1]

My old ACD was diagnosed with Pancreatitis aout 8 years ago.

he's never had a re-lapse thankfully but we are very vigilant in what we feed.

How's the patient this morning?

Do you know what her temperature is doing?

[Giveitago]

My old ACD was diagnosed with Pancreatitis aout 8 years ago.

he's never had a re-lapse thankfully but we are very vigilant in what we feed.

How's the patient this morning?

Do you know what her temperature is doing?

Hi BellaDonna,

Patient is doing a LOT better this morning. We went out the back to find a huge ball outside from one of the neighbours kids - she thought it was Xmas and went running over trying to pick up a ball that was about 20 times the size of her head. Its the most active she's been in days.

Again she was busting for breakfast but we've dropped her back to four smaller meals for the meantime. She wasn't real impressed by her portion size.

Temp is ok, was only raised slightly the day of vomiting and the day after.

[matilda1]

Sounds like she's over the worst of it

it may not have been a pancreatic flare up at all, may have just been a mild gastro

Sounds like you are doing a good job watching her.