The Stress Is Killing Me

[Tilly]

Edited December 11, 2012 by Tilly

[raineth]

Poor Bruno! The only thing I know about pancreatitis is that you have to keep the fat content of the food you give him to a minimum. I think a fatty meal can bring on the bout of pancreatitis. So I would stop the chicken frames for a while as they are pretty fatty :) It's hard when he is underweight because the natural thing to do is to choose some fattier foods to feed him.

You might want to PM Dol member Stormie as her dane got pancreatitis and she is a very knowledgeable vet nurse :)

[t a i l s.]

Thanks Raineth!

I've been feeding him egg with kangaroo meat for the past few days now, and he's happy to eat that, until I get the hills in he'll stay on that solely.

I'm going away Friday and my boyfriend will be looking after him, he doesn't care for Bruno as much as I do, so I'm a bit nervous, haha.

[persephone]

he doesn't care for Bruno as much as I do, so I'm a bit nervous

How long are you away for?

make sure you leave food easily available ..cut up, packaged, whatever . Also write down clearly what is to be fed, how much, and what times.

Write down symptoms to look for, vet's phone number and your wishes .

[t a i l s.]

All done!

Just until midday Saturday, so he should be fine for a night. He was wagging his tail when I got home this afternoon, before he was sick he'd be waiting at the gate for my car.. now he lies under the trees in a hole he dug.

It's ok, he's getting better!

[persephone]

:) sounding good!

[t a i l s.]

We're going to a different vet tomorrow for a second CBC. He is no longer improving and becoming as depressed as he was before. Still turning up half his meal and needs encouragement to continue eating. His weight was 44kgs on Tuesday. He lost two kilos in a week, and he's had 2 meals a day. I've seen no vomiting or diarrhoea at all. He looks like a bag of bones, his eyes are sunken.

This is a large male Bernese, even with his hair he looks extremely sick.

I found out on the weekend his mother died of leukaemia.

:( :(

[persephone]

Oh

This is not good at all.

The news about his mother is not what you wanted to find out , either.

Take care.

[t a i l s.]

Thank you, Persephone.

[t a i l s.]

He had a second test yesterday and it showed his pancreatitis is still prevalent, but slightly improved. He's seeming so depressed and sore lately.

I have read that paracetamol is acceptable pain relief, definitely not ibuprofen. Would anyone be able to correct me, or help with a dosage amount?

It just makes me so sad that he's so upset, and I've found out this week that I'm on a standby list for veterinary nursing in January, so if someone decides to not accept their offer to attend I may be selected instead, it's still a maybe, I do enjoy the relaxed atmosphere of my town, but there's so little here career wise

I just want my Bruno to get better, does anyone know any dogs that took a really long time to recover from pancreatitis? Bruno has two antibiotics left, so that's tomorrow only. He's received Anaplex for the next seven days to assist recovery. If he hasn't improved greatly by his last cartrophen injection in 2 weeks then he's going to have an ultrasound to see how his pancreas looks.

[persephone]

please do NOT use paracetamol .

the vet is the best person to suggest a painkiller which may help ..and if the vet has not done so , p'raps you need to phone & ask?

I do hope there is some improvement soon

[t a i l s.]

Ok, thank you. I wont

[SarasMum]

I just wanted to tell you what a gorgeous dog Bruno is. I met him at the Lake to Lagoon fun run, it was my leg he decided to lean on for a bit lol. I have everything crossed for him and hope he feels better soon.

[t a i l s.]

Thank you so much. I can't believe you remember him so well.

Hopefully next year he can help me cross the line again, I'll get him dropped off on Tarcutta street so he doesn't have to walk as far. Haha

[t a i l s.]

So I went away for a week while my FIL looked after the dogs, I've returned to find his mood has improved but he is still very underweight. At the last vet check he had gained 1kg but that's still no great improvement.

He is alternating sore legs now and yesterday it was the front left, today the front right from what I can gather with palpating the area it seems to be in his wrist, there's no squealing or whining when I touch but he does stop panting and looks uncomfortable.

He's nearly consumed his hills i/d - he's been having 3 smaller meals a day.

Bruno is just fluctuating in mood and health so much I still worry... I think I want to get a second opinion, but I am a student and don't earn a lot of money, so I'd hate to go somewhere else for them to run the same tests and end up with the same conclusion at my expense, and at the expense of his health, I know it would be hard for him to recover in this heat well

His dry retching is still prevalent, and quite often, I'm sure it's not bloat, I've studied the signs for bloat as best as I can and dry retching is the only symptom he is displaying for that illness.