Pancreatitis Experiences?

[lilypily]

My boy's in hospital atm with pancreatitis (see thread in GDD). Has anyone else's dogs suffered from pancreatitis?

Did it take long to recover? Were there any complications? Did it reoccur?

What were the symptoms. (my dogs symptoms were different to what i'v read) Did you have to feed a special diet long term?

So many questions

Edited August 17, 2006 by lilypily

[TangerineDream]

My previous GSP Cadence had 1 attack (after some bacon rind when he was about 18 months old) - he threw up bloody mucous and had bloody diarrhoea....off to the vet, bland diet of rice and yoghurt then added chicken fillets (cooked) and stabilised there for a few weeks till his motions were solid and stable. I was absolutely paranoid about him getting anything that had animal fat in it from then on - he didn't get any treats for a long time till I worked out what didn't work for him. He could only cope with food with 6% or less of fat in it or after about 3 days he'd get mucousy stools which was the beginning of another attack...and I could stop it at that point...

Takes a while after an attack for their gut to settle down before you can start modifying their diet....slowly and surely - no treats till you are 100% sure (and that means telling everyone not to feed him)

Lots of luck......Cadence never had another attack after the first one....but I was the food nazi after that - and no-one was allowed to feed him without asking first....

From then on...boiled chicken (all fat skimmed off), rice, dry food.....

Edited August 13, 2006 by TangerineDream

[lilypily]

Thanks TG. My dog didn't have any change in his diet prior to the attack, no fatty foods at all. I did notice his stools were mucousy about a week or so before he fell ill. (actually he did have a beef shank to chew on, I wonder if the fat on that could of contributed???)

[mavmon]

Yes the beef bone would have triggered the attack. Marrow (from the centre of the bone) is very concentrated & fatty.

I had a dog who could not have any marrow type bones - even scooping the marrow out was not enough to prevent an attack.

He was on the human treatment for pancreatitis for a while (Viocase I think it was) - I managed to get him off that eventually & with a no fat diet he was fine.

[Dogsfevr]

yep had dog with P/C.

It can be a killer as the pain is so bad.Attacks can occur again especially if stressed,diet is so important.

Recovery can vary from very quickly to a month or more with plenty of good/bad days inbetween.

Our dog lived a full life but we had to watch any food intake like a hawk the most trival thing can set it off

[TangerineDream]

Beef shank would have done it - Cadence's was triggered by a 1" piece of bacon rind (although he'd been fine before)

Each dog is different. With Cadence, once he had the attack - no bones (so I used to have to scale his teeth with a scaler...fortunately he'd go to sleep while on his back while I did his molars ...very forgiving dog). I could feed him the chicken on the condition that I boiled it and then when the fat had congealed, I scraped it off (that's scarey in itself - just how much fat is in chicken pet mince). He was fine on Supercoat because it is reasonably low in fat. You need to read everything for the ingredients - many of the dry foods are too high in fat for a dog with pancreatitis, that's where I found Supercoat to be good. No potatoes, cheese until to find out which he can't cope with...and you'll know with only a small amount. Every change to their diet must be done over a number of days, slowly and monitoring every motion for mucous. If stools get mucousy shortly after the initial attack, assume they are having another and go instantly onto a rice and yoghurt only diet after fasting for 24 hours till the gut settles down again. If the pancreas gets irritated by anything all hell breaks loose. You may also find that you can feed Pedigree complete nutrition pouches (the chicken or the lamb one) if you need to travel - they only have 4% fat, which is great - Cadence could cope with that easily for 10 days...anything with 8% - you'd notice that it was starting to irritate his pancreas within 2 days, and after 3 days you couldn't feed it any more without him sliding towards another attack. It's a fine line you need to walk with their diets - most importantly - you become the ONLY person to feed them anything - no-one else is permitted to - you need to know every single thing that they eat - don't leave anything to chance.

[fido666]

I had a dog with what the vet thought was Pancreatitis, he spent a week on a drip then crashed badley. I had to take hime to an emergency clinic for overnight obs and then specialist consult the following day. The specialist told me Pancreatitis is very difficult to diagnose but he wasn't seeing a "textbook case" from the results, etc my normal vet sent him. He advised exploratory surgery so back I went with my deathly ill dog to my normal vet as the specialist was not a surgeon (I could not believe this at the time). He went straight into surgery which disclosed it was not Pancreatitis at all but a ruptured Gall Bladder. Unfotunately the damage was too great and he was given his wings. My little home bred baby was only 4yo .

I'm not saying this to alarm you but if it happened to my dog it could happen to others. Angus was perflectly well one day and deathly ill the next, the only sign of illness was vomitting overnight. we have no idea what caused this but the vet believes it was a blocked bile duct. I don't know if earlier intervention via surgery would have helped but my boy spent a week in pain for nothing it seems . Sorry to vent, it still hurts me today.

Lillypilly, I hope your dog makes a full recovery, am sending prayers his way.

Regards,

Corine

Edited for spelling.

Edited August 13, 2006 by fido666

[lilypily]

Oh Fido, that is so sad. Doof was the same, perfectly well then he awoke me at 5:30am crying out. The floor was covered in vomit and urine, he couldn't get up, was shaking. His belly was as hard as a rock and one side looked swollen. He managed to get himself half up as he had to vomit again and his back legs were all wobbly and he was hunched up (I really thought I was losing him)

Oops I forgot, for 2 days before this happened he started drinking HEAPS and peeing HEAPS, but was otherwise normal. The beef bone he had was given to him on the Monday, he became ill on the Saturday morning. I wonder if it was the beef bone would he have got sick sooner???

We find out tomorrow if it's just Pancreatitis or if it's a tumor in his liver that has caused it.

Thanks guys for your info.

[Meggsie]

Fido666...

Same thing happened to my boy Eddie in Feb this year...He too was only 4yrs old.Got real sick all of a sudden one night.Blood test didnt show up as pancreatitis but when he started to go jaundice a few day later an ultra-sound showed a swollen pancreaes...When his jaundice wasn't going away a 2nd ultra sound showed it had gone down but the bile duct coming out of the gallbladder had become inflamed and blocked....He was to have surgery the nxt morning but he had a heart attack before they were to start...It's suspected that his gallbladder had ruptured.

10 days before he started on Phenabarbital for seizures(epilepsy) that had become more frequent.The specialist thinks that this may have a contributing factor as the medication makes FAT store in the blood...He did say it's very rare for this complication to occur ( a 1 in 10,000).

I was told how ever if he did recover from this that he would have to be on a LOW FAT DIET as he would be extremely prone to re-occurence of it.

LILLPILLY....I hope every thing work out for your boy...and he makes a speedie recovery

[schnauzer]

Lilypily,

Firstly, I hope your lovely dog gets better very quickly.

I have had two dogs with pancreatitis. My GSD (my heart dog) got it when he was 14, and unfortunately although everything was done to save him, he died.

Meggsie, very interesting what you say re phenabarbital - my shepherd was epileptic and was also on it.

I have also had a schnauzer with a mild case, and he pulled through well with meds and on a drip. Schnauzers are prone to pancreatitis and should always be fed a low fat diet.

Best of luck with your little fellow - prayers for his speedy recovery.

[jls]

Lilypily, I hope Doof recovers soon. I feel for you. (Bear had Enzyme insufficiency)

My Gsd girl,made it to almost 11yrs,which for us seems like a miracle. From our experience,which is exactly why we are only seeking new fur kids through a breeder etc.

When we met her, I did check her, read her parentage paperwork etc. But was still ignorant at that stage,about more health checks,such as the breeders do on their litters etc.

The only sign outwardly I could discern was that her droppings were a yellow,but sloppy firm stool. Was a bit unsure,but her overall demeanor was healthy. Both parents again healthy looking etc.

I listened to the breeder,and followed the diet she'd given me.What a nightmare.

Even on the breeders' diet. Week one -She started vomitting,diahorea,breathing difficulties,drastic weight loss.

(I think we spent over $1000 the first year)Being a 6wk old pup,dehydration and vomiting was quite serious etc. Nothing stopped the episodes, except with the medication and restarting her on a diet of chicken and rice. nightmare.

We went to the vet,countless times,from that point on, she was on antibiotics. He suspected Enzyme insufficiency, 1 in 3 gsd are prone to it.Salazyprin,to help with bowel inflammation.

He advised no bones,low fat diet etc. and trail and error an what other things she's sensitive to.

Advised to give a rice and cooked roo meat diet. Roo meat is the leanest meat available. I cooked a kilo of it a day. Gave her the antibiotics etc. If she wasn't fed a large volume of food, she had drastic weight loss with in days.

Gradually after doing studies,learned abit about her condition and canine nutrition.

She couldn't tolerate anything higher than 4% fat in her diet,otherwise, the vomiting,diahorea and laboured breathing started again. At that time,very few cheaper food brands had lower than 10% fat content.

So, I cooked her chicken,rice and veges,or pasta. Used to give her carrots for teeth cleaning etc. She loved them, everytime,I was preparing them in the kitchen,she'd be standing by waiting etc She couldn't eat eggs either.

Gradually, started using Hillscience ID range (intestinal disease) $26 a carton. Her illness was cyclic, every 2wks,she'd have bouts. So,started her medication. We could only use that tin stuff,for about 3 days in a row,or she'd have another bout.

I know, these aren't the same condition, but very similiar,especially,regarding diet etc and reactions. I'd give the Hillscience ID range a go,it's only through your vet though.

I gradully returned to, cooking chicken,veges,rice or pasta,adding vitamin powder. When she was first diagnosed,we used,enzyme powder as well,but it seemed to make her worse. So,using,diet,antibiotics and vet management,she found a reasonable balance.

We had it pretty down pat in her later years. Her health developed other probs,so was on other medications,unrelated to this.

I truly hope things go well for you and Doof,my thoughts and prayers are with you,

jls

[Sheridan]

I had a dog with pancreatitis but it was brought on by him being on cortizone for an auto-immune disease.

[fido666]

Fido666...

Same thing happened to my boy Eddie in Feb this year...He too was only 4yrs old.Got real sick all of a sudden one night.Blood test didnt show up as pancreatitis but when he started to go jaundice a few day later an ultra-sound showed a swollen pancreaes...When his jaundice wasn't going away a 2nd ultra sound showed it had gone down but the bile duct coming out of the gallbladder had become inflamed and blocked....He was to have surgery the nxt morning but he had a heart attack before they were to start...It's suspected that his gallbladder had ruptured.

10 days before he started on Phenabarbital for seizures(epilepsy) that had become more frequent.The specialist thinks that this may have a contributing factor as the medication makes FAT store in the blood...He did say it's very rare for this complication to occur ( a 1 in 10,000).

I was told how ever if he did recover from this that he would have to be on a LOW FAT DIET as he would be extremely prone to re-occurence of it.

LILLPILLY....I hope every thing work out for your boy...and he makes a speedie recovery

Hi Meggsie,

I'm sorry this happened to your dog but you are the only other person I know of that has had this happen so at last I know I was not alone. Angus wasn't on any meds before the illness, he was his happy idiot self as always. It was just so sudden and unexplained. To be told he was coming home from the Vet's one day and then deathly ill the next was such a shock. The worst part was cradling my deathly ill boy in my arms as we rushed him from the specialist back to the vet, little did I know it was to be his last car trip. Angus was hand reared from birth, he was the only survivor from a litter of 4 so very special to me.

Sorry to hijack Lillypilly's thread and I hope her boy is soon on the road to recovery .

Regards,

Corine

[lilypily]

Fido and Meggsie, sorry about your babies. Doof seems to be improving slowly. I kinda don't want to get my hopes up though as the vet did say he may not make it and he won't eat

[Meggsie]

Lillypilly,

I wouldn't worry too much bout him not eating just yet....Eddie hadn't eaten for 10days, but he was on a drip all along and he lost less than a kilo in that time...Specialist told me that in the depression vets experimented with dogs to see how long they could go without food before damage to organs was done.....Aparently it was about a month.My research ,when Ed got ill was that even smelling food causes the pancreas to release juices and cause more inflamation.As long as he's on a drip for fluids he can go a bit long with no tucker...I know it's hard though all you want is for them to eat...Even with my new dog Joey i stress a little if he doesn't eat his dinnner.

Keep us post on how he's doing....Sending lots of hugs his away...

Cheers Megs

[Crysti_Lei]

a girl i went to tafe with had a dog with pancreatitis (sp??!) i just remember her saying that Greenies were the only treat it could have.

so WHEN he gets better you may want to speak to the vet about the pros and cons of greenies.

[lilypily]

Thanks Meggsie. I'm going in to see him soon. He had more blood tests and he is getting worse i'm not sure what is happening.

[Meggsie]

Ask your vet about seeing a specialist.Not sure where you are but Eddie was sent from his regular vet to the 24hr Hospital at Srathfield( in NSW). It's pretty expensive though.....

[Bindo]

So sorry to hear about your boy Lilypily.

My previous boy (8 yr old mini schnauzer) had symptoms and blood tests similar to Doofs. At first they thought it was pancreatitis, but a scan was clear. His liver enzymes though were sky high. He went on a drip, recovered slightly so they fed him and he seemed to be improving. However he crashed the next morning and then went into multi-organ failure, starting with his heart. Despite being in a specialist vet centre and us not sparing a cent, he had a cardiac arrest later that night. The final diagnosis was cholangiohepatitis, but we did not have an autopsy done, so not 100% sure. They told us that sometimes bugs which don't normally trouble dogs when they stay in the digestive tract can sometimes travel up through the bile ducts and cause problems. Schnauzers evidently can be prone to these type of problems with their biliary tracts.

I'm not trying to alarm you, but this might give you some more ideas about what is going on. Doof seems to be fighting this, is still quite active, and is not a schnauzer so there are three positive things!

Really hope we hear some good news from you soon.