Can someone tell me

[MrSnappy]

As in, is there anything specific I need to modify when I return him to normal food?

 

RD was rushed to the vet today with a fever, vomiting, lethargy and wicked case of the shakes. They did a snap test and he has an acute case of pancreatitis. For all of you who have a recycling bin accessible by your dogs, wash your stuff first. This appears to have its onset in the margarine container he stole out of the recycling last night. Yes, I indeed feel like shit for leaving in there, but he's never shown any interest in the recycling before now.

 

He's now at home resting in his crate and hooked up to an IV, thanks to RDF who can do these sorts of things.

 

I do not want to put him on some crappy vet formulated dog food when he recovers, but I wonder if there any problems with continuing his raw diet. He has been on it for 8 of his 11 years.

 

I also understand there is a potential link between prednisone use and pancreatitis. Does this mean, I wonder, that this is likely to happen again?

 

Has anyone else had a dog with pancreatitis?

 

RDM

[Wendy V]

I've not dealt with this myself, but epi-dogs on potassium bromide seem to be prone to it. There are those who continue raw with a pancreatic dog, but try to keep out the fats, such as removing all skin and fat.

 

Sorry I can't be of more help than saying that it can and has been done.

[Allie Oop]

Oh no! Poor Red Dog's been through a lot this year! Allie had a major case of pancreatitis about a year ago and I was so worried, as was the vet. She prescribed a 1 day fast and then we did go ahead and use the Hills i/d (watered down with sodium free chicken broth) for couple of days. She got pretty dehydrated, so the watered down chicken broth really helped (plus the sub-q fluids they gave her).

 

After the first few days we used kibble (Canidae) mashed with the sodium free chicken broth. She did very well and healed up quite quickly. I think that the Hills did help, at least for that first day or so, and she was doing really well within about 5 days on the kibble mixture.

 

So sorry to hear about the dear boy and I hope he's feeling better soon.

 

Regards.

[Laurae]

I, too, am so sorry to hear about RD--poor guy can't seem to catch a break.

I don't know if hearing about my experience will be helpful to you, but I gave Craig what I suspect was a minor case of pancreatitis a couple of months ago. Over the summer, I bought a ram that had a ton of fat on it. Normally I trim the fat before I feed it to the dogs, but for some reason I'll never forgive myself for, I didn't one night and Craig and Taz got really, really sick. Taz recovered pretty quickly; Craig took about a week (with a rock-hard gut) to fully recover. Anyway, I fasted them for 24 hours after Craig's last vomit (which was itself about 20 hours after he ate) and then gave about a quarter cup of rice mixed with a pinch of sauteed ground elk (which is very lean) for a couple of days. I increased both the amount of food and the elk in the ratio for about another week and made sure to cut off all fat of everything I gave them for a long time. Now they're back to normal, but obviously I cut every bit of fat off that stupid ram possible when I feed it and I feed it much more sparingly, especially to Craig. I don't know why this particular ram was so fatty (usually it's quite lean from my supplier), but I'll just be meticulous until it's gone. I can't wait until it is gone!

[MagicGirl]

I to am very sorry to here that your dog is sick. Pancreatitis was a very scary thing for me when my Border Collie Bandit got it from eating on a deer leg that some one had discard in the woods. I had the same experience as the others. To the vets, over night with IV's, home the next day with a diet of what we call her i/d mush ( i/d mixed with water). The vet also had us but ice cubes in her water to slow down her intake. He did not want her to gulp down the water.

 

Hope RD feels better soon.

[Shetlander]

Sorry to hear of this latest problem! I believe I've read that dogs who come down with pancreatitis are then prone to repeat episodes. Diet is very important but that's all I know. Is there a holistic vet you can turn to for help with nutrition?

[Mojo]

RDM, I am really sorry to hear about this. I am at work and can't write more right now, but I will tell you this:

 

Yes, I have had a dog who survived pancreatitis after developing it out of the blue at the old age of twelve years, and no, I don't think raw food at any point in the *near* future will be good for RD. I know you are asking about what to do after he recovers, but since you didn't mention it specifically, I just want to emphasize that the most essential aspect of treatment for pancreatitis is to REST the GI tract, and any substantial volume of food or water will only distend the stomach, triggering the pancreas to secrete additional digestive enzymes into the duodenum, and thus worsening the pancreatic inflammation. The fact that RD is at home on IV fluids is excellent. Are there nutrients in that fluid (i.e., glucose)? If so, you really should not feed him for a full 4-5 days, and that includes limiting water intake to just a few ice cubes. If not, what I did with Godiva was give her a teaspoon of pure (all-natural) maple syrup every 2-3 hours. She was also on Pepcid and Reglan twice a day to control nausea. She eventually had to be put on antibiotics, as well, to treat massive, bloody colitis that somehow became superimposed on the pancreatitis, and that made her additionally nauseous and unwilling to eat, which would only make her vomit all the more--we were up to 8-10 vomiting episodes a day, and I was injecting her with subcutaneous fluids (Lactated Ringer's) 2-3 times a day. With the syrup, she somehow managed to pull through that week, and by the end of the next week, she was up to a teaspoon of boiled chicken broth plus her teaspoon of syrup every 2-3 hours. By the end of the third week, we were up to teaspoons of boiled rice and ground chicken. The key is that the food must be easily digestible in order to avoid irritating the pancreas, and raw meat is not--the pancreas has to secrete a lot of enzymes to help break raw meat down. Once RD's spec cPL goes back to normal--it took Godiva more than six months--you may be able to risk raw meat/bones again, but until he is truly out of the woods, my recommendation would be only soft, boiled, easily disgestible food. If he ends up with pancreatic insufficiency on top of the pancreatitis, you will need to supplement with digestive enzymes, and thus the easily digestible food will become even more important. But home-cooked food is a great alternative to raw--no need to resort back to commercially-available veterinary diets. Yikes, need to get back to work--hope that helps for now

[Mojo]

**ETA: Back from work now. Let me tell you, those six months of recovery, and particularly the first three to four weeks, were not easy on either Godiva or me--with her 2-3-hourly feedings, I wasn't getting any sleep; if I missed one, she would be vomiting. So, I ended up taking off work completely to stay home and nurse her, since I did not want her alone in the hospital for a full week at her age--I was quite certain that the stress would kill her, if her illness did not, and plus, for various unassociated reasons, I didn't trust my vet to take care of her, nor the vet's overnight staff. So, I tackled this alone. I can't emphasize enough how wonderful it is that you are able to have RD at home on an I.V.--I think that will make all the difference for him, and help him heal faster in comfortable, familiar surroundings. Just to give you an idea of what we were dealing with, Godiva's spec cPL (blood antibody marker for pancreatitis) was coming back only as " >900" (the upper limit of the assay was 900), so her value was literally off the chart). Those first two weeks after the initial onset of the pancreatitis were the worst--she nearly died twice. During those nadirs, she just closed her eyes, took a ragged breath, and then stopped breathing for about fifteen or twenty seconds. I would frantically rub her, and then she would heave another breath, and then her eyes would flutter open, and then shut again. The vet wanted to put her down. I told him to go *you know where*. And, yet, slowly but surely, she started to recover. Again, the most important, most critical period is keeping your dog alive those first few days by keeping him hydrated until the pancreas has a chance to rest. Once you make it there, the rest of the convalescence is still not exactly a cakewalk, but the immediate danger is gone. Shetlander is right--one episode of pancreatitis predisposes the dog to future episodes/chronic pancreatitis, so you will always have to be careful of what RD eats from now on. Again, I watched every morsel of food that went in or out of Godiva's mouth like a hawk for a full six months, and even then, there was still plenty of vomiting with which to contend, but surely enough, Godiva's spec cPL (blood antibody marker for pancreatitis) eventually came back within the grey zone, and then finally settled into the normal range, and today, she can pretty much tolerate eating anything again, short of extremely oily/fatty food, as long as it is thoroughly cooked, soft, and mashed up or in tiny little pieces so that she does not swallow huge chunks of food whole, which makes it harder for the stomach/pancreas to digest (i.e., she will vomit if the food chunks are too big). I also feed her very small meals at frequent intervals, and that helps, as well. She gets fish oil capsules and moderate amounts of fat on her cooked meat, and she has no problems digesting those lipids. She gets phosphate binders for her kidney failure, which also act as additional antacids, as does sucralfate (coats the digestive tract to soothe irritation), so perhaps you will want to look into sucralfate, Reglan (metoclopramide), and Pepcid (famotidine) in the future if RD should have intractable vomiting.

 

If you are going to think about home-cooked food, I highly recommend Strombeck's Home-cooked Dog and Cat Diets. It is an incredible resource. Pricey, but worth every penny. It has very, very extensive recipes, and equally extensive explanations behind the rationale for these recipes.

 

So, I wish you the very best of luck. I think the course of the disease varies quite greatly depending on the individual dog, and I hope yours goes as well as it possibly can.

[MrSnappy]

Well that's not a very promising sounding diagnosis. I've gotten much better news from just about everyone else!

 

RD is on a constant IV (Lactated Ringers) for the next two days, possibly longer, is fasting, is getting injections of metochlopromide every (edit - every 8 hours, not 12, sorry) hours, is now on Clavamox orally and Tramadol for pain. I am a little concerned that he is still vomiting with some regularity. Also I have run out of clean towels. My vet suggests that he go in for a recheck tomorrow AM, and that after another two days I start offering him very lean chicken and rice in small amounts to see if he can hold it down.

 

The odds of my cooking for my dog are very slim. I've still not figured out how to cook for myself! I certainly hope he can go back to his regular diet eventually.

 

This poor dog cannot catch a break.

 

RDM

[bc friend]

First of all, I am very sorry to hear RD is sick - poor old guy has had more than his share of health issues recently.

 

My vet, who is a conventional vet and not a holistic one, is very strong on homemade diets when a dog has been ill - she just feels that you/she can control more of what the dog is actually eating if it not commercial food. Most of the recommended diets are just variations on chicken/rice/veggies blended to various consistencies depending on the dog. As I commented in another thread, you can put the chicken and veggies into a crockpot and just let them cook down completely and then add cooked rice so it is really easy to fix. As RD improves, you can add some raw fruit/veggies and other carbs to his diet - and your vet can recommend any vitamin supplementation needed (if any).

 

Sara had mild pancreatitis years ago (from raiding the garbage - my fault) and after IV's and a period of fasting, the chicken/rice/veggie diet was what she ate for a month.

 

After Sara's liver cancer surgery this past summer, I was unable to find a quality commercial food that had 28% or less protein and no grains [she had been on EVO which is now considered too high in protein since 40% of her liver was removed and she has grain alllergies] so she is on a homemade diet which is basically meat/rice or potato/veggie stews with some fresh fruit/veggies, stewed apples or peaches (no sugar) and similar foods. Maybe RD could handle one of these types of diets for which cooking skills/time is pretty minimal.

 

Again, sending good thoughts for you and RD - and the rest of your gang!

[kelpiegirl]

I cooked for my Boxer for a while- just used a big pot- used the recipe that Cusick sent me. I cooked, cooled, and then stored the food in containers. It worked very well for my dog. It's not that much work. It will go a long way to be able to make up exactly what food he eats.

 

Here is a website that will give you some good information http://www.b-naturals.com/Jul2004.php

 

eta:

I hosted a seminar by lew several years ago- she was just great, and is very happy to help if you have problems with your dog- you can email her.

[Kyrasmom]

Kyra had severe pancreatitis when she was diagnosed with diabetes. Previously she had been on prednisone to control pemphigus (an autoimmune skin condition). We were dealing with various issues at the same time so diet was the least of my worries to begin with and I just gave her the vet prescribed diet until she stabilzed. Afterwards, I opted for home cooked easily digestible foods like rice, yogurt, and ground turkey or chicken plus supplements. I would cook once a week, make patties that I froze, and then thawed for her meals. A few days worth would be fine in the fridge. It took a few hours on the day I cooked but then I would think would be as easy as feeding raw from a time standpoint if you're totally against kibble. The key is that it has to be highly digestible and low in fat...which I believe a raw diet is not, especially if fed in bulk as I've heard raw diets are. Unfortunately it sounds like a life change is in the works for RD...and for you as it sounds that this bout of pancreatitis is particularly severe.

 

The prednisone was linked to her pancreatitis and her diabetes, it's a very effective low cost medicine but it has so many side effects that I doubt I'd ever put a dog on it again if there are other options.

 

I would be concerned that RD is still vomiting even with the injection of metocloparmide..what does the vet say about that?

Best of luck and I hope that you have a good update to post soon.

 

Maria

[KrisK]

I'm so sorry to hear that Reddog is so ill. Zachary came very close to dying from his bout of pancreatitis almost 4 years ago. He spent 4 days in emergency care at the vet clinic and was hooked up to IV's the entire time. The vet still marvels that he survived since his reading were so outrageously high. He has been on a low residue diet ever since and the only treats he gets are raw vegetables from time to time and low residue treats. Since all my dogs have been on kibble all their lives, it was no issue for me to get the prescription diet. Fat is the killer. If you are going to feed raw, you will need to find a way to have little or no fat in his diet. It might take a bit of research to find out what types of meats are leaner so RedDog can eat those.

I'm sending lots of good mojo your way.

[laurie etc]

Sorry to hear RD's so sick! Check out this link from Lew Olsen (B-Naturals) about feeding for pancreatitis. He definitely suggests that feeding fat is blamed for pancreatitis, where usually there is some other underlying component -ie, steroid use.... hmmm. http://www.b-naturals.com/Jul2004.php

I think the trick to recovery is to rest the GI tract and pancreas, and limit fat... so lean muscle meats, some easily digested fiber, and slowly getting back to a normal diet. My dogs just came through a horrible bout of "food poisoning"- my first ever in 12+ years of raw feeding. It will be a long time before I feed pork necks again. I thought I would have to take my old girl to the ER for fluids, but she bounced back after a day or so, and looks fine now. But try cleaning up after 13 dogs who are randomly spewing from both ends...so much for a Happy New Year's day! I used a combination of fasting, Parvaid, low fat chicken broth, Evangers canned 100% chicken with a little brown rice, canned pumpkin, Fortaflora, Yogurt w/probiotics. I know what you mean about not wanting to switch to some "kibble" diet after all those years on raw, and I bet you will be able to get back to raw as long as you find out the actual cause of his illness, and can work to eliminate that, rather than just treat his symptoms.

FWIW, I wonder if MOJO's experience was so horrific and drawn out because of her dog being a small breed. Good Luck! Laurie

[SoloRiver]

Sheena,

 

No experience with pancreatitis although I do know that some folks feed raw pancreas to counter it. It can be hard to find though.

 

Cooking for dogs is WAY easy. Buy the boneless frozen chicken cuts in the bulk bags from the grocery store when they're on sale and get a rice cooker if you don't already have one. Boil the chicken, cook the rice (with a bit too much water so it comes out soggy, maybe an inch and a half of water on top of the rice for white rice), add the vitamins and bone meal, done. Not only is it going to be very easy on his gut but they almost always find it very palatable.

 

Poor RD. Poor you!

[Mojo]

FWIW, I wonder if MOJO's experience was so horrific and drawn out because of her dog being a small breed. Good Luck! Laurie

 

Yes, Laurie, I think that is a good point--Godiva's small size undoubtedly had something to do with how badly the pancreatitis affected her. Being only twelve pounds at the time, she didn't have much in the way of energy reserves, and had somehow managed to develop colitis on top of the pancreatitis, so the dehydration hit her particularly hard. The obvious main compounding issue was that she had just been diagnosed with kidney failure three months prior, so that was not helping matters, either--her BUN had peaked around 75 at that point, and that, in itself, can cause nausea and vomiting. Then again, her BUN currently is 130 and she is happy as a clam with no vomiting, but of course, her body has gradually become accustomed to the constant stress of slowly raising BUN and creatinine over time, when back then, it was all very sudden for her. Regardless, in the face of severe, concurrent illness, the renal insufficiency surely complicated her recovery. I think you have also made an excellent point about the steroids being implicated in this, since all around they have some pretty terrible known side effects, but from what I understand of RDM's previous posts, RD needs them to be able to stay active and happy. I have zero experience with arthritis in dogs, however, so I have nothing constructive to offer as to how he could possibly have his dose tapered and be started on alternative therapy that might give him a better quality of life with fewer adverse effects. You might want to consult a holistic vet regarding that issue once RD gets out of the woods; however, I'm not sure I would change around anything right now, though, as decreasing long-term steroids has to be done in a very careful, controlled fashion, over months, or you will get rebound adrenal failure. In fact, RD might actually require HIGHER levels of prednisone now that he has pancreatitis--stress from severe illness sometimes results in an ability of the hypothalamic-pituitary axis to respond appropriately to the illness due to the H-P-A suppression that is present at baseline from having been on long-term steroids, and so, a "stress-dose" of glucocorticoids is sometimes given to help the patient cope. I do NOT know if this is common practice in dogs, however--it is done in humans, so I would perhaps ask your vet about that.

 

RDM, I'm sorry--I didn't mean to make it sound *worse* for you than it is. Certainly, pancreatitis is a serious business, but I had intended to use my personal anecdote to illustrate that DESPITE Godiva's truly awful bout with pancreatitis, she DID eventually make a complete recovery, and I am hoping that RD can pull through just as well, and more quickly. Again, Godiva was *not* at home with IV fluid, only SQ fluid, so you have that advantage, and I believe that RD is a couple years younger than Godiva was at the time, as well, and as Laurie noted, he is a lot larger. I should also have clarified that during the period of her convalescence, Godiva was getting little to zero fat with her meat/food (what I had meant in my haste by writing "watching every morsel of food that went in or out of her mouth like a hawk") during those initial six months, but after that, once her pancreatitis marker values were within normal limits, very carefully and slowly I started to add tiny bits of additional fat, until the point that we have reached NOW, when she is able to eat moderate amounts of fat, just about 1.5 years out of her initial pancreatitis onset, and has little restriction on her food intake--even though I give her small, frequent meals, I feed her as often and as much as she can handle, up to six times a day, and so she has actually gained weight since her diagnosis of renal failure. So, I only mentioned this to show that it may be possible for RD to resume his regular raw diet at some point in the future, but in his best interest, you should probably home-cook for him at least during the initial period of his convalescence. As everyone has said, it is really not as daunting as you might think--cream of rice can be made from a box in the microwave, as can boiled chicken and vegetables. A crock pot or a stew pot might be the easiest, though--you can just leave it to cook for hours, and at the end of it, you will have huge volumes of food that you can freeze or refrigerate for the entire week, and dole it out accordingly, so you won't even have to cook that often--really, no harder than pouring out kibble once the food for the week has been prepared. **ETA--what Melanie said about adding more water to the rice cooker than one would normally add for human consumption is a great tip, and what I do, as well--the dogs seem to prefer the rice when it is softer and more wet, and plus, it doesn't stick to everything all over everywhere (paws, ears, Godiva's mustache, etc.) nearly as much as it does when it is drier.

 

I am not sure what day this is in RD's course of pancreatitis, but if he is still vomiting with injected metoclopramide Q8h, I would 1) call your vet to let him/her know and 2) would feel his belly (gently!) to see if it is hard or tense (i.e., any possible reason to suspect new GI issues other than the pancreatitis, like obstruction? Did RD eat any part of the margarine container, or did he just lick up the remains? Did he have an abdominal ultrasound or x-ray?) Pancreatitis might make his belly tender, so if he jumps, that may not be a sign of something. If there is nothing obvious to be felt, and if he is passing bowel movements normally (I know he is not eating, but he still should have a BM every two days, perhaps), I would consider asking the vet for Zofran (ondansetron), which is a central-acting (brain-acting) antiemetic that is quite a bit stronger than metoclopramide (which also is an anti-emetic with central effects, but it also increases gut motility, and RD is not eating anything), and the fact of not vomiting could help make him feel a lot better. The brand name is expensive, but it is available in a generic, and it comes in injectable, as well. If you are worried at all that something new is going on, I would have the vet look at RD again, but in general, vomiting is de rigueur for pancreatitis. I also found that wiping Godiva's snout with a warm, wet cloth to help remove some of the vomit smell helped make her vomit less, also.

 

I hope he does better today!!!!

[Mojo]

****ETA - Just re-read your last post. You know, the Tramadol and Clavamox could also be contributing to the nausea/vomiting by virtue of their side effects, but ideally, oral meds shouldn't be given at all with pancreatitis, although it often cannot be helped, as it seems in this case. Just another thought.

 

****ETA pt 2 - Forgot to mention: Lactated Ringer's Solution does not have glucose (or nutrients) in it, unless it is specifically marked as having had them added. Thus, you *may* want to consider doing a teaspoon of syrup, maybe even just once a day, as I mentioned in my first post. *I know*, as I stated above in my previous ETA, that nothing should be given by mouth ideally, but in Godiva's case, not eating was also making her vomit, so I was stuck between a rock and a hard place. If RD is not in the habit of vomiting when he is hungry, though, like Godiva is, perhaps there is no need to worry. Then again, perhaps even half a teaspoon might help RD keep his strength up to fight this off. If you have any questions or concerns, ask your vet about it. It is just hard for an old dog to fast for several days, but I don't know how much RD has in the way of fat stores--Godiva was skin and bones at the time. Yet another thought. Sorry I keep writing so much--this issue is just still very near and dear to my heart; 1.5 years was really not all that long ago for us, and I really thought I was going to lose my little girl.

[MrSnappy]

I have just one quick update - we went for almost 5 hours without a puke, which is the longest we have gone yet. It's still not great, but it's better than every two hours, which is what it was. I've upped the drip rate of his IV since he's still puking.

 

RD MUST be on steroids. We have tried, literally, every alternative and the steroids are the only thing that enable him to, you know, walk. In a couple of days, he's going to have to go back on them or we run the risk of him developing something like Addison's. Because he is on steroids, Tramadol is one of the few pain medications he can have. And he *clearly* needs something for the pain, as he is in some considerable amount of it.

 

My vet is not open today, and the regime she has given us to follow at home was designed to avoid me having to go to the ER vet if possible. The last time I went there, they charged me $500.00 for Benadryl. We try to avoid them at all costs, with my vet's blessings. Monday morning we'll go straight back to the vet and see if we can't change his anti nausea meds etc. Thanks for all your help!

 

RDM

[Sue R]

No experience or advice to add, just heartfelt wishes for a good recovery for Red Dog and his nursing team (I know how hard it is on the caregivers).

[AK dog doc]

Damn. Poor RD. Poor you. What a sucky dog-health year you've had. Thank goodness for RDF, eh? IVs are the fastest/best route to recovery... ideally pancreatitis dogs are NPO (nothing by mouth) initially, and that includes fluids.

 

Pancreatitis CAN be fatal, though it usually isn't. However, once a dog has a bout of pancreatitis they are, unfortunately, always a bit prone to it. Steroids ARE a potential contributing factor - but in a case where you can't be without them, you just do the best you can to balance the system with the lowest steroid dose you can and still control symptoms. If you have a flare-up of the pancreatitis and can cut back for even a few days on the steroids without losing control of his other disease, that may be enough. If you can't cut back, well, then you can't. That's just how it is. You may have to take the chance on the steroids rather than risk disease flare-ups or other (possibly dangerous) side effects by cutting back too far. The best option in such a case is to try to avoid future pacreatitis outbreaks, which is usually accomplished by dietary control. As for the pain meds - pancreatitis can vary from moderate belly discomfort to thrashing and moaning in pain. If he needs them, give them. He'll heal faster if he's not painful, totally apart from the humane considerations. If you have to, you can ask your vet about using a pain patch (you'd have to shave some skin for that).

 

Ingestion of too much fat all at once is the number one cause of pancreatitis in dogs. ISTM that if you're making a home-made diet for RD, you'd have a lot of control of how much fat he gets, AND what kinds (all fats are not equal for dietary purposes.) One thing to note, though: Not ALL parcreatitis cases are from fat ingestion. Some are bacterial, some are inflammatory or possibly immune-mediated. Rarely, tumors may play a role. My clinical experience suggests that some dogs on raw diets tend to have a sort of smouldering form of GI upset that flares up every so often... I've wondered in those cases if it's that the dog has a touchy gut and/or pancreas in general, if the diet contains too much fat, or if it might be bacterial (as in the case of salmonellosis). I've sometimes wondered if (in particular) the poultry available up here is best not to use raw. I personally don't advocate raw OR homecooked OR kibble per se - I advocate whatever THAT dog does best on, and that varies from dog to dog and household to household.

 

Generally when weaning a pancreatitis dog back onto food - and the key here is don't rush it - I tend to have people wait til there's been no vomiting for 24 hours, then start with small amounts of cold water (less likely to be vomited than warm water.) If they can consistently keep water down for 24 hours, then I usually have people start feeding a mix of 75% baby rice cereal and 25% babyfood (meat - whatever flavor the dog likes.) You can do some BF veggies too, if your dog is fond of them. One advantage of BF is that it requires next to no work from teh stomach to make it soupy - it pretty much IS soup (and you can make it thinner with water, if you want), so there's not too much churning around needed. Start with a SMALL amount - maybe 1-2 tablespoons for a medium to large dog, about the consistency of those kefir drinks, to start with - and IF the dog eats it and keeps it down for AT LEAST 4 to 6 hours, then try another 1-2 TBSP. You want to SLOWLY wean them back to their maintainance diet - and it might be that you have to switch to cooked, rather than raw, but IMO that'll depend on how he does. Be cautious when altering the amount per feed, the content of the food, or the number of feeding per day. Most of my patients (probably 75% or better) will be back on maintainance of some kind (typically lower-fat than before, though) within 2 weeks. Some of them are not. I've had a few that I could not maintain unless I put them on R/D - high fiber, low fat (actually meant for weight loss, but some dogs need it as a maintainance for pancreatitis.) A small number of my pancreatitis patients have died (we euthanized one about a month ago, in fact; that was the first one of mine that died consequent to pancreatitis in about a decade). A slightly larger number have developed an acquired exocrine pancreatic insufficiency (not curable, but typically not too hard to manage; probably easier, in fact, than a chronic smouldering pancreatitis.)

 

I'll cross my fingers that this particular bump in the road passes quickly and without incedent. Soothing mojo to RD's pancreas. Try to get some rest, yourself - both you and RD need your brain in good working order at the moment. Sleep is good.

[trailrider]

AK dog doc - you are so informative and helpful, that I just have to say thank you for contributing. I am curious about the fat and pancreatitis. What type of fat? How much? And how does it affect the gland?

[MrSnappy]

A quick update on RD.

 

He has been on IV fluids since Saturday afternoon. His vomiting has become less frequent and it's now been 12 hour since his last puking episode.

 

We went back to the vet this morning and my regular vet is out of town, so there is a locum whom I really liked. We have made some adjustments to RD's treatment ... He is now on Torbugesic injectables, and intravenous antibiotics so we can bypass giving him anything orally altogether. We sent a blood panel off and we'll go from there. He remains on IV fluids for the next 36 hours or so. If he doesn't puke for another 6 hours, he can have a tablespoon of chicken broth. If he doesn't puke that up, 6 hours after that he can have a tablespoon of pureed cooked fat free chicken.

 

The locum is a raw feeder herself, so was very helpful with implementing a plan to get him back on track diet wise.

 

For the moment, he is fast asleep

 

Thanks for all the well wishes!

 

RDM

[DixiesDad]

Sorry that we can't offer any info to help but we did want RD to know we're pulling for his recovery.

[Anda]

Glad to hear RD is doing a tad bit better, it's clearly a great step in the right direction! Thanks for the update!!!

[Kyrasmom]

Glad to hear he's keeping his puke down! Hope he continues to improve!

 

Maria