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Pancreatisis - because everyday vet visits aren't enough.


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Greetings all ~

Well, I've found a new doggie ill, this time in my Aussie, Ash. She recently had an acute attack of what turned out to be pancreatitis. Ghastly poops, hunched up with abdominal pain, retching up bile, the works. All coming on at once. Thankfully I was able to get her into the vet the next day and she is well on the road to recovery. But this is one ailment I've never run into before

I'm not at all sure what caused it. Ash is a 5 year old spayed female and always a bit heavier than my border collies, but she's not fat and we only rarely give them "naughty" treats like leftover steak or hotdog bits. She's moderately active, plays hard when she plays, works hard when she works, acts like a couch potato the rest of the time. Their food has not changed - Taste of the Wild Pacific Stream - and though they get a dollop of canned food on their kibble for each meal, or sometimes soft-scrambled egg, we've added nothing new to her diet.

We did give the dogs some lean diced steak after a dinner out a couple nights before, so maybe that was trigger enough? But they've all had leftover steak bits before, so I dunno. :huh: The one thing she DOES get into fairly often is chicken poop and sometimes cat poop. (Because the bad kitties poo outside around the property.) All of which is to say that simply living on two rural acres with chickens and cats - as well as wild rabbits and rodents - may be enough to cause the attack.

But my question now is ... what now? She's on her 5th day of rice and white chicken meat, supplemented now with probiotics and a teaspoon of yogurt, and we're feeding her 3 small meals a day. Her appetite is good, her energy level is back to normal and she's again acting like her old silly self, though her poops are still a just bit gooey-looking. The vet said to go at least 5 or 6 days on the very bland diet, which I'm happy to do, but seriously - what now?

Has anyone here dealt with this before? Ash has always seemed to have a bit of a sensitive stomach, occasional loose poops, but until now (at 5 years old) she's never had any kind of upset like this. It was very painful and very scary for us all. So, I'd be interested in hearing from anyone with experience dealing with pancreatitis, because I would hate to see her ever suffer this again! But she also can't spend the rest of her life on chicken and rice....

Ideas? Suggestions? Advice? Product testimonials? ;) (Just a note: feeding raw is something we're not prepared to embark on, so outside that ...)

~ Gloria

 

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Have her B-12 and folate levels been checked?

 

Symptoms sound very much like what my old gal used to go through before being diagnosed with cobalamin and folate malabsorption. Pancreatitis was suspected prior to the blood tests specifically looking for this.

 

After several years of B-12 injections, the problem went away.

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Hmm, no, nothing about B 12. I'll ask my vet about that next time I talk to her. She rattled off a bunch of stuff about her blood work being normal, but I can't recall if B 12 levels were part of the discussion or not. I was kind of freaked out at the time, fearing cancer and lord knows what all. :rolleyes:

 

Thanks!

~ Gloria

P.S.
Vet was positive about the pancreatitis and Ash has not had any acute attack like this before. But I'll ask if B 12 problems could be a contributing factor.

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Ask for folate to be checked as well. It's not something that's usually found in routine blood work. Tilly's routine blood work as well as some other tests were all normal as well. It wasn't until the second vet (my regular vet at the time and an excellent diagnostician) looked over everything that had stumped the other vet that he did additional blood work.

 

I forget now which is which, but one (B-12 or folate malabsorption) is indicative of disease in the proximal intestine and the other of the distal intestine. Small intestine IIRC.

 

The first vet I consulted (actually all 3 vets in that practice) for Tilly was also convinced it was pancreatitis.

 

Since I have no real experience with pancreatitis I don't know anything about how it's treated. But the B vitamin deficiencies are treated with simple B-12 injections, which also caused the folate to regulate.

 

Best wishes for you and Ash.

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That wouldn't be high for my dogs (they get 16-20% fat and often son added fish oil) but it might be high for a dog recovering from pancreatitis. I would ask your vet what they'd recommend for fat levels.

 

Maybe substituting some chicken (low fat white meat) and rice for part of her kibble would keep the overall fat content a bit lower and easier on her system? Or maybe look into a senior variety as most have lower levels of fat.

 

Low thyroid can play into pancreatitis from what I've read. But I'm assuming that was checked with blood work? If not I'd run it by your vet and see what they think.

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That wouldn't be high for my dogs (they get 16-20% fat and often son added fish oil) but it might be high for a dog recovering from pancreatitis. I would ask your vet what they'd recommend for fat levels.

 

Maybe substituting some chicken (low fat white meat) and rice for part of her kibble would keep the overall fat content a bit lower and easier on her system? Or maybe look into a senior variety as most have lower levels of fat.

 

Low thyroid can play into pancreatitis from what I've read. But I'm assuming that was checked with blood work? If not I'd run it by your vet and see what they think.

 

 

Skinless white chicken and rice are what she's been on, as her uber-bland diet for recovery. I've just started sprinkling in a bit of kibble. Funny, my vet is so used to me being hands-on and on top of my dogs' health that sometimes I think she gives me more credit than I'm due! Guess I need to let her know that once in a while I really do need detailed instructions. ;)

 

Thanks, will talk to her tomorrow, if I can get hold of her. Happily, Ash is doing much better, seems almost normal and she's doing normal-looking poops. Yay, poop! :lol:

 

~ Gloria

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Zachary, my miniature schnauzer, had pancreatitis. He only ate kibble and raw vegetables after the first episode. He didn't get any table food whatsoever...His first and only attack almost killed him at the age of 7 - he lived to be almost 17. I hope Ash continues to recover.

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