Yes, this was a different vet that we saw last night (very experienced and well respected vet in our community who owns his own practice as well as the ER practice). I don't think they can figure out what the heck is going on with her.
To be honest he even said, "OK, I don't really know what is going on with this little one. I can tell you that something is going on GI wise and we will get her past this. It's not an obstruction and I'm still not sure about the pancreatitis dx. The SNAP cPL is a great test but there can be false positives. Amylase and Lipase aren't ALWAYS pancreas specific. She has no abdominal tenderness and in all my years of practice I've never seen a dog who WANTED to eat and BEGGED for treats during an acute episode of pancreatitis. Every dog I've ever treated for pancreatitis has been VERY sick with vomitting and is usually better in 24-48 hours."
I was near tears and he added, "I do not think this is something that is going to take her life. Here is what I'm going to do..." And he began the treatments as I described above.
WHATEVER it was she seems to be a little better today. I have offered a TBSP of water per his directions and she drank it slowly but willingly. I'm not sure I will ever find a definitive dx.
I'm not sure how I feel about the Dexamethasone. I wish I had known about relapse info before I allowed him to give it. There is nothing I can do now but wait and see.
Thanks for the website info. I'm so glad you suggested this as I was even more upset last night when we got home and I realized that I had exhausted my last resource. Not to mention we have paid out over $1000 in 5 days with no real answers. I'm headed to the website that was suggested.
She keeps chewing on her IV bandage and I'm afraid that she is going to ingest the fibers and get sick again. I rewrapped it in bandage tape but she chewed through that when I got up to get myself a drink. Any ideas on how to deter her from chewing on it?
I'm looking forward to the day when I can post good news on here.
I'll keep you all posted.