[107barney]

Barney is in the hospital with pancreatitis. It came on yesterday morning when he had diarrhea. As the day progressed, he had loose stools so I switched him to bland food. But it was not major and there was only a small amount of diarrhea. He did not have any other symptoms. Last night he seemed to be feeling ok - eating, drinking, playing a little but quieter than normal. I checked his gums and skin and he did not seem to be dehydrated.

I called my vet this morning after he again had some loose stool. When I got there with Barney, she said he was dehydrated and he had pain in his abdomen. He is admitted for IV fluids and treatment, will come home tonight with a catheter placed and likely back tomorrow.

Please don't think your dog isn't dehydrating even if the gums look good. Barney is a 10 lb dog but even with mild diarrhea, he was dehydrated and ill enough to warrant an admission.

Please say a little prayer for Barney to have a speedy recovery. We are not sure what triggered his pancreatitis this time. My suspicion is that the RC Gastrointestinal food which is the lowest fat on the market was still too high for him as his blood was slightly lipemic before this episode and I had been saying to my vet it was time to get him off of Rx food and back on home cooked. I'm kicking myself for not doing it and I'm so sad for my Barney who is now suffering because I was not proactive enough.