I had a yorkie that suffered from chronic pancreatitis. Best treatment for him was always a 12-24 hour fast starting out, and then very slowly restarting a bland and non/low fat food (either the rx food from the vet or a very mushy and over-boiled rice), no more than a teaspoon or so at a time, every hour or two for the first couple of days. It can take weeks before the pancreas is completely back to normal and your dog is ready to eat regular meals. Relapses are common. We all want to see our little furbabies eating again, but its important not to rush it as too much or the wrong type of food too soon can quickly cause a relapse. My vet rarely treated the pancreatitis flares with antibiotics unless she had concerns about a secondary infection, but pain meds and fluids were an important part of the treatment. The SPEC cpl test (not the snap test but the one sent to IDEXX) is a fairly reliable diagnostic (and probably the cheapest vs an ultrasound) and your vet can get the results online in 12-24 hours. It will also give you a number for the pancreatitic enzyme (rather than just a negative/positive) so you'll have a baseline to judge how she's progressing. I would not trust a diagnosis of pancreatitis based only on a physical exam. Your pup at least needs blood work so that you'll have a better idea of what you're dealing with. Hopefully its just an upset tummy and not pancreatitis, but if the results do come back positive at least you know what you're dealing with and how to treat it. Sending good thoughts.
Diana |