I forgot I haven't shared our story yet here on YT.
Sept 17, on a Monday morning... Jackson woke me up early (unlike him- he loves sleeping in) before my alarm went off. He just peed though. But he was... off. I went to feed him breakfast before leaving for work and he ate a little bite of it and then stopped. THIS DOG LIVES FOR FOOD. so I was like uh oh. Went to work and then got home and he wasn’t totally himself still. He ended up throwing up one time around 5pm. It was kind of light brown.
Fasted him, as he did not want dinner anyway. Around 1am he threw up again. Took him outside and he ate a ton of grass. He woke up again around 3am and threw up 2 small piles - all yellow bile with grass in it. Then around 4am he pooped (not watery but VERY soft serve) and threw up 2 more small times in the kitchen. He slept from 5-7 am and then I called our vet immediately as soon as they opened.
Vet ran full blood panel, heart worm/lyme test (he was due anyway), fecal, etc.
I'm almost sure that he got a fatty piece of steak that my stepdad dropped on Sunday night which is likely what caused this to "go off". People who have been here a while may remember when he was around 2yrs old, we had a similar incident after he ate way too much people food at a family BBQ (before I knew better). It was pretty much suspected pancreatitis but once we saw our regular vet (who wasn't open when the emergency happened on a Sunday years ago), she was not so convinced, long story yada yada. Through the last 8 years, I still continued to feed him "regular" pet food and treats but always kept an eye on fat levels just in case (I wouldn't do freeze dried etc, things that are really high in fat).
Anyway I was paranoid about it also because the week prior, he had woken me up and acted like he was going to throw up but then never did. So my thinking is something was festering and then the fatty piece of steak did him in unfortunately.
I had walked upstairs to my bedroom to grab my phone, came back downstairs and I saw him out on the porch gulping something off the floor.
So, quick back story. We had finally found a vet we ADORED and loved and trusted. She was at a primarily holistic vet but they did practice traditional medicine as well. Well she left the practice about a year ago to do hospice dog care. Ever since, we haven't had much of a reason to see the vet so we don't have a "regular" one we are familiar with or see anymore.
Well I was not at all happy with the one I saw. She DID give him sub-q fluids and anti nausea shot as well as take home anti nausea meds (Cerenia). She was very nonchalant about it all and it just rubbed me the wrong way. I asked about doing the CPL test (pancreatitis specific) and she did not think it was necessary. She basically just told me to continue feeding him chicken & rice.
Well Wednesday morning, he woke up with WATERY diarrhea at 6am. At this point I was very very worried. Called our vet when it opened and they said they'd have vet call me. She did not call me back until almost NOON (I called at 8am). At which point she told me his bloodwork looked good, the lipase levels were slightly elevated, indicating pancreatitis. I briefly mentioned getting a prescription food for him and she told me she doesn't believe in RX diets and just do chicken and rice for a few weeks and then he can go back to his regular food
I mentioned his current food (Victor dry food) is 18% fat (I was wrong- it was actually 16%) but she goes on to tell me 18% fat isn't even that high.
Which even *I* know for pancreatitis prone dogs, is incorrect. Jeez!!
ANYWHO... He slept from 6am-noon Wednesday and then I took him out and he had fire hose diarrhea again with some blood in it, then he had more of it again at 1:30pm.
Called our current vet office back and she was going into surgery and said she'd get him some medicine for his stomach that I could pick up. I asked when, they couldn't give me a time when it'd be ready or any other info. I told them I live 40 mins away so I needed to know when to come.
At that point, took it upon myself to call a different vet that I found that was a lot closer to my house, had AMAZING reviews, AAHA accredited... very happy with, he was very thorough and explained everything in great detail, was super willing to explain things. Jackson began feeling much better that Wednesday evening after seeing this vet. He took his metronidazole he prescribed, and ate some of the prescription canned food & dry kibble (Royal Canin GI low fat). He was acting like he was starving.
By Thursday, he was nearly back to "normal". No more vomiting. More of a formed poop.
By Friday he was 100% himself. That was definitely a worrisome week. Whew.
Anyway, it's been 4 weeks and he's been doing fantastic on Royal Canin GI Low Fat canned and dry EXCEPT for he literally is acting STARVEDDD. I had been having to feed him like 5x a day to keep him satisfied. He would be relentlessly whining by his bowl at like 9pm if I didn't give him some more. He's always loved food but this was insanely annoying lol. He used to eat 1/2 cup of kibble per DAY plus a few spoonfuls of wet but the foods were all like 430+ kcal/cup. He would also get a few treats (like maybe a dental chew or something) so we were having to account for those calories.
the RC is only like 240 kcal/cup or something so I doubled the amount of food as well (he is getting 1 cup of kibble plus maybe 1/3 of the can? maybe a tad more). He is 18lbs though.
When we went for our re-check with our new vet, asked him about other foods, he suggested SD I/D, as it's still low fat but not as low as RC and it's slightly more calories. So we just started feeding I/D "Naturals" RX and I/D low fat canned stew and wow, he is not acting starving anymore. It seems to satisfy him now. We placed a big order through our vets pharmacy so we can see what he does best on- so I've got some Purina EN cans, RC low fat canned (this his fav canned- he LOVES it) and the SD I/D canned. He also gets a little bit of boiled chicken (vet said said this is fine) for "treats" or to satisfy him a bit more as well.
I just wanted to also note my journey with food through the years has made such a 360. Even prior to this I had begun feeding Science Diet Sensitive Skin/Stomach to my other dog. I had recently stopped feeding Acana due to the DCM taurine issues popping up in dogs with foods high in legumes and was super happy with Victor but wondering if the switch to Victor had anything to do with the attack or not. WHO KNOWS! But either way, I find it hilarious how adamantly against these foods I used to be!
Live and learn, I've grown up a lot through the years and learned not everything is so black and white.
What is important is my boy is back to himself and feeling fantastic. We took 2 weeks off our agility class we had just signed up for and went back to our first one last week and we used our RC kibble mixed with some boiled chicken breast. He was literally SO excited to be back in the game- he was barking his head off out of excitement wanting it to be his turn. Nothing makes me happier than to see him feeling so good.
Just thought I'd share our story with our YT family as I've learned so much from this site and how to be my dogs best advocate.