Pancreatitis
 

So now Joey has been diagnosed with pancreatitis. He started throwing up on and off two days ago and then in the middle of last night, it got worse and he couldn't keep anything down. I ran over to the vet. Bloodwork came back positive for pancreatitis. Problem is he needs a low fat diet, but he also needs a low protein diet for his liver. The vet is scratching his head on this one. He doesn't want any food at the moment. They gave him fluids and meds, but he really seems to always have something. Last month it was a cold and conjunctivitis. I love him like crazy, but he is turning into the million dollar baby.:mad:

Oh, we know all about million dollar dogs here.
Ellie also has a liver problem and has had pancreatitis.
Fortunately the liver problem isn't bad and she can tolerate a bit of fat.

Just thinking, I wonder if Purina HA is low protein and fat.
It seems to me that it's possible.
Ellie didn't do well on it but all dogs are different.
It's soy based.

If you can't find a dog food for it, you may need to homecook.
I'll go look up the HA info.

Purina Veterinary Diets - HA HypoAllergenic - Canine

Maybe it will work...
It made Ellie's stool so hard that she could barely go though.
I suppose it's worth a try. Not a fan of Purina though...

purina ha -- it is a soy diet and is low in protein for liver and low in fat -- my two yorkies are on it and doing great -- i almost lost my boy yorkie to pancreatitis 3 years ago and he has ibd in small intestines and this food is a miracle so he has not had any issues for 3 years and blood work normal on it. My girl yorkie is on it for mvd so it works well for both

both of mine are on it doing great so i would give it a shot but some do not like the taste :( luckily mine are little pigs and will eat anything lol

mine do not have the stool issue but if yours does you can add some organic pumpkin to it once a day but i would first do it without anything

Thank you both so much. I was just reading about that food and wondered if it would work. I'm willing to try anything. Poor Joey is in a lot of pain tonight. The vet gave him an injection of an anti-nausea medicine and it stung like crazy. He seemed ok, but then our kitten jumped on him (he feels like a feather) and since then no one can pick him up and he won't walk on his leash. He starts to scream and yelp. It is so upsetting. I hope this will resolve tomorrow. At least he is not throwing up anymore. This has been a bad day.

Layla has pancreaitis (many yorkies on here do) but thankfully didn't have any symptoms. I home cook for her- very low fat diet- I am starting to bring a few healthy fats back in (mainly fish) and she is doing great. I used a nutritionist. Holistic Veterinarian Pet Nutritionist Holistic Pet Care and I would suggest you look at her site and if you were going to get a consult- i would suggest doing the consult with the vet as well since your yorkie has multiple issues. Hoping tomorrow is a better day for him.

I went through something similar this year with my Cody. Cody has multiple medical issues.
He was hospitalized in April and May three times with pancreatitis and his BUN and Creatinine were also elevated. At the time, we honestly did not think he had long to live. He was seen by a specialist who said that he was in stage 3 renal failure. He advised low fat and low protein, but was not very helpful about diet. He told me that I could try the different foods out there, but never gave me any idea about how much fat and how much protein. The major problem with the prescription diets was that if you found one that was low in fat, it was high in protein and vice versa.
Finally, after getting disgusted with this specialist who really was impatient and in my way of thinking arrogant, I called Texas A&M. They have a vet there who is a nutritionist. I asked if I could do a consult online since Cody had undergone the whole testing thing...ultrasounds, lab testing, etc. They said that my vet could do a telephone consult. I wanted a diet for Cody that I could cook myself. For $125 I received two recipes for him...and they included vitamins and also Tums to bind the phosporous for his kidney issues. Bottom line: He has had quality time with me...I realize his time is limited, but he is a happy boy and doing very well with this diet and also fluids daily.
You might want to consider something like this...This vet reviewed all of Cody's tests and came up with these recipes and told me exact amounts...and how much to feed .

Oh...and a medicine that helped him was Mirtazapine. Ask your vet about it...it is an antiemetic, anti nausea and also an appetite stimulant.
It actually is an antidepressant for people, but they have used it for some time in cats..and now dogs. It really, really helped Cody!

take him in if in pain as pancreatitis is very serious and extremely painful and he will have to be in iv fluids, pain meds and antibiotics. He needs to be rested as they can die from pancreatitis :( Mine almost did and you should not be walking him or anything -he should only be resting - I am shocked vet just gave him anti-vomitting only and did not keep on iv fluids, etc as mine was hospitalized for 5 days with pancreatitis

home cooking is great but if it is not something you can do at this time do the purina ha as it has worked very well for us with dexter and the one thing that concerns me about susan davis is she recommends white potato in diets and i am against that as many pancreatic dogs have ibd in small intestines and white potato inflames the intestines thus triggering pancreatitis. I am not big on a bunch of supplements either as i believe the body should function on its own as much as it can without a bunch of supplements and if you add pancreatic enzymes the pancreas stops doing its job and then you have a real problem so best to start with food and if you cannot get normalized then go to supplementation

Also add digestive enzymes to food. This takes the stress off the pancreas to produce it while irritated. Only while resting with a fast and several small meals a day. This gives the pancreas time to heal.

Are there varying degrees of pancreatitis? When I say I am walking Joey, I mean just to do his business outside and then come in, he is not trained on pee pads. The most bizarre thing is he screams in pain when I pick him up, no matter how little pressure I apply to his body. I am beside myself. He ate a few Hepatic LS kibble (Royal Canin) because this was what the vet said I should give him (for now), but that's it for eating. Yesterday he was given fluids subcutaneously, but not an IV. The vet said he wasn't dehydrated yet. Should I get pain meds for him? I have his bloodwork results if anyone can interpret them. My vet is not in today and I would have to take him to Oradell and I'm afraid they will start doing xrays, etc., although I know he didn't injure himself. I don't know what to do. He looks so uncomfortable and can't relax. I put him in his crate so he would be protected from the other pets trying to play with him and he just stands there. I really need some advice. If he eats and takes in fluids, would it be okay to wait until tomorrow when my regular vet gets in? I spoke to the vet last night on the phone and he seems to think Joey is crying from a hematoma at the injection site (where they gave him the anti-nausea med), even though when I pick him up, I am not touching that site. He is so tiny and he went through a lot yesterday that his whole little body is probably throbbing.

Understanding Blood Work
 

This might help you.

Serum Chemistry 1

Some of them do scream out after they have had injections. I think it is because the injection site does hurt and they fear having that pain no matter where they are touched.
If he is eating, drinking and not vomiting and/or having diarrhea, I would think you need not take him to an EC.

Is he vomiting and having diarrhea still or has that stopped?
Are his gums pink?

A sign of dehydration in dogs is sticky gums...just lift his upper lip and put your finger against the gum line to see if it is moist.

Thanks for your help. All his results were normal except for the pancreas.

Diarrhea and vomiting have stopped. His gums are pink, not really sticky. He isn't eating, but he did just have some water. Hopefully, he will keep it down.

Oh poor Joey..well you can add Izzy to the list of million dollar babies..lol.

Trust me the people who have responded to your thread have been through it all as well and spent a fortune. Izzy was diagnosed with pancreatitis last November and she wasn't even 2 with no signs except being tired and not eating and when she threw up once that morning and it was brown I knew something was wrong.

Since November we almost lost Izzy 4 times and spent a fortune like the rest of these wonderful ladies on here. But persistance is the key and reading and asking questions of your vet and working together with him will make a huge difference.

I, too, feed Izzy a wonderful diet and she still got sick. I had to bite the bullet to save her and use the S/D W/D and now Purina EN. I am just now slowly adding better food to her diet after talking with a pet nutrionist and doing my own research and talking with people on YT.

Izzy is also on enzymes, probiotic and Vitamineral green. She is also on Tylan and Pepcid AC daily.

I know it's frustrating in the beginning and you do a lot of crying and money spending but don't give up..you can find an answer for your baby that works and we are now going on 5 months without an issue..to us that's a huge milestone. I didn't give up on my baby and she hasn't given up on me..you see we have a deal that she has to live to be 15 years old.:thumbup::D

Keep us posted.

Did you see the video I posted in another thread a couple of days ago?

What are the risk factors for pancreatitis in dogs? (3:55) - Veterinary Medicine

Very interesting video! Thank you!

sadly this video does not cover it all though as there are many other factors involved and it is older information so they have come out with newer studies one of which our internal medicine specialist is doing on high triglycerides on a 12 fast showing susceptibility to pancreatitis as high fat content in blood naturally as my yorkie has as well as a few others I have concurred with also it does not touch on ibd in small intestines which triggers pancreatitis so there is alot more that goes along with pancreatitis and it is a very complex disease

Was a SPEC cpL panel run or just the full blood panel showing and elevated amylase and lypase level? If it was just the full blood panel, please get the SPEC cpL as there are other things that may be going on and the pancreatitis is just a symptom of this........

We have a million dollar baby, too!!!! Pancreatitis was the first symptom, but her diagnosis was really early stage Protein Losing Enteropathy and through careful diet, supplementation and B12 shots, her blood levels are normalizing and she is a very different dog now...........

not eating is ok as the stomach needs to rest but water is VERY important - they usually fast and only do ivs for dogs with pancreatitis for 48-72 hrs to rest the stomach as anything including medications can trigger the pancreas so just doing anti-vomitting meds and masking the problem does concern me :( it is extremely painful as well

Is your dog tossing and turning and unable to get comfortable? If in pain i personally would take him in as this disease is deadly :(

what was abnormal? as usually with pancreatitis white blood cell count is high and why they put them on antibiotics, amylase and lipase sometimes not always are high and can be all over the place at times like with my dex but it is a factor, triglycerides tend to be high when they have an episode. Did they do inhouse spec cpli as that is the true test? or was this sent out to a lab which takes 3-4 days to really determine whether it is or not? I really would not waste your money on ultrasound as if the spec cpli comes back it is pancreatitis you know the pancreas is inflamed no need to spend $400 for this unless your dog is alot older and a tumor in pancreas is a posibility which does not happen usually in younger dogs.

also you can pinch the skin behind neck if it goes back down quickly then you are fine if it stays up and sticks together for long time then dog is dehydrated

if he is in pain HE NEEDS TO BE HOSPITALIZED just because they gave anti-vomitting meds to mask the symptoms does not mean his pancreas is not inflamed and painful - he needs to be on pain meds now if he is doing this -- they palpatate the dogs for pancreatitis and determine how severe it is - my dog did not scream like yours did and he was severe when they palpatated him and he had to have a plasma transfusion to save his life - PLEASE TAKE THIS BABY to internal medicine specialist as there are varying degrees of this but from the pain you are describing this is SEVERE PANCREATITIS not a mild case and the vet just stopped the vomitting but did nothing for pain !! my mom had pancreatitis and gall bladder attack and she was on SERIOUS morphine it is extremely painful which dogs mask their pain and if your dog is showing signs of pain IT IS REALLY SEVERE AS THEY HIDE IT REAL WELL :( I would call around for a 24 hr specialty hospital that has an internal medicine specialist on staff and take him in today - sorry but this is really serious and if he was already diagnosed with it it is nothing to take lightly -- i would not be emphasizing this so much if he was not in the pain you are describing :(

PLEASE TAKE HIM IN NOW!!!!! just finished reading your whole paragraph DO NOT WAIT until tomorrow - the food can be making it worse as well as that is not a food given for pancreas it is given for liver dogs -- what percentage of fat is it ? my dog is on 8% fat which is really low -- I am afraid if you wait he could die sorry to be so BLUNT but 50% of dogs die from pancreatitis and NO WAY IS A DOG going to stand up and be in that kind of pain from a shot - HE IS NOT LAYING DOWN BECAUSE HIS STOMACH HURTS TOO MUCH :( he needs to be on pain meds intraveniously, antibiotics intraveneously, iv fluids for food and water for 48-72 hrs NOTHING through mouth to calm the pancreas down AND after this is all over I would get another vet as all he did was mask the vomitting but did nothing for this poor dogs pain -- if the hospital recommends a plasma transfusion which i will not be surprised if they do let them do it - it saved my dogs life and he was not in the pain your dog is in he was just tossing and turning but not crying out in pain and standing :(