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Old 01-23-2010, 04:46 AM   #1
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Default Pancreatitis-need advice from those with experience

My little furbaby was dx with pancreatitis yesterday morning via CPLI and CBC. She had been having symptoms off and on since Tuesday afternoon. It started as white foam vomitting on Tuesday evening. No symptoms AT all on Wednesday and I thought we were in the clear, but on Thursday morning my husband woke me at 5 AM to tell me that she had diarrhea on her piddle pad, nothing all day Thursday. Went on a walk, took daughter to school and stayed on our normal routine... so once again I thought we were in the clear; however, Thursday night at midnight she had bloody diarrhea 2x with an episode of vomitting but was drinking water and went back to sleep so I decided not to seek ER attention and wait until her vet opened at 8 AM.

I logged on to YT immediately and started reading through posts and wanted to thank all of you who have shared your stories. Because of YT I was able to walk right in to the vet and suggest the CPLI which helped us get a quick diagnoses. I was able to request subcut fluids and bring my baby home with me yesterday instead of having to put her through the stress of an IV and being at the vets office all day long without her family (what the vet originally suggested). I would not have known to do either without all of you helpful mommies here on YT.

I do have a few questions for those of you who have been through this terrible process.

1. How long before your little one was feeling better?

Abbie went all day yesterday with out n/v/d but had jelly like bloody diarrhea at 5 AM this morning. She is eating a bland diet of boiled chicken and Science Diet I/D per vet instructions. She is eating well at this point and never really lost her appetite at any stage of the illness. She is also taking Flagyl twice a day but she seems so tired this morning. I called the ER vet at 5AM when she had the diarrhea and she said as long as she is eating and drinking that the disease just had to run its course.

2. What percentage of fat should I be looking for in her kibble?

I know now that she will need to be on a low fat diet. I have been feeding Nutro Natural lamb and rice but feel horrible because she WAS getting human food as well-which I now know can lead to the pancreatitis. Nutro has 12% fat-is that low enough?

Thanks to you all. Knowledge really is power
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Old 01-23-2010, 06:34 AM   #2
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Why did the vet say to give chicken and rice?
Her pancreas needs to rest which means no food or water by mouth at all for at least 24 hours...

Your vet should give you an idea of what % of fat you are looking for.
My girl has had pancreatitis and is on 18% BUT that is much to high for other pancreatitis patients. It really depends on the circumstances. When talking about the gerneral recommmendation, 12% is too high. The type of fat is also important.

Certain human foods won't hurt a thing when she recovers. It is okay to continue giving some things.

Please Google "Consumer Affairs Nutro." There are illnesses and deaths that seem to be associated with this food all over...
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Old 01-23-2010, 06:48 AM   #3
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Thanks so much for the info. I talked to the vet about not feeding and she said new evidence suggests that slowly introducing the food has been linked to quicker recovery. I'm still using my best judgement and only feeding a bite of chicken here and there as she really wouldn't eat the Science Diet yesterday and there seems to be mixed feelings here on the board related to the Science Diet.

Would love the hear others thoughts about this.

I had no idea about the Nutro-scary stuff!
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Old 01-23-2010, 06:49 AM   #4
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Yes, knowledge is a great thing and YT has great information.

I do want to bring something up that kind of jumped out at me. Most vets do know the tests to run, but it is always good to know about them. Telling a vet to do subcutaneous fluids is a bit beyond what I would do. Sometimes, when a pup has pancreatitis, IV fluids are necessary and they must be hospitalized for that. Normally that will go on for about 3 days. Depending upon the severity of the lab values ie dehydration , the pup might come home in the evenings. I also have never fed my pups for the first day.
Sometimes, if the pancreatitis and dehydration is not severe, subcutaneous fluids will work, but rule of thumb is what your vet did recommend.
Pancreatitis can become life threatening if not managed quickly and properly. Not something to mess with.
While this may have worked out well for your pup, I really think that a vet's recomendations are to be taken seriously by all.
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Old 01-23-2010, 07:02 AM   #5
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Quote:
Originally Posted by ladyjane View Post
Yes, knowledge is a great thing and YT has great information.

I do want to bring something up that kind of jumped out at me. Most vets do know the tests to run, but it is always good to know about them. Telling a vet to do subcutaneous fluids is a bit beyond what I would do. Sometimes, when a pup has pancreatitis, IV fluids are necessary and they must be hospitalized for that. Normally that will go on for about 3 days. Depending upon the severity of the lab values ie dehydration , the pup might come home in the evenings. I also have never fed my pups for the first day.
Sometimes, if the pancreatitis and dehydration is not severe, subcutaneous fluids will work, but rule of thumb is what your vet did recommend.
Pancreatitis can become life threatening if not managed quickly and properly. Not something to mess with.
While this may have worked out well for your pup, I really think that a vet's recomendations are to be taken seriously by all.

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Old 01-23-2010, 08:56 AM   #6
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LadyJane, you make an excellent point. You are right that the vet knows best; however, sometimes we know our babies better than anyone and I knew that the stress from being kept at the vet was not the best option for us. I want to stress that I DO NOT think this option is for everyone. I did forget to add that I am a critical care nurse and my doggy was eating and drinking well throughout the entire episode. I think this is the ONLY reason the vet agreed to release her to me.

Kudos to my vet as she asked all appropriate questions before letting her go home with me for the day. She made sure I was going to be with her for the entire day to monitor progress, she told me to encourage fluids to prevent the dehydration, made sure I knew the HGE signs and symptoms, and made me promise to bring her back in if I felt that she was getting worse. She even called late yesterday evening to check on her.

Pancreatitis can be a scary and even deadly thing and while I don't think this is an option for every owner this is what worked for us.
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Old 01-23-2010, 09:02 AM   #7
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My puppy came home on subq fluids as well, I think my vet trusted me as well.. no food for 24 hours , introduce small amounts of boiled chicken and rice back into her diet.. little bits a several times a day for the first fews , I kept her on chix rice for 10 days the last three I put her NEW kibble in it.. I went with low fat..12% My vet didnt feel I needed to change her diet at all she said she felt it was something she got into or the coconut oil I was adding to her food. She is still on low fat kibble because I never want to deal with that again..it scared the daylights out of me
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Old 01-23-2010, 09:11 AM   #8
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Jeanm1963, how long before the diarrhea subsided? Abbie had the one bout this morning at 5 AM. It is now 12 PM and no signs of diarrhea or nausea. She is lying here on my bed "sunning" herself and dog napping as I type this.

Oh, and you mentioned "low fat" kibble. Do you mind sharing which one you use? I'm in no hurry to start adjusting her food when Nutro has worked for us for so long BUT when she is finally feeling better I want to be prepared. Thanks!

Last edited by HShanks; 01-23-2010 at 09:13 AM.
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Old 01-23-2010, 10:16 AM   #9
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I am also a regisered nurse.

I am happy your pup is ok. I just wanted to clarify and also emphasize the seriousness of pancreatitis because many people take advice a certain way that could be dangerous for a pup.
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Old 01-23-2010, 10:42 AM   #10
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Quote:
Originally Posted by HShanks View Post
LadyJane, you make an excellent point. You are right that the vet knows best; however, sometimes we know our babies better than anyone and I knew that the stress from being kept at the vet was not the best option for us. I want to stress that I DO NOT think this option is for everyone. I did forget to add that I am a critical care nurse and my doggy was eating and drinking well throughout the entire episode. I think this is the ONLY reason the vet agreed to release her to me.

Kudos to my vet as she asked all appropriate questions before letting her go home with me for the day. She made sure I was going to be with her for the entire day to monitor progress, she told me to encourage fluids to prevent the dehydration, made sure I knew the HGE signs and symptoms, and made me promise to bring her back in if I felt that she was getting worse. She even called late yesterday evening to check on her.

Pancreatitis can be a scary and even deadly thing and while I don't think this is an option for every owner this is what worked for us.
I forgot to comment on your first paragraph. Yes, we do know our pups better than anyone; however, if a dog is dehydrated badly enough subcutaneous fluids will not fix the problem. Pancreatitis, if severe enough, will lead very quickly to dehydration. I am not saying this as much for you as for others who will read this and think that their vets don't know better than they do and take a pup home and maybe end up possibly losing their beloved pup.

I had a pup who absolutely would go bonkers on IVs and run his glucose down to where he was hypoglycemic. IF he were sick enough requiring IVs which sometimes did happen, I had to sit with him during the infusion or pay for someone else to do so. That, however, is rare. Most pups when that badly dehydrated will not have a problem on IVs at the vet ....once they start to bounce back is when the have a problem staying at the vet. Perhaps your little one had pretty decent hydration.

I again want to stress that pancreatitis can lead to dehydration quickly in small pups and they can die.
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Old 01-23-2010, 10:52 AM   #11
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For those interested, some helpful information can be found at:

Dog Pancreatitis: Types, Causes, Symptoms, and Treatments


Pancreatitis (Inflammation) in Dogs
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Old 01-23-2010, 12:01 PM   #12
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I guess for other owners who might be going through this awful experience that I should stress that the ONLY reason she was able to get the subcut fluids was because she was able to eat and drink through the entire episode.

If your pup is experiencing pancreatitis please get them to the vet ASAP as every pup and case is different. What might be good for one pup may not be the solution for another.

On a different note please don't think that I'm sitting idly by thinking "well, she got subcut fluids" so all is well. I have the phone number to both local ER vets saved to my phone and have already called one to verify that they accept Care Credit and will be open this weekend if I need them. I have been monitoring her fluid intake as well as syringe feeding her H2O every hour or so when I think that she hasn't had enough to drink. This is not an illness to be taken lightly and the cornerstone to tx seems to be hydration, hydration, hydration along with resting the gut.

Thanks again for the support and knowledge.
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Old 01-23-2010, 12:46 PM   #13
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I do hope she has a speedy recovery! Keep us posted!
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Old 01-23-2010, 05:54 PM   #14
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i am not a fan of hill's i/d as my dog relapsed after a week on this food after having pancreatitis. This food has pork in it - I would get ultra z/d food it has chicken in it instead of pork and is hydrolized protein. My dog is now on an 8% fat diet which is a hydrolized soy diet purina ha. He never had the diarrhea only vomitting. No blood either. The internal medicine specialist we work with that ended up saving his life does not like I/d and felt he relapsed from this food and I even called hill's about this food asking them to remove it from the recommended foods for pancreatitis.

My dog had pancreatitis, relapsed in after a week, then had a bacterial infection a week out of hospital which can happen when they get it severe enough, and it was a rough road - it is a very serious disease and it can lead to diabetes if they keep getting it so very important to get under control first time around if you can. Once they have it is really easy for them to get it again - there is chronic and acute - acute is a one time attack and chronic is they tend to get it often
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Old 01-23-2010, 06:16 PM   #15
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Thanks so much for the info. OMG, a relapse and an added bacterial infection would be enough to send me over the edge. I worry so much for our babies since they can't verbally tell us what is going on. Glad to hear your little on is recovered.

I will stop the I/D ASAP. I have only given her about a tbsp of it total for the past 2 days. I have been feeding a bland diet of boiled chicken breast, diluted water from the chicken that I boiled, and white rice. I will speak to my vet about the Z/D. I did look it up on the Hills website and the ingredients sound exactly like what we are looking for.

I appreciate each of you taking the time to respond. I want to get a handle on this right away. I have barely been eating or sleeping since she got sick. It is so stressful when our furbabies aren't feeling well.

She seems to be doing a little better this evening. We went on an afternoon walk and she had a small bloody diarrhea with a few more spots of jelly like blood tinged stool when we got home, but no vomitting. She has not had any other diarrhea since 2 PM. Fed her a bit of white rice and 2 bites of chicken breast around 5 PM. It is now 9 PM. She has been napping on the couch for the past several hours. Hoping that was the last of the diarrhea but my gut tells me that she may have a few more episodes as this seems to be a slow healing process.

Please keep her in your prayers.
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