Is There A Vet In The House?

[Catfish]

I have a 7 year old black lab (my hunting buddy) who has been the best dog I've ever owned, period. Shortly before Christmas, she was diagnosed with pancreatitus and spent 3.5 days in the hospital, taking IV's, pain meds, antibiotics, etc.

Last night she came down sick again, throwing up and you could tell that she was very uncomfortable. My wife dropped her off at the Vet's this morning and the diagnoses has come back that she's got pancreatitus again.

It's to the point that this will likely be the last time I can afford to take care of her - the last bill was over 1K and this one I'm sure will be about the same and we can't continue to pay that kind of money every two months.

She is not fed table scraps, is very active and I would hate more than just about anything else I can think of to have to put her down.

Anyone have any suggestions on what I can do to keep her from coming down with this again?

Our vet has been pretty good but I'm just seeing if any of ya'll had any experience with this.

Thanks

Derrick

[ima45dv8]

I'm not a vet and have no qualified words to offer in terms of medical advice, but I will keep a good thought for you and your puppy.

[Chills1994]

My Vizsla came down with pancreatitis too. That's been a few years back. He was also on IV's, etc.

Yep, food/table scraps are a NO NO!

I would try switching dog foods. I had bought that cheap Ol' Roy crap from Wal-Mart years ago. Seems the lower priced stuff has all kinds of fillers and some such nonsense that just makes your dog poop a lot w/o actually getting better nutrition/calories.

Then I switched to Purina One, IIRC and the canned dog food Hill's Science Diet Senior Formula. I'd zap a dallop of the canned stuff in the microwave, after it had been in the refrigerator, for about 30 seconds, on a paper plate. Mix the heated can stuff with the Purina One, and Rusty was good to go.

I'd go to PetCo or Petsmart and buy the biggest bags they had, the 37.5 ones, and cases of the Hill's Science Diet, at a time. One of those places has a rewards program too.

And he never had pancreatitis again.

I hope everything turns out all right for your Lab.

Edited February 14, 2006 by Chills1994

[Liota]

Catfish and Chills,

I feel for your dogs. I got diagnosed with pancreatitis in December. They said it was mild. It felt like a hot poker driven straight through my chest, just below the rib cage. Treatment was pretty simple. Gave me a shot of morphine (don't ever want that stuff again) followed by admonitions against any alcohol intake, fats and spicy foods. They also gave me a regimen of Hydrocodone for about a month.

It was not fun finding out about it the week before Christmas.

Hope your dog gets to feeling better, Catfish. It sounds like Chills has the right answer.

Liota

[dogdoc]

The pancreas is an organ used to secrete enzymes to aid in digestion. It lies against the very first portion of the small intestine. So when it gets inflammed, it inflames the intestines, thus the pain and vomiting. Something in the diet is causing it. If you feed absolutely no table scraps, and he doesn't get into the trash (common cause), then it is most likely diet related. Feed a high quality diet, if you already are, change to another high quality diet.

The care provided by the vet isn't treating the pancreatitis directly, it is providing supportive care until the pancreas has time to heal on its own. It isn't an infection, it is an inflammatory process only. Most are vomiting, so the goal is to stop the vomiting. Vomiting causes dehydration, so IV fluids supports that problem. Ultimately you will have to find and eliminate the cause.

Good luck!

[Ferrell Spicer]

My sister’s dog had problems with its pancreas. It did not produce the right amount of enzymes and had to be put on a special medicine for that. It was in powder form and was sprinkled over the food (read high quality food). Her dog had similar symptoms and it took 3 vets to diagnose the problem. The vet that caught it consulted with vet schools in FL and MS. I was told that this particular problem was not common, but it could be worth asking about. I hope all works out alright.

[Putty]

I have a lab that is allergic to certain foods, moulds etc. I switched her to Dick van pattens venison and rice and the duck and potato. Doing alot better with less reactions/seizures etc. Corn kills.

[Bigbadaboom]

My St. Bernard had this problem and I switched from Eukanuba brand to Exclusive brand and it stopped. He also eats less and still maintains his weight and energy with the Exclusive.

[Catfish]

Thanks everyone for your thoughts and advice - I really appreciate it.

Dogdoc - thank you - I was hoping you'd chime in.

Looks like we get her back Thurdsay PM and a change of diet is in order. She's been eating some Purina 1 Science Diet (I think that's what it's called) geared towards older dogs and lower calories.

Thanks again everyone.

[blackdragon]

What works for my Brown dogs is : " Regular Iams, Dried small kibble ( Not the old dog diet crap) and Vitamins, I just don't over feed them ( 2 1/2 cups in the morning and 2 1/2 cups at night, Losts of water!). Sure they walk around giving me that look! But they will be " Around" a lot longer. Nope I'm not a Vet either! But I have been through a lot of pups!

Ivan