Pancreatitis?

Hi everyone,

My puppy dog Choc is really poorly

Yesterday afternoon he was sick but to start with appeared ok in his self, he was still drinking plenty of water and wanting to play, so my dad (who Choc lives with now) thought it was just a one off.
By the evening though he had got much worse and was still vommiting, he appeared to be in pain and his breathing seemed to become laboured. Dad took him to the vets last night.

She took his temp which was normal, and checked over his abdomen which was very sore. She said that she hoped it was just a bug that he had picked up so gave him an injection to stop him being sick and another one for the pain.

She mentioned pancreatitis but said that if it was that he would have a temperature. Anyway he was sent home and my father was told to encourage him to drink plenty and to make sure he rests.

Dad has just rang me and he is on his way back to the vets with him as he has not improved at all and has now refused to drink water, he is not moving out of his bed at all and it sound like its taking him alot of effort to just open his eyes

Does anybody here know anything about Pancreatitis and how easy it is to treat if he does turn out to have it?

Thanks in advance for your replies

Hi there......my collie Bessie suffered from pancreatitis (chronic) and had the exact same symptoms as you describe but had a temperature too.
Pnacreatitis is a very serious condition and we did not know what it was for 8 years of her life then got a diagnosis so could take care over what to give her.
Basically the first sign we used to get was orange coloured poo and vomiting but she appeared ok in herself.
Then the lethargy would come and panting and very unwell.
The vet gave her antibiotics, anti-vomiting drugs and anti-immflamatories. Once she had to stay in and have a drip.
She had these episodes tiwce a year all her life but when we knew what it was we could deal with it better.
It often occurs in overweight dogs and some breeds are more prone than others. High fat content causes it to flare up. When we changed Bessie to Chappie, she improved a lot. Our vet said it was a good choice for this condition as it's low in fat.
We stopped ALL treats and basically when my other dogs got treats she was given a kibble of Chappie so she didn't feel left out!!!!
So what you need to do is change her food to Chappie. It's cheap but excellent for this condition and not a bad food at all. Dry or meat is ok....I gave a mixture to Bessie. No treats. Plenty of exercise ( low exercise levels increases chance of flare up). Don't give human foods at all. Just a scrap used to cause a flare up for Bessie.
This condition is manageable. He may get flare ups if it's chronic but if you stick to his diet rigidly then they should be less severe.
For now though, get him back to the vets asap as the dehydration caused by this needs to be dealt with.
I know it's worrying for you and horrible to see but hopefully the vet will be able to sort it out for you.
Bessie lived for 8 years with it (aged 11) and she only died recently due to something else.
Good luck hun, hope your baby feels better soon. If you need any more info, please PM me as I've done loads of research into it and I's be really pleased to help. xxxxx

First off, the vet should do blood tests for pancreatitis before they rule it in or out, it can be a serious condition and the longer it is left the worse it can be.
As for treatment, they tend to fast the dog and give IV fluids to try to reduce the inflammation, my boy stayed at the vets for 4days.
As Zoe1969 said, fat content of foods become a major issue in trying to reduce the chances of a recurrence of it.
When Scratch got sent home he was on chicken and rice for a long time, and no treats or anything for a long time.
It can be a horrid time, hoping for it to be a stomach bug xxxx

Yes...i forgot to mention the fasting! Some vets say that when they stop vomiting, try to feed them a little as this can aid the recovery...chicken and rice as Emma says.

Thanks for your replies.

Dad went back to the vets with Choc this morning. The vet was happy that he hadnt been sick since he had the injection last night,but didnt say to my dad what she thinks could be causing it, his temperature was checked again but this time it was low!! She gave him an antibiotic injection and my father a syringe to try and get some fluids into him, then sent him away home with an appointment for a check up tomorrow morning.

Dad has just rang and once again he is heading back to the vets. He has only managed to get 20mls of water into Choc. Choc wasnt able to get down the stairs by himself and he's not passed any urine at all today

Its all come on so quickly and its so frustrating being so far away and not hearing from thevet first hand whats going on.My dad is absolutely besides himself with worry that Im not really getting much sense out of him.

Hopefully they will keep him in this time and find out whats going on!!

My poor baby

I'm so sorry Choc is ill and hope the vet finds out what's going on n he's better soon. Some very good advice given n can't really add to it, my dog had similar symptoms last year but was inconclusive n change of diet has helped a lot. A friends dog has suffered with pancreatitis for a long time n has been on a low fat diet, the odd flare up has been managed with medication. There have been quite a few dogs here with bad stomach bugs recently also but have all been ok. Hope you find out soon, thinking of you all x

Poor Choc, I'm glad he's going back to the vets, as quite honestly that really is the best place for him, they'll put him on a drip to boost the fluids and hopefully, with the ab's he'll be fine in a day or too. As Emma has said, blood tests will show them if it's pancreatitis, but there's been lots of tummy bugs going around this past couple of weeks coz of all the wet and then the sun, it just stirs all those bugs up and our dogs then pick them up. I do hope he's going to be ok once they get the fluids back into him, and give your dad a big hug from us coz he must be worried sick, you can have one too! He'll be fine I'm sure, my own dogs had a bout of this over the past two weeks but it was only for a couple of days each.

It must be so worrying especially if you aren't there with them. As Helena has said, quite a few bad tummy bugs have been going around in the UK, and dogs have been quite sick when they get it.
If the dog has not had blood tests by this visit, I would really question why this hasn't been done, even if it turns out to be a bug. If your dog isn't drinking at least and no urine output, that is very worrying, and dehydration is obvious. I would also think they would keep your dog in and put him on IV fluids.
If your dad is not able to tell you what is going on maybe you could ring the vets to find out what is going on(that is what I would do, as I am not the most patient person).
I hope there is some progress on Choco's condition soon. Nothing like dogs to turn us prematurely grey.
xxxx

Just a quick update on Choccy Dog.

Dad took him to the vets again yesterday and they kept him in. When dad rang this morning to see how he was, he was told by the receptionist (vet was in theatre) that Choc had been drinking and eating small amounts and was a little more alert than he was last night. Dad rang back at 2 and spoke to vet who said that Choc was still dehydrated so was going to be kept in over night again on IV fluids. Blood tests had been taken an all had come back normal, so they are going to do X-Rays tomorrow morning.

Im sick with worry, but know he's in the best place.

Im back down visiting family next week so fingers crossed he's all better and home driving my dad mad!

Thanks all for your replies, will keep you updated.

That is some good news, with the blood tests coming back normal, fingers crossed Choc improves