Pancreatitis - dog not recovering

Annie get your Run

My 8 year old JRT was sick seemingly out of nowhere last Friday, brought to the vet who did some test including a blood test and diagnosed him with pancreatitis. He spent last weekend on a drip with fluids and painkillers and I was able to collect him on Sunday evening. He had eaten some chicken for the vet and similarly ate some for me at home too. Monday saw him decline again (not eating or drinking) and on Tuesday he was vomiting bile so back to the vets who repeated the treatment of fluids and pain meds. They also did x-rays and further bloods to rule out an obstruction or other organ issues (found none). They sent him home again on Thursday and again he ate a little chicken but nothing on Friday. We decided (vet and I) to keep him home this time as he's unhappy at the vets and see if he might progress over the weekend. He did eat on a few occasions yesterday very small amounts of chicken - he turns his nose up at the AD food the vet gave me for him but today Sunday we're back to no eating at all, refusing water and he's very depressed.

Obviously I'll be bringing him back to the vet tomorrow who indicated on Friday that she would repeat the bloods and the x-rays to see if there has been any change since the last test.

Has anyone else had any experience of this? Any suggestions or advice? Am very worried about him and even vet is a bit mystified as to why the treatment isn't working - apparently most dogs recover after one round of fluids / pain meds?

tk123

Stressful times for you OP
My friend's dog has had 2 bouts just like this - vets baffled as to what was wrong and why he wasn't responding, in and out for fluids and relapsed when he was home. He did recover both times but they never really figured out what caused it - first time they even opened him up to check the pancreas and if there was a blockage. Second time they felt it was more bacterial and he was on a few different antibiotics to try and get to the bottom of it.

I raw feed and tripe is what everyone recommends for bad tummies. It also STINKS so would be very enticing for him. PetStop would have it - it's more expensive from there because it's branded compared to what you'll get from a supplier but desperate times call for desperate measures. You could feed the free flow mince frozen too compared to blocks. It was one of the only things my friend's dog would eat.

Annie get your Run

Thanks for that tk, I took him to the beach and he seemed happy enough sniffing around etc, brought him to my aunt who minds him when I"m away and he at least drank some water while there so that's a relief. He's not getting sick though so that's good and maybe he just needs a bit of time to recover - I'm probably expecting to much too soon.

I've heard of raw feeding but know nothing about it. Is there somewhere reliable I can read up on it? Is it something that can be done with all dogs?

tk123

There's loads of information online about raw feeding - some sources are more credible than others. If you dog has pancreatitis though I wouldn't just change his diet - I was more suggesting the tripe if you were desperate to get him to eat something.

beveragelady

My elderly collie had pancreatitis before Easter. He was sent home from the vet after a week because he was so unhappy and stressed there that they felt his only chance was to come home. Once home he refused food unless it was tiny scraps of roast chicken fed to him by hand. Even then he would only eat about an ounce a day. He would go from almost comatose to hyperactive a couple of times a day. I suspect he was hallucinating because his behaviour was so odd. He had terrible diarrhea for a while so I gave him Dioralyte via syringe into his mouth. About five days after he returned home from the vet he started eating more normally again but he wouldn't touch anything but boiled rice and chicken, by hand for a few days then from his bowl.
They told me that pancreatitis is extremely painful and I wonder if he associates that pain and the accompanying nausea with his usual food. He's still getting rice, some sweetpotato and plenty of meat for his dinners because he likes it and because he's still very suspicious of anything resembling dogfood.
I think the pancreatitis is behind us now thankfully, he's as well as can be expected given his numerous other ailments. Still insists on getting his walk every day, still gets annoyed if his dinner is delayed, still finds mornings generally exciting.
OP, if your JRT has no other serious conditions I'd be optimistic about his recovery. Give him time!

Annie get your Run

beveragelady wrote: »

They told me that pancreatitis is extremely painful and I wonder if he associates that pain and the accompanying nausea with his usual food.
OP, if your JRT has no other serious conditions I'd be optimistic about his recovery. Give him time!

I'm wondering this too, he did sniff at his bowls there a min ago but up to this he's been giving them wide berth and am wondering if he's associating them with the terrible vomiting (and pain). Likewise when he eats its only from my hand.

Thanks so much for that beveragelady, it's consoling to know someone else had similar experience as according to the vet dogs usually recover after one round of treatment.

beveragelady

Annie get your Run wrote: »

I'm wondering this too, he did sniff at his bowls there a min ago but up to this he's been giving them wide berth and am wondering if he's associating them with the terrible vomiting (and pain). Likewise when he eats its only from my hand.

Thanks so much for that beveragelady, it's consoling to know someone else had similar experience as according to the vet dogs usually recover after one round of treatment.

I'd say take the bowl away out of sight completely until he's eating enough from your hand that he's regaining strength. Then maybe feed him out of something else for a while, a plate or something. I know it sounds stupid to go to such lengths but we can't really see the world from their perspective so it's impossible to fully know what they're thinking. If a small change has a chance of making a difference it's no harm to try. I would definitely ditch the dogfood for a while anyway. Rice and chicken is easy on the stomach and it'll keep him going nicely.

tk123

My friend's dog would be the same - he wouldn't be mad about his food so they wait until after a walk to entice him when he's extra hungry. They settled on one of the sensitive foods for him because they never really got to the bottom of what caused it and were afraid it'd happen again. Would a kong or treat dispenser help I wonder to get him interested?

beveragelady

One more thing..
I was told to give him as little fat as possible as it might cause his pancreas to give him pain. That's another reason I have stuck to home-cooked meals, it means I can skim a lot of the fat off. Were you told the same thing, OP?

Annie get your Run

beveragelady wrote: »

I'd say take the bowl away out of sight completely until he's eating enough from your hand that he's regaining strength. Then maybe feed him out of something else for a while, a plate or something. I know it sounds stupid to go to such lengths but we can't really see the world from their perspective so it's impossible to fully know what they're thinking. If a small change has a chance of making a difference it's no harm to try. I would definitely ditch the dogfood for a while anyway. Rice and chicken is easy on the stomach and it'll keep him going nicely.

No lengths to far! Had discussed this with the vet so offered him food from a different bowl yesterday and he did take it but now refusing that too. I've taken the bowl away as suggested for now though.

tk123 wrote: »

My friend's dog would be the same - he wouldn't be mad about his food so they wait until after a walk to entice him when he's extra hungry. They settled on one of the sensitive foods for him because they never really got to the bottom of what caused it and were afraid it'd happen again. Would a kong or treat dispenser help I wonder to get him interested?

That's what's so hard about this though, he loves his food, any food, all food! To see him so disinterested is heartbreaking. We have kongs and also the K9 connectables that he adores, he did play with that for a while yesterday but again today not showing much interest.

beveragelady wrote: »

One more thing..
I was told to give him as little fat as possible as it might cause his pancreas to give him pain. That's another reason I have stuck to home-cooked meals, it means I can skim a lot of the fat off. Were you told the same thing, OP?

Yes, hence the chicken which I boiled yesterday. I'll certainly be very careful about that going forward as all sources seem to say to stay away from high fat foods. He loves carrots so am boiling some now with sweet potatoes and will see if he'll have that in a while.

Thanks again for all your input.

tk123

Annie get your Run wrote: »

That's what's so hard about this though, he loves his food, any food, all food! To see him so disinterested is heartbreaking. We have kongs and also the K9 connectables that he adores, he did play with that for a while yesterday but again today not showing much interest.

Ah it's terrible. Another friend's dog had kidney failure and it was SO hard to get her to eat. She's like something one day and be off it the next. Then you have the extra worry of feeding anything too fatty that might aggravate it. My boy is 'at risk' of pancreatitis and has a few bouts where he's had accidents in the house but keeping him on a low fat diet keeps it at bay.

Turkey would be another thing to try or white fish?

morgana

Can't really comment about dogs pancreatitis but I have a cat with pancreatitis for the last 4 years and with last 3 month with constant flare ups. Getting him to eat is the major issue. Have you looked into anti nausea meds and appetite stimulants?

Annie get your Run

morgana wrote: »

Can't really comment about dogs pancreatitis but I have a cat with pancreatitis for the last 4 years and with last 3 month with constant flare ups. Getting him to eat is the major issue. Have you looked into anti nausea meds and appetite stimulants?

He won't take anything though, so impossible to give him meds of any kind other than through an IV. He's back at the vet this morning after dis improving again yesterday and last night.

Annie get your Run

Edit to say they found a blockage in his intestines with further xray's he's on his way to surgery - at least we finally have the root of the problem and hopefully this sorts it - so the pancreatitis was presumably as a result of whatever the blockage is - no wonder he wasn't getting better from the treatment.

tk123

Well at least they know what the problem is now. Fingers crossed for him!

kathleen37

All the very best
xxx

aonb

Hows your dog doing - did the surgery go ok - did they find what the problem was??? Hope hes ok

Annie get your Run

Yes! it turned out to be a peach or a plum stone - no idea how he got his hands on something like that but the surgery went well and he was awake and sitting up when she called earlier so fingers & paws crossed that's it all sorted once he recovers from that. The pancreatitis he had was therefore secondary so hopefully there won't be a issue going forward.

Thanks again for the advice & tips

DBB

Aw phew!
I've been checking in and out of this thread since it started... The dismay when he went for surgery, coupled with hope that he'd be okay!
Delighted with your update op! Thanks! Wishing the wee man a speedy, fruit-free recovery

Annie get your Run

DBB wrote: »

Aw phew!
I've been checking in and out of this thread since it started... The dismay when he went for surgery, coupled with hope that he'd be okay!
Delighted with your update op! Thanks! Wishing the wee man a speedy, fruit-free recovery

Aww thanks! Similar roller coaster emotions to me so big relief all round!

beveragelady

That's great news! It's always a relief when they know for certain what the problem is. I've never had intestinal blockage problems with dogs but I have a cat who has had three separate surgeries to have things removed. Once it's gone he always bounces right back very quickly. Too quickly really. He's never sick long enough for proper remorse to set in or for lessons to be learned. I hope your fella is just as hardy as my cat but a bit smarter.