Inflamed pancreas

[Winters100]

Hi,
Has anyone had any experience of this in dogs? My 12 year old large mix (leonberger/ bernese mountain dog / german shepherd????) has refused to eat for the last 2 days, and this is the diagnosis. It seems really odd as, if I understand correctly, it would normally be associated with an overweight dog having a fatty diet, which is definitely not him. He eats Hills JD (joint support), and is lean and fit. Ribs easily felt, and on the advice of our vet we keep him on the low end of OK, as he had hip problems when we found him in the street as a young dog and had to have both replaced. Treats are mainly carrots, or if he is really lucky a bit of chicken, but definitely not excessive amounts. I know exactly what he eats as each morning I place treats for each dog in their own little box, and everyone knows that once that is done they can have nothing else.

Any ideas?

Thank you in advance.

 

[Clodagh]

My mum’s dog had it, but she was portly and fed fatty stuff so it made sense.
I’m sorry your boy has it as it seemed really painful and it’s awful for them. I can’t help as to why though.

 

[Bellasophia]

Pancreitis is a worrying illness ,the dog can easily go downhill.
The causes are varied,not just restricted to obesity and diet…as your dog shows( fit weight and carefully fed)
Its good you have got him to the vet as he may need rehydrating,and definitely needs tests to try to pinpoint the cause.
I would definitely want to do an ecogram to see the other organs( kidney ,liver,bile ducts etc..),have full blood tests done;there is now a specific testfor pancreatic enzymes.He could also have another condition triggering the pancreitis,the blood panel could help diagnosis for cause.
a general link,suggesting tests are mentioned..
https://www.pethealthnetwork.com/dog-health/dog-diseases-conditions-a-z/acute-pancreatitis-dogs
this link is more detailed,but useful for the diet suggestions.
https://todaysveterinarypractice.com/treatment-of-acute-pancreatitis-in-dogs/

 

[skinnydipper]

Hi,
Has anyone had any experience of this in dogs? My 12 year old large mix (leonberger/ bernese mountain dog / german shepherd????) has refused to eat for the last 2 days, and this is the diagnosis. It seems really odd as, if I understand correctly, it would normally be associated with an overweight dog having a fatty diet, which is definitely not him. He eats Hills JD (joint support), and is lean and fit. Ribs easily felt, and on the advice of our vet we keep him on the low end of OK, as he had hip problems when we found him in the street as a young dog and had to have both replaced. Treats are mainly carrots, or if he is really lucky a bit of chicken, but definitely not excessive amounts. I know exactly what he eats as each morning I place treats for each dog in their own little box, and everyone knows that once that is done they can have nothing else.

Any ideas?

Thank you in advance.

Hills JD has Omega 3 added at therapeutic levels.

Recommended therapeutic level is combined total EPA & DHA of 100mg/kg bodyweight. This might be more fat than your dog can manage.

 

[Mynstrel]

Dad's dog had this once and the only thing we could put it down to was that she'd had a bad bang to her belly, she'd gone to jump in the car and missed and landed on the rim quite hard, so in the absence of anything else it was out down to inflammation caused by bruising. It settled and didn't come back.

 

[Winters100]

Thank you all.

We are going back to the vets shortly for fluids and have ultrasound booked for later today.

@Bellasophia thank you for those links. I will ask the vet to take blood again today and run all of these as I am not sure that all were included in the ones done yesterday. I also took a sample of his pee just now.

It is really strange as he does not seem to fit the symptoms. He is showing no signs of pain, he is bright with tail up and wagging and active in the garden, although I have been giving him only short walks just in case. I know him really well, and when he has pain his behaviour is very different to this, so the only things that indicate this are the blood results and not wanting to eat.

I am just so astonished at this diagnosis, as I have even had strangers ask me if he is a rescue dog because he is so lean, and on one occasion had a woman tell me that I was cruel and that he is too thin (he isn't, he is regularly seen by an experienced vet who is happy with his condition).

I am so worried about him, because 12 is quite old for such a big dog, but he is so full of life I could not bear to lose him now. I had a serious chat with the family last night and asked them to be honest and tell me if they have been giving him anything he shouldn't eat, but they all say that he has had extra things only on very rare occasions, which I am ok with, and I believe them because his condition does not indicate otherwise.

Anyway off to the vet now, and a massive thank you to everyone x

 

[Bellasophia]

good luck..at his age I’m wondering if it’s the kidneys that are compromised..this would account for any loss of weight,nausea..inappatence etc..
I was at the vets myself on Tuesday..we did bloods ,urine,and an eco gram..the latter was the key to my dogs diagnosis..I won’t derail your thread,but can’t recommend the latter enough.

 

[Winters100]

good luck..at his age I’m wondering if it’s the kidneys that are compromised..this would account for any loss of weight,nausea..inappatence etc..
I was at the vets myself on Tuesday..we did bloods ,urine,and an eco gram..the latter was the key to my dogs diagnosis..I won’t derail your thread,but can’t recommend the latter enough.

Thanks, we are just back. He received fluids and shots. Later we will go for ultrasound (I think this is the same as an eco gram?), and they will test the urine (thank goodness the rest of the family do not know about the other uses of the soup ladle). I also wondered about kidneys.

The good news is that the vet told me that although this condition can be serious, the results do not indicate a very serious problem. They want to change him from the JD food to something else that they will order for me, and today he should eat nothing.

Interestingly the vet had one other dog yesterday with the same symptoms, who has produced the same results. Similarly the other dog is not overweight, so they are now wondering if it can be caused by a virus, bacteria, or even by picking up some non-edible fungi in the forest (we had a wet August and the forest is full of fungi). When we go back later we will take our other dog to have blood tests too, and our vet is contacting other practices to ask if they have any similar cases.

Thank you for your help

 

[Winters100]

As an update he is feeling much better and today was allowed to have a small meal.

We also think we know what caused this. OH's Mother lives next door and occasionally pops round to feed them on the rare occasions that we are all out, I prepare the meals and she just gives them to the dogs. I was not aware that while I was out on Monday OH got called back to work, so he asked her to drop by and feed them. Apparently on this occasion she had been cooking a joint of pork and decided to bring the excess fat and add it to their food for a treat. She says it was not much, but I can imagine that it was. My vet said that this could cause the problem, especially in a dog who is unused to receiving fatty food.

Obviously she did not mean any harm, and she feels terrible about it, but it is a lesson that I need to be even stricter about the dogs having what I prepare and only that.

Edited to add that the only good thing to come out of this whole sorry episode is that he has been thoroughly checked (heart, kidneys, liver etc) and the vet was very surprised at how healthy he is given his age and size!

 

[Penny Less]

My old lad had this, it flared up once or twice badly and he ended up in vets overnight. He was on Hills Low fat pancreatic support dry food plus white fish and chicken and rice. He seemed to be comfortable most of the time but I could tell as soon as he was in pain, he stopped eating, was bringing up bile, and he carried his tail down. The vet recommended that I use an anti acid pill (equivalent to ZAntac, which I dont think you can get now)