pancreatitis

kmac · Puppy Joined: 17 Aug 2008 Posts: 4

hello everyone Very Happy

I wish I'd found this forum earlier and to boot, I'm on the computer all day, every day. Anyway...I'm here now and I'd like to ask if anyone has had experience with pancreatitis? Our 9 year old weim, Phoenix just had this diagnosis. The issues I'm having is that 1-our vet said it normally occurs when a dog has a really fatty diet which isn't consistent with our situation and 2-he still doesn't seem that much better after taking 7 days of medication. He drinks much more water than before, is thinner, doesn't get off his bed well or up/down stairs well and overall doesn't seem like himself. Just a month ago, he was nothing like this. We've already dropped $500-$600 at the vet and I'm unsure what to do next. Any help or experiences is much appreciated.

oh yeah--I'm constantly taking photos of Phoenix so I'll upload some or a link later.

krisnkaipo · Posted: Mon Aug 18, 2008 10:17 am Post subject:

I do remember it was a mighty dog syndrome, a lot of small dogs being fed mighty dog in the can were always coming in. It seemed to be most prevalent in schnauzers and some of the other small breeds.

Pancreatitus can be dangerous, although most dogs get past it with fluids and meds for a few days. I would be concerned.

What tests did the vet run, what symptoms did the dog have? Did your dog get into anything out of the ordinary lately? What is the normal diet?

NenaGunther · Posted: Mon Aug 18, 2008 11:48 am Post subject:

Our Pit/collie mix was diabetic and was misdiagnosed, then after trying to get his glucose under control, he was hospitalized with pancreatitus and 4 days later we had to put him down. Our bill was $8000.

He was on a raw diet and we didn't realize he was diabetic for about 2 months because our old vet had missed on his blood test how high his glucose was. The pancreatitus was something that came on later from him being ketotic.

Did they diagnose your dog with diabetes? The symptoms you are describing sound like it, not pancreatitus.

Our new vet actually said that the raw diet prolonged our dog's life during the mis-diagnosis.

kmac · Puppy Joined: 17 Aug 2008 Posts: 4

Wow. Thanks for the replies. This does make me wonder about his diagnosis.

To answer Nena, no we didn't hear anything about diabetes. But I will definitely look into that.

Krisnkaipo-I'm not sure what exact tests were run–The information is at home. At the time, Phoenix was really lethargic, drinking lots of water and b/c of that, he'd urinated on his dog bed twice. That was pretty much a red flag b/c he's never done that since he was a puppy. We don't know of anything he would have gotten into. We have a fenced backyard. But he DID start acting like this after he'd been kenneled, but they're kept in runs. His normal diet was Pro Plan and now the vet put him on Purina EN.

Schatze · Posted: Mon Aug 18, 2008 6:44 pm Post subject:

Schatze was diagnosed with this just today. We spent 500 just today and have to go back in 2 weeks. Our vet checked enzyme levels to diagnose Schatze. She has 3 meds and prescription food for the next few weeks...

I posted about this on the general forum- I think the dof food she was eating caused hers.

NenaGunther · Posted: Mon Aug 18, 2008 8:58 pm Post subject:

Actually forgot to mention this but Simon our Pit/Collie Mix was given a 5 in 1 vaccine a month before we took him back because he wasn't acting like himself.

IMO, I think the yearly 5 in 1 vaccines are way overdone and I think contributed to his illness and eventually his death.

Did either of your dogs have vaccines recently?