Pancreatitis- Older dog struggling to recover

[Feelingblue77]

Hello,
We have a 14 year old border terrier who developed pancreatitis 2.5 weeks ago.
A reasonably mild case managed at home as she kept drinking and pain was manageable so she wasn’t admitted.

She also has Cushings disease which I think makes this more common.

She’s really struggling to shake this off. She doesn’t want to eat and ends up with a gurgling tummy, then we go to the vet and she gets either anti sickness injection or appetite stimulants, she does ok for 2 days and then we start the cycle again of gurgling tummy, not eating etc.

She’s only having plain low fat food as per the vet.

I’m starting to think we may not come out the other side of this and I can’t let her suffer every two days, to be temporarily fixed by drugs that seem to leave her back where she started 48 hours later.

She’s definitely better than she was from the initial pancreatitis - but we just can’t get her stomach back to normal and it’s so horrible seeing this happen over and over.

She’s not too distressed, but it’s very hard.

Has anyone been in a similar situation?

Have you tried switching food? I know the vet said low fat food, but if you're trying one brand and it's different...that may be why? Dogs can be so funny about food - particularly if they're not feeling 100%

It's not ideal (particularly nutrient wise), but when my first dog was sick I just gave him chicken, rice and strawberries for about a month. 5 meals a day in tiny portions (for him). Every now and then I'd switch it up and grind up some whole meal biscuits and sprinkle that on top as well!

I hope your Dog is okay

Thank you for your reply. So she won’t eat the low fat tins from the vet at all. But I’ve been poaching chicken and giving that to her with plain white pasta or plain potatoes -
little and often as per the vet.

I’ve given her the sucrfate which the vet prescribed and waiting to see if that helps.

The tummy gurgles are so loud though, it’s just like we can’t make any progress as soon as drugs wear off.

Shes just tried to eat grass in the garden but the vet had said to stop her from doing that so I’ve brought her back in.

I just hate seeing her suffer like this.

Is she eating all the chicken and potatoes? If so, keep up with that and maybe up the number of meals? If she's not eating it all, do try white rice - it has absolutely no flavour and the smallness of the grains can make it easier for a sick dog to digest.

Grass eating might be because she is hungry. Which is good news. It means she wants to it eat - she's just struggling ATM to find something she can eat comfortably. Keep doing what your doing and if she doesn't still take to it, then back to the vets - sounds like your vet is giving you all the best advice/trying!

What’s the reasoning behind stopping her eating grass? I thought dogs self medicated by eating plants?

Chicken is actually a really common allergen for dogs and not good for dogs with these sorts of issues. Try some white fish in the microwave. My dog is now OK on millies woolf heart utility mix which is white fish and sweet potato, very mild for digestion. He didn't have pancreatitis confirmed but related.

Did your vet give you omeprazole? Ours had omeprazole for a few weeks after to help with the post pancreatitus sore stomach etc.

I would do rice rather than potatoes but can't specifically say why. I used to add some finally chopped carrots when cooking the rice too.

I've used this for mine https://furrboost.com/

My dog was diagnosed with IBS in the end. The only thing the vet could find wrong was an enlarged spleen and low folate / vitamin B12. He has a supplement for that now, called cobaplex. We had to feed him hydrolysed protein dog food for a few months - the protein strands have been broken down to assist digestion. But had a job getting him to eat it. So my emergency food was white fish in the microwave. In the end we found he would eat Hills food sensitivities. We stuck with that a while then gradually introduced the Millies Wolfheart utility mix, because we thought he might be safe with fish. Luckily that's proved to be the case so far and he's put weight on now and got a new lease of life.

There is a helpful Facebook group called Dogs with IBD, Colitis, and Pancreatitis UK. I got some good advice on there. One of the tips is to find an unusual protein source that your dog won't have had before.

A dog of mine has had it for years. I'd be asking the vet for reflux medication, reflux can be awful after a flare of the pancreas. The tins from the vet are also crap, you'd be better off sourcing other low fat dog foods and slowly mixing it with the chicken and rice , reducing the amount of chicken slowly. Our dog is on a low fat dried food and it's definitely more appetising than the tins from the vet and cheaper.

My dog has been diagnosed with pancreatitis 3 times in the past year. It’s horrible to see them in pain and not themselves.

She is now on a strict chicken or white fish diet with royal canin gastrointestinal kibble. Her treats are now carrot sticks and raspberries!

I also sprinkle Buddy and Lola pre and probiotic powder over her food daily and I’ve seen a massive improvement in her in just a couple of weeks.

Hope your pup improves soon OP 🐾

One of mine has pancreatitis and the vet was going to put him to sleep! That was over five years ago. We refused and brought him home and researched for ourselves.

It's incurable so we manage the Pancreatitis by making sure he never eats anything with a high fat content. 5% fat would be the highest we would ever give him.

A low fat diet and low fat treats.

Milk thistle supplement to aid digestion.

We also add quite a bit of water to wet food which aids digestion and puts less strain on bis body to digest the food.

He also has dry kibble.

He also has to be kept warm so has a lot of coats and fleeces.

We also rest him on walks by stopping for a sit down. We have six dogs and sometimes nine when we have my sisters dogs as she is still working. I'm retired.

He is a very happy and lovely dog.

No real advice OP as I'm in a similar situation, ours was diagnosed with it a few weeks ago and we are still trying different things to manage it. We're currently on the Royal Canin super low fat gastrointestinal wet and dry for now, which seems to be ok after a few tries of other things that didn't work so well so we are sticking with it until she seems to have fully settled at least.

Just lots of sympathy, it's horrible to see them like this isn't it. Plus getting any kind of tablets into mine when not allowed normal tasty treats has been quite stressful!

I agree with you OP, at 14 your dog has had a long life and putting her through too much more of this would be unfair. I would try a gradual change to a different low fat, grain free option with fish. But if she's still suffering then I would be considering letting her go.

Mine has now sadly passed, but suffered with pancreatitis. Now I'm no expert and this is not balanced diet but it worked for my boy. Minced turkey 🦃 boiled, sweet potatoes, butternut squash also boiled. Then the veg I would put into a blender. I made this in big batches and froze in takeaway trays. When his tummy was off Dorwest tree barks powder.

Just to add we are now giving our dog a mix of the royal canin low fat gastro wet food and topped up with dry food from tails.com. We have her down on their system for ALL the supplements in the dry food - so hers is low fat, includes omega 3 and a few other things I think. She does seem to do very well on this combination and even has the odd sneaky treat still.

Our border terrier had pancreatitis and the vet suggested chappie dog food

My JRT has flare-ups of pancreatitis and we give him scrambled egg (no milk) with Lypex sprinkled on, until his symptoms subside. As it’s an ongoing condition we are hyper vigilant so give him the Lypex as soon as any signs appear (not able to find a comfortable sitting/lying position and doing the downward dog stretch too often).
when not in a flare-up he lives on hills sensitive stomach and skin (dry food only) and gravy bones for treats (biscrox)
On his first and worst attack he was hospitalised overnight on a drip but since then we can manage it at home.

hope you get sorted OP

I'm with you we had one on chicken and rice for three months as per our vets instructions

OH done the chappie diet too. Smelly but it works

Thanks so much everyone for your input. I'm going through all of the posts and making notes! So useful to hear all the tips and ideas.

So yesterday once the sucralfate kicked it (lines the stomach apparently) she perked up, and then with some liquid paracetamol too she felt a lot better and ate some plain chicken and pasta.

She stayed hungry through the day so I fed her little and often and gave a second dose of medicine early evening.

She had a good night, no gurgling tummy and was hungry again this morning.

So tentatively some progress, but it has felt like one step forwards and two steps back for the last couple of weeks, so I'm not getting too excited. Going to keep doing what we are doing and adding in some new foods from your suggestions, and then will start trying other dog foods such as Chappie!

We will try some white fish today I think for a change, and maybe some egg white.

She's such an age now that I know she's had a good life, and something will catch up with her in the not too distant future, but I just want to make whatever time she has left, fun and happy and want to make sure I do right by her. Hopefully we may be on the mend for now, and we will carry on making the most of the happy times.

Thanks again - and any other tips are welcome, especially when we have to stop using the stomach lining meds as I think those may be saving us at the moment.

Ah, that's great news OP! I'm so glad she's feeling a bit better 🙂

I'd switch the pasta to sweet potato. And the chicken to white fish. And a multi vitamin too.
Also, you need something to absorb the excess acid. Mine occasionally gets a gurgly tummy and needs to eat grass. When we come back in I give her a clay supplement. It sorts her out really quickly. It absorbs the excess acid. It shouldn't be used all the time but is really useful on occasion. Have a look on the aniforte website.

Tree barks will also line her stomach and can be used daily I think. It can be made into a paste and fed 30mins before a meal. Add a little bit of her food to it to encourage her to eat it. If she refuses, just add it to her meal but it shouldn't be fed at the same time medicine is as it might stop it being absorbed fully.

Also, something like Stoolrite. Again, it absorbs the excess liquid. It's just seaweed so almost certainly safe to feed.

I wouldn't change her food too much either. I know Chappie used to be recommended but the ingredients are pretty awful. It gave my dog toxic gas. It was horrific. I'd find one that suits and keep her on that. The supplements should help a lot.

@meecestopeeces how is your dog getting on now? I’m sorry you’ve been going through this too.

I woke up to hearing a gurgling belly again this morning….. will see how she goes. She’s able to get comfy, I think it’s gas and stomach acid maybe? She doesn’t seem in pain just doesn’t want to eat. Hopefully it will subside and is just part of her recovery. We shall see what the day brings.

@redboxer321 thank you so much for your input too - I will be researching later today!

Update - gurgling has stopped and she's had a little snack!