Especially acute versions. Symptoms, prognosis, treatment.
My dog has been lethargic since Saturday, not eating, barely drinking. Vomited every day St thru Tues even without eating until getting a shot for that. On antibiotics sin them some improvement, but quickly reached a plateau. Has lost 7 of his 70 lbs. Xrays almost certainly rule out obstructions. Blood test “Pancreatitis Panel” comes back tomorrow (Friday) 9am Pacific time.
Extremely concerned and anxious.
Regardless of cause, if he’s still not drinking much and still vomiting, he needs to go back to the vet. He may need to be hospitalized on IV fluids and other drugs. If you are concerned that he is not being treated aggressively enough, get a second opinion from another vet. If he can’t keep water and some source of electrolytes down and is still vomiting, or you are that concerned, go to an emergency clinic tonight. Your vet should provide you with information on prognosis (which depends on the case) and treatment options. General info on canine pancreatitis here, but the severity varies and a vet who has examined your dog needs to decide on the course of action. SDMB can’t help your dog over the Internet.
IANAVet and even the vets on here have not seen your dog.
Good luck. I hope your dog feels better soon.
Ditto what horsetech said. The standard protocol for pancreatitis is hospitalization, iv fluids, antibiotics and antiemetics and absolutely nothing by mouth for a period of time. This is also pretty much what you do if an animal has been vomiting for a few days. Pancreatitis can be pretty serious and lead to complications (permanent pancreatic damage - necrosis or diabetes, for example) if it’s suspected it’s a good idea to start treating for it.
It is a lot more common in small breeds (especially Schnauzers) but it can happen to any size dog. It’s also seen a lot after a really fatty meal.
Rhanks both horsetech and wile e.
Not concerned that the vet is not being aggressive enough at this point. An anti-emetic shot at the first visit on Tues took care of the vomiting. I am just not familiar with pancreatitis and this is scary.
Of course I have googled it and learned all I can, but like many threads here on SDMB, it is the human touch that is valued!
As far as a “fatty meal”, what I wonder is how long after such a meal would the symptoms occur? About 3 days before taking ill, Butterscotch did manage to devour an entire rotisserie chicken of which we had eaten only one breast. It was total and fast - the only evidence the chicken was there was the package on the floor. Is that enough fat to kick this into gear?
My dog has had two bouts of pancreatitis - once after my dad fed him an entire summer sausage and once after my mom gave him a big serving of home-made chicken and noodles - both uber fatty (Think my parents spoil him much? They also used to buy him a donut every Sunday morning during the year they took care of him while I was in Kabul. I had a heck of a time trying to get him to eat dog food again.). It took a couple of days to manifest and it was very scary for me. IMO an entire chicken is probably enough to cause it especially if he ate all the skin and dark meat. The vet gave him antibiotics and he got water only for the first day and then rice and and cottage cheese (blech!) for the next two. I was extremely worried about him because he was clearly feeling miserable and was very lethargic. He recovered nicely but I do have to watch what he eats now - no more bacon for him!
Is your dog’s belly tender? Supposedly that’s a big indicator of pancreatitis but my dog didn’t show any discomfort when the vet pressed on it. So he was kind of suprised when the tests came back.
Hope the pooch is feeling better - keep us posted.
3 days is about right. It usually takes a couple days for the pancreas to get sufficiently inflamed to cause symptoms. You said they ruled out an obstruction right? I presume that means xrays and there were no chicken bones still hanging out in their either?
If an antiemetic was enough to stop the vomiting and the dog was not severely dehydrated then it’s either very mild pancreatitis or a plain gastroenteritis from eating something she shouldn’t have.
Thanks Surly Chick.
Just back from the vet. Blood work was normal, just slightly elevated hemoglobin. Belly is not tender, nor bloated, nor firm. Just skinnier than it should be 
At the vet we force fed him pill style a can of high calorie A/D food. He didn’t mind to much, and so that is how he is going to eat through the holiday if he doesn’t eat by himself. He also got a shot of some sort of hormone (prednisone?) that the doctor said might stimulate him to start eating.
Other than that, the doctor seems to be running out of ideas. Me, I never run out of ideas, and I know that is true for most folks here too, so all ideas, theories, etc. considered at this point.
I know when I’m on prednisone (for allergies), I’m starving all the time so hopefully that will do the trick.
Good luck and smooches to the pooch!
Promising sign - Butterscotch is eating a chew treat that the other dogs left behind while we were gone to the vet. He is unusually protective of it actually, so maybe he means to eat it all as he is able. This is the first time he has put anything solid in his mouth in a week, so I forgive the behavior for now.
Well, there’s your problem right there. He’s on a hunger strike until he gets a more dignified name!
“Thunder” was already taken when he arrived 