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Post by caz2golden on Feb 15, 2016 21:07:03 GMT
As some of you know, Gypsy has been unwell of late.
As most of you know she has had a liver issue in the past.
Her mum died of sudden onset diabetes that was diagnosed too late. I am aware there is a direct link between pancreatitis and diabetes.
I was thinking it was her liver playing up again when she fell ill but turns out it is something else!
The main lot of bloods done last week came back with excellent values but today have found out the one they sent away to a lab has not come back within normal range. This was to check on the pancreas. The value was 214 and it should have been below 200. I will be seeing vet again on Wednesday for a separate issue but the bloods will be re-done in 4 weeks.
The medication she is on has stopped her being sick but now she has awful loo very mucus'y and a very vivid colour (orangey yellow would be best description). Bad loo only started 3 days ago and I am wondering if the medication is not helping on that front but she finishes that on Wednesday.
I refused prescription food as I know dried food causes allergies to outbreak so at the moment she is on cooked foods. Cooked foods are ok for me on a short term but long term is not an option as I think I would struggle to give her a complete diet. I did find a diet on the b-naturals page tonight and I plan to try and recreate that once I can get to the shops again but that might not be before Wednesday.
I am hoping to get her back onto raw but don't really know where to start!
I know Natural Instinct and Nutriment have a 'special' complete and would be happy to include them within her diet if people know this is the right way forward.
Any suggestions will be appreciated, both for short term and long term.
To be honest this is the main reason for me posting.
Don't have my reference books to read at the moment and the one I have with me does not cover pancreatitis. Due to head back on Thursday so will have a few more things to hand then.
Must add she is acting normally now, wants food, loves to get out for walks etc. Though when she goes to loo its awful she is not asking to go out or going alot of times etc.
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Post by cazypops on Feb 15, 2016 22:35:18 GMT
Sorry Caz I can't help with the diet issue, but I really hope that Gypsy is ok.
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Post by caz2golden on Feb 15, 2016 22:44:41 GMT
Thanks cazypops. Vet will give her a check over on Wednesday and then I might have better idea how he thinks she is doing. She is acting relatively normally i.e barking at deliveries, enjoying walks and she has strong interest in food! I also hope she will be fully better soon! A few more grey hairs on my head!! |
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Post by gypsy on Feb 16, 2016 0:44:36 GMT
Sorry to read this caz2golden. Pancreatitis should be taken very seriously! As I've mentioned on here before - I lost a dog at 5 yrs old to acute pancreatitis. This condition is seldom isolated and can have very serious complications and affect other organs in the body. Unfortunately my dog's pancreatitis could not be controlled and resulted in acute kidney failure. Obviously Gypsy's condition is of the chronic kind and its very positive that she still has a good appetite, because inappetence is a common symptom with pancreatitis. The reason her bowel movements are so poor is because her pancreas is struggling to provide the enzymes required to break down her food properly - fat especially hence the yellow stool! The key factor in the treatment of pancreatitis is a low fat diet. I know you are keen to continue with the raw diet but would you not maybe consider a low fat, good quality, wet food? www.ardengrange.com/pet-food/dog-food.asp?id=111Another useful addition is probiotics/prebiotics because they assist in digestion and supply enzymes that prevent the pancreas being over-taxed. www.petplusvet.com/ Also its important that dogs with this condition are kept slim so if she needs to lose a few pounds, now is the time! HTH  |
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Post by tonib on Feb 16, 2016 2:37:24 GMT
Can't offer any advice, just wanted to wish Gypsy well caz2golden. |
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Post by scallywag on Feb 16, 2016 8:01:48 GMT
Sorry I havent been on forum much got so much going on at the moment but wanted to say how sorry I was to read this caz2golden. I ditto gypsy comment about it being taken seriously I too lost my previous Springer to pancreaitis in 2008 , trying to remember what food he ended up on after He came off the presription wet food, Chappie rings a bell. Good luck and {{{ HUGS }}} to you both x |
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Post by smilesbetter on Feb 16, 2016 9:24:38 GMT
Sorry to hear this, all the best for Gypsy and sorry I can't offer any advice.
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Post by lotsofcats on Feb 16, 2016 9:27:45 GMT
I hope that Gypsy will be okay. Good luck at the vets tomorrow.
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Post by caz2golden on Feb 16, 2016 15:25:51 GMT
Thanks for the advice. I do appreciate it.
Do feel like I am between a rock and a hard place on the food!
I really do not know what is the right direction to take!
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Post by smilesbetter on Feb 16, 2016 15:35:20 GMT
If she is having trouble breaking down fats, and you still want to feed raw, would feeding leaner meats like organic chicken (depending on her allergies) be better? gypsy ? I don't know anything about this though and I'm sure there are many other issues. |
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Post by caz2golden on Feb 16, 2016 16:29:39 GMT
smilesbetter Her allergies are mostly related to mites (European dust mite, American dust mite, mould mite, storage mite, flour mite....I am sure I have forgotten another one!) Though I have learnt from experience that these are found in commercial dog food from allergy outbreaks (even the vet blamed the food)! Her main issue was getting really yeasty with her reactions! All allergy issues for Gypsy have stopped since feeding raw! Also since feeding raw her joints no longer click (related to her knee). Rest of her allergies should not be affected by what I feed as they are plant related (grass, dock plant family). Meat wise I keep away from pork but that's an intolerance rather than allergy.
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Post by caz2golden on Feb 16, 2016 16:39:15 GMT
scallywag, one of my walking buddies back in Norfolk has a dog that's had pancreatitis and other digestive issues and lives on chippie. She is always complaining how much it costs to feed her it! I guess cos though its cheap tins you have to feed a lot of it. Though that dog poos for Britain, goes at least 3-4 times on a walk! Though its the only food she can feed without causing squits! I don't have any contact details for her and now on course for a few days so will not be back there for a few more days!
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Post by gypsy on Feb 16, 2016 17:56:38 GMT
smilesbetter Her allergies are mostly related to mites (European dust mite, American dust mite, mould mite, storage mite, flour mite....I am sure I have forgotten another one!) Though I have learnt from experience that these are found in commercial dog food from allergy outbreaks (even the vet blamed the food)! Her main issue was getting really yeasty with her reactions! All allergy issues for Gypsy have stopped since feeding raw!
Also since feeding raw her joints no longer click (related to her knee). Rest of her allergies should not be affected by what I feed as they are plant related (grass, dock plant family). Meat wise I keep away from pork but that's an intolerance rather than allergy. I can see why you'd be reluctant to change from raw given the improvements you've seen. Personally I think I'd use either the special diet from Nutriment or Natural Instinct - think both are primarily green tripe (which is very digestible and low fat). I'd avoid extras, keep the diet simple and be very careful regarding treats etc and in 4 weeks time when the bloods are taken again, the values will be in the normal range ((hopefully)). Even if they are...you need to always be careful because once a dog has suffered a bout of pancreatitis, there is a high chance it will happen again. Hope Gypsy continues to improve. |
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Post by zahada on Feb 16, 2016 23:28:39 GMT
Commiserations and welcome to the club caz2golden . LOL. Jaws had acute pancreatitis few weeks ago. She was put on Roayl Canin GI low fat diet, then the vet said I could feed her anything as long as it was low fat. 7% or less. For the rest of her life. For a few days I fed Naturesmenu Country Hunter tins (6%), also some of Lilys Kitchen tins. Naturesmenu Country Hunter nuggets are only 4 %, lots of other Naturesmenu is quite low fat. I am, at the moment, trying to find the fat content of all the things I used to feed, so I can start including some of them as Naturesmenu is 40% fruit and veg, doesn't fully satisfy her. Natural Instinct have a special low fat diet, and couple of the Country Banquets are low also. I couldn't find anything suitable in Nutriment, although, with careful calculations, I can mix some in with the Naturesmenu. Paleoridgeraw are probably the best website for quoting fat content. Rabbit is very low, but can't get any at the moment. If you don't mind feeding food with rice, Wainwrights have a simple 4 ingredient frozen raw diet, again quite low in fat (4% I think, can't check as have used all mine up) Naturesmenu raw catfood is also low in fat. Hope you get Gypsy sorted soon. |
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Post by zahada on Feb 16, 2016 23:32:01 GMT
scallywag , one of my walking buddies back in Norfolk has a dog that's had pancreatitis and other digestive issues and lives on chippie. She is always complaining how much it costs to feed her it! I guess cos though its cheap tins you have to feed a lot of it. Though that dog poos for Britain, goes at least 3-4 times on a walk! Though its the only food she can feed without causing squits! I don't have any contact details for her and now on course for a few days so will not be back there for a few more days! Royal Canin GI low fat was costing me £5 a day. I used to raw feed 3 dogs for far less than that.  |
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