Pancreatitis in Dogs

[Lynn O'Brien]

How common is Pancreatitis in dogs? I have a little terrier mix that was diagnosed with this 3 years ago. She nearly died, however she responded to treatment and now is only allowed to eat diet dog food from a can, and absolutely nothing else or she will get sick. Has anyone else had this problem with a dog?

[dogncatluvr]

Hello Lynn,
My first response was 'Oh, poor you'. We had a Black Lab male that died of this in 1983 at age 8.5. He was *not* a garbage dog, as some of the vets at that time thought they got pancreatitis from eating garbage. The dog food these days is much better than before '83, but he got his dog food and a few table scraps such as veggies.
A few years before he died he couldn't get up one morning because he was in severe pain. We took him to the vet who said he had pancreatitis, didn't give any medication (don't know if they had anything to give then), and told us that he would get these attacks periodically and eventually one of these attacks would kill him. That is exactly what happened. One Sunday in March, when it was still quite cool outside, he went to lay down on the concrete, and would not move. A couple of hours later we took him to the emergency clinic where he died. The vet told us he was burning up (laying on the cold concrete to cool down), and that his pancreas burst and that poisoned his body and he died. It all happened within a few hours.
The amazing thing is that he had come to everyone in the family that morning, before any sign of pancreas trouble, put his head in all our laps, and looked at us. We now figure he was saying his goodbyes to everyone.
I know veterinary medicine has come a long way since then, and I'm sure that your doggie is doing much better than our dog ever did with this disease. I wish you all the best of luck with this!!

[silverann]

HI Lynn, My Nikki had a bout with pancreatus about 4 yrs ago, he was real sick, he had to have intervinus and other meds,that happened right after Thanksgiving he had eaten to much turky and then he also had lasagna, my other dog ate the same but he didnt get sick ,now they only have dog food, with chicken and rice that I make for them and I put about 2 tablespoons on there dog food to make it tasty for them, I also give them grilled ground round on there dog food.How is you little one doing now?

[Lynn O'Brien]

Hi, my dog is doing great now after her bout with near death a couple of years ago. She is doing good, she is only allowed to eat diet dog food that I have to buy by the case, and I can only buy it at an animal hospital. It's a combination of chicken and rice, she likes it. She got sick because the area in which we live, there are a lot of dogs. People would throw out stuff to them to eat, and it would be out for days and Benji would go out and eat what was left, that's what made her sick, eating old food, and of course I was killing her with kindness, giving her whatever my family ate, turkey, meat, fish, and she loved chocolate chip cookies. Now, everytime she has to go out to do "her thing", someone has to go with her to make sure she doesn't eat anything bad for her. She is doing great, and will be 16 in October, and she is still very active and loving. The vet did say that this disease will never fully leave her system though. We have to take extra good care of her and so far, she is doing wonderful.

Originally posted by silverann:
HI Lynn, My Nikki had a bout with pancreatus about 4 yrs ago, he was real sick, he had to have intervinus and other meds,that happened right after Thanksgiving he had eaten to much turky and then he also had lasagna, my other dog ate the same but he didnt get sick ,now they only have dog food, with chicken and rice that I make for them and I put about 2 tablespoons on there dog food to make it tasty for them, I also give them grilled ground round on there dog food.How is you little one doing now?