Please pray for Digi .... UPDATE PG3 #37

[Catty1]

Prayers, prayers and more prayers for Digi, dear little wigglebutt.

Prayers that this can be treated and you and Digi will feel better soon.

HUGS!

[Glacier]

Sure sounds like pancreatitis to me....which I have an unfortunate amount of experience with. Several of my dogs have had acute attacks, two now have the chronic form. It's not fatal, if treated, but it is painful. Even the chronic form can be managed. Paxil is fourteen, had it for years, and still doing well.

The danger with an acute attack is dehydration. Digi likely needs to be hospitalized and on IV fluids for a few days with no oral intake of anything. The digestive system needs to shut down for a bit to reset itself. Then very small meals, very bland food. NO treats, no fat likely ever again. Pancreatitis is most often triggered by a fatty treat(gravy, roast drippings, pigs ears ect).

Paws crossed for your girl. PM me if you want more details on what we did with my dogs!

[Karen]

Poor Digi - she'll be in our prayers.

[Husky_mom]

keeping you both on our thoughts... hope she can get comfortable and as Glacier said some fluids and best wishes for her recovery...

we like you both!!!

[MonicanHonda]

Poor Digi. I hope She becomes better. You're definitely in Remy's, Honda's, and I's prayers.

[king2005]

Thank you everyone!

Glacier, if Digi does have pancreatitis I'll gladly listen to what you have learned & do for your pups to help them through it!!!

Also what do you feed your sled dogs to keep their weight up?
This vet (there are 2 vets I love at that office & trust) said he wants me to look into what mushers feed high energy dogs, as he thinks that'll help Digi put on healthy weight. Then I can walk her all the time & run her in the yard often without her turning into a bag of bones


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Update:

The vet doesn't know what it is yet, as it could be several different things, so he took some blood. He is leaning towards Parvo or a bacterial/viral infection (I forget the names of everything, I'm freaked out & functioning on no food & 2hrs of sleep).

Digi is an Out Patient. As the stress of being at the clinic locked up & then alone all night long could cause far more issues with her getting crazy stressed & spazzing out. The vet said she is in great spirits for such a sick dog, & he doesn't want that to change by keeping her at the clinic (unless things get worse). So we're working off of plan B.. Plan A is her staying at the clinic if she gets worse

She was given 2 balls of fluid under her skin, an anti vomit shot, and an antibiotic shot. I have to take her to the vet twice a day. I have NO issues with it, I just wish it wasn't 80km/trip.. but my baby is worth every km!!!

She is full of gas & very tender. She was very good through all the poking & proding & grabbing.. she fought but calmed down the second I put my face to hers & spoke to her... The vet was very impressed with her fight as he said most dogs like this just lay there & mope... SO he said its ok to gently play with her to keep her spirits up as thats whats gonna help her fight off whatever she has. Just nothing crazy, like fetch, no rough play.. just toss a toy a foot away or just high enough into the air she can catch it without jumping.. its fun, but its not going to make her tired

The vet knows I only have 500.00 & I told him I can give him the 500 right away & 100.00/pay. He said thats fine. We'll work something out as we go on & learn whats wrong with her.

SO lastnights visit cost 200+60, & today cost me 200.. Tomorrow should cost me a little over 100 & if I have to come in again, it'll be another 100.

Much better then 1500.00 min, & these guys aren't scaring me 1/2 to death!! They said I shouldn't worry about her dying, there is plenty of hope for her right now.. So I finnally feel relieved enough that I haven't cried in about an hour... I'm so tired & worn out. But can't sleep as I feel I have to keep a super close eye on her.. just incase she crashes.

[Taz_Zoee]

I am glad to hear it's not as bad as the ER vet lead you to believe.

I will keep you and Digi in my thoughts for a speedy recovery.

[king2005]

I am glad to hear it's not as bad as the ER vet lead you to believe.

I will keep you and Digi in my thoughts for a speedy recovery.

Thank you

[Glacier]

Also what do you feed your sled dogs to keep their weight up?
This vet (there are 2 vets I love at that office & trust) said he wants me to look into what mushers feed high energy dogs, as he thinks that'll help Digi put on healthy weight. Then I can walk her all the time & run her in the yard often without her turning into a bag of bones


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When my dogs eat kibble, they eat Acana Performance(the "Red" formula). It's designed for working dogs. Ozzy is a hard keeper. He gets dangerously skinny in a hurry, so much so that he has been tested for thyroid cancer. He eats Acana Extreme. It's an extremely high fat, high protein formula. It's also ridiculously expensive, almost 80 bucks for 35 pound bag. I buy the other stuff by the ton literally, so I have no idea what it costs a bag, but I think it's about 50 bucks. It might be cheaper down south. You might want to check out Red Paw too. It's a common sled dog food.

The majority of their diet is raw wild game meat. I dont' know any musher who feeds strictly kibble or raw; everyone I know mixes the two. Ozzy maintains his weight much better on raw meat than he does on any kibble. I get pure fat from a butcher for him too. Ozzy weighs 40 pounds(about 47 would be ideal). He eats more than my 130 pound malamute. Ozzy also gets fed twice a day, the only one of my dogs who gets breakfast.

Unfortunately, if it is pancreatitis, none of those options will work. The key to managing pancreatitis is limiting fat to just about nothing. My two chronic pancreatitis dogs eat Acana Senior. One, Earle, is also hypothyroid so keeping weight on him is not a problem! He has the opposite problem! Paxil has always been a hard keeper with a poor appetite. It's part of why her first musher rehomed her. He was a distance musher. A distance racing dog needs to eat no matter what, no matter where...Paxil just won't do that! I bribe her to eat occasionally with a couple tablespoons of senior canned food on top of her kibble, which is always soaked in water. Strangely, her appetite has increased this winter and she's holding her weight well. She eats pretty consistently lately. Odd because she's fully retired now and getting much, much less exercise than she did before, when she was my main leader.

[Karen]

I am glad to hear this vet thinks there is hope. I know there will be some stressful times while you find out what it is, but your little cutie is worth it, to you and to all of Pet Talk! She couldn't have a better, more caring mommy.

[Daisy and Delilah]

How scary. I'm so sorry to hear this. I'm sending thoughts and prayers out to both of you right away. Feel better Digi!!
{{{{{HUGS}}}}}