For all who think Cavaliers are wimps....

Me included! We have a very timid little cavalier, 9 times out of 10 he will lay on his back when he meets another dog. He jumps if a cushion falls off the sofa and dont even think about putting a balloon within his eyesight.

However, over the last week I have learnt just what tough little cookies they are. Chester has been really poorly with diarreah & sickness. We took him to the Vets on Friday and tried everything they gave us over the weekend but nothing seemed to help. We took him back again yesterday and they have kept him in.

Having run all the tests, it turns out he has a gut infection & also an inflammed pancreas. These were obviously causing him a whole lot of pain but not once did he let on. He was still always really pleased to see us, still trying to chase moths & birds around the garden and jump around the sofa when someone dared walk outside the front garden. He has obvisouly been a lot more tired & clingy but other than that I am not sure you would notice anything was wrong.

I just want to remind everyone that they are a lot tougher than people give them credit for and to never be mistaken by that beautiful waggy tail.

They are tough little dogs and never seem to complain when they are sick..hope little chester is feeling better...hugs to him from us.

Poor Chester,I hope he is feeling a lot better allready:xfngr:

What a trooper! I hope poor little Chester is feeling better :flwr::flwr:

Poor Chester! How long was he sick with this?

Thanks for your messages. I have spoken to the Vet today and she said he is still in some discomfort so she is keeping him in for the day, will give him some more pain relief & then I am going to pick him up & bring him home for the night. She thinks he might be more comfy at home.

I am then going to take him back in the morning for another assessment.

His diarreah started on Weds night and he had us up every hour to go outside. Then on Thurs night the sickness started. I took him to the Vets on Friday morning & they gave him a sickness injection & some pills to see it that worked. He seemed to pick up a little on Fri/Sat daytime but Sat night he just wouldnt settle again and Sun he just wanted to sleep. Took him back yesterday as he started being sick again.

Thankfully the sickness seems to have stopped now & they are just waiting to get a stool sample from him to send off for more tests.

I did ask whether it was a disease he would have for life now but she seems to think that perhaps he ate something he shouldnt have or caught a bug and one problem has brought on the other. Fingers crossed they are on top of it now & I cant wait to bring my little fella home.

Good luck to him for a full (and quick) recovery. It's horrible when our dogs are sick, isn't it? I just hate it!

My vet mentioned to me that Cavaliers tend to be very stoic. I think he's right about that.

Poor brave little Chester!! I guess it is true, that these dogs don't always exhibit pain emotions as we would think they would. Karlin has said it over and over in the SM pages, that what we often observe to be a mild annoyance, such as scratching or rubbing, could possibly be true pain that the dog is experiencing.

These dogs have such gentle, want to please dispositions, that I think they try to just deal with discomfort the best they can. Attitude is everything, and they are tough, positive thinking little troopers!

Hope he is right and feeling much better soon!

Hope Chester picks up soon.

They really are troopers when it comes to pain.

You've made a really good point! Shelby is like that. She is such a stoic little girl and really doesn't show pain. Hope Chester is feeling much better soon.

I would totally agree that cavaliers -- and actually, most dogs and cats -- are very stoic with pain and it is one reason why it is sometimes too easy to assume a dog isn't feeling pain when it is. Many of us with cavaliers with syringomyelia see this first hand all the time. I really think the pain level has to be very high before they show it outwardly. I know Leo has a very high pain threshold as my own vets have remarked on this before when he has had other problems like ruptured anal glands. I think any apparent expression of pain should always be investigated as it is often pretty severe before we see any signs. It's one reason why I tell people that if they are seeing unexplained yelping in their cavaliers, to have the dog checked for possible pain-related problems like SM.

Does the vet think this is pancreatitis? I am thinking this is probably what it is, from your description. This can be a one-off or a lifetime issue for the dog and you will probably need to always manage what he is allowed to eat to be sure as recurring bouts can be very dangerous. It can often be triggered by overeating and eating fatty scraps -- turkey or chicken with skin often set this off and it can be life-threatening. It often appears at holidays because people give the dog scraps from the table.

I sure hope he is back home to you soon and it is good that you stuck with trying to figure out what was going on.

More info:
http://www.peteducation.com/article.cfm?cls=2&cat=1580&articleid=335
http://www.judithstock.com/Speaking_of_Animals/Pancreatitis_in_Dogs/pancreatitis_in_dogs.html
http://vetmedicine.about.com/cs/dogdiseasesp/a/pancreatitis.htm

Hang in there.
Chester is a tough little guy. He'll be all right!

I hope Chester is improving. I know you must be very worried about him!

Thank you for the good wishes & for the links you posted Karlin.

We brought Chester home last night & although he was very subdued & tired, he seemed a lot better in himself. He ate his dinner (he has been put on a low fat wet food) and slept the whole night through. This morning he ate his food again fine & finally went to the toilet, which thankfully was not diareah and there has been no sickness since Mon morning.

We took him back to the Vets this morning for another check over and she said that the test for Pancreatis had come back borderline but that they classed that as a positive and were treating him for this. She said he seemed a lot less tense around that area of his stomach and was happy for him to come home again. She did give him another pain killer injection to see him through today.

We have got to keep him on the low fat diet over the weekend, together with some antibiotics & gut protectors and then, if he seems to be getting better in himself, go back on Mon morning for another check up.

The Vet is hopeful that as it came on so quickly it will be a one off but it has sure given us a kick up the backside about giving him little bits of what we are eating. It's just to upsetting to think that we have contributed to this.

That's great news. I'm so glad that Chester is home and feeling better :rah:

:jump: Glad the little guy is back home and finally on the mend :rah:

Hooray that he is out and on the mend!

A low fat diet is good for a dog anyway. There are many healthy things you can give him from the kitchen -- fruit and veg as treats for example. It is the fatty meats and sweets -- especially you know how many people give the cut off bits of fat to the dog, or skin, which is really fatty! -- that can cause serious problems. I avoid pigs ears too as they are so fatty.

Mine all love berries, apple, banana or pear slices, carrots, broccoli stems, courgette pieces, slices of green and red pepper. All without fat!

So glad Chester is doing so much better. Like Karlin says, you don't have to stop "treating" him, just give him different treats. My guys know that when I get out the cutting board for fruits/veggies they get a little sample of carrots, cucumber, celery, squash, whatever I'm cutting up.