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Severe Pancreatitis ?

Reptigirl

Reptigirl

Well-known member
I'm a nervous wreck. I was up all night with Holly. I TRIED to go to an emergency vet and the guy was a total JERK! He was "too busy" although he had no other people in his clinic. He also "didn't think Holly was an emergency". He refused to give her fluids until I spent almost $600 in testing and refused to do an X-Ray. Said my regular vet could do that.

I took Holly in for sever vomiting, inability to keep even water down, yelping in pain , inability to poo & yelping when trying to poo. I ended up walking out after an estimate of $600 - $1000 just to "observe" her for a few hours and run a blood panel test. He told me he would not be able to get to her for at least an hour so I was best to leave her and come back. He was going to charge me a full days boarding fee to watch her for 2 hours plus an "observation fee". Now maybe I should not have walked out but I was not going to pay that price when my normal vet staff would be arriving in there clinic in 2 hours! I felt like I was being overcharged for NOTHING. This guy was also a MAJOR jerk! Rude with an attitude!

So after leaving Holly continued to toss up. I got her into my vet right away and they started her on fluids ASAP for sever dehydration. (throwing up all night). My vet was going to run 2 different pancreatitis tests? She was pretty sure that was the problem. She felt her tummy and didn't "feel" a blockage but if the tests came back negative they would do X-Rays for a blockage.

They said she was pretty bad off and she would need NO food or water by mouth for at LEAST 3 days and probably a hospital stay of 3-5 days. I'm waiting on a call for the results of the tests....

My vet said this is sever and if this is pancreatitis hitting her this hard & fast it is very hard to stop. There is a chance she may not make it. All they can really do is restrict food & fluids by mouth and keep her on an IV.

I'm a mess right now from no sleep and the terrible ER vet. Does this sound right? How can she go down so fast? What causes it? Is my vet missing something?
 
Oh my God....poor Holly. I'm glad she's finally getting medical help and will keep my fingers and toes crossed that all goes well.

I just can't believe how you were treated with the emergency vet. Was this in a private practice or an emergency hospital? When we rushed Sydney to the emergency at 2 in the morning, the ER vets were rushing from the treatment room with a gurney to help him and someone was coming out every 5 mins. or so with an update. I would definately put in a formal complaint with the practice/hospital about this so called "doctor". Your concerns needed to be addressed in a professional manner and I probably would have walked out too. After being treated in that manner, I wouldn't have trusted them to treat Sydney. I would also ask your vet who they recommend you call for emergency when they are not available. Our vet has a recorded message when the office is closed with emergency telephone numbers and locations to take your pet.

Please keep us updated on Holly's condition. I will be thinking of you and praying for a speedy recovery.
 
Reptigirl said:
So after leaving Holly continued to toss up. I got her into my vet right away and they started her on fluids ASAP for sever dehydration. (throwing up all night). My vet was going to run 2 different pancreatitis tests? She was pretty sure that was the problem. She felt her tummy and didn't "feel" a blockage but if the tests came back negative they would do X-Rays for a blockage.

They said she was pretty bad off and she would need NO food or water by mouth for at LEAST 3 days and probably a hospital stay of 3-5 days. I'm waiting on a call for the results of the tests....

My vet said this is sever and if this is pancreatitis hitting her this hard & fast it is very hard to stop. There is a chance she may not make it. All they can really do is restrict food & fluids by mouth and keep her on an IV.

I'm a mess right now from no sleep and the terrible ER vet. Does this sound right? How can she go down so fast? What causes it? Is my vet missing something?
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When Clancy was around 2 years old, we took him to a family party. Unbeknownst to us, he was begging for and receiving many many tidbits of people food, including high fat things like cheese and sausage.

2 days layer, he began vomiting absolutely everything he took in, water included. The vet did an xray first, to rule out a blockage. The subsequent blood tests showed pancreatic enzymes (amylase and lipase) so high they couldn't register properly on the clinic's equipment. Diagnosis: acute pancreatitis. He was put on several meds and nothing by mouth for 24 hours, after which we started with a bland diet (boiled chicken and rice) followed by a prescription dog food.

He recovered without incident, and has never had another episode. But we don't take him to parties anymore either!

I hope your lab results come in soon. Your vet doesn't sound very sure of herself; you might want to consider seeking a second opinion.
 
I am so sorry! I really hope holly gets better. I did think its sometimes hard to diagnose pancreatis from bloodwork. I will be thinking of you.

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Oh no...poor little Holly!! I have no advice, but just wanted to say that I was thinking of you and Holly. I will be sending lots of prayers to you and hope for improvement as soon as possible.
Hugs to you, stay strong. :hug:
 
Any news on Holly? You must be so worried out of your mind. I also have no advice other than to breathe, but am sending my best wishes and hugs.
 
No News yet :( I talked to my vet about 2 hours ago and for some reason the test results had not come in yet. She was going to do an in office test for pancreatitis but apparently they were out. I ment to call her back before they closed but somewhere between exhaustion & keeping up with a high energy 2 year old time got away from me. They only good news is I know that even after they close the vets go up there 2-3 times during the night to check on everyone. I know she really goes because I have seen her up there at odd hours.

I'm super uneasy about the fact none of the tests came back yet. They gave her something for her nausea & a mild sedative. She has not vomited since she has been on the nausea medication. They said she has mainly just been sleeping due to the sedative. She is on IV fluids and needs to stay that way for several days.

I'm super stressed out and worried. I guess I was hoping for a diagnosis by now.

She also said that the mild "click" she had in her heart is more noticeable and is now an obvious low grade murmur. Also she noticed a change in her postiure and was checking her hind legs. She said she may be having a little bit of hip trouble because she is pushing both of her knees outwards to stand. When she is sitting her hind legs keep "sliping" outwards and she keeps having to readjust to stay in a sitting position. She said some of this could be due to the stress of whatever is bother her + dehydration. The posture change happened suddenly with the vomiting so I was assuming it was from being in pain & vomiting? Once we get this cleared up I fear we may seeing a few new specialists.
 
What a bummer....you must be on pins and needles waiting for news. Will keep thinking good thoughts for you and Holly.
 
Reptigirl said:
No News yet :( I talked to my vet about 2 hours ago and for some reason the test results had not come in yet. She was going to do an in office test for pancreatitis but apparently they were out. I ment to call her back before they closed but somewhere between exhaustion & keeping up with a high energy 2 year old time got away from me. They only good news is I know that even after they close the vets go up there 2-3 times during the night to check on everyone. I know she really goes because I have seen her up there at odd hours.
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Do they not have 24 hour on site vet techs?

Not to frighten you, but if that is the case, I would move her to another hospital ASAP. She'd be better off at home than being left alone for hours at a time in a cage in an empty clinic.

I don't understand why they don't have amylase and lipase levels back yet. :?
 
Oh goodness, I posted a response last night, but it's not showing. I had a dog who had chronic pancreatitis. His first bout we weren't sure he would make it. But he recovered and went on to live a great life even though he developed diabetes due to the scarring in his pancreas. I am trying to get out the door for work, but wanted to mention that my Nash also had back leg, backend weakness during and right after the pancreatitis, which was related to the pancreatitis, and eventually went away.I'll check back later to see how things are. Saying a prayer for your baby.
 
Hum... well Good news... but I'm skeptical.

Her pancreas enzymes came back normal so they are considering sending her home this evening. :confused:

I'm thrilled that they are normal but that does not explain the very sever vomiting. Even more concerned that she was trying to poo and couldn't and was clearly in pain. :confused:

I know sometimes I watch the animals "too closely" and notice every little detail with them but I've never seen any animals vomit THAT many times over the course of one night. Not only that but she turned so lethargic in just a matter of hours. Would simply "eating something bad" make her not want to move? I watch the dogs so closely, I don't take them off our property, and I keep the place relatively organized & clean. I can't imagine what she would have eaten. A piece of a raw fresh carrot? A single piece or two of chicken scratch grain licked up off the ground? A raw egg with dinner that she normally gets once a week with no problem? My vet is against raw foods (well human food all together) and thinks maybe the egg would have set her stomach off?

I'm wondering if she could have a blockage that my vet can't "feel". My vet said that she can normally feel a blockage:confused:

I just feel something doesn't sound right. Maybe everything is fine & Holly was just over exaggerating.
 
They didn't do an x-ray or any other tests to check for a blockage? (From personal experience) in people at least, when you get dehydrated from a blockage and get fluids, you feel soooo much better, it's a remarkable change, so I'd be skeptical too. Is she keeping down water? Pooing or at least passing gas? If the blockage is up high, I don't know how the vet could feel it (thinking plastic wrap, etc. in the stomach), though admittedly, I'm not a vet icon_blshing, so...

When Rose had her bout of not feeling good a while back, they couldn't find anything wrong, so I asked them to x-ray her and (even though we saw my last pick vet at our clinic) they promptly did. The vet came back and laughed a little and said "the owner's always right"- sure enough, she had swallowed something (that thankfully she threw up).
 
I just feel something doesn't sound right. Maybe everything is fine & Holly was just over exaggerating.
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DON'T second guess yourself. More than once, I felt foolish bringing Sydney into the vets for something that I thought I was over reacting on. Each time there was something that had to be treated. I have a wonderful vet, and when I appoligized for always calling or bringing him in she said "that's what we're here for, he's your dog and you know him best and if something doesn't seem right it probably isn't."

Trust your instincts, insist on an xray or get a second opinion if needed. The worst that could happen is that you were wrong, but at least you will be at ease that Holly is OK.
 
Reptigirl said:
Hum... well Good news... but I'm skeptical.

Her pancreas enzymes came back normal so they are considering sending her home this evening. :confused:

I'm thrilled that they are normal but that does not explain the very sever vomiting. Even more concerned that she was trying to poo and couldn't and was clearly in pain. :confused:

I know sometimes I watch the animals "too closely" and notice every little detail with them but I've never seen any animals vomit THAT many times over the course of one night. Not only that but she turned so lethargic in just a matter of hours. Would simply "eating something bad" make her not want to move? I watch the dogs so closely, I don't take them off our property, and I keep the place relatively organized & clean. I can't imagine what she would have eaten. A piece of a raw fresh carrot? A single piece or two of chicken scratch grain licked up off the ground? A raw egg with dinner that she normally gets once a week with no problem? My vet is against raw foods (well human food all together) and thinks maybe the egg would have set her stomach off?

I'm wondering if she could have a blockage that my vet can't "feel". My vet said that she can normally feel a blockage:confused:

I just feel something doesn't sound right. Maybe everything is fine & Holly was just over exaggerating.
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Could it have been something poisonous? Pesticides, cleaning products, medicines, garden plants/weeds. Possibly a reaction to meds she is on, double check that dosages are correct on labels, and that the pills/tablets are in fact the right prescription (this would be an error at the pharmacy, filling the prescription incorrectly). Eggs can carry salmonella, but I don't think dogs are especially sensitive to it. Perhaps some med she is on weakens her immune system?

I would ask for an x-ray if she isn't *clearly* on the mend. I once knew a Jack Russell that ate a lightbulb and had lots of broken glass in his intestines. He pulled through, without surgery, but was in bad shape for quite some time.
 
I'm glad to know she is ok, if only our pets could talk and tell us what is wrong. I would complain about that first vet to the BBB or somewhere!
 
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