Hi everyone, I am new to the forum, but I wanted to see if anyone has experienced something similar with their dog;
(I have read the other Pancreatitis posts, but my Dog’s symptoms are a bit different.)
So my Dog, Koumpi, is a 6 year old Maltipoo. We got him when he was a puppy, and he had been eating Blue Buffalo food pretty much since we got him, with no issues (at least as far as we were aware). He was always active, but never a big eater; we would give him his food in the morning, and he would sort of pick at it through out the day, but by end of day he would usually have finished it. He’s always had very good physicals, with no red flags for anything, and he weighs 15lbs, which the vet said was perfect.
This march 2018, he went in for his annual physical. The physical portion was good, she said his weight was good (still the same) and everything looked and felt good. We did the blood panel, as we do every year, just to make sure everything is as it should be, but his amylase and lipase enzymes were very high. The vet said he had Pancreatitis, and asked about whether we’d noticed any vomiting, diarrhea, or him refusing to eat. I did tell her that over the last year (or maybe less) he would have intermittent vomiting, like maybe 1ce every few weeks, a very small amount of bile (like a tbsp.), usually at night when he was in his crate. He was still eating as he normally did, still acting the same…the infrequency of the vomiting, and being such a small amount never raised a red flag for me that something was wrong.
She suggested we start by putting him on the Hills low fat prescription I/d diet and re-test his enzyme level in 6 weeks. We did this, and his enzyme level did come down, but was still high at 1800. What we don’t know, was how high exactly it was in the first place, since their cut off level is 2000…it may have been just over 2000, or 4000…we just don’t know. The vet suggested we keep him on this diet, since it *is* doing something, and also give him SAMe (Denosyl 225mg) to act as an anti-inflammatory which will hopefully alleviate any of that if that is what is happening internally, as well as to increase his appetite.
He has been on Denosyl for about 11 days, and I have noticed it has not improved his appetite whatsoever. He does seem to get a burst of energy mid-day/evening, and wants to play a lot with his toys, but other than that, I am not seeing any difference in him.
I guess my issue is, I am not 100% convinced he has Pancreatitis at all…he has no swelling/distention in his abdomen, he is not exhibiting any clinical signs of pain, he’s active, and eating…just eating small amounts throughout the day vs eating it all in 1 sitting. his stools are normal, no diarrhea. He’s also not thrown up AT ALL on the Hill’s diet…
Does anyone know, that has dealt with elevated enzyme levels in their dogs, how long does it typically take for those levels to go back into normal range?
We don’t want to put him through any sort of a scan, as those have their own risks, and where there is no physical indications (swelling or pain in the abdomen), and all other blood work was normal – and we don’t want to medicate him if he truly doesn’t need it, though I would be willing to try Pepcid AC 5mg/day to see if there is any improvement in his eating.
Does anyone have any similar experiences? What worked best for your Dog? Was it Pancreatitis, or just Acid Reflux (GERD)??
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