[Brian L]

My 11 year old Yorkie came home from the vet last night after 4 days and 3 nights hospitalized with severe pancreatitis. The ultrasound showed a really severe case, and many tests were done as well as a plasma infusion.
They sent him home with some pain meds, antacid and antibiotics. They said to syringe feed him Royal Canin Low Fat wet food until he gets his appetite back and gave us some giant syringes

Question: though he has drank water out of a bowl 6 times in the 20 hours he’s been home, he doesn’t want to eat. How much/often has anyone else found is good to syringe him food (he’s 9-10 lbs)?

I’m exhausted from this ordeal, so I apologize in advance if I left out any needed information. Any advice from people who have been in this situation is appreciated by me and Stoli.

Thanks

[Susan]

Hi Brain, was he eating the Royal Canine wet tin food in hospital?? they normally don’t let them go home until they are eating….. maybe he doesn’t like Royal Canine Low Fat wet tin food…. I just looked on the Royal Canine web site at the Intestinal Low Fat wet tin & for a 10lb dog he should be eating 1 can a day…. & make the tin into 6 smaller meals thru the day & night… I feed 2 dinners 5pm & 8pm & 7am 12pm
You can get a couple of eggs & boil then, then remove shell & the yoke & mash the white bit & see if he’ll eat the cooked egg whites mixed with some boiled sweet potatoes, maybe if he smells & see cooked food he’ll eat by himself…

also join the Yahoo group called “Dogpancreatitis” they really help or the Face Book “Canine Pancreatitis Support Group” https://www.facebook.com/groups/1435920120029740/
the best way is to cook & freeze meals like turkey breast mince & sweet potatoes, the pain meds may cause constipation so add 1 spoon pumkin…

[Diane S]

Brian, if he was hospitalized for pancreatitis, the vet really needs to continue to work with you to get him back to a safe, normal diet that he will actually eat. What was the suspected cause of the pancreatitis and should your dog now be on a low-fat diet?

Keep a very close eye on him and report any changes to the vet ASAP. My now 12-year-old dog recently recovered from a very nasty bout of pancreatitis following abdominal surgery. I was told that hydration was actually quite key to his recovery (in our case, the vet recommended daily sub-Q fluids). Full recovery took a very long time (and was complicated by his needing to be treated for another medical condition), and he did not eat normally for months. My normally lean dog who was a great eater suddenly was not interested in food. He was at risk for needing a feeding tube. He is now back to his normal chow-hound ways and has regained all of the weight that he lost…but that was after months of picky eating (NOT normal for him), near relapse, feeding him almost anything I could get him to eat just to keep weight on him (vet did not believe he actually would need a low-fat diet long term, as his pancreatitis seemed to have been brought on by surgery), learning to administer sub-Q fluids at home and doing it daily as instructed by the vet, and SLOWLY guiding him back to normal food.

It is very important to follow your vet’s recommendations about diet. Our dog did not need a particularly low-fat diet, but yours might. At one point, our dog ate scrambled eggs and at our low point – refused anything but chicken nuggets (so we found a very healthy chicken nugget and fed that for a while). We tried human pureed chicken baby food, wet dog food, rubbing the food bowl with a piece of salami before adding the food we wanted him to eat, adding sliced low-fat turkey to his meals…it was a long, slow road. But he did recover and now loves to eat once again…and we are so happy that we still have him here with us!!! I hope that your dog recovers very quickly!

[Brian L]

Update. Day 9 of being back home. Stoli is doing much better. He eats on his own now, and I am giving him small meals of Royal C Low Fat food a few times a day. I think he’d eat more if I let him, but I have read that you can overdo the recovery stage, so I”m taking it slow. On the Syringe food I was giving him, I figured out that if you put the wet food in the syringe, then add a bit of warm water, it goes down easier and he liked it more. I did that for a few days, then tried to give him boiled chicken and white rice. He didn’t like the chicken and rice to much, so I changed it back to the Royal C food and used very small pieces of the chicken as “rewards”. That worked pretty well. Next, I had his pills (he takes 3 a day) compounded at a pharmacy to liquid so that I can just squirt them in his mouth and not try to force a pill down.
Thanks

[Brian L]

Diane
we went through a similar situation with our 15 year old yorkie. We had to give her sub-Q fluids and she was on all kinds of special treatments. She had an enlarged heart and about every issue you can think of since she was a puppy. She lived to be almost 16 years old, but passed about 6 months ago. Thanks for your advice and I hope your pup recovers well.
Brian

[weezerweeks]

My 14 year old yorkie spent 8 nights in the hospital on fluids pain meds etc. he is doing great now except he is famished all the time. He licks the kitchen floor and was trying to eat his own stool.he lost from 8.2 to 7lbs. Why is he so hungry his over vaues we’re not good so we’ve been on Denamarin for 15 days. We are to go back to check his levels. Have no idea what caused his pancreatitis. Should I go back to vet now about the hungry problem

[Patricia A]

Being 14 she’s not feeling so great at times which inevitably comes with aging . It’s heartbreaking then to also have to suffer from this painful condition.
I’ve never thankfully had a dog suffer from pancreatitis .Hopefully others on this board can share their experiences and be of help.
I do know that my little Chihuahuas’ cannot tolerate too much fat in their diet. Dark meat of chicken will give them vomiting and diarrhea . A little boiled salmon they’ll do fine with. However, two days in a row and digestive issues. Their diet is generally freeze dried mixed with a little kibble. I use this site to only use the 5* proteins/flavors of primal and Stella Chewy’s. I believe his lower scores are higher in fat to protein ratio.
Could your little Yorkie have eaten something you’re not aware of off the floor? My elderly mom “accidentally” dropped some beef lomein on floor while eating. Saw Sophie chewing something under table. Next day didn’t want to eat and tail tucked under, stomach gurgling. Finally right before I was going to go to emergency vet (late at night Sunday)after looking like she was in pain I got her to eat a little boiled chicken n rice. Seemed to start acting like herself.
I hope your little Yorkie is feeling better. Maybe you can try a little boiled white meat chicken. A little boiled egg might also fill her up. Could the medication be causing side effects?
Hope this helps.

[weezerweeks]

My yorkie is doing great. He’s eating veg to bowl premix with either boiled chicken and boiled lean turkey. He’s on pancre plus prescription digestive enzyme.He’s been on it 4 months and he does not have EPI. I have another problem now. I’m afraid he’s in early renal. He drinks soo much and pees a lot. He is so hungry all the time. Any suggestions on renal and getting off pancre plus. Thank you. He’s 14 and 4 months.

[Patricia A]

So glad to hear your Yorkie is recovered from pancreatitis. My understanding the cause is high fat in diet. Just wondering why the vet put him on the prescription digestive enzyme if he does NOT have EPI. I believe the side effects are what he is experiencing now being drinking and peeing. However, please bring to vet and see if this is the cause with explanation of why it’s necessary to be on this med without having EPI. Also this could be a more serious reason for her symptoms such as renal .
Please keep updated.

[Daniel M]

I never realized that so many dogs get pancreatitis until my yorkie got it too. I remember very well the day he refused to eat at all and I noticed that his stomach was very bloated. Of course the same day we went to the vet. He examined him, did an ultrasound and immediately diagnosed him with pancreatitis. I still don’t know what the cause of the disease was, we always tried to stick to a proper diet and didn’t give him any fatty foods. My vet says that most likely we just didn’t notice how he ate something, and of course his age – he’s 12 years old – influenced it. He is now healthy and feeling fine, we are on a strict diet, we only give him a brisket of boiled chicken. Good health to your pets!

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