I'm sorry that Dubs is unwell. Pancreatitis HURTS, so don't hesitate to ask for pain meds for him!

The skin and dark meat are fattier than the breast meat. Turkey breast is fairly lean, especially if you're just using it for bribe food. Getting the meds into him is more important than the small difference in fat in a teaspoon of turkey vs. chicken.

If the pancreatitis isn't related to a tumor, it can be managed fairly well. If the anti-inflammatory is a steroid, you may need a longer cycle of antibiotics to clean up the urinary tract infection. The infection may come raging back in a few weeks, so be alert for the early signs of discomfort during elimination.

My 19-year old cat has chronic renal insufficiency, chronic pancreatitis and a tendency to have urinary tract infections (common problem with renal insufficiency). Her ultrasound this past summer didn't show a tumor. We manage the pancreatitis with a steroid and famotadine. She also gets yogurt to help reinforce the good bacteria in her gut. I was resistant to using steroids, but finally agreed because of her age. At this point it's all about her quality of life. There's virtually no vomiting or regurgitation now. She's still prone to urinary tract infections. The steroid probably reduces her ability to fight off the infection.

I'm sorry to read this about your dog, Golddust. Sending cyber love to Dubs. He's lucky to have you as his mama. (((Dubs)))

I would call your vet and ask these questions.

We have a yorki-poo who has a bit of a sensitive stomach. Rice and chicken are always recommended by our vet when she has a tummy upset (usually when she's eaten something she shouldn't!). Science diet also makes a special canned food that is given when there is stomach upset, after surgery, etc. so you might ask about that.

We feed our pup almost all *real/people* food in place of pet food. One of the vets in our group is very knowledgeable about pet diets and she has been a big help to us. Chicken, rice and low-fat cottage cheese are all things we feed our pup.

I'm so sorry for Dubs. Pancreatitis apparently is very common for some small breeds and we have been cautioned about keeping our pup under 10 lbs. (She hovers right on the line most of the time LOL). Famotadine is usually given for pancreatitis (as someone else mentioned) - did your vet prescribe that? It's the same thing I believe as Pepsid. We keep it on hand for our pup, and give it for a couple of days if she has a stomach upset.

Best of luck to Dubs (and you)!

tina

Oh golddust, poor Dubs!!! Pancreatitis can be painful but is very treatable. I hope that Dubs responds to the meds and diet. Do call your vet to clarify any questions.

Yesterday was a bad day. Jovi is fine and my 14 year old Dobe, Whitney, is fine but I had to take my 10 year old boy Mason to the vet. Long story short, he has dialated cardiomyopathy, pulmonary edema-congestive heart failure. He's on meds that should enable him to live out his time in a "normal" manner. He thinks he's fine and, since being on the meds and feeling better, is back to playing with the puppy. I feel like I've been smacked with a sledgehammer.

PEPCID AC is a brand name for famotadine. It's an H2 histamine blocker which reduces the amount of stomach acid. Same drug for people, cats and dogs. HOWEVER, not all of the products within the PEPCID family are suitable for the smaller critters. For example, the original, plain one is fine for cats, but the other ones aren't. One problem with brand-names is that they are always changing their products, so you have to be very careful and read the labels with every purchase. Your vet will tell you what to use safely. Famotadine tastes bad. It can be compounded into a flavored liquid or gel treat. My cats won't take either. It can be given as a subcutaneous injection, but constant use can can cause skin problems in some cats, including my old girl. I don't know whether it's an issue with dogs. Famotadine can also be compounded into a transdermal gel that's applied to the ear flap. This is less effective and harder to measure, so ours is compounded in a higher dose than I gave as an injection. I have the injectable form for a backup and occasional use. It's an important part of the treatment, because I want to minimize the use of steroids.

My cat will not be take most things in orally, but doesn't mind shots. I use an injectable steroid via an insulin syringe every other day.

Your vet should be able to answer basic questions about nutrition and diet. A university with a vet school may have a nutritionist on staff if you want more current information than you vet has about food. I was very pleased with Dr. Julie Churchill at the University of Minnesota. The consultation to design a balanced homemade diet for my fur people was around $100, but that was many years ago. We did everything by e-mail except billing and payment.

Yogacat - we get the pills and our pup (right around 10 lbs. give or take) gets 1/4 a pill. I buy the generic tablets. I can't remember the dosage of a pill. I'm able to put the pill in food and she takes it.

So are so right about the Vet School! I am so fortunate to live in an area with a veterinary school. In fact the department I work with has a pre-vet program and we have several veterinarians in our department. The group of vets that treat our pup - the two main ones we see graduated from here. So nice and if they feel they don't know the best answer to something, they are more than willing to consult with the vet school. It is no trouble at all for us to use a (mostly) homemade diet for our pup, and well worth it for her.

tina

Tina, how I envy you being able to hide meds in food! There are exactly 2 meds that I can hide from Miss Lulu in food. I finally found that ham baby food works. Nasty stuff. It's one of the last things I'd want to feed any cat even as a bribe food, but as my vet said, she's 19, she likes it and it works.

Famotadine usually comes in 10 mg or 20 mg tablets. Typical doses for cats and small dogs are 2.5 mg to 5.0 mg once or twice a day.

Isn't pancreitis related to fatty food intake? I don't think lean turkey (white meat, no skin) would differ from chicken. Poor Dubs. Hope he starts feeling better soon.

Thanks everyone for the usual great advice. My internet was down until now so I could only read what you offered up from my BB.

Dub's urine looks so much better today. He's been on meds and his special diet since Saturday morning. I called the vet's office to ask about portions but I haven't received a return phone call yet. If they don't call me tonight, I'll drop by tomorrow morning as they are close to me. I'll ask about Famotadine too. He isn't on steroids.

Dubs is a big guy at 120 pounds and is eating up his special diet like he is starving but I'm feeding him 5 times a day and he isn't used to eating less, more often. I just don't want him to lose any more weight if I can help it.

Dubs is the best dog we've ever had. He is a real hero. He saved a little girl from drowning at the river a few years back. People on the beach (including us!!) were blown away. They thought he had been formally trained but he wasn't. He is just amazingly intuitive. He potty trained two pups for us too, enticing them out to the grass with a little stick... He is golden hearted.

Pesky, Pacreatitis can be related to fatty food intake but Dubs has been on a low fat diet for years. He's a lab mix who would have loved nothing more than to get fat. In his case, the vet doesn't think it is food related. He kept saying he thought it was a secondary situation. I'm hoping Dubs proves him very wrong.

Whitdobe, NOT our Mason!! I am so sorry. What did the vet say was "normal"? My mom lived with congestive heart failure for 3 1/2 years and then cancer killed her. Hopefully Mason will have many years left. Please keep us posted and tell us what the vet said about this condition.

Oh jeez Guys...I'm so sorry about "our" beloved dogs' predicaments here!

I'll be thinkin' of my GW "cyber-pets" out there, and wishing them and their Moms & Dads the best!

(Our little Samoyed Callie is 38lbs. now!)

Faron

Isn't pancreatitis related to fatty food intake?

Not always. It seems to travel with several other things, such as chronic renal insufficiency, diabetes, hyperthyroidism, cancer, and exposure to certain pesticides to name a few. In a very large number of cases in both cats and dogs, they never figure out what caused it.

Wow, what a Dog among Dogs Dubs sounds like. I will send energies for healing and uncomplicated recovery...120 lbs of love and care--he sounds like Nana Darling from Peter Pan...

And Mason?! The Great-Souled Mason? His heart is too big? I hope he'll be with you for years and years. Jovi *needs* him.

Sorry to hear everyone's tough dog news.

Golddust, I have always heard that turkey was bad for dogs. I looked it up and they say that turkey fat can cause pancreatitis. I don't think I'd even give him lean turkey because of that. Just too close of a connection to his Dx.

Sounds like Dubs is a gem.

My pup sends Dubs a big wet-nosed kiss! Well, maybe a gentle butt-sniff get well wish!

We are dealing with ear yeast infection. Mine does not like being messed with so because they sedated him we decided to finally get him "fixed" at the same time. Just as cone was ready to come off, he had some sort of reaction and chewed a huge spot on his hip. Cone back on, shaved butt and now he is back on track. Vet is thinking we have a food allergy so we switched his diet and will see what happens. He could be allergic to his flea/tick stuff so we are going to hold off on that to see if the itching stops. Then we will give it again. If itching comes back we will switch flea/tick meds.

What we do for our trusted companions, and what they do for us.....

Yes, Dubs is indeed a gem!!! I hope the vet got back to you on the food portions.

Sadly, Mason's heart is very damaged. The meds he's on have made him feel normal....and by that I mean that he's happy, he's eating and in the mornings he's tearing around the yard like a nut playing with Jovi. He plays with her at night too. I'm not supposed to let him do that. If I *sit* on Mason and restrict his activities then the vet said he had an outside chance of perhaps making it a year. But he really didn't think Mason would. Vet thought Mason would be more likely to pass within 6 months. I think it's likely to be a lot less than that because I just will not restrict his activity the way the vet said to. It's not for Jovi, it's Mason. Mason just wouldn't understand it and would think I was mad or upset. The thought of losing him is killing me but I'd rather he pass out of this world while chasing Jovi with a smile on his face than standing inside with his nose pressed up against the window wondering why he can't play.

Excuse me, I need to go fall to pieces again. It's become a regular thing...

Oh Whitdobe - my heart aches for you and Mason. But, I totally agree with how you are handling it. Let him be happy. I'm so sorry you are dealing with this. Just love him and let him do what makes him happy.

tina

Whitdobe, I am so so sorry about Mason. You have made such an unselfish decision to let him have quality and happiness of life.

Whitdobe- follow your heart! Mason will do what he wants to do to be happy. If he did not want to chase that funny little pup he would stop. I think you are making a very, very wise choice. It is QUALITY of life, never QUANTITY. And just take comfort knowing that when his time to pass does come, whenever that might be, just as you have many friends here, he will have many of our furry friends on the other side. My first pup has greeted a few newcomers already. Knowing that makes me know he is in a happy place, just as he was on earth.

Whitdobe- I would do the exact same thing with my Cooper and Bailey. It is quality of life not quantity.
You have given Mason a chance to love his life while he is on his heart meds and there is no greater gift.
Hoping for the best,
Sue

I'm so sorry to hear about the dogs. They sure tug at our heart strings and really do become our best friends, don't they?

Best of luck to your dogs!

And Whit, you're doig the right thing. Hang in there.

Oh my. Good to hear Dubs is on the mend and hoping the pancreatitis is a one-time thing for him.

Whitdobe, I can't imagine. I fell in love with Mason when you began posting all the pics of him with Jovi and now my heart is breaking for you.

Gold- I hope the vet is wrong, that Dubs has pancreatitis and no tumor.
I once had a vet sure that one of our cats had feline leukemia- all the signs and symptoms- he even sent a blood sample out of state for testing- and it came back negative for leukemia. Against all odds!
I feel bad for not commenting on Dubs- I just got distracted by Mason- all of our GW pets are near and dear to us.
Keep us posted

And I feel very bad for horning in on Dubs thread. I'm so sorry Golddust! I guess my mind was still having trouble wrapping around Mason and it all came spilling out onto my keyboard.

I hope Dubs is feeling better and proving the vet wrong!

Golddust, I also was remiss in not commenting on Dubs. I hope he is doing better. He sounds like a wonderful guy.

People!! I didn't even notice or feel infringed on by our Mason!! I am worried about Mason too and feel like Whitdob is doing exactly what I would be doing. Dubs has primarily been a lurker on the forum and we've all fallen in love with Mason! No worries at all!

Dubs seems to be feeling better but we won't take him back to the vet until next week. I don't like it that he is still dripping blood spots on the wood floors now and then.

I've been making two batches of food per day until yesterday when I just doubled everything. My rice cooker is finally getting a work out! I've added some chicken breasts, finely chopped, to his diet of rice and cottage cheese. I've discovered if I put the chicken tenders in the steamer of my rice cooker, it all gets done at once.

It's one thing making food for a smaller dog but making food for 120 pound Dubs keeps me jumping. Of course, Isabelle, our bulldog, thinks she needs "medicine" too, so I am mixing a bit of cottage cheese, rice and chicken in with her dog food. (Spoiled dogs alert!)

I saw a rice cooker at Costco yesterday that is significantly larger than the one I have. If this special diet thing goes on for awhile, I'm going to spring the $30. for it so I can just make food once every other day. I bought a 5.5 quart mixing bowl so I don't have to keep washing my dish pan before and after I mix the food.

The other night DH came home to me cooking away - but not for his dinner. I was cooking for the dogs. My priorities are straight. He can fix himself something. The dogs can't. LOL! (He did without complaint.)

Aw, what a gem your DH is!!

Yes, I would imagine cooking for a 120 pound dog would keep you very busy. Great idea to put the chicken tenders in with the rice. Aside from saving a step, I'd guess that the rice gets a nice "chicken flavor" infusion that way.

I'm glad Dubs seems to be feeling better and I hope he gets a good report from the vet next week. Until then I guess you'll be cooking extra since you can't leave Isabelle out!

Thank you for understanding about my boy....

Golddust and Whitdobe - Was wondering how Dubs and Mason are doing?

I've been wondering about Dubs too and checking for an update. Golddust, how is he doing?