This Yorkshire Terrier had Pancreatitis
As a Yorkie, I can tell you having Pancreatitis is not fun…it hurts…and it’s kept me from wanting to blog for a long time, but I’m feeling great now, back to pestering my owner regularly, and now she appreciates it because it means I’m feeling good>:-)<
I am hoping that I went through might help other Yorkie friends out there.
Over the years, I’ve been getting (sorry, this is yucky) diarrhea a lot easier than I used to depending upon what I eat. So my owner has been doing all kinds of things to take things out of my diet, and carefully add new things, very gradually, that’s what you have to do when you’re changing foods with a Yorkie.
One day a month or so ago, I got really bad, and we went to the Vet. We’ve done that before, but this time, the did a blood test for Pancreatitis, and I came up as having it. There are really no medications for this, but they did treat it in almost the same way as they did a year ago in January, 2009, and then we just had to watch and see.
Here’s some things my owner did wrong (I forgive her) and what the doctor had us do:
- My owner gave me Chicken Livers the night before, you would think that wouldn’t bother me, but it’s very rich and high in cholesterol. When I was younger, I could handle more foods than I can now.
- The next day I had VERY yellow diarrhea, and was throwing up, also yellow, and walked around with my back kind of hunched and head down because it hurt inside. So we made an appointment with the Veterinarian. So important if you think something serious is wrong.
- The vet gave me subcutaneous (I think that’s the word) fluids, they put a lot of water just under my skin with a needle to help with dehydration since….
- I wasn’t allowed to drink or eat anything for 24 hours!!! But it wasn’t that bad, I wasn’t feeling well at all so not very hungry, and if I did eat was in pain.
- I was given 1/4 of a 10mg Pepcid A/C tablet on an empty stomach in the afternoon a 1/2-1 hours before when I would have had my dinner, then every 24 hours for a week before my evening meal. The veterinarian had us add another week on because I still wasn’t quite right after a week. After finding that to be a battle (I hate taking pills), and after I had started eating again, my owner added it to just a tiny bit of chicken breast so I wouldn’t notice it, then gave me the rest of my meal later.
- I had to eat several small meals a day of white rice (or I like Gerber’s baby flaked rice…just about a tablespoon mixed in with the cut up chicken with a little water added) and chicken breast, morning, mid morning, noon, mid afternoon, and dinner time, about 2 tablespoons of food each time until I got better.
I finally did get better, then there was the quest to find the right food for me, that’s another story that we’ll share with you in our next post.
It’s good to feel good again!
Thanks for the info. I printed it and will save it incase we should have a problem. Thanks for sharing.
Fran
My baby is four y/o and he is still sick. He did not want to eat, started vomiting yellow and a little bit of diarrea. Very lethargic. Took him to the vet and she says he has pancreatitis. Gave him antibiotics. pain medicine. and some special gastrointestinal health food in a can – prescription diet. He did not want to eat at first . after two days with the antibiotics he is eating but he looks very deppressed and lethargic.
What else should i do?
I am sorry to hear about your Yorkie. It is a good sign that he is eating. When it first started, I had to take all food and water away for 24 hours…they put water under her skin to carry her through. Then I as to give her 1/4 a pepcid A/C which = 2 1/4 mg. 1/2 hours before a meal the next day. I could not get this into her without putting it inside a bit of boiled chicken, but that worked. Then feed cut up boiled chicken breast and rice. You can’t give yorkies foods with high fat content..cold cuts or any seasoned meats…they have very sensitive digestive systems. I triggered the problem b giving her chicken livers. I find she does okay on pedigree chicken and rice, the ground variety, and mighty dog rotisserie chicken and only chicken breast meat with no fat. Have to be very strict about her diet.
Dear Aspen,
I’m sorry to hear of your ordeal. I sympathize because I have had the same kind of belly ache. I’m feeling better now, but I miss my yummy, crunchy dry-food pebbles. Penny, my owner, has explained to me that I must eat this wet food that is low in fat and better for me. It smells funny and isn’t as much fun as the pebbles that I would sometimes toss into the air and pounce on before I ate them. However, if it helps me get better, I guess I can get used to it. My hope is that after a week or two, Penny will ask the Vet if we can switch to freshly boiled chicken breast and rice instead of the canned stuff. I have also had to give up my tiny dog biscuit treats. Penny (my Mommy), and my people brother, Chip, give me lots of love and play fetch and tug with me, so I am going to try to adjust to this diet change so that I can stay healthy and love them back. My daddy, David, passed away this year. I miss him, but he is an angel now and he visits me and asks me to try real hard to like my new food so that I can continue to make my Mommy happy. Good luck to you, Aspen. Your friend, GeeGee
Hi GeeGee – I’m happy to hear that you are feeling better, it sounds like your vet told you to do the same thing my owners did. My owner was able to change back to the other foods I liked in time, but I only can eat one kind of canned and one dry that she found would agree with me. I am SOO sorry to hear about your Daddy. Please tell your Mommy that we are all sorry to hear that and will pray for her. When sad things happen, we feel it too, and it can cause symptoms like you are experiencing. I hope all of you feel better soon.