Treating Pancreatitis

[Guest spinround]

Ok a friend of mine is having an issue. She has a dog and a cat, both of whom have been diagnosed with pancreatitis. She spends $250-300/month on food and meds. She feeds both cat and grey low-residue food which she mixes with Rd Kibble and Rd canned food. They are take Enacard, Dermacaps and Arthogen twice daily.

 

In addition to all of this they have to go for annual bloodwork, stool samples and shots. The greyhound had a reaction to his shots two years ago so now he has to go in every couple of weeks for one shot at a time (and each time they go in they get banged for an office visit).

 

So, purely from your experience, do you think the vet is looking out for the best interests of these animals or the best interest of his bottom line?

[Guest BigPercyInMa]

Sounds like a lot to me!

Also, when I used to have to take my Collie in for her weekly Allergy shots, I only had to pay for the shots, never for an office visit! Then I learned to give the shots myself and I just bought 4 at a time. Maybe that's an option for your friend to save a bit of money there.

[Guest alannamac]

Why shots annually? Pancreatitis usually comes in waves and is not constant, chronic......but rather episodic and then vanishes for a time.....

What exactly are the shots? This sounds kind of weird to me......as far as I know, with cats it's relatively rare, until they're really ill, that cats are even diagnosed with pancreatititis...and even if diagnosed early, the only treatment is a shot to stimulate appetite (as they've usually been brought in because they're not well, and not eating), as well as antibiotics (to keep bacterial levels low in the gi tract and pancreas) and daily pain meds.......because it is known that in humans and dogs, pancreatitis is terribly painful...and it's extrapolated to be so therefore in cats too, although difficult to tell, since they're the epitome of "stiff upper lip" types.

For dogs, oral pain meds, a low fat diet (which is hopefully helpful, but no one really is sure), and again antibiotics.....all of these (with exception of appetite stimuant) are oral.......

blood work should be done on occasion to check amylase levels, (an enzyme the pancreas secretes, to see if things are still hyperactive and treatment is necessary) as far as I know, these things fluctuate.....pancreas goes bananas for a while and then sometimes sits normally for a spell....maybe this is the reason for the vet bills of constant shots? really bloodwork?

Frankly once the diagnosis is made, it seems that you shouldn't have to keep paying for bloodwork and shots.....just meds to control pain, antibiotics, and appetite stimulants.....you already know the symptoms of when the animal is "off", and just treat when necessary.

P.S. sorry to hear of this, pancreatitis is awful......please use lots of daily pain meds when you see symptoms if at all possible...it puts them in a bit of a stupor, but, they stop associating eating with pain and start eating again...then rebound usually........my father's cat is currently on barbituates (when needed....it gets her eating...even though dopey from the pain med) as well as amoxycillin when she goes off her food.

[grey14me]

The greyhound had a reaction to his shots two years ago so now he has to go in every couple of weeks for one shot at a time

 

what shots?

 

I agree that pancreatitis is something to try to avoid, but it isn't something that you are constantly 'treating' other than with diet.

 

I always kept pepcid on hand, and at the first sign of an upset stomach, would give one. it is the same medicine that they give when they are being treated in the hospital for pancreatitis.

[BauersMom]

I know LadyChester's Lady was diagnosed with pancreatitis at one point - and she would have 'flare ups' occasionally, but I certainly don't remember her having to go into the vet for regular shots?

 

 

[Greytlady94]

What are the annual shots?

 

My dogs get bloodwork, urinalysis, & stool sample checked, I actually have it done every six months now that they are in "middle age", but they do not get annual shots.

 

[Guest spinround]

Sorry the shots are not related to pancreatitis, just part of his annual routine (Rabies every 3 years, DA2PP, Bortadella, etc. the usual stuff). I was just floored when she said she has to pay an office visit for each one!

 

Everything I have read suggests that this should not be a chronic condition requiring so much daily care, but I'm not a vet and have no personal experience with pancreatitis. But everything I read makes me question it more and more. We certainly appreciate the feedback from the Greytalk Gurus

[Greytlady94]

Maybe she should get a second opinion on the pancreatitis.

 

Most vets here are doing a 3 year protocol on shots except for bordatella.

[BauersMom]

Maybe she should get a second opinion on the pancreatitis.

 

Most vets here are doing a 3 year protocol on shots except for bordatella.

 

Yeah, I was just going to ask how a 3 year shot becomes MORE frequent when there's a bad reaction?

 

If anything, I'd go to yearly titers if my guys ever had a bad reaction to a vaccine. I certainly wouldn't want to give them shots more often? Unless I'm missing something?

 

 

[Guest Tenderhearts]

I would definitely question what the vet is doing. In addition to what everyone else has brought up, I am also curious why R/D formula is being fed? That is for weight management in obese dogs/cats.

 

The dogs I knew from working for my vet who were sensitive to flareups of the pancreatitis were on the W/D formula.

 

Enacard is a heart medication for congestive heart failure. Both the cat and dog have cardiac issues?

[Burpdog]

I'd get a second opinion.

 

Some dogs may be prone to pancretitis, but monitoring regular diet should control it. I've not had one of mine that continued on a special diet except for lower fat.

 

The protocol for shots according to the AMVA is every 3 years and if I had a dog that had a reaction, I wouldn't be giving them except for rabies which is required by law.

 

 

[MP_the4pack]

I'm babysitting a dog with bouts of pancreatitis. They just switched her to all low fat treats and food. There's nothing else, no special expensive diet only available from the vets or anything else.

It also sounds a little odd to have both pets with the same diagnosis.

 

I'm seconding the second opinion.

 

 

 

[DaisyDoodle]

If I were this person, first, I'd make sure I understood the diagnosis, and what all meds, foods were being prescribed for. Then, I'd get a second opinion, and price out everything at a couple of other vets' offices. I'd also look into buying things like Dermacaps on-line.

 

I've never had an animal w pancreatitis, but from what others are saying, if your friend has all the details correct, then she probably needs to find another vet.

[Guest LadyChester]

Eliza - drop me an e-mail or pm. We went through an awful lot with Lady so I have some experience with this and vets in CT. I sure hope this isn't Spencer, is it???

[Guest LynnM]

Enacard is for high blood pressure/heart failure (it's an adjunct, used with a diuretic like Lasix or spironolactone... it doesn't do much of anything on its own for dogs).

 

Does your friend know exactly what med/treatment/shot is for what condition? If not, she needs to book some time with the vet and get it all sorted out. Your rundown is very confusing, to say the least.... it doesn't sound like any protocol I've heard of.

 

Lynn

[ml529]

Maybe she should get a second opinion on the pancreatitis.

 

Most vets here are doing a 3 year protocol on shots except for bordatella.

 

Yeah, I was just going to ask how a 3 year shot becomes MORE frequent when there's a bad reaction?

 

If anything, I'd go to yearly titers if my guys ever had a bad reaction to a vaccine. I certainly wouldn't want to give them shots more often? Unless I'm missing something?

 

 

having had some experience with this, what the vet is likely doing with the shots is one shot every year, so they are still getting the shots on a three year cycle, its just a different shot each year to prevent a reaction. My cat would get distemper one year, rabies the next, etc etc.

[Guest darcysmama]

Pancreatitis is definitely not fun - I had a senior non-grey with it on and off for 2 years. The low fat diet certainly helped, along with Zantac twice a day (which is almost the same thing as Pepcid I believe). I'd probably try to minimize all the vaccines as any extra stress on the system won't be helpful....

[Guest Ola]

No experience with pancreatitis, but if the dog has reactions to vaccines, why are they still giving them, never mind annually??? I'd be doing what is required by law, only (usually this is only rabies every 3 years). If his immune system is reacting to the vaccines, there's no need to stress it even more! Spacing out shots is a good general practice, but for a dog with vaccine issues you need to go further than that IMHO.

[BauersMom]

Maybe she should get a second opinion on the pancreatitis.

 

Most vets here are doing a 3 year protocol on shots except for bordatella.

 

Yeah, I was just going to ask how a 3 year shot becomes MORE frequent when there's a bad reaction?

 

If anything, I'd go to yearly titers if my guys ever had a bad reaction to a vaccine. I certainly wouldn't want to give them shots more often? Unless I'm missing something?

 

 

having had some experience with this, what the vet is likely doing with the shots is one shot every year, so they are still getting the shots on a three year cycle, its just a different shot each year to prevent a reaction. My cat would get distemper one year, rabies the next, etc etc.

 

I understand that, but not spacing it out every few WEEKS, as it sounds like.

 

[Guest spinround]

It is possible that I am confused on what she said about the frequency of the shots. I was trying to get as much info up as possible and typed more than questioned!

[Guest Snowy8]

I had an elkhound that had it 3 times (3rd was fatal)...he never got a shot. He went in for his annual shots like rabies but I've never heard of a shot for pancreatitus.

[Guest CyndiW]

We are dealing with pancreatitis right now and I will say the prescription food is very expensive. Alex is on Royal Canin LF which is almost $5.00 a can and he needs 3.5-4 cans a day. The PLI blood test for this is also very expensive and has to be sent to IDEXX. He is also on 10mg of the generic of Prilosec and it was $102 for 30 days (because it is a prescription to get the 10 mg) plus he takes Reglan (which is fairly inexpensive). However, after a few weeks on this food his PLI finally came back normal and the surgeon who has been treating him (for something else that caused the pancreatitis) has told us to start mixing back in his regular food and then have him retested in 3-4 weeks. She said once a dog has a serious case of pancreatitis then he his more susceptible to getting it again so we will always have to be careful and not feed him fatty foods. In fact, I just bought another case of this food and a 33 lb bag of dry. The expiration date is 2009 so we plan to try to keep some of the cans back just in case he has another bad case of it. The vet acted like our first signs will be vomiting because the pancreas starts to reject food when it acts up. I haven't done much research on it but it sounds like it is an on and off condition and when it acts up it can be expensive.