Post pancreatitis

Good morning ! My dog has thankfully recovered from what was a long bout of pancreatitis earlier this year. Our vet said we can now only feed her less than 5% fat food and we seem to have finally got a food routine that’s working. We feed her little and often, a mix of boiled chicken and veg, white fish and veg and a small portion of hills Id tinned food. This is what has got her stable finally. It’s amazing to see her play and want to go out again as at 11 we thought the worse for a while. However, we now are left with the following which she never used to do… 1) she now licks her lips a lot during the night 2) she chews her rear end , main,y at night ( she never used to do this) 3) she scoots after eating her food (glads have been checked, once needed emptying however still scooted the same day and every day after) 4) breathless after excersize. We know she has 2 heart murmurs that have never needed attention or meds , however due to the not wanting to go out and being breathless we tried her on heart meds after we got the pancreatic flare under control. However , she was just constantly sleeping while on them which we feel was definitely the meds as we tried a week on and a week off twice and each time they made her soo lethargic. BUT now the weather has dropped she’s NOT breathless. In fact we have been taking her to the woods again ( something we never thought wood be possible after the awful few months we’d had) and she’s sprinting around after squirrels like a 6 year old dog, not one who’s nearly 12 ! ) It’s amazing to see her running around again , which is now making me wonder if she can’t take any heat anymore ? Is there any other conditions that cause this ? A few people in a dogs with pancreatitis group have suggested we tried her on omeprazole when she was in a flare up in case she had reflux and they made her vomit every time. We tried slippery elm, also made all symptoms worse. Does anyone have any ideas ? Our vet doesn’t seem very interested when we keep going back with these symptoms , just checks her anal glands and that’s it. Were Thinking it must be connected to pancreatitis as she didn’t used to do it before the last big flare up.

Hello and thankyou for these excellent questions.  It's fantastic that you have your dogs' turbulent pancreas appears to be under control and that she is experiencing a new lease of life.  However, at second glance: 1) It sounds as though your vet hasn't yet addressed the question of whether  low level pancreatitis (it is a chronic, ongoing disease like asthma or diabetes) could be causing the additional symptoms that you are seeing.  Lip-licking can be a mild sign of nausea and it may be that the pancreatitis isn't completely under control.  Furthermore, licking various points of the body is not always connected with allergy or fleas or indeed any skin disease; increasingly, vets are finding that it can be connected to low-level pain, again consistent with mild rumbling pancreatitis.  The anal glands may feel different because of the radical change in diet, and have simply become a convenient place to lick. I wonder whether your vet feels that further pain meds or pancreatitis treatment might help.  If you are in the UK, allergy / fleas etc (which may play a part in skin disease) are hardly seasonal at the moment.  If they do not not recognise this possibility (it is a relatively new change in pancreatitis management) Perhaps they can refer you for a one-off check with a medical expert. ²) a more worrying possibility could be that there is other underlying disease eg pancreatic cancer, which is the case for some very lucky pancreatitis sufferers. However, your dog appears to be doing well so got me, a trial increase in pain meds or insisting on a review with a medical expert to see if you can get to the bottom of these other concerns, might both be steps with considering. 3) if your dog is doing more exercise than ever before, an increase in breathlessness may be normal but it could be that a review of the heart would be useful.   Wishing you and your dog all the very best

Hello and thankyou for these excellent questions.  It's fantastic that your vet sounds to have got your dogs pancreas under control and that she is experiencing a new lease of life.  However, I wonder whether low level pancreatitis could continue to be behind the signs that you are seeing.  Lip licking can be a sign of nausea so it may be that the underlying pancreatitis is not yet under control.  Furthermore, while licking body-parts could be part of many types of skin disease, it can also be an expression of pain such as that caused by pancreatitis.  I wonder whether your vet feels that further pain meds could help.  A more worrying possibility is that the pancreatitis could be linked to some other underlying illness - in extremis, this has included cancer.  Therefore, further imaging, a review by a medical specialist or trail pain relief may be worth considering.  If your dog is feeling better and exercising more than previously, an increase in breathlessness may be appropriate but your vet may also ask for further heart investigation should they be concerned.  In short it may definitely be worth presenting your dog at the vets again and asking further questions.  We wish you all the very best.

(ps an increase in panting can also relate to pain, including abdominal pain relating to pancreatitis).