Pancreatitis help

Hello! My 4yr bichon Spayed female has recently been having issues with an inflamed pancreas. We have sought vet care for her. But our question is how do manage this? She's on a prescription diet but the vet bills are quite expensive. Aside from diet is there anything else to help her pancreas? To try and avoid these expensive vet bills?

I hope that you know this - you don't say anything that makes me want to think otherwise, but for you and anybody reading I want to be quite clear:  vets get as frustrated as owners about the financial constraints of treating cases.  This is simply a comment on the nature of private healthcare; as vets, we'd prefer to just do everything we can to make animals better.  The vets on the ground are rarely running the business.  It is even against the code and possibly the law to pay employee vets on commission in the UK.  Most vets are employees on a fixed wage who simply want to get on and treat your dog the best they can with the money that's available, just like you. Why I am going on about this?  Because one thing that owners don't do as much as I have always expected them to do, is initiate conversations about money.  I think owners assume that we'll think they don't care if they mention it.  It used to happen to me time and time again as a new grad that I'd be doing a posh, expensive work up, doing everything 'right' by the book and suddenly, the owner would stop coming back. - But we'd nearly cracked it! - But I can't afford any more. Ok so that's just real life, but hopefully you can see where I'm going - what the profession perhaps ought to be doing is talking to owners more about long-term ongoing costs in order that a decision can be made as to how to best treat the animal with the money that's available.   Vets don't like bringing it up (cos owners say: 'all they're interested in is how much money I've got) and owners don't like bringing it up ('cos they'll think we don't love our pet') but actually, what needs to happen, is you both need to address this.  

For example, there used to be a very low cost pet food available from supermarkets that, if vets knew owners were struggling, they would suggest that they bought instead of buying the posh diet.  Not as good, but nearly.  I don't know what the situation is regarding that now (pet food ingredients also change).  But it's worth an honest conversation with your vet and finding out, because at only 4 years old, there are hopefully many years of pancreatitis in front of you (it's not something they just recover from - a low fat diet will always be important) and it will benefit your dog - and therefore your vet - to find the most cost-efficient way of feeding a dog with pancreatitis safely.   If they don't have this figured out, there may be vets they are in touch with who can help. I'm afraid I don't know the answer at the moment, but hopefully someone will.  Best of luck.

It's not that the financial part is really the issue. I know the vets have no control of the cost of services. And of course they want to do everything to help us. But at the same time 2500$ a month is difficult to keep up with. I'm trying to find a solution to help my dog be comfortable and avoid any sort of flare up. How do I help her pancreas. How do I avoid a flare up. Of course she will be taken to the vet if it flares up.

I'm afraid that I stick to my answer;  it is a false economy to consult vets only when you get a flare-up;  flare-ups are expensive to treat and painful for the pet!  You are on the right lines looking at preventative diet instead.  Much less expensive and more welfare friendly to visit the vet to review diet, often with a nurse, making them aware of your budget, in order to work out a long-term diet option appropriate to the specific patient.  This may well avoid the flare-ups occurring in the first place. One time it would not prevent a flare up is if, for example, there was a tumour growing in the pancreas.  If there is a pre-existing tumour, it may continue to grow no matter what the diet.

However, with appropriate dog-specific preventative care, pancreatitis can often be controlled.   Best of luck