dog pancreatitis

Question
Hello,
we had a poodle taken to the vet for vomiting, weakness, diarhhea, abdominal distention and pain.
These symptoms started around 7pm and dog taken to vet around 1 pm next day. After consultation, and tests, vet explained dog levels of pancreatic markers Amylase 1582 and Lipase 5662, so levels were extremely high according to vet. X-ray revealed stomach walls very thich, Ultrasound showed dilated bowel, possible foreign body, seed, small liver and extremly thick wall in stomach.
Vet was giving 20cc per hour, and we wander if this was sufficient for the dog who was hypothermic at 96 degrees along with being severely dehydrated, and vomiting blood. Was this vet aggresive enough?
Unfortunatedly the dog didnt make it, and passed away 6 hours later, broke my girlfriends heart.

She aslo stated that he always had a sensitive stomach and her and her mother constantly watched the dogs diet.

please advise of any new info you may have as i think she needs some type of closure..

thank you for all your help.

paul

Dr. Maria Valdes, Palm Beach Gastroenterology Consultants

Answer
I am very sorry to hear about your Poodle. This is a very hard way to lose a pet.
I am not quite sure who I am addressing here as there are three different names on this question.

I think you are saying that the vet was giving her fluids at 20cc an hour but you didn't state that. That is the normal drip rate for a small dog. Anymore than that and the body cannot handle it and you can actually kill a dog with more.

This dog might not have made it no matter what with such an acute and severe episode of pancreatitis. Dogs usually get this when they are given something different in their diet suddenly- a piece of ham, a tidbit of this or that. the enzymes and liver function in this dog was way out of normal range- indicating an extremely inflamed liver and pancreas.

The your girlfriend might gain closure by knowing she did the best thing she could do by getting the dog into the vets.
Sometimes these things are out of our hands and all we can do is say, well I tried. I know it is very painful to lose a pet this way. Give her time and she will start to understand that we can only do the best we can. If she ever gets another dog she can make sure it gets a healthy start and feeds it correctly and gets it spayed and vaccinated yearly and keeps it on heartworm prevention. Doing these things is what we can do to do the best for our pets. We cannot change things when they are out of our control.

Please give her my regards and I hope that she finds some comfort knowing she did the best she could for her pet.