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Pancreatitis

20 11:37:22

Question
Hi Melinda,
Our 7 year-old yorkie, Jade, has been diagnosed with severe pancreatitis.  She was vomiting, having diarrhea, lethargic, shivering and cold to the touch.  When I took her in to the vet, he said she had a severe case of pancreatitis and would have to be admitted to the veterinary hospital.  She has been there for two days now, and although better than she was, is still not out of the woods in terms of recuperation.  I have researched this illness in dogs, and apparently yorkies are a breed that can be prone to pancretitis.  One cause is a high-fat diet, but I have always fed my dogs high-quality, holistic dog food, and except for an occasional treat of cheese, no "people food".  I am very upset that Jade is so ill.  She has already been dealing with a collapsed trachea, which requires medication from time to time, and I understand that even if she pulls through this bout of pancreatitis, it can reoccur.  Do you have any experience dealing with this, or can you offer me any advice?

Thank you for your time.

Vickie

Answer
Vickie,

In 25 years of breeding Yorkies I have never know anyone whose dog had pancreatitis.  I have had many breeder friends and most of the people who bought puppies from me have kept in touch with cards pictures and letters and none of them has ever had a dog with it.

I know you said you did research and that Yorkies are prone to it but being prone to something does not necessarily mean that there is a high incidence of occurrences.  Most small dogs have illnesses that are characteristic of their small dog designation.  This is also true of most breeds.  An example would be that small dogs are more prone to have seizure disorders than large dogs.  However, over the years I only had one dog that actually had a seizure disorder.  You did not say what size Jade is but what I have noticed is the smaller the Yorkie the more health problems they have.  

You stated that one of the reasons for pancreatitis was a high fat diet.  Again, that is a very generalized reason but may not be true in all cases.  My dogs have always had table scraps and when my females were pregnant I always fed them meat to help supplement their diets yet I never had a dog with the disease.  Most people do not understand that while a dog is domesticated its origins are from the wild and that meat is an essential factor in their growth and health.  Pets have become big business and because of this they now have almost all of the same diseases as people and just as many tests, medications and diet suggestions as people.  

What has not changed however, is that the decision on what to do about it remains the burden of the owner.  Ultimately it is up to you how much pain and suffering you want to put your dog through in order to keep them alive.  At seven years of age your baby is still very young but you may have to face the sad reality that she will not be living to the normal 10 to 15 year life span of a small dog.  If you trust your vet to be honest with you and you are confident that he is not just running tests and treating her just to keep her alive for a little longer then ask him to tell you the truth.  

First and foremost I would want to know how much she is suffering.  Is she in pain?  What will her quality of life be like if she pulls through?  Will she be sick all the time?  Sometimes we already know the answers to these questions but we are not willing to face the truth because if we do then we will no longer be able to avoid having to make the difficult decisions that pet owners often have to make. As a rule vets will not tell you that you should put your pet down.  It is an unspoken rule they have but if you read between the lines you can usually hear them telling you just that.  They say things like, You could do this or you could do that but it may not work, or we could try this or that but..... I think you get what I am saying.

You then have to ask yourself some of the hard questions.  Am I keeping my baby alive and putting her through all this for her sake or mine?  I know that this is probably not what you expected or what you wanted to hear but I read through the lines and I felt it was what needed to be said.  From what you have told me your poor baby has had a difficult time of it health wise and my heart goes out to both you and her.  It is a really hard thing to watch your baby suffer and I don't envy you the tough road you will have ahead no matter what you decide.

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