My senior dog has pancreatitis and is declining. What's her prognosis?

Hi there and thank you for using Petco Pet Education Center, formerly Petcoach to address your concern. There are quite a few changes on the lab results. This could be a severe case of pancreatitis in addition to a severe systemic infection or there could be a malignancy somewhere causing all of these changes. The anemia could be due to a chronic infection as well or a malignancy. I would recommend hospitalizing for at least 2-3 days and see how Aiko does with fluid therapy and antibiotics and if no improvement, you may need to consider letting her go if she worsens or does not improve. A diagnostic abdominal ultrasound would certainly be helpful in trying to determine what all is going on and if there is a potential malignancy in the abdomen. I hope Aiko gets better! Please let me know if you have any other questions or concerns and I would be more than happy to help you further.

I think it depends on how stable she is, what her overall quality of life is aside from this sudden new issue. (Here is some helpful information about quality of life: https://www.lapoflove.com/Quality-of-Life ). It also depends on her prognosis after surgery, which your vet can help you determine. I think surgery and euthanasia are both reasonable in this situation, but the can't tell you which would be better from your description. I hope that helps and I'm sorry your family is going through this.

I am so sorry to hear that your pet has so many major issues that are debilitating and causing her to have a poor quality of life. I do think that if her condition cannot be improved with medications then it is someting you should discuss with your veterinarian. Humane euthansia, although it is probably not something you want to consider, should be considered if Sophie is not able to helped with medical management. However, there are pain medications that can be tried to see if they make a difference. You can discuss with your vet about trying Tramadol and/or Gabapentin to help with pain management. Probiotics can also be tried to help with her diarrhea, as well as a high fiber diet such as Royal Canin Gasrointestinal High Fiber (Rx). It sounds like she may have cancer involving her nervous system, which is why she can't maintain her mobitliy well. Poor girl. I hope that you can come to terms with her condition and maybe there is more you can try with her. Best wishes with Sophie. We are also available for a private consultation if you need to discuss more about Sophie's condition and futher care recommendations. Take care.

I am so sorry to hear about Snowflake and that she has been so sick lately. My biggest concern would be whether or not the pancreatitis that isn’t improving could be related to the uterine tumor. I am definitely concerned that if the uterine tumor is malignant that it could have spread to other areas. I would definitely talk with your vet in the morning about the risks of surgery versus do they think removing the uterine tumor will help her feel better. Also, I think it would be okay to wait until tomorrow morning unless you think she is in distress or she has gotten worse. If she is breathing heavily and her gums are not pink then I would be concerned and take her to the emergency clinic. I don’t know all the details of the case so I cannot say for sure, but the fact that her pancreatitis isn’t improving concerns me and her overall prognosis is poor. I hope this helps to guide you in her treatment. I am sorry you all are having to go through this. Hugs to you and Snowflake.

Hi, thanks for using Petco Pet Education Center, formerly Petcoach! Poor Roxy! It is possible she is having a flare up of pancreatitis, but she is 9 years old so we need to be mindful of other things as well. She could be painful in her neck or back or have a different metabolic condition (liver, kidney problem or diabetes). I think starting the omerprazole as prescribed by your Vet is fine. For my patients with pancreatitis I do a low fat diet for life. If she is not eating and still acting abnormal when your Vet opens I would have her seen. Pancreatitis makes them nauseous and is painful. I treat with pain medications, antibiotics and antinausea medications. The omeprazole is just an antacid and will not help much for the nausea and pain. I hope this helps and I wish Roxy a speedy recovery!

Thanks for using Petco Pet Education Center, formerly Petcoach! I recommend taking him to the vet right away. He may have a back up of fluid into his lungs basically making him feel like he is drowning. I cannot give him a prognosis and tell you how much time he has left without knowing more about his case. You need blood work, X-rays and a possible ultrasound of his heart to know the severity and what is going on right now. If you are unable to do the full work up, discussing euthanasia would not be a bad idea because he is currently suffering. I hope this helps. Good luck and kisses to Baylor!

I am so sorry to hear about Lola. It is so hard with senior pets to know when it's time to say goodbye. I know how hard it is as I lost my 15 and a half year old guy last year. The blood work values you report are very concerning. The question is if there is something that has acutely changed to make her become a lot worse, or is this simply progression of underlying chronic kidney disease. There are other disease processes that can complicate chronic kidney disease like infection, pancreatitis, high bood pressure, infectious diseases, etc. Really what your pet needs is to be hospitalized with intravenous fluids, supportive care (anti nausea medications, etc.), and to try to figure out if there's an underlying problem exacerbating the kidney disease. This will require more tests such as an abdominal ultrasound, urine culture, and potentially other things as dictated by the case. I would not give up hope until trying these things because you won't know if this will help her until you try. The opposite would be true if a pet in this situation were hospitalized for two to three days and there was no improvement in the blood work or symptoms. Then, if all the treatment options are exhausted, and the pet has poor quality of life a different decision may be reached. As dogs do not tolerate chronic kidney disease as well as cats being diagnosed for a year without progression is excellent. Sometimes having a consultation with an internal medicine specialist can really help. Your family vet would likely be able to provide a referral if you and he or she thinks this would be a valuable step. I hope this helps and that Lola feels better soon. Thank you for using pet coach.