9 y.o. Gold Retreiver No bowel movement

[wareagle1776]

My dog has not had a bowel movement in approx. 3 days even after a couple of enemas started yesterday.X-rays have shown he is full and has no blockage at all, he is currently taking amoxicillin,metoclopramide ,famotidine and recieving 1000 ml lactated ringers twice a day started today on the fluid. He has been diagnosed with pancreatitus and is currently not eating or drinking. Vet has said there is not much more they can do except wait and see. Anybody out there have any ideas or is this perhaps the end of life situation.



Thanks Robert

[pugsrule]

Robert, i am so sorry to hear this. Is it an acute pancreatitis attack, or does he have chronic attacks!?

I see from the meds he is on, they are mostly anti nausea or antibiotic. I am very surprised they do nothave him on pain meds. this is pretty standard practice, as it can be very painful.

If I were you, I would send Dr Lee a pm on here, and see if he can help you out. I personally dont think it is usually an end of life situation, but I am no vet.

Prayers Joan

[wareagle1776]

Actually this is the second attack in 2 weeks and just right now he threw up about an ice cubes worth of water as thats all he had in him. His blood work yesterday showed his pancreatitus as not being as severe but this time his liver was showing a little high on the numbers but vet said it wasn't bad. He was hospitalized first time and this time I'm doing fluid shots here and at this point he's not gaining but perhaps holding steady since his fluids this morning. I'm not sure there's anything more to do but keep him comfortable he does not seem to be in pain but perhaps he's just tough and is not showing it.

[aslan]

i've pm'd Dr. Lee to check this thread when he logs on..I hope your baby feels better soon.

[wareagle1776]

Thank You, I appreciate it.




Robert

[Dr Lee]

Originally Posted by wareagle1776

My dog has not had a bowel movement in approx. 3 days even after a couple of enemas started yesterday.X-rays have shown he is full and has no blockage at all, he is currently taking amoxicillin,metoclopramide ,famotidine and recieving 1000 ml lactated ringers twice a day started today on the fluid. He has been diagnosed with pancreatitus and is currently not eating or drinking. Vet has said there is not much more they can do except wait and see. Anybody out there have any ideas or is this perhaps the end of life situation.

While I haven't seen your pet and am not fully aware of the case, it is unusual for canine constipation to constitute an "end of life situation." Usually focusing on the underlying disease (i.e. pancreatitis) and supportive care will take care of the constipation issues. In cats, I have had cases of complete obstipation where the cat needs to be anesthetized to manually evacuate the colon. However in dogs, addressing hydration, managing the underlying condition, diet change, enemas and laxatives will virtually always resolve the constipation. I had a case of a dog eating a huge amount of sand at the beach. Upon rectal, his stool felt like rock. Repeated enemas, laxatives, some pain medication and the pet was able to pass everything with ease.

Some other things to consider: "nothing in, nothing out" - if the pet isn't eating, then stool is not being made, so not evacuating the colon, is not always a problem; if there is not an anatomic disease (ie tumor) that is not allowing the colon to be emptied, then medical management should be able to address the issue; and finally, pancreatitis can be a very serious condition - this is the area that needs to be focused on (assuming no other conditions).

I hope that this helps.

[wareagle1776]

Thank you for your response, I guess I'm not seeing any improvement as far as he will not stand up or anything at this point, perhaps a little worsening in his overall appearance, will continue to monitor his condition and hope for the best. Thanks again

Robert

[pugsrule]

can you ask your vet for some pain meds? metacam or something similar may get him feeling better, and then he would eat. Please consider a phone call to your vet to see if this is a possibility.

[wareagle1776]

I won't offer him any food until tomorrow, as his stomach needs to heal and I don't think the vet thought he was in pain although he thought that he should be. First thing in the morning I'll call and see what he thinks. He seems to be very comfortable right now and I hope it continues

Robert

[pugsrule]

pancreatitis by definition is inflammation of the pancreas. An anti-inflammatory is certainly indicated to prevent further damage to the pancreas up to and including diabetes. JMO