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Managing pain with possible liver disease and pancreatitis

Gene&Janet

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Marty (Our dog with the elevated liver levels and pancreatitis )has been throwing up. So we withheld food and water for awhile today and then gave him a small meal tonight. He is whimpering and extending his body in pain now. We have some anti nausea medicine and buphrenorphine. We are concerned though about how these drugs affect his liver and pancreas. We are wondering how to help him through this episode. The last episode he had like this was in the beginning of July. Any thoughts on what to do would be appreciated.
 

Dr. Jeff

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Hi Gene and Janet-

Thanks for posting this important question on the forum.

I hope you also received my email reply last night.

In it I mentioned giving a redose of the Pulsatilla that you had initially given.

The rationale being that it can help him re-balance overall and during an acute flare-up of his chronic dis-ease.

If however the symptoms or triggers differed from what you have seen in the past, then an acute homeopathic medicine is indicated.

You can choose acute remedies based on the new symptoms. Learning the 4 Awe-some A remedies is a great place to start:

 

Gene&Janet

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Thank you, yes we received the email and gave the pulsatilla around 4pm today. Marty has been quiet today but not demonstrating discomfort like yesterday. We are not giving him boiled chicken, and so far today he has not thrown up. After a good conversation with one of the members at Mondays webinar, Gene was encouraged to make a snack of fresh salmon and vegetables cooked briefly in the instant Pot today. ( We have always given a small chicken snack in the middle of the day.) All the dogs got about a tablespoon around noon to see how they managed. So far no throwing up from anybody.

It was interesting to see that Marty could feel better without the traditional medication and antibiotics. Lots to learn! We are looking into the 4Awesome A remedies now. We are very grateful for your support and patience with us.
 

Dr. Jeff

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You're very welcome, Gene and Janet. I'm so glad that Marty is better! :snowman:

Fantastic that you and @ivegrgas were able to chat further after the Monday webinar.

Ive is very knowledgeable about ways for you to work with Marty's body by building and preserving vitality and balance. It was super nice of him!

Thank you Ive both for helping Marty and for being the wonderful work as a Holistic Ambassador!!
 

Dr. Jeff

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IMHO, there are at least two big take-homes from Marty's "pancreatitis".

First is that focusing any treatment on a single symptom does not reflect the individual or "bigger picture".

It is often more effective, and enhances our pets' quality of life, to base lifestyle and medical decisions on the whole animal and the bigger picture of BEAM and the totality.

Second is that improvement of symptoms after using a drug is not necessarily cause and effect. It may be correlation and not causation.

For example, this was sent by Janet today after she gave the individualized remedy to Marty who had a "pancreatitis" pain flare:

It is an eye opener to see him feel better without the pain med and antibiotics

Pets' have self-healing mechanisms that allow them to heal without most medications.
 

Gene&Janet

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Our dog Marty has had a few difficult days. Janet has too. Marty is a chihuahua who weighs about 7 pounds. The last few days he's had bouts of vomiting, especially at night. Last night he was not vomiting food, so I think he digested that, but clear liquid. He would drink water and then vomit. I took him to our regular vet today and she mentioned a few things one being irritable bowel syndrome. She said IBS could inflame the pancreas. She also thought that he was nauseous because his stomach was empty, drink water but was still nauseous and then vomit. Then repeat that cycle. She gave him injections of amoxicillin and cerenia and some subcutaneous fluids.
We've slowly been trying to unravel this puzzle of what's going on with Marty. My questions to the group are: could this be IBS? We stopped giving chicken to Marty thinking he might be allergic to chicken and that seems to have helped. Do you think he'd be allergic to turkey too? Would a small meal just before bedtime be advisable? What is a good treatment for IBS if it is indeed that?
Our thanks to everyone!
 

Dr. Jeff

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Hi Gene and Janet. I'm so sorry to hear that Marty had another challenging night. :(

Did you dose him yesterday with the homeopathic medicine?

How often did he drink and vomit?

About how long after drinking would he vomit?

His microbiome and intestinal bacterial balance are almost definitely disrupted, resulting in some (or all) of his symptoms.

You can try a total fast or only feeding him Answer's fermented goat's milk which will soothe and heal his guts and help repopulate the flora.

Cerenia and fluids are perfect conventional support for vomiting.

Anti-biotics, anti-inflammatories or other things that work against the body aren't (IMO).
 

Gene&Janet

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Hello Dr. Jeff, it was another rough night last night. Marty appeared to be in more discomfort. He woke up about 1:30 in the morning to drink water. He was very bloated. Even with the subcutaneous fluid he still seems to be very thirsty. He drank more water an hour later. He did not drink water again though until 4:30am. He did not throw up last night but he did smack his lips as if he was nauseous. So I’m not sure that the cerina was helping. His stools are still normal.His beam is much lower and he’s not himself. he’s just laying there. He still seems to have an appetite though. We are giving him very small portions. Nighttime seem to be the hardest for him. I’m not sure why that is. We did forget to give him his dose of pulsatilsa last night. We will give it to him this morning. We are very worried and questioning ourselves. We appreciate your input. Thank you.
 

Dr. Jeff

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Sorry to hear about another rough night for Marty and you.

Did you dose?? If so, what, how (succussions, method of administration) and when?

Please also see my questions above and see if you can find the Answer's.
 

Gene&Janet

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Sorry to hear about another rough night for Marty and you.

Did you dose?? If so, what, how (succussions, method of administration) and when?

Please also see my questions above and see if you can find the Answer's.


Thank you for your response Dr, Jeff,

Gene and I were both at work today so some of the reports are from our son. He doesn’t know when Marty drank water and the time following before vomiting.
7:30am fed Marty 1/4 cup of the metabolic formula Just Food For Dogs(JFFD) Added a small amount of probiotics. (1/3 of a capsule of Vetri Mega Probiotic.)
1:00 PM Snack 1/4 c JFFD
1:20 PM threw up just about TBSP of food
1:45 PM threw up tiny bit of food less than tsp. Clear mucous in it.
2:30pm: His BEAM was about 65%, He was quiet and napping when I came home around 2:30 pm. His eyes aren’t as bright as usual.
We were about ready to go to emergency vet after learning that he was still throwing up. He went outside for a bit and sniffed around. It’s only 97 degrees outside.
3:00 Dosed pulsatilla 6c 20 succ. Q-tip dab on gums.(he bites or tries to lick q tip.)
3:30ish pm he got a ball and played with me for awhile. (He normally initiates play when I get home.) Marty played for about 20 minutes.. Not with the same intensity, but running, jumping and catching ball.
He was still burping and smacking his lips. Not constantly though. He is still bloated, but not as much as he was in the middle of the night.
After playing, he was quiet, energy is lower, but he is alert.
Gene is picking up the Answers fermented goats milk.
We have not given him the metronidazole as of yet. His last dose of cerinia was last night at 4:45.
I will follow the drinking and vomiting time frame tonight.
Stools remain the same as always— no diarrhea.

We are pretty concerned by the throwing up and go back and forth on the severity of the situation and the need to go to animal hospital. Just when we decide to go, Marty perks up. In the middle of the night he seems worse. I’m not sure this is irritated bowel syndrome, but I have know idea what sparked this.
 

Dr. Jeff

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Yes, I understand how worried you must be about all of Marty's vomiting and lowered BEAM.

When was his last homeopathic dose?

Regardless, you should see your local vet or go to the ER if he continues to vomit.
 

Gene&Janet

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Marty is doing much better! As you suggested Dr Jeff, we gave him small amounts of the Answers goat milk only on Saturday—no food. It really seemed to soothe him, and he kept it down. Then we started giving him a spoonful of his dog food every few hours on Sunday along w/Answers. He has not thrown up food, bile, or water since Friday. Stools are normal, but smaller and less frequent of course. His BEAM has been strong and he has not been waking up in the middle of the night.

We do notice that he is still a bit bloated after eating, even with small portions. I think we need to decide how much food he should have each day and divide it into portions so that we are more consistent.

We have dosed him with the Pulsatilla once a day around 4 o’clock (25 succ. 6c dab on gums with q-tip.)

Thank you for your phone call and support Dr. Jeff. We were really distraught trying to figure out what was the best thing to do.

P.S. All of our dogs love the Answers goats milk and send you many wags for recommending it.
 

Dr. Jeff

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You're welcome! It's great to hear that Marty feels better. :)
 

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