[Dailydrool] Maggie's diet problems

[rebecca lando]

Hi Leah,

My boyfriend's parents have a big wonderful Akita/St. Bernard mix, Professor
Bix. He's now 12, but he nearly didn't make it past 8. Four years ago, he
started losing weight rapidly. No matter how much they fed him, he just got
skinnier and skinnier and went from 106 lbs (remember, Akita/St. Bernard) to
70 lbs in only 6 weeks. His coat and eyes went dull, he had constant
diarrhea, and he barely had the strength to move. He was checked repeatedly
for cancer, put on IVs, etc, but no cancer was found and the IVs did
nothing.

Long story short, it turns out Bix had acute pancreatitis, and because it
took so long for the doctors to find (he now has a different vet, who is
wonderful), his pancreas actually *dissolved*. The result of that was that
Bix was unable to digest any food on his own; he could eat nonstop, but he'd
starve to death. Our vet immediately wrote Bix a prescription for
pancreazymes, a photosensitive powder made from pig intestines that 'cooks'
Bix's food enzymatically for him. For the past 4 years, he's been on a
low-fat diet, and he gets 2 T of the pancreazymes mixed into his food every
day. He's now 12 years old and a thin, but healthy, 88 lbs. He's happy and
relatively healthy - well enough to have torn BOTH his knees a couple years
ago running in the park, and well enough to undergo general anesthesia twice
to have his knees repaired - in addition to general anesthesia for a skin
cancer removal, two teeth cleanings, and a cyst removal from an impacted
anal gland.

So, anyway, I'd have your vet check to see if Maggie's pancreas is okay. It
sounds like she's in the same state Bix was back in 2005.

Drool to all in need-

Rebecca, Humphrey, and Professor Bix
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