Elevated levels of amylase?

[BRvalley]

6.5 year old lab, spayed female, her face was grew puffy and swollen with large bumps pretty quickly on Sunday, she is typically on the lazy side although she is a healthy weight (constant struggle lol) but was unusually lazy and only really moving to roll around and scratch herself, she scratched her snout raw and bloody in the dirt....she refused to eat dinner (ate breakfast just fine) and in the evening puked up some specs of blood with some stomach fluids...so vet visit first thing Monday and blood panel shows she had elevated levels of amylase, was 2500 and should be around 1200....vet believes the specs of blood are indicative of stomach ulcers but amylase is non specific enzyme and can't fully diagnose that just yet

she is on a molotov cocktail of medicine for 6 days and strict feeding regime, but good news is she is noticeably improved as of Tuesday morning, racing to the door with my male for morning pee and is begging for cookies again...the swelling was apparently dog hives and is mostly gone away, maybe 20% of what it was on the weekend

I understand increased levels of amylase can be associated with pancreatitis, which is worrisome...but the vet basically said they can't diagnose one way or the other right now, but the fact she had hives on her face is not consistent with pancreatitis, so the elevated levels could be related to allergic reaction...hopefully

I feel like she's still a puppy lol, but 6.5 years old is getting middle aged I guess...I am reading pancreatitis can sometimes be fatal, but can be managed with special diet

I'm just wondering if anybody here has had experience with high levels of amylase like this? What did it turn out to be? and if it is early signs of pancreatitis, what am I looking at to care for her going forward?


also, the vet did give shit for feeding the dogs raw deer meat, which they've got a lot of past 2 weeks of November....they have been eating acana pacifica and ranchland most of their lives, and mountain dog raw food, both dogs are healthy weights....I am reading pancreatitis diets need to be low in fat and protein....did I cause this issue with sudden introduction of raw deer meat and fat trim?

thank you for any feedback

[Pemby_mess]

6.5 year old lab, spayed female, her face was grew puffy and swollen with large bumps pretty quickly on Sunday, she is typically on the lazy side although she is a healthy weight (constant struggle lol) but was unusually lazy and only really moving to roll around and scratch herself, she scratched her snout raw and bloody in the dirt....she refused to eat dinner (ate breakfast just fine) and in the evening puked up some specs of blood with some stomach fluids...so vet visit first thing Monday and blood panel shows she had elevated levels of amylase, was 2500 and should be around 1200....vet believes the specs of blood are indicative of stomach ulcers but amylase is non specific enzyme and can't fully diagnose that just yet

she is on a molotov cocktail of medicine for 6 days and strict feeding regime, but good news is she is noticeably improved as of Tuesday morning, racing to the door with my male for morning pee and is begging for cookies again...the swelling was apparently dog hives and is mostly gone away, maybe 20% of what it was on the weekend

I understand increased levels of amylase can be associated with pancreatitis, which is worrisome...but the vet basically said they can't diagnose one way or the other right now, but the fact she had hives on her face is not consistent with pancreatitis, so the elevated levels could be related to allergic reaction...hopefully

I feel like she's still a puppy lol, but 6.5 years old is getting middle aged I guess...I am reading pancreatitis can sometimes be fatal, but can be managed with special diet

I'm just wondering if anybody here has had experience with high levels of amylase like this? What did it turn out to be? and if it is early signs of pancreatitis, what am I looking at to care for her going forward?


also, the vet did give shit for feeding the dogs raw deer meat, which they've got a lot of past 2 weeks of November....they have been eating acana pacifica and ranchland most of their lives, and mountain dog raw food, both dogs are healthy weights....I am reading pancreatitis diets need to be low in fat and protein....did I cause this issue with sudden introduction of raw deer meat and fat trim?

thank you for any feedback

We fed our dog some turkey fat on rice one night - scary night. He ended up with acute pancreatitis - but 6 or 7 years later, no ill effects, it appears.

Venison would be fine, seems to me. If your vet is one of many that sells "science diet", i'd be inherently suspicious of anything they have to say relating to diet with out very firm reasoning. If the dog got lots of trim mostly laden with fat in concentration, that could potentially cause problems I suppose - but feeding a mix of musculature and fat, mixed in in with her regular rations, it should be fine i'd think.

[35rem]

Your vet is correct that amylase is not very specific in dogs. If you want to rule out pancreatitis ask your vet to run a canine pancreas specific lipase. Any reference lab can run the test. Still not 100% diagnostic for pancreatitis, but heaps better than amylase. If problems persist consider an abdominal ultrasound.
I often see pancreatitis in dogs that got fed a greasy meal they were not accustomed to. Pepperonis for the dog when Dad and his buds are having a boys night are notorious...

[Jagermeister]

Interesting, keep us posted.

[Foxton Gundogs]

Just went through pancreatitis with one of my spaniels awhile ago. Worst case my vet had ever seen for elevated levels. Only ever fed her a good quality kibble(same for all 5 dogs) she came through it fine, have her on a very low fat kibble now, no reoccurrences.

[scttlp86]

I have a 8 year old bernese/rottweiler cross. She eats anything and everything. She had pancreatitis about 2 years ago was in the vet for 2 or 3 days. We feed her acana fit and trim now which has a fairly low fat content and haven't had the pancreatitis flare up again

https://i.postimg.cc/7hC9mpLc/20181024-184146.jpg (https://postimg.cc/Fk40KC3g)


6.5 year old lab, spayed female, her face was grew puffy and swollen with large bumps pretty quickly on Sunday, she is typically on the lazy side although she is a healthy weight (constant struggle lol) but was unusually lazy and only really moving to roll around and scratch herself, she scratched her snout raw and bloody in the dirt....she refused to eat dinner (ate breakfast just fine) and in the evening puked up some specs of blood with some stomach fluids...so vet visit first thing Monday and blood panel shows she had elevated levels of amylase, was 2500 and should be around 1200....vet believes the specs of blood are indicative of stomach ulcers but amylase is non specific enzyme and can't fully diagnose that just yet

she is on a molotov cocktail of medicine for 6 days and strict feeding regime, but good news is she is noticeably improved as of Tuesday morning, racing to the door with my male for morning pee and is begging for cookies again...the swelling was apparently dog hives and is mostly gone away, maybe 20% of what it was on the weekend

I understand increased levels of amylase can be associated with pancreatitis, which is worrisome...but the vet basically said they can't diagnose one way or the other right now, but the fact she had hives on her face is not consistent with pancreatitis, so the elevated levels could be related to allergic reaction...hopefully

I feel like she's still a puppy lol, but 6.5 years old is getting middle aged I guess...I am reading pancreatitis can sometimes be fatal, but can be managed with special diet

I'm just wondering if anybody here has had experience with high levels of amylase like this? What did it turn out to be? and if it is early signs of pancreatitis, what am I looking at to care for her going forward?


also, the vet did give shit for feeding the dogs raw deer meat, which they've got a lot of past 2 weeks of November....they have been eating acana pacifica and ranchland most of their lives, and mountain dog raw food, both dogs are healthy weights....I am reading pancreatitis diets need to be low in fat and protein....did I cause this issue with sudden introduction of raw deer meat and fat trim?

thank you for any feedback