To Muzzle or Not to Muzzle - Pancreatitus

[Willow1]

My 3 year old working cocker is just recovering from a serious bout of Pancreatitus.  I had never heard of this condition before but have tried to read lots on it as she was very ill.  She didn't go on a drip but had four courses of antibiotics and is now on a special diet which she loves.  My problem is although she is a very well behaved dog she does occasionally eat fox poo or dropped food in the woods when she is foraging.  I have been told to muzzle her but so far I have not been able to bring myself to do it.  My question is to other owners whose dog has suffered from this condition.  I now watch her like a hawk in the woods but obviously there could be an occasion when she gets to something before I can stop her.  Could this bring on another attack of pancreatitus even though she no longer has titbits and I stick to her diet rigidly?  I guess I want someone to say I don't need to muzzle her but I think I probably need to face facts and do it.  She is such a loving, friendly dog.  I am not worried about what she will look like with a muzzle and you can tell straight away when you meet her she is not vicious.  I worry more about her being uncomfortable and taking the pleasure out of her walks.  Any advice would be greatly appreciated.

[Goggins]

  my boxer has had several bouts of pancreatitis, one of which he nearly died spending 3 weeks at the vets.

My vet has never mentioned he needs to be muzzled and to be honest I wouldn't do it but at the end f the day it is your decision to make and yours only.

Ps...you can buy the veterinary diet far cheaper online without a vet prescription.

Good luck and I hope the awful pancreatitis stays away.

[Joules]

Not quite sure what the logic behind the muzzle is   Can she really find anything that could cause pancreatitus out on a walk??  It does sound a bit drastic 

[Archie bean]

My last cocker Dickon was a sufferer. His first bout was really serious and I nearly lost him. He had recurrences several times but I was never told to muzzle him. I just had to watch what he ate and keep him on a low fat diet and avoid letting him get stressed. I guess if you have a really bad scavenger on your hands ( ) then a muzzle would stop accidental, high fat, norty nibbles on a walk.

[lisalh]

It really is your decision but one of mine sufffers from the same condition and we have nearly lost him on two occasions but no-one has ever even suggested to me to muzzle him

[Nicola]

I have had it suggested for Tilly, my oldest Cocker, as she has severe inflammatory bowel disease and is on a very strict diet (there are literally about 3 things that she can safely eat) and she is a greedy dog with a penchant for windfall apples and rabbit poo. I haven't resorted to it though because I can mostly manage her by using my best voice of doom 'LEAVE IT!' when I see her even contemplating hoovering up something she shouldn't. It does get tricky with the rabbit poo at times though, we have a big exercise field at work but there are a lot of rabbits and subsequently rabbit poo; it can be hard to tell if she's just sniffing or if she's doing her Dyson impersonation and I have thought about putting a basket-style muzzle on her when she's in there but as I only really use it for their mid-morning toilet break during the week I've so far just stuck to watching her closely and telling her to pack it in if I have to. If it was a major issue though, she was scavenging regularly and I couldn't get her to stop I think I'd have to resort to the muzzle for her own safety because a bad flare up of the IBD was nearly the end of her the last time. Much as I don't really like the thought of it it would be better that than her seriously ill (or worse).

[bluegirl]

The suggestion to muzzle is purely a preventative treatment to stop her scavenging on anything that may give her another flare up. Pancreatitis can be life threatening if severe so I think you need to decide how bad her scavenging is to warrant the muzzle. Maybe the association of walking in an area where discarded food is the problem, and considering walking in a more quiet, less people area may be all that is required for the future.

[Black Beauty & Silverfox]

Hi

My pup is only eight months old and never been ill [touch wood] however she loves horses poo, the fresher the better
she'll chew shrubs, twigs and freshly cut grass. Remember being very concerned in earlier posts but replies seem to sway to the norm.


Mel.

[AnnetteP]

Hi, my Daisy (rip) had pancreatitis for half of her short life, this then developed on to EPI (this is where the dog's pancreas packs up and the dog is literally starving).  I tried a muzzle because she too had a love of horse poo (fox poo she only rolled in).  I lasted 2 days with the muzzle as poor Daisy was on a restricted diet, couldn't have any treats and I couldn't bear ruining her walks which she still loved.  My way of resolving it was if I went where I knew there would be poo she had to stay on her lead, but in the main I changed her walks away from the offending substance. 

Another thing to watch out for with pancreatitis is drinking from streams and rivers.  I had to avoid these totally (despite Daisy's love of water) as this made her really ill with pancreatitis - you just don't know what is in the water. 

Good luck and I hope you manage to keep your cocker well.

[Ben's mum]

Like a lot of others on here my Ben had pancreatitis when he was young, and it has left him with a tendency to small flare ups if he eats too much of the wrong stuff or anything that is high in fat (like bird fat balls as we learnt from experience!!).  We keep him on a low fat diet and he is fine. He is also a terrible scavanger, we learnt the reliable recall as a means of calling him away from anything found on the floor, and started taking out really yummy things he can eat like warm chicken or tuna cake. 

We can now call him away from most things, but every now and then he finds something before we see it, and often this does lead to an upset tummy, however unless he had a life threatening illness that meant he was in extreme danger I would not choose to muzzle him, it would spoil my enjoyment and I am guessing his too.  I know that there is an element of risk to this approach as a very severe episode of pancreatitis could potentially be fatal  but for me personally the sort of stuff found in the woods dosn't usually cause an issue.  I have to say I didn't realise horse poo could cause an issue - I always assumed it was just high fat foods as that is what triggers Ben off, so that is useful info to know.

hope you find a solution. 

[mel71]

Hi I am new to this site, but came across while searching your question for myself. I have 2 cockers and my youngest who is 16 months has IBD which caused pancreatis which nearly cost him his life. Then due to the sepsis from the Pancreatis he got IMPA and was back at the specialist in Chester for another week. So I am at the stage now where as to decide on Muzzle or not. we are allowed to take him out now for 10 -15 min slow walks while his joints are still healing and he can only eat hypo-allergenic moderate calorie food. They are concerned that anything else even if low in fat might cause an allergic reaction in his tummy which will flare up the IBD which can then cause Pancreatis and IMPA relapse so this could be critical again. He is a ickle b***** for eating my other dogs No2's yuk I know and he will eat anything when walking or even stones if he can. He really is his own worse enemy so I am going to get a muzzle today for him to wear along with his DO NOT FEED VEST. I do not want to muzzle him as he is a very friendly cocker when out on his walks etc but walking 3 dogs at once while trying to check the pavement for food etc is a nightmare.

[cfordham2710]

My Skyes had this.  A low fat diet does mean that she seems to be hungry more often.  We don't use a muzzle on her but just done more training on the "leave it" command, and then treated her with something she is allowed.