Oh, Olga!!! Sending all the and there are!! (Except for all the ones I'm sending to Lisa for her old man...).

Heidi had a bad bad bout of pancreatitis a couple of years ago. It came out of nowhere and there doesn't seem to have been a particular trigger that I could identify. She was crazy restless all night so I took her in to Dr. Barry the next morning. Her levels were through the roof (I'm sorry, I can't remember the numbers). They kept her in for 3 days on IV fluids and she was fine after that. Her liver levels were raised after that, but she's been just fine. I keep an eagle eye on what she eats. NO fat so she's on a vet med diet (Royal Canin Low Fat kibble) and the only treats she gets are low fat ones I found called Croxz (they love them) or else bits of her kibble. That's it. this is one time that you really do have to go with a vet diet because it's just too difficult to regulate the fat content of home made or raw food. She's been fine with that. She also gets a couple of Laura's herbal supplements for the endocrine system (I have no idea if they work or not ) and urso and AVenti Liver C daily. The oher thing is to keep her well hydrated. She gets a full cup of water in her kibble at each meal (she eats twice a day). We keep an eye on her liver readings (which are more or less the same as the rest of the endocrine system) and they've come down into normal or very low high range. She's fine. I suspect she may be borderline cushinoid, but tomorrow's her 15th birthday so I may or may not get her tested depending on what else she has going on. Jules was a kidney dog...same regimen except that I fed her k/d kibble instead of the low fat. Her kidneys failed in the end, but again, she got a good two years after the initial diagnosis. And was 14 when she crossed. Sounds like you caught it in good time, and she's where she needs to be. Hard, I know all too well, not to blame ourselves, but honestly, how would you know?

And for the record, ITA with Lisa...we are ALL proud of what you've done with your life. You've come a long way, baby . And are an example to all of us. Please keep us posted, ok?

Oh yeah, I just thought of something else...there is some evidence in the literature that for liver dogs, low fat may not be the best, but honestly, I've seen it working, so as far as I'm concerned, I'm not taking any chances until presented with overwhelming evidence to the contrary.