Diet with gallbladder issues

S

Shelby's mom

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When Shelby was sick this week we incidentally found out she has sludge/early stage mucocele. She was started on medication right away. It wasn’t bad enough for surgery and we follow up with our vet next week.

She is 12 and I was trying to do some research prior to our vet visit. I am guessing that we will probably watch it and follow up with regular ultrasounds. Maybe surgery? She has no symptoms at all.

Anyone that has experienced this, was there a special diet you put your dog on? What food and treats did you feed? We do nosework and use a lot of treats in class. Our previous Sheltie died from a mucocele. By the time we found it she was too sick to survive surgery. We want to do whatever we can to prevent Shelby from suffering like Hollie did.

She is currently on Purina Proplan. I see that they have a senior food for digestive and skin issues. Looks like it is lower in fat? She is allergic to chicken so that is out.

Thanks for any suggestions.
 
Honestly I don't know about specific diet, but I can tell you our dogs do really well on ProPlan Lamb and Oatmeal for Sensitive Skin and Stomachs. Not that they have skin or tummy issues, but I liked the ingredients of this variety. Good luck and I'm so glad you caught this so early and can intervene.
 
I'd discuss the best diet with your vet when you see him. My dogs who have sludge that are being treated with Ursidiol eat their regular diet and do fine. Same for treats. You would think they'd need a special diet, but even after they had their gallbladder surgeries I put them right back on their regular food, although they will stay on Ursidol for life.

I know this may not be a popular suggestion, but neither Checkers nor Lacey had formed mucoceles when I had their gallbladders out. They were both getting regular ultrasounds every three months to monitor them. All that showed was the amount of sludge accumulated and when my vet and I felt it was becoming excessive and they were in danger of forming mucoles, I had the surgery done proactively with my vet's agreement. I know too many people who have lost their dogs to GBM in a matter of hours, and you've already experienced that. The option of having the surgery before the dog was in crisis and in good health, or my panicking every time one of them threw up and wondering if this was GBM, made more sense to me. I had the surgeries done by a board-certified surgeon who told me after he removed Lacey's that he had never seen a worse gallbladder and there was no doubt she would have been in serious trouble sooner rather than later. I had had a consult with another surgeon previously who told me that Lacey was fine and didn't need the surgery done! I am so glad I trusted my instincts. That was nearly 5 years ago and both Lacey and Checkers recovered quickly and are fine today, with no restrictions of any kind on what they eat.

Lacey's daughter, Ruffles, also has sludge and is on Ursidiol and scanned regularly every 3 months. When and if she gets to the point that it's increasing, I will have her gallbladder removed. It's an option you may want to consider for Shelby and discuss with your vet. It was the best decision I ever made for my girls.
 
Thanks Ann for your insight. It is greatly appreciated.

I do plan on talking to my vet about everything when we have our appointment next week.

I would support just having her gallbladder removed but she is 12 years old with high blood pressure, so I don’t know if that is even a consideration. But then again I am going to be constantly stressed that a mucocele will get large and then we will have an emergency, like we did with Hollie. I almost feel like no matter what we are in a loosing situation. And that makes me very sad.

But regardless we will do whatever we feel is best for Shelby to keep her happy and healthy for as long as possible.
 
I'm so sorry you're dealing with this and these decisions. It's so hard trying to find the best thing to do for them sometimes. I hope your vet can be helpful...this is when we really rely on them!

If it helps at all, Checkers was nearly 12 when she had her gallbladder out. The surgeon who did it found two mast cell tumors on the margin of the incision when he did the surgery. She had to have another surgery a few months later, at 12, to remove the mast cell tumors, which thankfully was successful. A year later she had a huge spindle cell tumor on her leg that required another major surgery and a skin graft. That took two months for healing, but she's still with me.

They really surprise us sometimes, in a good way. I never thought I would still have Checkers at 15 1/2, healthy and happy. Every day is a gift. I wish you the same outcome with Shelby. :hugs
 
There's no diet for GBM, although you could consider a diet to support the pancreas (a low fat diet).

Tully had her gallbladder out last year when she was 14years. It was tough and her recovery brutal. We had to keep delaying the surgery because of her IBD flaring up. But like the tough old bird she is, she pulled through.

The vet found sludge years before when I had a random test when Tully was 10yrs old (and healthy) and she was put on Ursodiol and the next scan was clear so she was taken off the Ursodiol. IMS was pretty shocked by this approach and said it's not worth the risk with a Sheltie and it's best to do a preventative surgery when they are healthy. He said Tully would not survive a burst gallbladder and it's an awful thing to happen. So out it came. I didn't really want it to come out but I had to trust him.

I've got Della booked in for a referral today - I decided to take her to the IMS for a gallbladder scan rather than the general vet. It's going to cost more as usually I get the ultrasound done at the same time as a teeth clean to reduce the generals.
 
Thank you everyone for help, you really helped a lot and it is making me feel a little better about this whole situation. I just can’t wait to see my vet and get a plan in place.

Other than high blood pressure Shelby is healthy - so maybe surgery will be an option. I honestly expected that she would love to be my oldest Sheltie so this has totally caught me off guard.
 
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