The Gooseberry Blog

November 17

I created this blog to share my experience in using Indian Gooseberry (Emblica Officinalis) to treat my dog with recurrent pancreatitis. When I first read a study that discussed the use of Indian Gooseberry for dogs with pancreatitis, I scoured the web trying to find personal experiences. I was not able to find even one. So here is my personal experience for anyone else out there wondering about Indian Gooseberry's ability to help dogs with pancreatitis. Of course dogs can get pancreatitis for different reasons, and there is no magic bullet to help treat all causes of pancreatitis. At this point I do not know if Indian Gooseberry will help my dog, Ted, or not. I just started giving Indian Gooseberry to him yesterday. But before I get ahead of myself, let me tell you about my dog.

Ted is a nine year old (as of 2008) Belgian Shepherd from the Canadian Yesac's Belgian Tervuren line. I bought him as an eight week old pup in 1999. He is extremely friendly and sweet, with a bit of a naughty side too. He likes to sneak out of the house and make a mad dash for the lake when he knows we are down there. He likes to get into the garbage, and my husband had to build a dog-proof trash can to keep him out. But most of the time Ted is good, and he is never far from me. He follows me from room to room and patiently waits as I go about my daily chores. He is loyal and lovable; my favorite furry creature.

In October 2007 Ted became very sick. He threw up for a couple days straight. He lay listless on the floor and didn't even want to raise his head. His usually shiny eyes became dull. I took him to the vet who suspected pancreatitis. She put him on a regimen of Pepcid AC, anti-vomiting medication, antibiotics and special food for dogs with pancreatitis. Ted returned to normal. However, the vet did not warn us that certain foods could set off pancreatitis. Naively, we continued to feed Ted table scraps. Ted threw up and appeared to not feel well every now and then, but he never got sick like he did that October; at least not until the following October. That was when Ted got into the garbage and ate an entire ham!

Two days after eating the ham Ted was throwing up. He was lying around listless again. I called the vet on a Wednesday to see if I could get him in. The vet was all booked and could not see Ted until Friday morning. I made an appointment for Friday morning.

On Thursday morning Ted was still vomiting. He would not eat. He lay on the floor in a lump and look depressed and listless. He didn't have the energy to follow me from room to room as he usually did. I called his vet and asked if I could bring him in as an emergency. The vet agreed, and I dropped Ted off for tests to be performed. Two hours later the vet called and said Ted's liver enzymes were off the charts. They were at the point that dogs start having seizures. The vet told me their small clinic was not prepared to care for a dog as sick as Ted and suggested I take him to MSU emergency animal clinic.

For those of you who enjoy facts and figures, here were the results of Ted's tests performed at MSU vet clinic. The normal values are included in parenthesis to the right of each numerical value.

October 23, 2008 Chemistry profile- Total billrubin 6.4 mg/dL (0.1-0.4) Direct bilirubin 3.9 mg/dL (0.1-0.4) Indirect bilirubin 2.5 mg/dL (0.1-0.4) ALP 2015 U/L (13-107) ID 120.7 U/L (1.0-13.0) ALT 1138 U/L (14-102) AST 343 U/L (19-34) CK 434 U/L (33-152) Cholesterol 509 mg/dL (124-33) CBC-TP 9.4 (6.0-7.4) PT/APTT No significant findings Urinalysis-Amber, specific gravity 1.045, pH 8.1, positive for bilirubin Serum Ammonia 17.8 umol/L (0.0-21.0) Thoracic radiographs-no significant findings Abdominal radiographs-Hepatomegaly

Abdominal Ultrasound-Hyperechoic and hypoechoic nodules on the liver. Prominent pancreatoduodenal lymph node containing a red/white mucoid material. Cytology of liver-Moderate to marked cholestasis with increased macrophages. The macrophages could indicate expansion of Kupffer cells or foci of inflammation. Cytology of fluid from the lymph node-Neutrophilic inflammation. Bacterial cocci were extracellular and may represent a contaminent. Intracellular bacteria are required to diagnose a septic process; since most neutrphils were lysed, the presence of intracellular bacteria could not be determined.

October 19, 2008

Ted slowly recovered from pancreatitis and the associated liver problems at MSU. He was released on Ampicillin, SAM-E and Hill's L/d dog food. Follow up tests since have showed his liver enzymes are gradually returning to normal. However, Ted is not out of the woods as far as pancreatitis goes. A week and a half after returning home, Ted awoke in the middle of the night vomiting. He continued to vomit that night and the following morning. I took him to his vet where he was placed on IV fluids once again. Over the next couple of days Ted recovered from this second bout with pancreatitis. However, approximately a week later Ted snatched a tiny 1" x 1" piece of french toast that had fallen to the floor, and the vomiting started all over again. I fasted Ted for 24 hours and then offered very small meals frequently throughout the next day. Ted was able to keep food down and seems to have recovered once again. Which brings me to where we are today: our Indian gooseberry experiment.

I make Ted's dog food in a big bowl each morning. I make enough to last the entire day. According to Ted's weight, he should receive approximately 1,120 mg Indian gooseberry per day according to a research study on pancreatitis and Indian gooseberry. I add four Amalaki (Indian Gooseberry) 250 mg capsules to Ted's food and mix well. I also dice up four fresh Indian gooseberries (minus the pit) and mix them with Ted's Hill's prescription L:/d dry and canned dog food mixture. Ted has been eating this mixture since October 16.

I obtain frozen Indian Gooseberries and capsules from an Indian Grocery Store called Bombay Grocers in Ann Arbor, MI. A bag of frozen Indian Gooseberries costs me $1.99. A bottle of 100 capsules (250 mg each) costs me $3.99. I have also found Amalaki for sale on the web as well.

Here is the study I am referring to regarding Indian gooseberries being given to dogs with pancreatitis:

Click here to visit a website that states animal studies with Indian Gooseberry suggest that this herb can be used to prevent pancreatitis.

November 20, 2008

Ted seems to be feeling under the weather a bit today. He has not thrown up as of noon, but he is moping around a bit and constantly wanting me to pet and be around him. He gets very clingy when he is not feeling well. I gave him a Pepcid AC. Hopefully it calms his tummy.

November 21, 2008

Ted perked right up after the Pepcid AC. Later in the evening we went for one of our "speed walks," which is essentially where we walk as fast as we can to try to keep warm. It was only 26 degrees here yesterday. Ted also played ball in the house last night and this morning. He seems to be feeling good and is eating well.

November 23, 2008

Ted did great yesterday and today.

November 26, 2008

I am so frustrated with Ted right now! If this pancreatitis doesn't kill him, I just may! I came home to find that he had gotten into my bag that I bring back and forth from work. I had a bag of pretzels in there and he ate the whole bag. He also ate 3/4 of a loaf of asiago cheese bread from Panera. Boy oh boy, am I ever frustrated with him right now. I know it is my fault for leaving the bag within his reach, but I just cannot believe we are going to have to go through pancreatitis AGAIN. I am expecting to wake up tonight to Ted throwing up. Hopefully it won't happen, but I will be surprised if it doesn't. It is so upsetting, because he'd been doing so good. Tomorrow is Thanksgiving, and there is no way to keep the smell of food away from Ted -and that might make him worse. Plus, I am going to be busy with a house full of people and will not have time to baby him. I gave him a Pepcid AC immediately after I discovered the evidence. I guess now we wait and see and hope and pray all this gooseberry really does do something.

November 28, 2008

Amazingly we have gotten through Thanksgiving without Ted getting sick, and he did not get sick from raiding my bag of goodies either. I don't know if it is the Indian Gooseberry or if the food he ate just wasn't fatty enough to set off pancreatitis or what. All I know is that I was very thankful to have a healthy dog this Thanksgiving.

December 12, 2008

Ted is still doing good.

December 22,2008

Ted threw up today. I had just looked at him and thought to myself that his eyes looked kind of dull, and a few minutes later he started throwing up. Today I will fast him, and since I still have some anti-nausea pills, I will give him those as well. He is acting hungry, but I know if he threw up due to pancreatitis then his stomach needs a rest. My husband said Ted got into some chicken bones yesterday. My husband thought he had gotten the bones away from Ted before he was able to eat them, but maybe not. I am, of course, hoping for the best.

December 29, 2008

Ted got sick again the day before yesterday, but I don't think it was an attack of pancreatitis. He only threw up once, and he never seemed to miss a beat activity-wise. He is eating well now once again.

Ted looks sick again today, January 10th. He is just lying around with that "I don't feel good" look in his eyes. I gave him a Pepcid AC tablet. I will hold off on the food today. I think he will probably end up throwing up what he ate this morning. I am coming to the sad conclusion that I am probably going to have to put Ted to sleep soon. He seems to be getting sick regularly now. I don't want to make him live a miserable life.

January 22, 2009

Ted got sick three days ago. He puked and then acted normal, so on a hunch that those type of occurrences might not be pancreatitis I fed him as normal the next morning. He got sick again, and I felt terrible. He's had diarrhea the last couple of days. I fasted him for 24 hours. He is doing better today, but I can tell that he did indeed have a pancreatitis attack. He is getting sick pretty regularly now. Even the $72. a bag EN dog food does not seem to be working. I wish I could report that the Indian Gooseberry had stopped the pancreatitis attacks, but it has not. In fact, I am now thinking Ted must have something wrong inside of him besides pancreatitis. Perhaps he has cancer or maybe it is all just a really crappy pancreas. Whatever it is, it makes my poor old boy very sick, and I know it is just a matter of time.

March 23, 2009

Ted has been feeling really well for the last month or so! And just when I was thinking of giving up... He hasn't thrown up or acted sick at all. In fact, he's been doing great. He has lots of energy. I have been walking him for a mile almost every night. His old, arthritic legs get a bit sore, but he loves every second of our walks and always is excited to go.

I stopped feeding the Indian Gooseberry fruit about a month ago, which coincides with when Ted stopped throwing up. I am now only feeding him the powdered, concentrated Amalaki. This seems to be easier on his system. I also now give him a Pepcid AC every day, and he doesn't cough nearly as much as he did before. He eats the EN dog food, which is $72. a bag! I also buy him some canned EN to mix in, so when it is time to buy Ted food I do not walk out of the vet's office without spending over $100. In short, Ted is sending me to the poor house, but I do love that stinkin' dog.

May 2, 2009

Ted has been doing really well. He looked under the weather for one day about a week ago, but he never threw up. Maybe the gooseberry is doing something? Or perhaps Ted is just recovering on his own. Either way, I will continue with the Indian Gooseberry, and I am grateful to still have my old dog to snuggle with. :)

June 10,2009

Ted's been doing really well. I no longer think he is about to keel over any minute from pancreatitis. He cannot eat anything but his special dog food, but we seem to have found a plateau of sorts and he seems to be doing okay health-wise. I don't know if it is the gooseberries or not, but I will keep him on this treatment and Pepcid AC and hope his good days continue.

August 5, 2009

Ted had surgery to remove four tumors/growths on July 31st. He came through the surgery well. Of course within two days time he had his stitches and drain tube pulled out, but such is life with an ornery dog.

The vet said one of Ted's tumors looked suspicious, but I did not pay to have the pathology done. He's an old dog and I'm not going to put him through chemo if he does have cancer, so I didn't really see the point of spending the extra money. Ted also had an elevated liver enzyme. His ALKP was 268 when it should be between 23-212. The vet will continue to monitor Ted's liver enzyme levels.

I found another small tumor on Ted's shoulder after the surgery (of course). I think we will just leave that one in for now. He doesn't look the greatest with his side all shaved and stitches running down his neck, but Ted is acting fine and has earned the new nickname of Frankendog. :) To the right is a picture of him enjoying the morning on our dock at Vineyard Lake.

September 17, 2009

Ted got sick today. I think he ate a tiny piece of hamburger that fell to the floor. That's all it takes with him.

I started Ted back on milk thistle a couple weeks ago because of his elevated liver enzyme.

October 19, 2009

Ted was sick on and off for the last two weeks. I had to go back to the vet to get anti-vomiting medication. Ted seems to be feeling better now. I think I have figured out how he gets sick when I do not see him getting into anything. Right before he got sick this last time, I caught Ted licking the hardwood floors right around the stove after my husband had fried food in oil. I remember looking at the floor to make sure Ted was not eating anything. I did not see anything on the floor, so I figured Ted was just being his usual lick-a-holic self. He licks pretty much everything and anything...the couch, my clothes, the great dane, etc. He really is kind of a strange dog. However, now I realize that Ted was probably licking little splatters of oil and that is what made him sick. This theory fits with the fact that Ted did not get sick much in summer, which is when we usually grill or smoke our meat outside.

January 9, 2010

Ted has been doing pretty good. He goes through periods where he gets sick on and off for a week or two and then he starts to feel better, usually for a month or two. He had fun opening his Christmas presents. :)

July 1, 2010

Ted is doing okay. He hasn't had too many bouts with pancreatitis lately. His liver enzymes are hundreds of times higher than they should be and the vet continues to monitor them. I have noticed that he doesn't have as much energy as of late. Our two mile walks are a bit difficult for him and sometimes I only take him for a mile or less. Ted is eleven and a half now and a Tervuren's life span is twleve years, so I am very happy that he has lived a full life. I do believe the gooseberries may have contributed to his improved health and given me more time to spend with my favorite furry friend. At this point I will probably not pay for extensive medical treatment if Ted gets sick again. He's an old guy and will be passing on soon regardless of the medical care he receives. I am just enjoying the time I have left with him and trying to give him the best doggie life possible, which entails many trips to the park and beach. :) Here is a picture of us lazing it up at the park.

August 25, 2010

Ted has had a couple of pancreatitis attacks in the last two months. The vet treated him the same as they did at MSU and I was able to keep him at home, which literally saved me thousands of dollars. Recently he has been on an antibiotic and Denosyl. Ted has developed terrible allergies (maybe?) and is extremely itchy. He has to wear a cone a lot of the time because he chews himself raw. He also can't walk very far anymore and he often pants heavily. His liver enzymes are still high, though the Denosyl did help to bring them down a little bit. Currently I am giving him milk thistle. He was on SAM-E, but I took him off of it temporarily to see if perhaps his allergic reaction was due to it. I stopped giving him Indian Gooseberries about a month ago because I thought they might be contributing to his allergies. It seemed he itched more when I fed him the gooseberries and less when they were stopped, though he still has very itchy skin. It is difficult to watch his health slip away, but I had a lot of good years with him and am grateful for the time I had.