60 Saber Tails Spring 2017
Petit Basset Griffon Vendéen Club of America
Additional photos from National and Regional Specialties will be featured when photos are available and space in Saber
Tails allows, and depending on availability from the photographer, including the following:
Best Opposite Sex
Best Veteran
Best
of
Winners
Best
Puppy
Winners Bitch
Best Bred By Exhibit
Reserve Winners Bitch
Best Owner Handler
Winners Dog
Non-regular class wins such as Brood Bitch, Stud Dog, etc.
Reserve Winners Dog
Select Dog and Bitch
Awards of Merit
Class Winners as available
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in Saber Tails only. If the owner, handler, etc wants a photo of their win, they must purchase from the photographer
individually.
Cont’d from previous page
Cont’d p 68
Pancreatitis in the PBGV
by Laura Liscum, PBGVCA Health Committee
Inflammatory: (adjective) relating to or causing inflammation
of a part of the body; arousing or intending to arouse angry or
violent feelings. Provoking. Rabble-rousing.
P
ancreatitis is an inflammatory disease. Imagine that
inside the pancreas there is a tiny Thanksgiving din-
ner table that brings together your Democrat and Repub-
lican relatives. In a typical year, the conversation might be
a little tense and discussions might get a bit heated. But
this isolated incident of inflammation is mild and revers-
ible and the family bonds survive. Thanksgiving 2016,
however, the political discussion would likely have been
much more heated. This dinner likely resembled a severe
acute pancreatitis attack in which there is permanent dam-
age to the pancreas along with far-reaching inflammation
that leads to multi-organ failure. This can have devastating
consequences with a low survival rate despite rapid inten-
sive care.
P
ancreatitis in dogs is a poorly understood disease. The
Journal of Small Animal Practice devoted its January
2015 issue to pancreatitis in dogs and cats, and the accom-
panying editorial stated, “The pancreas is a difficult organ
to study because of its inaccessibility; no non-invasive di-
agnostic test is as sensitive and specific as we would wish
and biopsy is invasive and has a risk of significant morbid-
ity [causing illness]; the causes of pancreatitis in small
animals are often unknown and treatment remains non-
specific and supportive. . . . [T]he problems are more acute
in dogs and cats because there is limited research and so
little evidence on which to base our decisions on diagnosis
and treatment.”
T
his sounds grim, but fortunately PBGVs are not pre-
disposed to developing pancreatitis. Nevertheless, oc-
casionally PBGVs are stricken with this disease and, for
some of those dogs and their families, the outcome can be
devastating.
C
hance was a fit, active 9-year-old PBGV who had never
been sick before. One evening he was in sudden pain
and vomiting. The vet ruled out bowel obstruction and
gastric dilation/volvulus (bloat). Chance was quickly trans-
ferred to a tertiary care hospital affiliated with a veterinary
school, where he received a battery of pain meds. They
suspected pancreatitis and took a needle biopsy, the results
of which were consistent with pancreatitis. Unfortunately,
intensive treatment failed to help. Chance developed dis-
seminated intravascular coagulation (that is, blood clotted
throughout his body), which led to multi-organ failure. He
went from a vibrant dog to euthanasia in 10 days. The cli-
nicians could not find a risk factor that explained his acute
disease. His family was left baffled and heartbroken.
W
hat does the pancreas do? The pancreas is an ab-
dominal gland that helps us convert the food that
we eat into fuel for our body. It is divided into two parts.
The more well-known part of the pancreas is the endocrine
part, which secretes insulin and glucagon into the blood
to control blood sugar levels. When the endocrine part of