Pancreatitis

[Tiggy]

I'm hoping to get some tips on how to modify a raw diet for a dog with Pancreatitis. She needs a low fat bland diet. She's being fed Tuckertime at the moment but I'd like to get her back onto a raw diet.

[Jed]

I'm no expert on this, but I have a dog with pancreatitis - and he is managed on a raw diet.

NO bones with marrow.

He has rib bones and bones without marrow for his teeth. He has dry food 1 -2 times a week. He also has chicken mince, to which I add vegetables (raw, mashed up in the food processor), brown or white rice, and occasionally eggs and some vegetable oil, sardines (or part of a can of sardine cat food) rarely, and very occasionally offal. He also has cooked potatoes. the rice/vegetables would be about 60% - 70% and mince 30 - 40%. Keeping it balanced, and the ca:ph ratio correct is the trick, and I did a lot of research prior to beginning him on it.

I could probably buy other meat which is not as fatty as chicken mince, but he does well on this diet, and has not had a problem with pancreatitis for about 3 years. I feed the mince because I buy it in bulk cheaply and the others all eat it.

If you only have 1 dog, and it is not too big, I would consider low fat (diet) beef mince (make sure it is frozen and thawed before feeding it, because of neosporra) or chicken breasts, with all fat removed, rice and veges.

I worked this out for myself by trial and error, and although it works for me, I am hesitant to recommend it, in case it does damage to your dog. I use it because all my dogs eat raw, and it is very difficult to keep a special diet for one dog. If I had to, I would, but as this is working and it suits my needs as well as the dogs, I will continue with it.

Ideally, you should speak to a vet who is into raw feeding, and ask him. A lot don't know, and will only recommend HD or other dry food. And really, that is safer, it has been developed with the needs of pancreatic dogs in mind, so it's difficult to go wrong with it, whereas, by feeding raw, you can easily feed too much fat, and have a huge problem.

Alternatively, you could contact Dr. Ian Billinghurst (originator of the BARF diet) and ask him for advice.

If you are going to try what I use, start with 1 meal a week, and if there are no problems, increase to 2 and so on, - over a period of time, keeping a good eye on the dog. That's what I did - mostly by trial and error, but very cautiously.

[Silverblue]

My old Misty has pancreatitis, she is a Cocker.

When she was first diagnonsed they put her on a very strict Hill's ID diet.

After a while I thought the tin stuff must be so bland for her, so I started adding a bit of boiled chicken, and eventually cut out the tinned food all together.

She now has boiled chicken, rice, stockgain & enxyplex (which help the pancrease), she also has sardines, chicken necks yogurt,vegie mix & brewers yeast.

She is 14 & 1/2 and still going strong.

Oh almost forgot to add this morning she had nettle tea with honey & apple cider vinegar, was spose to be for Boris but she HAD to have some.

[poodlefan]

What kind of pancreatitis has your dog got?

You may find this link useful although the supplements recommended are American brands.

However a digestive enzyme would be a good addition to the diet and small regular meals work well for my friend's dog that suffers from the condition.

There is a lot of information on the web and my guess is that there will be a yahoo group or similar about this condition.

[Kissindra]

I am pretty sure turkey and roo is leaner meat than chicken, definitely leaner than beef.

[mita]

I had a Sheltie boy who'd get severe attacks of pancreatitis.

I'd thought that good raw steak with the fat cut off.....& raw bones.....wouldn't hurt. But if he ate either, it would result in an attack.

A uni vet pointed out to me that there's a lot of fat in meat & in bones....even when it looks as lean as possible, on the outside.

She said to show this was so....to boil a piece o the leanest raw meat & also separately boil a lean raw bone. And watch while all the fat, which had not been visible, came to the surface. For both.

So I was unable to feed Danny raw meat or bones....however lean they appeared to be.

I found TuckerTime excellent.