Thanks And A Q.

[Kitteh]

I wanted to jump on to say a very BIG thank you to this forum and its members. My dog Dana (maltese x) was very ill with pancreatitis and was at the vet for over a week on a drip and assorted meds. On the last day that she was there, she wasn't eating what they were offering her (cooked chicken) and they didn't seem very hopeful about her chances when i was taking her home. I couldn't justify leaving her there any longer and decided to bring her home where she could be in a comfortable environment and hopefully recuperate and get better or at the very worst she would at least die at home.

I'd been frantically doing some research on dog pancreatitis and came across this website. The information on here has been invaluable. My Dana is fine now ( after strict monitoring of her diet) and with the help of my brothers herbs (he's a herbalist) she seems to be on the up and up!

So again a very BIG THANK YOU to you all.

Now to the question:

I've been feeding Dana cooked chicken, rice and pumpkin/brussel sprouts with raw kangaroo meat and Supercoat low fat kibble ( she needs to crunch on something!). She seems to be doing really well on this diet but i want to incorporate a little bit of variety in there too.

Is it ok to feed her things like sardines, raw eggs any other type of meat? and what about bones for her to chew on? any suggestions?

I do know that pancreatitis isn't solely caused by diet ( it seems to flare up when we go on holiday) but if i can minimise the risks through the things i can control ( ie:diet) then it makes for a happier dog.

Any info would be helpful

Thanks DOLers

[Skruffy n Flea]

hello kitteh and congrats on getting dana thru a really bad time --- she loves you for it!

i'd add raw chicken/turkey necks to her diet, and other raw bones of low fat type. i'd also look at dumping rice from her diet, feeding her raw [human grade] chicken [instead of cooked] and bulking out her meals with pulped or cooked mashed sweet potato. roo meat is an excellent low fat meat

as for other appropriate food for a dog with her condition, i'll leave that up to the experts on this board

good luck!

[D & D]

I've been feeding Dana cooked chicken, rice and pumpkin/brussel sprouts with raw kangaroo meat and Supercoat low fat kibble ( she needs to crunch on something!). She seems to be doing really well on this diet but i want to incorporate a little bit of variety in there too.

Is it ok to feed her things like sardines, raw eggs any other type of meat? and what about bones for her to chew on? any suggestions?

I do know that pancreatitis isn't solely caused by diet ( it seems to flare up when we go on holiday) but if i can minimise the risks through the things i can control ( ie:diet) then it makes for a happier dog.

Any info would be helpful

Thanks DOLers

Hi Kitteh,

I had a dog who suffered from pancreatitis many years ago. Her diet after this maily consisted of Eukanuba low residue (or Royal canin? Can't remember exactly). As a treat, she would get some tinned food of the same type.

I got her blood tested every three to six months (Amylase and Lipase). Her levels were too high to have raw meat or bones.

My suggestion would be to check with your vet and maybe get blood tested. It's better to be safe than sorry

My dog (RIP) lived quite happily, on what I thought was a boring diet, for another two and a half years (her initial attack was at age 13).

Good luck with your girl.

[Kitteh]

Thanks for the responses Skruffy and itsmeg I think I might pop down to the vet and have a chat to them about her diet and go over her bloods again. The last thing they recommended for her was the Canine ID stuff and she wouldn't have a bar of it! I have read through most of the posts re diet in this forum, especially in regards to pancreatitis, and most of them have said that chicken necks are too fatty. I did read somewhere that the vege "pigs" ears are quite good. Are there any other recs?

Skruffy, she already gets human grade chicken. ( whilst purchasing it last time from the deli counter at woolies and explaining that it was for my dog, she says "ooooh isn't she spoiled" the reply was "it's either this or another $1500 vet bill!) she also gets the pieces of chicken boob that "accidentally" fall off the kitchen bench during prep.

Just out of curiosity, what's the problem with feeding rice?

[yellowgirl]

Glad to hear that Dana is doing well . One of my dogs, Banshee, has pancreatitis. She can have the TuckerTime roll (all varieties), Nutro Lite tinned food and Vet’s all Natural premium choice. For dry food she has Nutro Natural Choice Lite. I compared the Nutro to all the other dry foods, including prescription dry foods, and it came up trumps. She does really well on it in combination with the wet foods. She has about 2/3 wet food and 1/3 dry food.

A few of my customers have dogs with pancreatitis and all are doing well on combinations of the above products

For treats Banshee can have Supercoat lite biscuits, Eukanuba low fat biscuits, dried roo, beef cubes, dried fish, and a few others I can't remember at the moment. I won't chance ANY bones with her, including necks, but we've recently been trialling the Nutradent toothbrush thingies (not Greenies or Dentabones) and she's had no problems. She is also good with the rawhide cigars and cut up veggie ears.

She also has the Vets all Natural Medi treats once or twice a day, they're like a doggie multi vitamin and have a kangaroo meat base with a bunch of natural suppliments.

She also drinks heaps of water, naturally that's available 24/7 :D

Hopefully there's some ideas for you in that lot

[Skruffy n Flea]

ya see? that's why i should have left it all to the experts! i did not know that chicken necks were too fatty!!! good to know

as for the rice; i'd be inclined to leave that also to the experts on account that it might be an appropriate foodstuff for your dog...

i hope things are progressing well!

ps: thanks also yellowgirl for the nutra dent tip