Daxilly Posted December 17, 2011 Share Posted December 17, 2011 My 9yo lab is currently at the Vet being treated for Pancreatitis. She is not overweight and is very active. Her diet is good and I feed her lean raw meat/bones. She also has vegetables, yoghurt and fish during the week. So that I can be ready for when she is released should I be changing her diet? I tried a search on DOL but didn't get much. Will she need to go onto a low fat dry kibble? Does anybody feed raw and have a dog with this condition? Any help with what I should do will be greatly appreciated, as I would like to make an informed decision. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
espinay2 Posted December 17, 2011 Share Posted December 17, 2011 See the following: http://www.b-naturals.com/newsletter/pancreatitis/ http://www.petcarebooks.com/books/ddad.htm Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
twodoggies2001 Posted December 17, 2011 Share Posted December 17, 2011 My Min Schnauzer had a bout of what I believe was medication induced pancreatitus about 3 years ago and I also feed raw. I have, with the help of the vet adjusted his diet to minimal fat content and he is just fine. I buy no fat yoghurt and cottage cheese and buy the raw meats accordingly. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stitch Posted December 17, 2011 Share Posted December 17, 2011 Remember bone marrow = fat and that's ALL bones even the small ground up ones. I can't feed BARF to my girl who has that kind of problem but I can cook for her ie. muscle meat & vegs, etc. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
grace Posted December 17, 2011 Share Posted December 17, 2011 Our dog gets kangaroo meat, natures gift kangaroo, rice and veges, some supercoat lite biscuits and a 4x2. She has been on this diet for over a year now and is going really well and has had no more attacks,and the vet is really pleased with her Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Daxilly Posted December 17, 2011 Author Share Posted December 17, 2011 I would love to feed her Kangaroo, however, she always throws up afterwards. That is interesting about the bones. It never occurred to me that the marrow was a problem. She gets turkey and chicken necks/wings. Would this also be a problem with marrow? While I hate the thought, maybe horse is an option. I know it is lean and my supplier sells necks, as well as mince. I just need to get over the food aversion. I may need to look at this. Non fat yoghurt will be the go. Are the fatty oils in fish a problem or is Omega 3 OK. She looks like she will be in for at least 2 days. She is currently on a drip and being starved. I knew something was wrong when she wouldn't eat breakfast. No Lab refuses food unless they are really sick! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
twodoggies2001 Posted December 17, 2011 Share Posted December 17, 2011 I would love to feed her Kangaroo, however, she always throws up afterwards. That is interesting about the bones. It never occurred to me that the marrow was a problem. She gets turkey and chicken necks/wings. Would this also be a problem with marrow? While I hate the thought, maybe horse is an option. I know it is lean and my supplier sells necks, as well as mince. I just need to get over the food aversion. I may need to look at this. Non fat yoghurt will be the go. Are the fatty oils in fish a problem or is Omega 3 OK. She looks like she will be in for at least 2 days. She is currently on a drip and being starved. I knew something was wrong when she wouldn't eat breakfast. No Lab refuses food unless they are really sick! the marrow in the bones is fat. I do feed sardines too but I buy them in spring water. I feel the less fat the better. I wouldn't give wings because of the skin which is also fat. If you feed necks, take the skin off, an easier job than the wings. Pancreatitus is a horrible infliction and very painful for the patient too. My boy was in the hospital for 3 days, if I remember correctly. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest lavendergirl Posted December 17, 2011 Share Posted December 17, 2011 Our dog gets kangaroo meat, natures gift kangaroo, rice and veges, some supercoat lite biscuits and a 4x2. She has been on this diet for over a year now and is going really well and has had no more attacks,and the vet is really pleased with her Just wondering what a 4x2 is? Is Kangaroo meat considered lower fat or better for allergic dogs do you know? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
persephone Posted December 17, 2011 Share Posted December 17, 2011 Kangaroo is a rich in protein , low fat meat. 4X2s are a very hard baked biscuit Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Daxilly Posted December 17, 2011 Author Share Posted December 17, 2011 The sardines and tuna are already in springwater. The mackeral is in oil but I will try buying some in springwater. Pigs' ears are out (not that she had them often) and so is cheese. I did use that as a treat and she does love it. I have had to cut out alot of carbs as her ears would get yeasty. That is why I am trying to avoid any kibbles. She also gets two fish oil tablets a day, so I will have to check if these will still be OK. I will talk to the vet, as well as my raw food supplier, in order to get some ideas, but it is good to know I can still incorporate some form of raw into her diet. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
*Avanti* Posted December 17, 2011 Share Posted December 17, 2011 I would love to feed her Kangaroo, however, she always throws up afterwards. That is interesting about the bones. It never occurred to me that the marrow was a problem. She gets turkey and chicken necks/wings. Would this also be a problem with marrow? While I hate the thought, maybe horse is an option. I know it is lean and my supplier sells necks, as well as mince. I just need to get over the food aversion. I may need to look at this. Non fat yoghurt will be the go. Are the fatty oils in fish a problem or is Omega 3 OK. She looks like she will be in for at least 2 days. She is currently on a drip and being starved. I knew something was wrong when she wouldn't eat breakfast. No Lab refuses food unless they are really sick! My 8 year old lab got pancreatitis about three years ago and was in hospital on a drip for five days. I think a lot of marrow bones contributed to it as I had been giving her quite a few. It wasn't them alone though. A week or so before she got it she had raided the kitchen and found a few things she shouldn't have had like chocolates and peanut butter...don't ask! Anyway it has been a long road to recovery but she is terrific now. Her staple diet now is Advance Weight Management which is very low in fat content. She also gets some veggies and rice as well but no more bones I’m afraid, instead she has raw carrots. Wishing your girl a speedy recovery. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Augustine Approved Posted December 17, 2011 Share Posted December 17, 2011 Hi Daxilly, I am sorry to hear about your dog, I hope things improve for you soon. Please PM and I will attempt to offer you some advice, but I would steer away from kibble. Veering off topic a bit... The reason you may find that a dog throws up when eating kangaroo is because it is very rich and very high in protein. It's like people, too much of certain food on their own may not agree our stomachs. I would suggest that kangaroo is mixed with many other ingredients if you would like good results. The other thing is that kangaroo mince (human grade) is too lean, it is only approx 2% fat and adult dogs need a minimum of 5% fat in their diet (for fresh food), approx. double that for puppies. Dogs really need fat in their diet (for energy) and it is important to get good quality fat so that they stay lean and healthy. I emphasise that it is not so much about a low fat content, but the quality of the fat. A good fat will not be stored like other fats, instead it will go straight to the liver and get turned into energy. Giving the correct amount of good quality fat has an interesting effect... the more energy the dog has, the more it wants to exercise, the more it exercises the leaner it stays, the leaner it stays, the less chance it has of obesity related issues. I would steer away from puppy mince as it is more than likely mixed with unnecessary nasties purely to bulk it out. You may read that dogs need x amount of protein or x amount of fat in their diet. For example I have read articles that claim that dogs require 30% protein in their food. What even specialists overlook is that this is referring to kibble. It is impossible to get a fresh food up to 30% protein without the use of concentrate protein powders (meals) and even then it would be too high in protein for dogs. The thing that is overlooked when a dry food makes its claim about the protein content is that dogs will naturally drink much much more water than if they were eating a fresh diet. This is because the biscuits contain hardly any moisture and the dogs need to put the fluids lacking back in their systems. So, that being the case, in reality if you were to factor in just how much water goes into a dogs body throughout a day while they eat kibble, the protein content would be far less than 30%, and much closer to the protein levels found in fresh food. The other thing to note is that the protein and fat content of their staple food is not the be all and end all because that is not all dogs eat on a daily basis. I would take into account the protein and fat content of their treats and bones etc. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stitch Posted December 17, 2011 Share Posted December 17, 2011 You should take your vets advice on what to feed when your dog comes home. Whilst I realise that some people here don't like feeding kibble/dry dogfood to their dogs, in your circumstances that may be the best option, initially or in the long term - you don't want your dog back in hospital again any time soon!! Once you have established a normal eating routine you can then experiment on which whole foods it will tolerate. I used to feed all mine raw/BARF for years (and I still do for most of them) but then when you get one that has the kind of problem your dog does you realise there is definitely a place for dry food in some dogs diets. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Daxilly Posted December 19, 2011 Author Share Posted December 19, 2011 Well I picked her up this afternoon and she is alot better than she was, although she is very tired. I can hear her snoring as I type this. :D I spoke at length about her diet and my Vet is happy for her to continue with her current diet with some modifications. No more pigs' ears. Non/low fat cheeses and yoghurt. She is getting Joint Guard so the fish oil tablets will go. The tinned fish is in springwater so that can stay, but not too often. My raw supplier minces his own beef. It is lean and preservative free. The chicken mince is made from wings so that will need to go. Either mince from carcasses or breasts, both skin free, but I will have to look at cost and availability. He also mentioned the horse mince. That I will consider, as he said that one of his dogs has a sensitive stomach and doesn't react to it. My vet is hoping that is it a one off event. She has a week of antibiotics to take and I will be feeding four small meals until her stomach is back to normal. I will keep an eye on how she reacts to various foods. Thanks for your help and fingers crossed this does not occur again! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
White Shepherd mom Posted December 20, 2011 Share Posted December 20, 2011 Casper had pancreatitis 2 years ago. Like your dog he is a lean dog with no fat on him but one big juicy marrow bone sent him straight to the vet. That was the last bone his ever eaten. At the beginning you need to be very vigilant with your girl's diet. I had Casper on Hill's HD for the first few days, then put him on a LITE kibble with boiled rice and chicken. I now feed Weight Management or Senior IAMS and Roo Barf and he has not had a relapse. I can now give him the occasional chicken carcass or neck and it doesn't affect him. Unfortunately I cannot answer your question about feeding raw. I'm glad your girl is home, may she get stronger every day. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bellab Posted March 30, 2012 Share Posted March 30, 2012 My Major lived from 12-17.5 with chronic pancreatitis and even then, we had to send him on his way because of complications from the pancreatitis. Unfortunately, pancreatitis brings a whole new set of dietary requirements very different to those of a healthy dog. All zealous raw food ideology must be left at the door because helping a dog live healthily and happily with pancreatitis is about preventing the natural outcome (death) from occurring. Don't get me wrong, I have no problem with the raw diet idea in healthy, youthful dogs but the very old and infirm dog requires special attention. With pancreatitis, the first order of business is to severely limit fat - no matter what type of fat it is, it all gets broken down by the same pancreas-produced enzymes and thus puts stress on the pancreas, possibly triggering a relapse. Second, you must determine to what extent you have to limit protein. As permanent damage to the pancreas is caused by an attack and even more with successive attacks, your dog will have a limited ability to digest protein. As a result of this and their bouts of lost apetite (anorexia), severely pancreatitic dogs will have a hard time maintaining a healthy weight. You can increase the daily protein/fat load your dog can handle by feeding it small, frequent meals. Our old Major used to get 4-5 handfuls of food every day. Also, it's best to include a carb (my dog worked best with white rice) to compensate for the loss of energy and also to add fibre to the meal - dogs get colon cancer from a low fibre, high meat diet just like humans! We used to have to boil the chicken breast because otherwise it was too fatty for our dog and would trigger an attack. You skim the fat off the top of the water and can use a couple tablespoons of the water to moisten/flavour the meal. We also were told to add a tsp of low fat cottage cheese to make it more palatable for our now very underweight and anorexic dog. I stress the idea of the small meal thing. One normal dog biscuit won't trigger an attack nor will 1g of fat. It's about trying to 'drip feed' them a normal amount of food across the day. Anyway, I dont know what is apparently wrong with greenies but, if bones are a no, you may have no other option to clean their teeth - unless your dog is well behaved enough to have their teeth brushed! (Not like mine!) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
espinay2 Posted March 30, 2012 Share Posted March 30, 2012 A good book on management, including dietary management, of a range of conditions such as diabetes, cushings and pancreatitis is 'Dogs Diet and Disease' by Caroline Levin Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Create an account or sign in to comment
You need to be a member in order to leave a comment
Create an account
Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!
Register a new accountSign in
Already have an account? Sign in here.
Sign In Now