Pancreatitis - Help With Managing

[Her Majesty Dogmad]

Due to an elderly person having to go into a nursing home, they are surrendering their Italian Greyhound to me (Iggy Rescue).

The dog has been in a vet for the last month (owner in hospital) being treated for pancreatitis.

The owner had not made a decision until yesterday so i'll be going to collect him on Saturday.

I haven't personally had a dog with pancreatitis before, it was no doubt brought on by his owner feeding him sausages and chocolate (that is what they said they fed him!).

Anyhow, I do have other dogs and would just like some advice from anyone who's managed a dog with this illness.

Should I be looking for food with a fat content under a certain percentage? Can you only feed a particular Hills diet or similar? Is it possible that he'll also need medication? Even if I'm careful might he have a relapse? I'm ultra cautious because I adopted my first Italian from a rescue group and he had Inflammatory Bowel Disease which was challenging and he had episodes most years.

I will read on the internet about it too but I wondered if anyone had some good tips/suggestions for food and general care?

Thanks!

[cavNrott]

One of my Cavaliers suffers from acute Pancreatitis. Apart from one recent mistake on my part I ensure everything she eats has a fat content of no more than 4%. I've recently discovered anything over 4% will set off an attack. I feed BARF Kangaroo because it's low in fat.

I also give her a daily supplement called Enzyplex but I'm unsure how effective it is. I use it as a precaution. As long as you feed a low fat content your little rescue dog should be ok. Will the vet who has been caring for her give you advice and feeding instructions?

My girl had her first Pancreatitis attack 3 years ago and had no further attacks until 3 days ago. I foolishly gave her a dried chicken dental treat without checking the fat content. She was vomiting and hyperactive the next morning but settled by early afternoon. The poor girl was exhausted and slept for 3 hours. I fed her a light dinner of scrambled egg. She's been ok and back to normal since then.

I subsequently found out the fat content of the chicken dental stick was 6% so it seems 4% is the limit for her.

[Chezy]

I make gizzi food, she is very sensitive , I make chicken breast , with veg and basmati rice , cook in slow cooker , keep some buscopan for if she gets a upset tummy, the min gizzi poo is soft I give her some buscopan for a few days

[Rappie]

Generally speaking the fat content should be 10-14%, but in cases where dog have had severe or chronic pancreatitis I would aim for <10% fat. There are specific very low fat diets such as the Royal Canin Gastrointestinal low fat, and others like Hills r/d etc. You might find with some hunting around that there are other weight management diets that will fit the criteria. It is certainly possible to feed a home prepared diet but obviously some more care needs to be taken to ensure the rest of it is balanced. Lean chicken, beef or kangaroo can be used as starting points but the specifics about ingredients will depend on if there are any underlying conditions like food sensitivities or inflammatory bowel disease etc.

[dotdashdot]

There is a Big Dog Barf recipe that is designed for use by dogs suffering from Pancreatitis (possibly the Wellbeing flavour), and I have a customer who uses Advance Light wet food, and I think maybe Advance weight control dry as well.

[Stitch]

As with people, the degree of severity can vary between dogs.

If you start off with a dry food such as Royal Canin Hypoallergenic to settle the problem down, you can then start to introduce different 'real' foods into the diet....or you can just try the dog on the foods that have been suggested here by others.

Big Dog Kangaroo BARF is good however it does have additives...from memory it has flaxseed oil and this may or may not agree with your dog.

It is a matter of trial an error if you want to try this kind of feeding.

I have had quite a bit of experience in elimination diets and have found that feeding a human grade kangaroo mince stew (cooked as it is kinder on the gut) with lots of veges plus added calcium, probiotic and thiamine is a very good fit.

My suggestion would be to try the Kangaroo BARF and see what happens. At least it will save you having to prepare the food yourself if it is successful.

[cavNrott]

Generally speaking the fat content should be 10-14%, but in cases where dog have had severe or chronic pancreatitis I would aim for <10% fat. There are specific very low fat diets such as the Royal Canin Gastrointestinal low fat, and others like Hills r/d etc. You might find with some hunting around that there are other weight management diets that will fit the criteria. It is certainly possible to feed a home prepared diet but obviously some more care needs to be taken to ensure the rest of it is balanced. Lean chicken, beef or kangaroo can be used as starting points but the specifics about ingredients will depend on if there are any underlying conditions like food sensitivities or inflammatory bowel disease etc.

Thanks for the info Rappie. However my dog cannot have anything containing more than a 4% fat content. I tried her with a chicken dental chew that had a 6% fat content and that resulted in a Pancreatitis attack.

I feed her Big Dog BARF in the Kangaroo variety.

[Rappie]

There will be individual variation in what can be tolerated as far as fat content, and sometimes it can be the fact the food is just 'different' rather than necessarily higher in fat. There can also be underlying factors like breed (CKCS are prone) or concurrent conditions or medications that result in higher fat levels in the blood.

If you start off with a dry food such as Royal Canin Hypoallergenic to settle the problem down, you can then start to introduce different 'real' foods into the diet....or you can just try the dog on the foods that have been suggested here by others.

RC Hypoallergenic is contraindicated for pancreatitis - it is good for elimination diets for suspected food intolerances or IBD but from memory still has a moderate to high fat content of around 20%.

[Gallomph]

My old boy had pancreatitis for his last couple of years of life. I was advised to keep the fat levels less than 10%. After checking every brand of food I could find, the only one readily available around here was Supercoat Lite & Mature. And cans of supermarket "junk food" eg chum (disgusting smelling muck, but he loved it :laugh: ).

He did OK on this - the only further pancreatitis attacks he had were when he managed to steal some of the other dogs' better quality (and higher fat) food.

[SchnauzerMax]

When Hills changed the formulation of the I/D food, no dog in my house would eat it!

We resorted to 4 Legs (fresh from refrigerated section in supermarket) or poached chicken breast with rice and a dab of low fat yoghurt.

And yes it was commented that they ate better than we did :laugh:

[Her Majesty Dogmad]

My old boy had pancreatitis for his last couple of years of life. I was advised to keep the fat levels less than 10%. After checking every brand of food I could find, the only one readily available around here was Supercoat Lite & Mature. And cans of supermarket "junk food" eg chum (disgusting smelling muck, but he loved it :laugh: ).

He did OK on this - the only further pancreatitis attacks he had were when he managed to steal some of the other dogs' better quality (and higher fat) food.

Thanks very much everyone for the advice. I bought a 3.6 bag of Hills food - $63!! And some cans. Then I cooked turkey mince, rice and veggies to provide variety.

This dog is 9 kilos and has a voracious appetite. Anyhow, he likes the food but I've got bigger problems with him as it turns out.

The owners didn't tell me but he has separation anxiety as well. If I'd have known that I'd have said I couldn't take him as I work full time - he climbs trees and scales 6 foot fences ...

I've been to the vet and the vet recommended under 10% fat in the diet and I'll get some Supercoat and give it a go.

He's also been put on Prozac to calm him down which is helping. I'll start a separate thread later.

[cavNrott]

I feed my Pancreatitis dog Big Dog BARF in the Kangaroo variety for her evening meal. For breakfast I feed Canidae Platinum dry food because it has a low fat content.