Raw Feeding & Pancreatitis

[Scrappi&Monty]

(Asking for a friend)

One of my friends has been getting into eating raw/vegetarian etc, and she is thinking of putting her dogs on a raw diet too. (Her neighbour is a greyhound bloke who feeds raw, and so do I)

She has 3 dogs.

Two young males; a 25kg sighthound (adopted as a chi x whippet... he was the biggest at the whippet meetup apparently ), and a welsh terrier who has all kinds of mental health issues poor boy. Both rescues. 

And a middle aged Mini Schnauzer girl with pancreatitis. 

They have just been fed the usual kind of dry and tinned foods I suppose, trying to get the lowest fat versions for the schnauzer. 

My friend was saying though that they won't be able to feed bones to the schnauzer because they're too high in fat... But I was wondering how they could ensure a balanced diet?

I know Big Dog raw sells kangaroo versions which have 4% fat, and a sort of "health" version which is 6% fat and suggested for dogs with pancreatitis. Although feeding purely these can get a little pricey. 

Any experiences of raw feeding dogs with pancreatitis, and what to avoid and what works, would be great, thank you  

[karen15]

for the bones I feed beef neck bones aka soup bones. They aren't overly fatty from woolies and the butcher I get them from has less left on, so they are leaner still. My westie is really sensitive to anything fatty and he handles these well.

[Scrappi&Monty]

25 minutes ago, karen15 said:

for the bones I feed beef neck bones aka soup bones. They aren't overly fatty from woolies and the butcher I get them from has less left on, so they are leaner still. My westie is really sensitive to anything fatty and he handles these well.

Hmm okay, it seems like the ones we get around here must be different. Our woolies sells beef soup bones but they are all hard and sharp... 

thanks Karen  

[Dogsfevr]

If the dog has already had attacks then they need to be very careful,fat is all the foods together .

Minis are highly predisposed to it but issues only occur due to a crap diet or often having a party and the guests feeding it the fat of the food etc etc 

Lean meat aka roo is generally suggested and a veggie mix and a good dry can still be feed .

There other lean meats but depends on how easy it is for them to source and how much they want to spend keeping in mind the vet bills are no cheap and a. Bad attack can kill the dog .

 

Is the dog fat ?.

 

 

 

 

[Kazm]

Just have to watch if feeding kangaroo meat as it is very high in protein and too much protein isn't good for the kidneys. 

 

[Scrappi&Monty]

47 minutes ago, showdog said:

If the dog has already had attacks then they need to be very careful,fat is all the foods together .

Minis are highly predisposed to it but issues only occur due to a crap diet or often having a party and the guests feeding it the fat of the food etc etc 

Lean meat aka roo is generally suggested and a veggie mix and a good dry can still be feed .

There other lean meats but depends on how easy it is for them to source and how much they want to spend keeping in mind the vet bills are no cheap and a. Bad attack can kill the dog .

 

Is the dog fat ?.

 

 

 

 

She isn't overweight, she isn't super super lean though. Hard to tell from the fluff and I haven't seen her in a while haha. Her owner's mother used to work as a vet nurse, and they are dog/horse "savvy" family. 

I'm assuming she did have an attack of pancreatitis once, I'll have to double check. Must've been when she was young because I've known her since she was probably 2yo, and I'm pretty sure she's had it since I've known her. 

 

I've made up a list for her of raw foods that should be ok;

Big Dog BARF sells Kangaroo (4% fat) and "wellbeing" (6% fat) versions. The "wellbeing" one is aimed at dogs with pancreatitis and other illnesses like that. 

A lot of the different roo ones are fine since it's so low in fat. 

[Dogsfevr]

Keep in mind there still needs to be some bulk as roo is so low in fat maintaining weight can become an issue..

Our first mini  I had an attack after stealing some meat due to our mistake but we didn't change her diet greatly we just had to be aware off all treats and her daily intake 

[Scrappi&Monty]

13 minutes ago, Zena's mum said:

Just have to watch if feeding kangaroo meat as it is very high in protein and too much protein isn't good for the kidneys. 

 

True. I hadn't thought about that yet. 

The Big Dog BARF "Kanga" flavour is 16.5% protein, 4% fat.

The others are around 13% protein and much higher levels of fat. 

The "Wellbeing" flavour is a much more normal/low 12.5% protein and a hopefully low enough 6% fat.

 

Bugger, I just realised also my dogs are having a bit of kangaroo overload at the moment... oops!

I just bought new kibble (trying savourlife kangaroo) and the Big Dog patties we have at the moment are kangaroo too 

[Scrappi&Monty]

1 minute ago, showdog said:

Keep in mind there still needs to be some bulk as roo is so low in fat maintaining weight can become an issue..

Our first mini  I had an attack after stealing some meat due to our mistake but we didn't change her diet greatly we just had to be aware off all treats and her daily intake 

Yes. Don't they recommend something like under 10% fat?

Would you think feeding lamb (the leaner bits) would be ok? Her neighbour who has greyhounds feeds them lamb. 

By the sounds of it though I'm not sure if they feed any offal or bone though which is concerning... I'll definitely make sure my friend knows it needs to be balanced.

Did you feed your mini raw or kibble/wet? If you fed yours any bones what would you reccomend?  

[Kazm]

My mini eats raw - chicken wings, necks and quality fillets, small portion of roo once a week and sardines once a week. Occasionally gets kibble mixed in but usually I use mixed veges. She gets  lamb off cut bones twice a week. I get the bones from the butchers and if they have fat on them I trim it all off. Treats are given but monitored as minis are prone to getting overweight. Have to watch that. And my girl loves her food. All food. 

[karen15]

I feed turkey mince as my westie doesn't handle fatty food (upsets his tum). He can't eat beef mince and even pork and veal mince is iffy. They also get chicken mince, but less often than turkey. I buy the two for $9 from woolies - its for human consumption. I've always preferred human grade meats as some pet minces are really not nice.

 

I don't feed raw as such - have no idea what that involves. But have always fed a good kibble, mince and bones. Preference is for beef mince, but westies sensitive tum and cockers weight mean leaner mince. Dogs are always shiny and healthy with great teeth