Pancreatitis

[curlyking]

A work colleague has a maltese x that has just been diagnosed with pancreatitis and has asked me if I can suggest a diet for him. The Vet said she should only feed Hills Pescription (available ---- wait for it ---- from the Vet )

Can anyone give me suggestions for something else please.

Thanks in anticipation

[espinay2]

The book "Dogs, Diet and Disease" by Caroline Levin is an exccellent resource:

http://www.petcarebooks.com/books/ddad.htm

[Loraine]

Low fat, not much red meat, chicken is good without skin. No puppy foods are they are usually higher in fat.

[Staff'n'Toller]

Hills I/D is really the best thing to start the dog on after a bout of pancreatitis...then slowly introduce other very low fat foods- but good luck trying to find them.

After an episode, dogs tend to be more sensitive to fat, and the foods that they used to be able to eat, they can't tolerate anymore.

Each time the dog has another episode of pancreatitis, it tends to be worse, and takes the dog longer to recover, pancreatitis is a serious condition, it's NOT something you want to play around with just because your colleage feels they are being ripped off by the Vet. If the dog wasn't hospitalised & on IV fluids this time, then it may well be next time.

Mel.

[Loraine]

I found this website which may be of help:

http://www.pethealthcare.net/html/body_can...ncreatitis.html

[schnauzer]

Schnauzers can be prone to pancreatitis too.

Always feed a low fat diet, I use Hills Science Diet, chicken breast (no skin) not much red meat, tuna (in water), bones. No fatty treats ever.

Personally I would follow the diet my vet gave me.

[curlyking]

pancreatitis is a serious condition, it's NOT something you want to play around with just because your colleage feels they are being ripped off by the Vet.

Mel.

Mel,

This is not the case in this instance, the dog is not keen on the canned food and I was asked if I could suggest an alternative.

[curlyking]

Thanks all for your suggestions, this gives me something to work with.

[Alprazolam]

My vet suggested he had some hills diet first than I could feed Barf with about 60% vegetables to 40% low fat meat such as chicken or beef.

For treats rice puffs with a smidge of vegemite is ok.

Was told Brisket bones are as bad as fat for these poor guys.

[Prydenjoy]

Roo is low in fat, would that be a good meat source? The best thing about BARF is that you can taylor it to practically any needs

[mita]

Low fat, not much red meat, chicken is good without skin. No puppy foods are they are usually higher in fat.

I second this advice....plus mix with basmatic rice (low in starch) & vegetables. Keep away from the cat food, too...if dog's owner owns a cat. Cat food is far higher in fat than dog food.

We had a sheltie who got pancreatitis & we had to watch him like a hawk over his lifetime (died at age 14 yrs). Specially watch for other people feeding titbits like pieces of ham, cheese etc. We were amazed at what an apparently small bit of fat could trigger off an attack. Danger times are Christmas, Easter, parties when there's opportunities for the dog to find leftovers...& for others to feed it.

A uni vet also warned us against bones...even when they hadn't a shred of meat on them. She said if you didn't believe that could be so...just do a test & boil such a bone....& watch all the fat rise to the top.

Edited June 16, 2005 by mita

[Prydenjoy]

Is it pancreatis that Dalmations are prone to? I can't remember what it was, but a vet at the University here did a study on Dalmations and various diets to prevent whatever it was they got (I think it was panceatis, I hope so, otherwise none of this is relevant!!!). Well she basically said to feed a vegetarian diet with cheese and eggs for protein. There was an article in the paper about it which really ticked me off because it had her feeding a dally a bowl of veggies, with no mention of weather they should be cooked etc, why publish an article with only half the facts? I could just see a bunch of welling meaning people chopping up raw veggies and feeding their dogs whole, raw carrots in the believe that it was GOOD for them and that they could survive off that. Anyway, what I am basically getting to is - have you considered a mostly vegetarian diet with just a few sources of lean meat? About rice etc, I've heard that because dogs aren't made to digest grains it can actually cause panceatis, so I'd be wary of feeding any grains (although most vets probably wouldn't agree because the "pet food" they sell is full of the stuff!).

[espinay2]

Just rememebred - if you go to www.b-naturals.com and click on the newsletter directory, Lew has an article on Pancreatitis and Diet that may provide a few ideas.

[dougal]

My dog has suffered from pancreatitis from the age of 2 (now 15). Over the years I have fed Lucky Dog dried food without any problem, although he did not respond well to some of the other supermarket dried food. Also pasta, chicken, vegetables and cooked meat. He has been on digestive enzymes since the onset, these have changed over the years as products have come and gone from the market, but generally I've found the cheaper medication doesn't do the trick.

[Alprazolam]

Be careful with Roo meat I was told never to give it to him as it can create an attack as it is too rich for dogs that are prone towards this disease.

[Silverblue]

I would be sticking to the recommended diet, it is not cheap (as I know too well), I doubt the vet is trying to rip them off.

My old girl suffers from acute pancreatitis & i would not be risking anything with her, apart from the odd chicken neck ( Skinless ) of course.

It is a very painfully, potentually fatal illness that should not be taking lightly

There is a tinned version as well as crunchies.

[luvinshep]

My GSD has just been pts...she had a tumour on the brain...but also she had pancreatitis...don't take this disease lightly it can be very painful for your dog...& it can or will kill them if you don't watch it...i gave my girl chichen breast fillets skinned, rice or pasta...my vet said no kibble...no fatty foods at all...

Jan

[Belinda_k]

Hi, I've just joined up here, I've been looking around the internet to find out more about pancreatitis and I found this forum.

Anyway, I have a 11 year old Blue Healer (Mack) who has suffered from pancreatitis since he was very young, he can't eat hardly any fat at all or he gets really sick. I once dropped a very thin slice of kabana on the ground, he beat me to it, and he was up panting all night, he has been on the drip at the local vets several times and atleast three of those times the vet didn't think he'd make it.

He hasn't suffered any major bouts in a couple of years now, he can't eat bones at all (they nearly killed him one time) he can't eat pasta, I don't know why, and all he ever eats is advanced light dry food and when I can affored it (rarely) skinless chicken breast fillet steamed mixed with rice and a bit of packet gravy. The thing is I've been too scared to try him on different foods since the last time he was sick and I want to know what other people feed their dogs with pancreatitis. Mack no longer seems to enjoy the advanced light and has trouble going to the toilet while on the dry food. I have recently found a food called Chunkers and they have a turkey variety with only 6% fat, would anyone else try their dog on this? Really I just want to give him a change of diet to give him a bit of variety so any ideas (including home cooked recipes) would be a help. Thanks.

Belinda

[Prydenjoy]

Hi Belinda,

Turkey chunkers is low fat, so as far as I know it would be OK. However, the Advanced dry food is very good quality and I wouldn't remove it from his diet completely. Maybe add a small amount of chunkers at first and then slowly work up to mixing them about 50/50, that way it will be tastier but he will still have Advance in his diet

[fido666]

All this talk of Pancreatitis is rather upsetting. I lost my 4yo Collie boy (whom I hand reared from birth) to what was initially diagnosed as Pancreatitis :p . He spent a week on a drip before I was referred to a specialist. The specialist told me it is a very difficult disease to diagnose correctly and he didn't think it was that (based on blood test results, etc). Exploratory surgery revealed he had a ruptured gall bladder and nothing could be done; so he wasn't woken up again Sorry Curlyking I know that doesn't answer your question but I had to share.

I guess high fat, high protein diets would be out but skinless Turkey or Chicken would be OK. My current boy has been on Hill's I/D this week due to a bout of Gastro (and yes the dreaded P word was mentioned as a possible problem ). I didn't think he would eat it as it's supposed to be El Blando but he loved it! Interestingly it does have rice in it. After a couple of days on this his stools are again normal and he is happy and playful again. Now he has a ferocious appetite so something must have been right with the I/D. I wouldn't want to have to feed nothing but it though, I'd go broke . Tonight he had some boiled skinless chicken breast and he wolfed that down too.

Cheers,

Corine