Please Help

[shekhina]

I am asking this question for my parents, hope you don't mind

They have an elderly Staffy X, she's about 14 years old and a total sweety bless her heart. Over the past 6 months or so she has been leaking from the back end and had rather smelly breath. Very long story short, the vet thinks that her body isn't coping with the fats in her diet and so they're going straight through her so to speak. Something about her pancreas? Sorry if this is all a little confusing, my mum couldn't tell me very much.

Tajah (puppy dog) has been fed a crap diet her whole life...cheap tinned and dry food...yes I've tried to tell them her WHOLE life

So anyways, mum and dad have finally decided they'd like to try something new with her diet to see if it will help Tajah with this smelly, drippy problem she's having.

I'm not sure if they'd go for a raw food diet, are there any particular kibbles that might be good for this kind of thing? Would just a good quality kibble help?

Appreciate any information anyone can give

[Miranda]

I have had a dog with pancreatitis, Science Diet make a kibble and canned food in their special diets range, it is called ID and is available from some vets and produce stores. Some of the dog rolls are also suitable, Tucker Time chicken is good and some of the supermarket brands are ok, but make sure that you check the fat content first. It is vitally important that they reduce the fat in her diet as at that age a really bad attack could kill her.

[Sezy]

Try the BARF diet or www.greenpet.com.au has some great natural things as well.

[Nekhbet]

Pancreatitis by any chance? Our cat has it and its a BLOODY PAIN IN THE BOTTOM! He eats anything fatty or rich and BLUUURRRRG all over my floors. He lost so much weight and looked like crap.

Kibbles still have too much fat, I tried every high priced kibble and his body ended up rejecting them all ... again all over my floor.

Cut their losses. Chicken and rice/veges. NO SKIN or minced up rubbish because it contains all the fat. Thighs, skinned necks are good because theres bone there too. Avoid lamb flaps or offcuts because theyre mostly fat. Its not too difficult to cook up a pot of rice and veges then have it in teh fridge for the week. Also at that age a good nutritinal additive like Sashas Blend would help. Some tinned salmon (in water) can be given if she improves. Again Aldi to the rescue. Seriously this diet is dirt cheap ... let them know I can feed a Belgian Shpeherd and a Mastiff for about $15 a week on this diet, and they have an itty bitty staffy!

There are vet prescription diets but our cat ended up vomiting on that too. Its those Waltham Prescription Z diets, costs a bomb, better of plain and natural.

[shekhina]

Thank you SO much for the help so far guys, it really is very, very appreciated

This is the old girl here

I'm passing these suggestions onto my mum...she wants to know what vegetables to use if she were going to go that way?

[Miranda]

Sorry shekhina, you will find the ID diet under Hills Prescription Diets, not Science Diet.

[shekhina]

Passed that on, thank you

[Dog_Horse_Girl]

Oh, she's a doll!

As to vegies, I'd stick with simple: carrots, green beans, peas, zucchini, pumpkin, maybe a little tomato now and then, maybe a little sweet potato...nothing too flash or pricey.

As to meat and bones, definitely steer clear of anything already minced. It's just too iffy b/c most minced products contain a heap of fat. Opt for lean meaty bones such as chicken pieces (no skin), if your mum has a nice butcher he could probably prepare some lean chops (lamb and beef would both be OK as long as they're really lean), and very lean muscle meat minced to order. I would ask for a nice piece of blade steak or rump (yes, rump!) and ask for it to be minced then and there. This can be fed either raw or cooked but IMO raw is better.

I would probably avoid processed but that's my opinion based on my experiences with processed foods. I'd reckon even opting for something excellent like Eagle Pack could be dicey...it's an excellent food but has a reasonably high fat content, as all processed foods do contain high fat levels.

[scottie]

One of my dogs suffers similarly - she has Exocrine Pancreatic Deficiency, which basically means her pancreas doesn't produce the enzymes necessary for proper digestion. It can be tested for by a simple blood test & can easily be treated (not cured - but adequately managed) by the addition of these enzymes to their food as a supplement. You can get over the counter treatment (one of which is called Enzyplex & is widely available) or a prescription medication should the over the counter not be adequate. May be worth them looking into this.

[shekhina]

Thank you lillysmum, I'll let them know about the vegies as my mum wasn't sure which ones and I wanted to ask to make sure there were certain ones she shouldn't eat. My mum said that she's happy to prepare the food if she needs to.

Scottie, thank you for that, I'll see if mum wants to go with the raw foods or whether she wants to add the enzyme stuff. The vet did have her on some kind of power in her food, not sure what it was called though, I'll have to try and find out.

Thanks for all the help guys, much appreciated

[Dogsfevr]

Tuckertime do a special Pancretitas roll wihich is very good & the dogs do like like they also do a low fat one.

The key is with the dog being old a big diet change could be more trouble so any changes do very slowly

[shekhina]

Thanks showdog. I've told my mum to make the changes really slowly, will tell her about the tuckertime roll to, I'm pretty sure Taja likes those

[Dog_Horse_Girl]

I forgot to mention: no onions (not likely that anyone would feed onions but sometimes they are in things we eat for ourselves and give leftovers to the dog) and only a small amount of tomatoes or capsicums (they are related) - I can't remember which chemical is in them that dogs are a little sensitive to, but it's something the two plants share?

[KitKat]

There is a powder suppliment that might help...it's made by the same people that make Thrive D...i'm sure that helps with pancreatitis...but it does say on the lable etc what and how it helps...sorry but i can't for the life of me think of hte name!

[carabelle]

I have a dog who suffers from pancreatitis, I feed her a natural diet (lean meat/chicken/fish, cooked vegetables, occasional grated raw carrot and some rice or pasta) and add a sprinkle of psyllium husks and some finely chopped parsley to her meals most days. She has done very well on this diet with no recurring attacks. When first diagnosed I added enzymes to her meals and then replaced them with the psyllium after a month or so. Your mother's girl looks very good for her age, I hope her health improves.

Edited June 18, 2006 by carabelle

[shekhina]

Thank you everyone! I'll be passing this thread on to my mum so that she's got plenty of ideas