[Dee D]

I have a 12 yr old male chihuahua with pancreatitis with severe pain and loss of weight and additionally he also has a problem with leaking urine. I really hope when I get the pancreatitis under control permanently, this issue will go away too like member Kay stated she experienced. I have him currently on the Hills I/D low fat maintenance the Vet had on hand but I am questioning whether my dog will get enough protein in his diet and being this should be the major part of a canines diet, it worries me because that supports their muscle mass. I did the DM calculation for this canned food (stated 5%) to determine the DM protein percentage and it’s only 22% DM plus the first 2 ingredients are water and rice including Cellulose which can be saw dust. It does have an egg and liver organs it in but I hardly think this is quality RX food for a sick animal at the high price they command. Very despairing how the world works. I’ve looked at the brand Wellness Core Grain free which has 5% min crude fat on the can (15% DM which is consider medium amount) but has 11% stated protein (50% DM) now that’s more like it and the source ingredients read high quality including Omega 3 which is great for inflammation. Still not cheap but at least you’re getting something for your money. This maybe to much fat during an initial attack but long term I like it much better for my dog. I also have wondered like an earlier member posted, if supplementing digestive Enzymes would help since pancreatitis by nature means the enzymes produced are not processing correctly to the intestines to digest and absorb the nutrients from the food as it is broken down so it just goes through their GI tract out the other end and this could contribute to over all poor health and lost weight. FYI, Enzymes should be given with food to work for this purpose. My vet is saying no too. I have learned eggs are the #1 excellent source of protein at 100% but for my dog I will remove the yolk and just give him the white portion which has no fat content but better to add cooked to avoid possible Somalia. I just gave my dog a a little of the white of a hard boiled egg and he loved it and I just bought a dog digestive enzyme supplement, so wish me luck!