[Patricia W]

I’m new here and have been reading this with interest. I have a mini australian shepherd that needs to lose about 6 lbs. I’ve been fighting his weight loss for a couple years now. was feeding him Chicken Soup for the Soul weight management which is 20% protein and about 6% fat. I tried switching (very slowly) to Fat Dog, which is higher in protein and after a very short period he got pancreatitis and had to be hospitalized.

My vet was pretty sure it was the new dog food and told me it was important to keep fat low and beware of high protein foods for a dog with this disease. I’ve been very careful since then and put him back on the Chicken Soup. He is still overweight and so the vet put him on a prescription Iams. After a four month period he had only lost 1 lb. The vet food was very expensive so I went back to Chicken Soup weight management.

He has breathing issues and also a chronic limp that comes and goes, so exercise is not something I can push. He chases our border collies around the back yard, and goes on short walks, but if he starts limping, I have to curtail it until the leg heals. He has had the xrays, blood work, etc., and the vet is pretty convinced it is a bit of arthritis and we have to deal with it, giving pain meds if it is bad.

I’m interested in getting some opinions. Right now I give him 1/2 cup of dry and 1 tblsp of canned (iams) at each meal morning and night. I think I am feeding him too much, but he seems so hungry. The vet had me feed him 1/3 cup dry and 1 tblsp wet of the prescription food and he was hungry all the time, with only 1 lb loss.

I’m also very confused about the high protein comment for pancreatitis dogs early in this forum. My vet says NO on high protein and it seems to be a disagreement among the vet world. Any thoughts?

Thanks