[Spy Car]

Ryan, would you consider a short-term trial boiling up some lean chicken and perhaps either lean beef heart and/or lean pork (like tenderloin) and a small amount of liver and kidney (5% of each)?

Then adding 1/2 teaspoon of finely ground eggshell to the cooled mix to maintain a calcium/phosphorus mineral balance. No rice.

Has the vet given any suggestion there is an emergent problem with pancreatitis or other good reasons for restricting fats? I would not make a decision on a new kibble without that knowledge. Otherwise, I’ve expressed my strong preference for a high-protein/high-fat diet over a high-carb option, all things being equal.

Have you spoken with the vet about checking for hypothyroidism and diabetes? These can whack out triglyceride levels.

I’m sorry you and your dog are suffering so much. You are an obviously conscientious owner. Sorry to see you in such a tough spot.

Best,

Bill

• This reply was modified 7 years, 5 months ago by Spy Car.

[Spy Car]

Ryan, do you have a fasting triglyceride result back yet?

I was under the impression the re-test results were not back yet, yes/no?

I’d work with your vet to rule out obvious issues like hypothyroidism or diabetes before jumping to a conclusion that your dog has pancreatic issues.

The same unhealthful high carb diets can stress the pancreas (by causing an unnatural demand on pancreatic amylase) and that can be a factor in dog’s developing pancreatitis. If the dog does have signs of pancreatitis then a high-fat diet would be counter-indicated. It’s a bad cycle.

One thing I think we can all agree on is work with the vet to know what’s actually going on.

Bill

[Lori H]

Hi Marjorie,

My dog Buddy has been through a lot, much like your dog. He just turned 10 and during his life he has had surgery on his spleen, surgery for bladder stones, been diagnosed with Diabetes and I was told by my vet that he was suffering from liver failure and was preparing me for the fact that Buddy was going to die. The liver failure diagnosis was over a year ago and today, he is healthy, happy, looks amazing and has so much energy. I just had him into the vet for blood work Friday and his numbers are almost perfect! It has been am amazing turnaround so I know how you feel. I basically had to get him healthy myself. My vet did not support my decision to do what I did, but it does not matter, he is healthy and that is all that matters!

I now believe wholeheartedly that most vets know nothing about nutrition. They are told to carry a line of food in their offices by one of the large pharma/dog food companies because most of these companies go out and recruit at the vet universities across the United States when vets are in school and provide them with a kickback when the sell either Science Diet or Royal Canin in their clinics, up to 40%. Don’t get me wrong, I LOVE my vet, I just don’t believe he knows much of anything about nutrition. He has been great to me, my dog Buddy and my three cats. He is good at what he does, diagnose and perform much needed surgeries and procedures. He did Buddy’s bladder stone surgery which has complications.

I was at my wits end as well and thought that I was going to lose Buddy, but I was not willing to give up so I did a Google search and found an amazing person who brought Buddy back to the healthy dog he is.

Buddy is on a very special diet and he has made huge strides in the last 10+ months. He is a very healthy dog to what he was 6 months ago.

I worked with a man named Rick Scheyer. He has an amazing website http://www.doglivershunt.com He has helped many dogs with liver shunt, kidney disease, bladder stone problems and much, much more become healthy dogs again. I would suggest reaching out to him for a free consultation. It might be the answer you need.

If you choose to go with his program, it is not cheap, but I believe that over time, I will save money by not taking Buddy to the vet time and time again because I don’t know what is wrong and having a battery of tests run and racking up bills in the thousands, I have been there!

He was slowly weened off of his processed food Science Diet U/D and placed on a diet of fresh veggies and meat based on a very slow transition to follow with Rick’s help.

Buddy’s diet is a balance of ¾ veggies to ¼ meats. Dogs with liver issues do not need as much protein as you would expect. He gets lots of yellow veggies (squash, tomatoes, peppers, cucumber, celery, carrots, Brussel sprouts, snap peas, etc.) along with hemp oil and nori blended with goat yogurt into almost a smoothie consistency. I then add meats, liver is great as it helps to detoxify the liver (funny that you feed liver to a dog with liver issuesJ) and then he gets a variety of supplements. He receives three gut supplements in the morning (Acidophilus, Bifudus and a Spectrabiotic) along with an Enzyme and something called Whole Body. In the evenings he gets the Enzyme, Whole Body and a Mushroom supplement. The process to make his food is not that time consuming and if you are at your wits end like I was, I was ready to do anything.

He also gets to have as much goat yogurt as he wants with coconut oil. He also gets sweet potato chews and coconut slices.

He is also allowed to eat fruits, not during his morning and evening meals since they digest differently than veggies, but he has not yet warmed up to them yet. I don’t know if he ever will.

He is doing great! He has so much energy and the numbers don’t lie! I got a glucose meter and I am going to start checking his levels daily. I would really like to get him off the insulin if I can. I believe the medicine is what causes the blindness, not the actual diabetes, my vet believes otherwise.

My vet has not said much of anything. I explained I was taking him off the prescription food and putting him on this program and he never responded. When I took him in the last time for blood work, I think he was surprised Buddy was doing so well, but did not ask me further about what I was doing. He is a pretty straight and narrow vet and I don’t think he looks outside the box. If Buddy’s glucose numbers continue to decline, I will take him back and back off on the number of units he is given. Now it is just maintenance and keeping a spreadsheet and monitoring how he is doing.

I suggest reaching out. I think Rick saved Buddy’s life. I took him to the vet in October to have blood work done and he is perfectly healthy!

Let me know if I can be of anymore help.

Good luck on your search and reach out if you have further questions or concerns. It was hard to take the jump and trust someone other than my vet with my dogs nutritional health, but I am so glad that I did.

Lori

[Lori H]

Hi Jenny,

My dog Buddy has been through a lot, much like your dog. He just turned 10 and during his life he has had surgery on his spleen, surgery for bladder stones, been diagnosed with Diabetes and I was told by my vet that he was suffering from liver failure and was preparing me for the fact that Buddy was going to die. The liver failure diagnosis was over a year ago and today, he is healthy, happy, looks amazing and has so much energy. I just had him into the vet for blood work Friday and his numbers are almost perfect! It has been am amazing turnaround so I know how you feel. I basically had to get him healthy myself. My vet did not support my decision to do what I did, but it does not matter, he is healthy and that is all that matters!

I now believe wholeheartedly that most vets know nothing about nutrition. They are told to carry a line of food in their offices by one of the large pharma/dog food companies because most of these companies go out and recruit at the vet universities across the United States when vets are in school and provide them with a kickback when the sell either Science Diet or Royal Canin in their clinics, up to 40%. Don’t get me wrong, I LOVE my vet, I just don’t believe he knows much of anything about nutrition. He has been great to me, my dog Buddy and my three cats. He is good at what he does, diagnose and perform much needed surgeries and procedures. He did Buddy’s bladder stone surgery which has complications.

I was at my wits end as well and thought that I was going to lose Buddy, but I was not willing to give up so I did a Google search and found an amazing person who brought Buddy back to the healthy dog he is.

Buddy is on a very special diet and he has made huge strides in the last 10+ months. He is a very healthy dog to what he was 6 months ago.

I worked with a man named Rick Scheyer. He has an amazing website http://www.doglivershunt.com He has helped many dogs with liver shunt, kidney disease, bladder stone problems and much, much more become healthy dogs again. I would suggest reaching out to him for a free consultation. It might be the answer you need.

If you choose to go with his program, it is not cheap, but I believe that over time, I will save money by not taking Buddy to the vet time and time again because I don’t know what is wrong and having a battery of tests run and racking up bills in the thousands, I have been there!

He was slowly weened off of his processed food Science Diet U/D and placed on a diet of fresh veggies and meat based on a very slow transition to follow with Rick’s help.

Buddy’s diet is a balance of ¾ veggies to ¼ meats. Dogs with liver issues do not need as much protein as you would expect. He gets lots of yellow veggies (squash, tomatoes, peppers, cucumber, celery, carrots, Brussel sprouts, snap peas, etc.) along with hemp oil and nori blended with goat yogurt into almost a smoothie consistency. I then add meats, liver is great as it helps to detoxify the liver (funny that you feed liver to a dog with liver issuesJ) and then he gets a variety of supplements. He receives three gut supplements in the morning (Acidophilus, Bifudus and a Spectrabiotic) along with an Enzyme and something called Whole Body. In the evenings he gets the Enzyme, Whole Body and a Mushroom supplement. The process to make his food is not that time consuming and if you are at your wits end like I was, I was ready to do anything.

He also gets to have as much goat yogurt as he wants with coconut oil. He also gets sweet potato chews and coconut slices.

He is also allowed to eat fruits, not during his morning and evening meals since they digest differently than veggies, but he has not yet warmed up to them yet. I don’t know if he ever will.

He is doing great! He has so much energy and the numbers don’t lie! I got a glucose meter and I am going to start checking his levels daily. I would really like to get him off the insulin if I can. I believe the medicine is what causes the blindness, not the actual diabetes, my vet believes otherwise.

My vet has not said much of anything. I explained I was taking him off the prescription food and putting him on this program and he never responded. When I took him in the last time for blood work, I think he was surprised Buddy was doing so well, but did not ask me further about what I was doing. He is a pretty straight and narrow vet and I don’t think he looks outside the box. If Buddy’s glucose numbers continue to decline, I will take him back and back off on the number of units he is given. Now it is just maintenance and keeping a spreadsheet and monitoring how he is doing.

I suggest reaching out. I think Rick saved Buddy’s life. I took him to the vet in October to have blood work done and he is perfectly healthy!

Let me know if I can be of anymore help.

Good luck on your search and reach out if you have further questions or concerns. It was hard to take the jump and trust someone other than my vet with my dogs nutritional health, but I am so glad that I did.

Lori

[Tracy P]

I have an 8 yr old who 2 months ago was diagnosed with diabetes . I went with the vets advice of lowering her calorie intake to 950-1000 . She was 70 lbs when I changed her food, and she is skin and bones now. In the last 2 weeks we have noticed a mass growing on her leg as well . I have called the vet and am waiting for a call back . Could the lowering of calories as much as we did cause this ? Her sugar is checked by me 2 times a day, and if need be insulin is given . It ranges from low 95 to high of 350 some days . She gets insulin if sugar is above 120 . The food I give her is Beneful weight management . She doesn’t constantly drink water like she did when we found out about the diabetes either. She eats all her food within 2 minutes. She gets 2 cups at 6 am and 2 cups at 6 pm .

[Anonymous]

Lee, falling back on 8th grade science class, and remembering that for centuries drying meat was how it was preserved, I’m guessing the “freeze-dry” process accomplishes the ridding of any bacteria. However, my vet had me stop feeding another brand of freeze-dried raw kibble (Wellness Core Tender Bites) to my diabetic dog, saying that immuno-compromised pets shouldn’t take the chance with raw products.
If you read the prior entries in this forum, you will learn that returning the Dr. Marty product and dealing with their customer service is really tough. Buyer beware…. My pups wouldn’t eat Dr. Marty’s, which is difficult to prepare properly and doesn’t hydrate easily. The Wellness Core Tender Bites are less expensive, don’t need hydration, and available in about 2 days (free shipping) from Chewy.com. My dogs loved it, but I had to give it up because of the diabetes issue.

[Joshua W]

I searched and could not find anything on this topic, so apologies if it’s already on here.

Prescription dog food is great for dogs with diabetes, kidney issues, etc. There is NO reason that hydrolyzed protein food should require a trip to the vet, and there is no government regulation of this food (that I know of). I have heard that smaller dog food manufacturers (not royal canin, purina, etc) create hydrolyzed protein food and sell it direct. Does anyone know of these manufacturers? Basically, making hydrolyzed food prescription is a racket and I do not want to buy into it.
Thanks!

[Lori H]

Hi Simone,

My dog Buddy has been through a lot, much like your dog. He just turned 10 and during his life he has had surgery on his spleen, surgery for bladder stones, been diagnosed with Diabetes and I was told by my vet that he was suffering from liver failure and was preparing me for the fact that Buddy was going to die. The liver failure diagnosis was over a year ago and today, he is healthy, happy, looks amazing and has so much energy. I just had him into the vet for blood work Friday and his numbers are almost perfect! It has been am amazing turnaround so I know how you feel. I basically had to get him healthy myself. My vet did not support my decision to do what I did, but it does not matter, he is healthy and that is all that matters!

I now believe wholeheartedly that most vets know nothing about nutrition. They are told to carry a line of food in their offices by one of the large pharma/dog food companies because most of these companies go out and recruit at the vet universities across the United States when vets are in school and provide them with a kickback when the sell either Science Diet or Royal Canin in their clinics, up to 40%. Don’t get me wrong, I LOVE my vet, I just don’t believe he knows much of anything about nutrition. He has been great to me, my dog Buddy and my three cats. He is good at what he does, diagnose and perform much needed surgeries and procedures. He did Buddy’s bladder stone surgery which has complications.

I was at my wits end as well and thought that I was going to lose Buddy, but I was not willing to give up so I did a Google search and found an amazing person who brought Buddy back to the healthy dog he is.

Buddy is on a very special diet and he has made huge strides in the last 10+ months. He is a very healthy dog to what he was 6 months ago.

I worked with a man named Rick Scheyer. He has an amazing website http://www.doglivershunt.com He has helped many dogs with liver shunt, kidney disease, bladder stone problems and much, much more become healthy dogs again. I would suggest reaching out to him for a free consultation. It might be the answer you need.

If you choose to go with his program, it is not cheap, but I believe that over time, I will save money by not taking Buddy to the vet time and time again because I don’t know what is wrong and having a battery of tests run and racking up bills in the thousands, I have been there!

He was slowly weened off of his processed food Science Diet U/D and placed on a diet of fresh veggies and meat based on a very slow transition to follow with Rick’s help.

Buddy’s diet is a balance of ¾ veggies to ¼ meats. Dogs with liver issues do not need as much protein as you would expect. He gets lots of yellow veggies (squash, tomatoes, peppers, cucumber, celery, carrots, Brussel sprouts, snap peas, etc.) along with hemp oil and nori blended with goat yogurt into almost a smoothie consistency. I then add meats, liver is great as it helps to detoxify the liver (funny that you feed liver to a dog with liver issuesJ) and then he gets a variety of supplements. He receives three gut supplements in the morning (Acidophilus, Bifudus and a Spectrabiotic) along with an Enzyme and something called Whole Body. In the evenings he gets the Enzyme, Whole Body and a Mushroom supplement. The process to make his food is not that time consuming and if you are at your wits end like I was, I was ready to do anything.

He also gets to have as much goat yogurt as he wants with coconut oil. He also gets sweet potato chews and coconut slices.

He is also allowed to eat fruits, not during his morning and evening meals since they digest differently than veggies, but he has not yet warmed up to them yet. I don’t know if he ever will.

He is doing great! He has so much energy and the numbers don’t lie! I got a glucose meter and I am going to start checking his levels daily. I would really like to get him off the insulin if I can. I believe the medicine is what causes the blindness, not the actual diabetes, my vet believes otherwise.

My vet has not said much of anything. I explained I was taking him off the prescription food and putting him on this program and he never responded. When I took him in the last time for blood work, I think he was surprised Buddy was doing so well, but did not ask me further about what I was doing. He is a pretty straight and narrow vet and I don’t think he looks outside the box. If Buddy’s glucose numbers continue to decline, I will take him back and back off on the number of units he is given. Now it is just maintenance and keeping a spreadsheet and monitoring how he is doing.

I suggest reaching out. I think Rick saved Buddy’s life. I took him to the vet in October to have blood work done and he is perfectly healthy!

Let me know if I can be of anymore help.

Good luck on your search and reach out if you have further questions or concerns. It was hard to take the jump and trust someone other than my vet with my dogs nutritional health, but I am so glad that I did.

Lori

[Bazuhi]

Lynn
I feed Wellness along with other foods and at the time I didn’t know but I was informed that green peas are falling into the same catagory as the beans,lentils, chickpeas etc.
.
I feed Natures Variety …when I orginally fed it 5 years ago (Stopped for reason listed above) I could have sworn was made with Tapioca vs, beans, potatoes or chickpeas as it’s binder and will have to find an orginal bag with the ingrediants list.
.
I am now rotating in Earthborn Holistic Venture line Alaska Pollock meal and sweet potatoes.. this is the only food in their line that has no peas, beans lentils etc
The kibble is not tiny but is not huge( same shape as NVI but larger)
Fromm also has some foods lines with none
Wysong also has some food lines with none
.
Now there are issues with tapioca and some dogs with diabetes… They are also stating (Wysong ) that it is a toxic ingediant as well

[Anonymous]

Hi, again, Nancy

Yes, I understand about pancreatitis — my female has it, and we know all about watching the fat intake. The Wellness Core Tender Bites that I have been feeding my pups for about 5 weeks has 21% crude fat, versus the 6% or so in the canned foods (also Wellness Core) I was feeding. But — I’m happy to report — absolutely no problems so far. And I have not had to throw any of the Tender Bites away, whereas I tossed TONS of the canned foods away, uneaten. I was making a lot of my own dog food from chicken breasts (baked), carrots, spinach, sweet potatoes, and pumpkin. The pups ate this, but not with gusto. I also give them two Nutri-Vet senior vitamin tabs a day. But, so far, they’ve been doing really well on the Tender Bites (but I still offer the canned), which are 70% raw, gently dried.

I should mention that my male pup is sensitive to wheat — it was a long process to determine this, as it was by trial and error. When I avoid wheat in both food and treats, he does really well. I took him to a dermatologist several years ago (he’s 11), but they didn’t test for food allergies. Why???? So I had to do my own food testing. Many dog food products are “grain free” in the last many years, so it’s relatively easy to avoid wheat. Treats are the worse offenders. You might want to try staying away from wheat for awhile to see if this is a problem for your Schnauzers. My male is the one on Apoquel for various other allergies — Apoquel was a LIFE CHANGER!

My pups are mixed breed, but predominately Jack Russell terriers. They are litter-mates, but soooooooo different health-wise. The female has pancreatitis, but no other health issues. The male has diabetes, cataracts (he had surgery for this), and lots of allergies. We have only ever fed them premium foods recommended by DogFoodAdvisor, with the exception of Dr. Marty’s, which I bought from the infomercial.

Stay in touch, Nancy. Best of luck with your food search.

[Mike Sagman]

Most senior dog foods are terrible. They’re based on the myth that older dogs need less protein. Or that high protein causes kidney disease, which is not true (unless your dog has already been diagnosed with a renal disorder).

You should still feed a food that meets the AAFCO nutrient profile for Adult Maintenance. But favor quality (4 and 5-star) recipes featuring moderate calories and above-average protein.

Pay close attention to your dog’s weight each month. Chronic obesity is the number one most common problem associated with senior dogs. Obesity can lead to an increased risk of diabetes, arthritis and a host of other life-shortening diseases.

The food you choose isn’t nearly as important as how much you feed.

No matter which food you select, monitor your dog’s Body Condition Score (BCS) every month. And adjust your pet’s serving size slightly up or down to maintain your pet’s ideal BCS. Don’t miss the one-minute video in the center of the article.

And be sure to read our article about “How to Determine Your Dog’s Ideal Weight“.

One more suggestion: While you’re logged into the Editor’s Choice area, click on the link that reads Create Your Own Custom Editor’s Choice List. Select “Type 3” and click the “Senior” feature. You’ll get a list of some of the very best senior dog foods on the market.

Hope this helps.

[Lori H]

Hi Wendy,

I worked with a man named Rick Scheyer. He has an amazing website http://www.doglivershunt.com He has helped many dogs with liver shunt, kidney disease, bladder stone problems and much, much more become healthy dogs again. I would suggest reaching out to him for a free consultation. My dog was diagnosed with multiple problems (liver failure, bladder stones, Diabetes, and possible Cushing’s Disease) last May and as of today, he is a healthy, happy, 10 year old dog who is no longer in liver failure. He was placed on a real food diet along with supplements and he is completely healthy.

Cancer is a whole different issue, but I trust that Rick will point you in a direction where he can help or he will let you know who might.

Good luck on your journey with your fur child.

Lori

[GAby R]

She had blood work done. She is clear for diabetes and dental in good condition. She had a bit of kidney results elevated but vet said she is not worried. She said it’s normal She has advised me to giver her a bit of milk thistle Instinct does have raw food in it. Is there a food that you would recommend They have so many choices these days pretty confusing. She was on wellness before but I read that grains are bad for dogs. So confused on the dog food thing. The only test she had not done is thyroid which at this time the vet said to monitor her. She is very energetic and has lots of energy. For 9. She is still bouncing off the walls so I really don’t know why she does it. Thanks

[Lori H]

Hi Simone,

My dog Buddy has been through a lot, much like your dog. He just turned 10 and during his life he has had surgery on his spleen, surgery for bladder stones, been diagnosed with Diabetes and I was told by my vet that he was suffering from liver failure and was preparing me for the fact that Buddy was going to die. The liver failure diagnosis was 10 months ago and today, he is healthy, happy, looks amazing and has so much energy.

I now believe wholeheartedly that most vets know nothing about nutrition. They are told to carry a line of food in their offices by one of the large pharma/dog food companies because most of these companies go out and recruit at the vet universities across the United States when vets are in school and provide them with a kickback when the sell either Science Diet or Royal Canin in their clinics, up to 40%. Don’t get me wrong, I LOVE my vet, I just don’t believe he knows much of anything about nutrition. He has been great to me, my dog Buddy and my three cats. He is good at what he does, diagnose and perform much needed surgeries and procedures. He did Buddy’s bladder stone surgery which has complications.

I was at my wits end as well and thought that I was going to lose Buddy, but I was not willing to give up so I did a Google search and found an amazing person who brought Buddy back to the healthy dog he is.

Buddy is on a very special diet and he has made huge strides in the last 6+ months. He is a very healthy dog to what he was 6 months ago.

I worked with a man named Rick Scheyer. He has an amazing website http://www.doglivershunt.com He has helped many dogs with liver shunt, kidney disease, bladder stone problems and much, much more become healthy dogs again. I would suggest reaching out to him for a free consultation.

If you choose to go with his program, it is not cheap, but I believe that over time, I will save money by not taking Buddy to the vet time and time again because I don’t know what is wrong and having a battery of tests run and racking up bills in the thousands, I have been there!

He was slowly weened off of his processed food Science Diet U/D and placed on a diet of fresh veggies and meat based on a very slow transition to follow with Rick’s help.

Buddy’s diet is a balance of ¾ veggies to ¼ meats. Dogs with liver issues do not need as much protein as you would expect. He gets lots of yellow veggies (squash, tomatoes, peppers, cucumber, celery, carrots, Brussel sprouts, snap peas, etc.) along with hemp oil and nori blended with goat yogurt into almost a smoothie consistency. I then add meats, liver is great as it helps to detoxify the liver (funny that you feed liver to a dog with liver issuesJ) and then he gets a variety of supplements. He receives three gut supplements in the morning (Acidophilus, Bifudus and a Spectrabiotic) along with an Enzyme and something called Whole Body. In the evenings he gets the Enzyme, Whole Body and a Mushroom supplement. The process to make his food is not that time consuming and if you are at your wits end like I was, I was ready to do anything.

He also gets to have as much goat yogurt as he wants with coconut oil. He also gets sweet potato chews and coconut slices.

He is also allowed to eat fruits, not during his morning and evening meals since they digest differently than veggies, but he has not yet warmed up to them yet. I don’t know if he ever will.

He is doing great! He has so much energy and the numbers don’t lie! I got a glucose meter and I am going to start checking his levels daily. I would really like to get him off the insulin if I can. I believe the medicine is what causes the blindness, not the actual diabetes, my vet believes otherwise.

My vet has not said much of anything. I explained I was taking him off the prescription food and putting him on this program and he never responded. When I took him in the last time for blood work, I think he was surprised Buddy was doing so well, but did not ask me further about what I was doing. He is a pretty straight and narrow vet and I don’t think he looks outside the box. If Buddy’s glucose numbers continue to decline, I will take him back and back off on the number of units he is given. Now it is just maintenance and keeping a spreadsheet and monitoring how he is doing.

I suggest reaching out. I think Rick saved Buddy’s life. I took him to the vet in October to have blood work done and he is perfectly healthy!

Let me know if I can be of anymore help.

Good luck on your search and reach out if you have further questions or concerns. It was hard to take the jump and trust someone other than my vet with my dogs nutritional health, but I am so glad that I did.

Lori

[Lori H]

You might want to take your dog back to the vet to rule out bladder stones. My dog had them and urinated a lot. Diabetes is also a cause for excessive urination. It might be a good idea to get updated blood work and possibly an X-ray on his bladder. My dog ultimately had to have surgery to have the stones removed.

Good luck!

[Susan]

Anon
if Clean label is baloney then why is Wellpet being sued? there’s a lawsuit againt Wellpet & another pet food company after being tested for toxins & teh result coming back very high back in August..
Everything is a load of bull to you, if its healthy natural & holistic its a load of bull…..

On July 19, 2017, a class action lawsuit was filed against Wellpet LLC and Berwind Corporation, parent company of Wellpet which makes Wellness dog food. According to the suit, plaintiffs are suing for negligent misrepresentation, violations of California Consumer Legal Remedies Act, violations of the California False Advertising Law, violations of the California Unfair Competition Law, Breach of Express Warranty, Breach of Implied Warranty, and negligence per se.
The lawsuit is based on testing performed on Wellness CORE Adult Dry Ocean Whitefish, Herring Meal and Salmon Meal and Wellness Complete Health Adult Dry Whitefish and Sweet Potato, finding them to be contaminated with significant levels of arsenic and lead which are both known dangerous toxins for humans and animals. According to the lawsuit, inorganic arsenic can contribute to cancers, heart disease, diabetes, declines in intellectual function, and can decrease a body’s ability to respond to viruses. The organic form of arsenic – the form found in arsenic-containing compounds – has been shown in recent studies to easily convert to inorganic arsenic.
FDA has set allowable limits of arsenic at 10 parts per billion (ppb) in apple juice and the EPA has set levels of 10 ppb in drinking water. FDA is considering limiting the action level for infant rice cereal to 100 ppb. In testing, the Wellness CORE Adult Dry Ocean Whitefish, Herring Meal and Salmon Meal contained 1,500 ppb of arsenic and the Wellness Complete Health Adult Dry Whitefish and Sweet Potato contained 1,200 ppb. These levels are more than TEN TIMES the amount considered safe in infant cereal.
The FDA has set limits for lead in bottled water at 5 ppb. These two dry pet food formulations contained 221 ppb and 220 ppb of lead, respectively. Lead is a carcinogen and developmental poison known to cause health problems including cancer, developmental and reproductive disorders, and injury to the nervous system and other organs. Lead builds up in the body over time which means chronic exposure leads to higher levels in the body.
Sadly, pet food consumers have been lied to by pet food companies and veterinarians for many years, making them believe the only way a pet will thrive is to feed them the same “balanced, complete” diet, day in and day out. If that “diet” has imbalances and impurities, they will have chronic exposure to toxins like arsenic and lead.
Wellness advertises itself as a healthy product, promising “Uncompromising Nutrition” and “Unrivaled Quality Standard”, offering complete health and “nothing in excess”. Obviously, the arsenic and lead are in excess at dangerously high levels, making this false advertising and misrepresenting the food as being healthy.
From the Wellness website:
Our Standards. Our Promise.
At Wellness, your pet’s health is at the core of all we do. That’s why we have developed an extensive quality assurance program, guaranteeing that all of our products are safe, pure and balanced.
I think not.

[Lori H]

Hi Paul,

My dog Buddy has been through a lot, much like your dog. He just turned 10 and during his life he has had surgery on his spleen, surgery for bladder stones, been diagnosed with Diabetes and I was told by my vet that he was suffering from liver failure and was preparing me for the fact that Buddy was going to die. The liver failure diagnosis was 6 months ago and today, he is healthy, happy, looks amazing and has so much energy.

I now believe wholeheartedly that most vets know nothing about nutrition. They are told to carry a line of food in their offices by one of the large pharma/dog food companies because most of these companies go out and recruit at the vet universities across the United States when vets are in school and provide them with a kickback when the sell either Science Diet or Royal Canin in their clinics, up to 40%. Don’t get me wrong, I LOVE my vet, I just don’t believe he knows much of anything about nutrition. He has been great to me, my dog Buddy and my three cats. He is good at what he does, diagnose and perform much needed surgeries and procedures. He did Buddy’s bladder stone surgery which has complications.

I was at my wits end as well and thought that I was going to lose Buddy, but I was not willing to give up so I did a Google search and found an amazing person who brought Buddy back to the healthy dog he is.

Buddy is on a very special diet and he has made huge strides in the last 6+ months. He is a very healthy dog to what he was 6 months ago.

I worked with a man named Rick Scheyer. He has an amazing website http://www.doglivershunt.com He has helped many dogs with liver shunt, kidney disease, bladder stone problems and much, much more become healthy dogs again. I would suggest reaching out to him for a free consultation.

If you choose to go with his program, it is not cheap, but I believe that over time, I will save money by not taking Buddy to the vet time and time again because I don’t know what is wrong and having a battery of tests run and racking up bills in the thousands, I have been there!

He was slowly weened off of his processed food Science Diet U/D and placed on a diet of fresh veggies and meat based on a very slow transition to follow with Rick’s help.

Buddy’s diet is a balance of ¾ veggies to ¼ meats. Dogs with liver issues do not need as much protein as you would expect. He gets lots of yellow veggies (squash, tomatoes, peppers, cucumber, celery, carrots, Brussel sprouts, snap peas, etc.) along with hemp oil and nori blended with goat yogurt into almost a smoothie consistency. I then add meats, liver is great as it helps to detoxify the liver (funny that you feed liver to a dog with liver issuesJ) and then he gets a variety of supplements. He receives three gut supplements in the morning (Acidophilus, Bifudus and a Spectrabiotic) along with an Enzyme and something called Whole Body. In the evenings he gets the Enzyme, Whole Body and a Mushroom supplement. The process to make his food is not that time consuming and if you are at your wits end like I was, I was ready to do anything.

He also gets to have as much goat yogurt as he wants with coconut oil. He also gets sweet potato chews and coconut slices.

He is also allowed to eat fruits, not during his morning and evening meals since they digest differently than veggies, but he has not yet warmed up to them yet. I don’t know if he ever will.

He is doing great! He has so much energy and the numbers don’t lie! I got a glucose meter and I am going to start checking his levels daily. I would really like to get him off the insulin if I can. I believe the medicine is what causes the blindness, not the actual diabetes, my vet believes otherwise.

My vet has not said much of anything. I explained I was taking him off the prescription food and putting him on this program and he never responded. When I took him in the last time for blood work, I think he was surprised Buddy was doing so well, but did not ask me further about what I was doing. He is a pretty straight and narrow vet and I don’t think he looks outside the box. If Buddy’s glucose numbers continue to decline, I will take him back and back off on the number of units he is given. Now it is just maintenance and keeping a spreadsheet and monitoring how he is doing.

I suggest reaching out. I think Rick saved Buddy’s life. I took him to the vet in October to have blood work done and he is perfectly healthy!

Let me know if I can be of anymore help.

Good luck on your search and reach out if you have further questions or concerns. It was hard to take the jump and trust someone other than my vet with my dogs nutritional health, but I am so glad that I did.

Lori

[Rose G]

We’ve had a Rottweiler who initially was fed whatever my husband (single at the time) fed him…crazy stuff Probably dog chow and table scraps and he lived for 16 years. He died of, we believe diabetes.

A Brussels griffen, who also ate dog kibble for the most part but was also growing up at the point that people where not paying as much attention and the melanmie issue came up. Then we switched to better dog food, probably higher protein the last 5 years of his life. He only lived for 10 years and died of liver cancer.

A Brittany, who was also fed similarly to the brussels griffen and we just had to put her down in July because of cushing disease, she had also gone blind a year prior. She was 12.

I keep reading and reading about dog food and get so confused…raw/high protein/low protein/no grains/with grains…it is overwhelming to try and figure out what is best for my dogs healthy life. We now have a 5 year old/45 lb shepherd mix and an 8 lb 2 year old mix of some sort of shitzu/brussels…truly Heinz 57.

[Lori H]

Hi Deborah,

My dog Buddy has been through a lot, much like your dog. He just turned 10 and during his life he has had surgery on his spleen, surgery for bladder stones, been diagnosed with Diabetes and I was told by my vet that he was suffering from liver failure and was preparing me for the fact that Buddy was going to die. The liver failure diagnosis was 6 months ago and today, he is healthy, happy, looks amazing and has so much energy.

I now believe wholeheartedly that most vets know nothing about nutrition. They are told to carry a line of food in their offices by one of the large pharma/dog food companies because most of these companies go out and recruit at the vet universities across the United States when vets are in school and provide them with a kickback when the sell either Science Diet or Royal Canin in their clinics, up to 40%. Don’t get me wrong, I LOVE my vet, I just don’t believe he knows much of anything about nutrition. He has been great to me, my dog Buddy and my three cats. He is good at what he does, diagnose and perform much needed surgeries and procedures. He did Buddy’s bladder stone surgery which has complications.

I was at my wits end as well and thought that I was going to lose Buddy, but I was not willing to give up so I did a Google search and found an amazing person who brought Buddy back to the healthy dog he is.

Buddy is on a very special diet and he has made huge strides in the last 6+ months. He is a very healthy dog to what he was 6 months ago.

I worked with a man named Rick Scheyer. He has an amazing website http://www.doglivershunt.com He has helped many dogs with liver shunt, kidney disease, bladder stone problems and much, much more become healthy dogs again. I would suggest reaching out to him for a free consultation.

If you choose to go with his program, it is not cheap, but I believe that over time, I will save money by not taking Buddy to the vet time and time again because I don’t know what is wrong and having a battery of tests run and racking up bills in the thousands, I have been there!

He was slowly weened off of his processed food Science Diet U/D and placed on a diet of fresh veggies and meat based on a very slow transition to follow with Rick’s help.

Buddy’s diet is a balance of ¾ veggies to ¼ meats. Dogs with liver issues do not need as much protein as you would expect. He gets lots of yellow veggies (squash, tomatoes, peppers, cucumber, celery, carrots, Brussel sprouts, snap peas, etc.) along with hemp oil and nori blended with goat yogurt into almost a smoothie consistency. I then add meats, liver is great as it helps to detoxify the liver (funny that you feed liver to a dog with liver issuesJ) and then he gets a variety of supplements. He receives three gut supplements in the morning (Acidophilus, Bifudus and a Spectrabiotic) along with an Enzyme and something called Whole Body. In the evenings he gets the Enzyme, Whole Body and a Mushroom supplement. The process to make his food is not that time consuming and if you are at your wits end like I was, I was ready to do anything.

He also gets to have as much goat yogurt as he wants with coconut oil. He also gets sweet potato chews and coconut slices.

He is also allowed to eat fruits, not during his morning and evening meals since they digest differently than veggies, but he has not yet warmed up to them yet. I don’t know if he ever will.

He is doing great! He has so much energy and the numbers don’t lie! I got a glucose meter and I am going to start checking his levels daily. I would really like to get him off the insulin if I can. I believe the medicine is what causes the blindness, not the actual diabetes, my vet believes otherwise.

My vet has not said much of anything. I explained I was taking him off the prescription food and putting him on this program and he never responded. When I took him in the last time for blood work, I think he was surprised Buddy was doing so well, but did not ask me further about what I was doing. He is a pretty straight and narrow vet and I don’t think he looks outside the box. If Buddy’s glucose numbers continue to decline, I will take him back and back off on the number of units he is given. Now it is just maintenance and keeping a spreadsheet and monitoring how he is doing.

I suggest reaching out. I think Rick saved Buddy’s life. I took him to the vet in October to have blood work done and he is perfectly healthy!

Let me know if I can be of anymore help.

Good luck on your search and reach out if you have further questions or concerns. It was hard to take the jump and trust someone other than my vet with my dogs nutritional health, but I am so glad that I did.

Lori

[Lori H]

Hi Ava,

I highly recommend reaching out to the following website: http://www.doglivershunt.com/
Rick is amazing! He answers every question I have ever asked and is very honest. Take a look at his website. I have sent thousands of dollars on my dog over the last few years because of ongoing health concerns (bladder stones, Cushing’s disease, potential liver failure, diabetes) and needed to find someone or something that would get my pup healthy. Rick does this pro-bono and only asks for donations. Buddy has been on his program since late May and from an outward appearance he is a different dog, happy, healthy, good weight, shiny coat, spunky, etc… I had his blood work done in late October and he is now in normal ranges across the board for his liver and kidneys! My vet was preparing me for the fact that he thought my dog was going to die. He was in the first stages of liver failure and there was nothing I could do but sit back and watch and decide when the end was time. I was not willing to do that and I am so happy I found Rick! I was a skeptic at first, believing that my vet knew best, but prescription food is awful and the only reason he prescribes it is because he has no understanding of nutrition for dogs and gets a kickback from Hill’s Science Diet. He is a great vet, but I have learned through this process that he is not in the business of giving nutritional advise, but in the business of seeing an issue and figuring out how to treat it using medication and surgery. A balance of both is key and I have learned they don’t have every answer and personal research is key.

Good luck. If you have questions, you can ask me, or you can reach out to him. He will do a free consultation based on questions answered.

I hope you find answers for Ralf and get him healthy!

Lori

[aimee]

Hi Lori,
I think you are referring to Candida when you say you think your dog has yeast overgrowth inside his body. Candida normally an innocuous inhabitant of the bowel can invade other areas. Occasionally a dog can get Candida in the urinary tract, seen secondary to Diabetes for example. Candida inside the body is very rare and almost always occurs secondary to some other illness. You’ll have signs like fever, abdominal pain, weight loss, lack of appetite .. these dogs are very very ill and usually die.

That said some years back a few loud voices attributed a myriad of problems including allergies to “yeast overgrowth” in the bowel. The idea has been abandoned by nearly all medical personnel because there are no medical finding to support the concept. A few people are holding tight to the idea despite lack of evidence that it occurs.

There is so much misinformation out there….be careful when researching as it is easy to go down the wrong rabbit hole

[Sandra R]

Is anyone doing a selected protein diet? We were using RC Venison, but they can’t seem to get it. We went through the select rabbit and the select duck. RC has issues, but somehow we did get selected protein White Fish. Not sure if it is working, but my dog just developed diabetes as a result of her medication for this disease (IBD). She takes Atopica and Prednisone. Augh! I need to do something, but what? Any help? I’m willing to make the dog food if it will help. Apparently, it needs to be a selected protein.

[Miron C]

Hi all. My dog recently has been diagnosed with diabetes. I know that prices in US are much expensive compared to canadian insulin prices. can you advise me some places where i can buy insulin at affordable prices?

[Sarah G]

I have recently came across a great website, which has a variety of homemade dog treat recipes – Healthy, Organic, Treats for dogs who have diabetes etc… (www.puredogtreats.com). I was looking for new high value treats to use when I am training with my dog. I used to buy dog treats from the store, but they where becoming so expensive, which is why I now make my treats at home. I avoid giving my dog treats that contains unnecessary chemicals, artificial colors and preservatives – so I am always on a hunt for healthy treats that will benefit my dog. I found my dogs new favorite treat on this website,and she goes crazy for it – The treat is called ‘Dehydrated Liver and Oregano Strips’.

[A]

I recently had a training with Origen/ Acana and they have started to take the meal out of some of their things.
When it just says deboned chicken that’s including water weight, once you cook it, it falls lower on the list of ingredients and some things may be heavier than you expected.
Orijen is expensive to make and is good but there are definitely other large breed formulas I would consider first.

At my work we deal with more dogs with pancreatic and diabetes allot more now, it’s running rampid in the dog world now.

I used to feed my pitty large breed Fromm, she was always gassy and I never knew why.
Now she’s on firstmate lamb and rice in the morning and raw at night and I have a non gassy pitty.
They do also get answers fermented goats milk, cows, and fish stock to give them different beneficial benefits.

[Susan]

Hi Ginger,
Sorry its a long post but it’s hard to explain everything in 1-2 paragraphs hopefully some of this information will help your girls itchy skin…
Your girl sounds like my boy who will be 9 yrs old in November, he suffers with IBD, Pancreatitis, environment skin allergies & food sensitivities causing itchy smelly skin,paws, ears, gas & diarrhea, we thought he had diabetes a few months ago cause he was drinking & drinking water but blood test were all fine thank-god, I couldn’t handle another health problem, I feel so sorry for sick animals. 🙁
I wouldn’t try the Cytopoint injections with your dog yet, has your vet explained how Cytopoint works? My vet looked into the Cytopoint injections, she explained once you’ve given the injection it stays in the dogs system up to 6-8 weeks, so if it makes them ill there’s nothing that can be done to reverse any side effects cause Patch reacts to certain medications & it’s a newer drug we don’t have any real research results yet, after a couple of years vets will know more how dogs react that have certain health problems like our dogs have, when the dog is younger & heathier yes I think CADI is the best thing for itchy dogs better the Apoquel, now Apoquel has been out over a few years vets see all the side effects so in a few years when vets have used Cytopoint, they’ll know & can report any bad side effects if there are any?…

My vet said Apopuel doesn’t help when a dog has itchy skin from secondary Malassezia (Yeast) Dermatitis, Apoquel cannot resolve inflammation or treat yeast, she said Apoquel
has helped a few of her dog patients that have IBD but I was to scared to try Apoquel with Patch cause one of the side effects with Apoquel is nausea & vomiting, my vet did have a few dogs that become very sick while taking the Apoquel, so I changed his diet, bathed him weekly to wash off any allergens on his paws & body to relieve his itchy skin paws & I use creams. As they get older the allergies get worse..

They are finding Cytopoint works better then Apoquel for environment allergies & itchy skin, CADI blocks the receptors completely, where Apoquel blocks the reaction from the allergens receptors, there’s a good face book group to join “Dog issues, allergies and other information support group” with really good information about CADI & Apoquel.. a lady called Petra that runs the group can explain things better…

I would be changing her diet first, when my Patch was eating the Hills I/d wet & dry formula’s & other foods that had the ingredients he was sensitive too he got his red paws, smelly yeasty itchy skin & that’s only cause he’s a sensitive to the chicken, oats, barley tapioca, corn gluten meal in the I/d vet diet & other foods he was eating, once I remove these allergens he is OK thru the cooler Winter months then when Summer comes he gets his environment allergies so I bath more, I use hydrocortisone 1% cream to relieve the itch & feed treats that are high in omega 3 fatty acid like K-9 Natural freeze dried Green Lipped Mussels, ask your vet can your try the Royal Canine HP wet tin food the fat is 2.5% you’ll have to email or ring Royal Canine & ask them what is the max fat % when converted to dry mater?? it’s probably around 7-8% fat when converted to dry matter (Kibble fat), Hills have already converted all their wet tin foods on their internet site, I wish other pet food companies did the same cause people don’t no this & read 5%-fat on a wet tin foods or raw foods & think the fat % is low when 5% fat is around 20% fat when converted to dry matter, the Australian R/C HP is 3.5% in the wet tin food, when converted it was 13% fat, it has the omega 3 oils & everything needed for skin problems, or I’d say look at the R/C selected proteins formula’s PR-Rabbit & Potato or PD-Duck & Potato or PV-Venison & Potato but the R/C in the wet tin wet tin foods the fat is too high for Pancreatitis 4-5% when converted to dry matter is around 15-20% fat but the dry R/C select proteins kibbles are lower in fat at 10%max but your feed wet tin..

Have you joined the “Canine Pancreatitis Support ” Face Book group,
https://www.facebook.com/groups/1435920120029740/
join & look in their “Files” there’s 2 links “Low Fat Food” click on the first link & scroll down, all the low fat wet tin foods come up, on your right there’s the converted fat %, it’s been converted to dry matter fat % also read the ingredients in the Hills Wet tin food she is eating at the moment, try & avoid those some of those ingredients if you can, she is probably sensitive to a few ingredients in the I/d wet tin formula’s, that’s why I recommended the Royal Canine vet diet HP wet tin it’s a Hypoallergenic formula, your dog shouldn’t react & itch to any of the ingredients but Patch got acid reflux from the fish oil & his poos were soft but he always does softer poos when he eats wet tin foods, that’s why I feed 5 small meals a day 2 meals are cooked meal or a wet tin food & the other 3 meals are a kibble & his poos stay firm…
“Canidae” makes a really good small easy to digest grain free kibble, that’s low in fat 10.80%max called Canidae,Pure Meadow Senior grain free page 3 & Canidae Life Stages Platinum less active has grains page 4, https://www.canidae.com/dog-food/products….
It can take anywhere from 1 day up to 6 weeks for a dog to react to an ingredient & start scratching get yeasty smell paws. ears, skin gas & sloppy poos….Patch only reacts 15-20mins after he eats chicken he starts itching & scratching, gets red paws but with some ingredients in a kibble he takes about 5-14 days to start reacting with smelly yeasty skin paws & ears, carrots cause itchy smell ears.
Look for proteins like Rabbit, Venison, Pork, Duck & kangaroo in wet grain free tin foods, kangaroo is a lean novel protein & your dog probably hasn’t eaten much of the Kangaroo before. Can your girl eat a kibble even if you only feed 1 of her meals kibble then the rest of her meals wet tin food.

[suztzu]

Im feeding the hope version for the last couple of days its the minimal version only 7 % fat he seems to be doing ok and his digestion is very good so far the digestive enzymes are helping alot. No bits and pieces yet but I have to say the transition has been very good for both of them. The whole purpose of going to the hope version is because its low fat to avoid possible cushings side effects they are much more predisposed to pancreatitis, diabetes, high cholesterol he already has super high liver enzymes and his kidneys are shrinking a little but holding on. I am just trying to hold off the inevitable end by making his organs work as easily as possible he is 13 yrs old. He’s supposed to be on a high moisture diet low fat,
I think your ideas about home cooking and adding balance it would work really well for him I didnt know there was such a thing, I will check out the Dr Morgan videos too that might help alot.
The Honest kitchen hope is what the lady at my local natural pet market feeds her cushings dog so I thought I would try it. Thanks for your response its been really helpful given me some more areas to look at its much appreciated.

[Ginger S]

I just found this wonderful site and I’m hoping to get some help and recommendations for a canned WET food. My silky terrier has multiple health issues at 9 years old. She is diabetic, has pancreatitis and severe skin allergies. My vet has had her on canned Hill’s Science Diet I/D for a couple years now. She has issues with diarrhea from time to time but it is her severe allergies that are not controlled. She is on Apoquel which worked fine for a while but has since given her no real relief. She is also on Pancreved twice a day, with each meal. She gets long acting insulin injections twice a day as well but glucose levels still usually run high. My vet has discussed starting Cytopoint injections but I would prefer to see if a food change would help. Any help is very appreciated!

[aimee]

Hi Kelsey,

Pitlove is right Petfooled is laden with misinformation it’s too bad really.. anyway here are just a few comments I made about it on the review section

” Here is an excerpt from the trailer and the film as an example of misinformation. In reference to corn wheat and soy “those are the things that cause overweight, diabetes, arthritis,chronic skin allergies, infections..”

The problem is, is that there is just as much evidence to say that beef, lamb, and chicken are the things that cause overweightedness, allergies, diabetes, and infections as there is to say corn, wheat and soy cause those things. In other words there is no basis to be making either statement. It is all “fake news”

“What was presented was very biased. For example in regards to rendering there were pics of body piles and dead stock and road kill but no real discussion that the material used in pet food is usually always from a USDA integrated facility leading the viewer to think that road kill and dead bloated cattle is the primary source for pet food ingredients.

Major blunders in facts ( they couldn’t even get the anatomy labeling correct ) and appeal to nature fallacy.

Dr. Becker incorrectly reported that the scientific name of the dog was
changed from canis lupus familiaris to just canis lupus because dogs
are essentially wolves vs them being a recognized subspecies.

She reported the change was because the only differences between wolves and dogs is “outer packaging”

Shesh!!
Fact check people, just don’t lift garbage off of raw feeding sites
and repeat it! What she said was pretty much verbatim from here https://www.balanced-canine…

What really happened was that the dog was canis familiaris and was
changed to canis lupus familiaris. Similar renaming occurred with other
domestic animals: separate species names were abandoned in favor of
classifying under the same species and assigning a subspecies name.

No mention of the Nature journal paper that reported on the genetic
adaptation of dogs vs wolves in regards to carbohydrate metabolism.Hmm
wonder why….

Implications that major pet food companies won’t disclose where they source from because they declined to be interviewed for the film. I understand why they would decline to be interviewed and if the producers of the film were interested in looking at sourcing info
they could have just lifted it from company web pages.

Did they not want the viewer to know that human grade 1 and 2 grains and meat from USDA integrated plants is used in pet foods?

All in all a waste of time. Not worth paying for and not worth watching.”

Also, did you know that the average debt for a person graduating vet school is upwards of $167,000 with 20% owing more than 200,000? Therefore this statement, “Vets push Science Diet so hard because Science Diet puts them through school. Science Diet is somewhat like a sponsor for the vet.” is complete “fake news” Oh sure they may get a pocket protector and some free pens or a back pack . Vet Students used to get a “hard” copy of Small Animal Clinical Nutrition. Don’t know if they still get a hard copy as you can just download it off their site, (You can too for that matter and if you are interested in nutrition it is worth your time to read it.) and I think vet students can buy their Hill’s food at a reduced rate. Big deal, nothing that would even make a teeny tiny dent in the cost of their education. Student loans are what puts vets through school not Science Diet.

[Susan]

Hi Ann C,
yes sounds like the pet shop owner knows her foods, “Canidae’ is EXCELLENT, have a look at the Canidae Pure Meadow Senior grain free, I’ve contacted Canidae about this new formula, Pure Meadow Senior the max fat % is 10.80%max fat, that’s pretty good & low in fat & the Canidae Life Stages Platinum is also good has grains, very low in protein at 20%. I found the Platinum formula kibble breaks down real easy, all crumbs are all down the bottom of kibble bag or container too much crumbs…
all Canidae formula’s are very easy to digest, very good for dogs with skin, stomach, bowel Pancreatitis……
I have fed all the formulas you have mentioned above except the weight management formula vet advised against feeding Patch any weight management formula’s the fat may be low but the fiber is very high…..stay around 5% & under for fiber…. 4% is best…
Holistic Select Chicken & Rice senior has a few ingredients & has Beet Pulp, Beet Pulp is also in vet diets & gives my boy acid reflux….Beet Pulp is a fermentable fiber it suppose to help promote healthy Gi tract but it can do the opposite as it does with my boy, makes his breath smell bad like food is fermenting in his stomach & gives him bad acid reflux so I avoid any wet or dry foods with Beet Pulp….
Here’s the Canidae link… http://www.canidae.com/dog-food/products

I’m glad your getting help with lower fat diets, here’s some wet tin foods that are from F/B “Canine Diabetes Support & Information” group in the “Files” the fat has been converted to dry matter (Kibble)…
Weruva – Cirque de La Mer- fat-9.8%
Weruva – Bed & Breakfast-fat-12.4%
Weruva – Grandma Chix Soup-fat-12.5%
Natures Recipe – G/F Chicken Recipe in broth fat-11.11%
Natures Recipe – Chicken, Wild Salmon Recipe in broth fat-11.11%
Pure Essentials G/F – Salmon Recipe in broth fat-11.76%
Simply Nourish G/F – Chicken & Beef Stew fat-11.76% Sold only at Pet Smart
Simply Nourish G/F – Chicken & Venison fat-11.76%

[Susan]

Hi Ann
I understand your frustration, but I would stop feeding the raw food or whatever has caused her poo to become greasy, the greasy look is NO good, I have a dog with IBD & you don’t want yellow sloppy poo, blood thru poo & greasy poo’s is a sign of too much fat in diet & can trigger Pancreatitis….
When you read the fat % on raw or wet tin it hasn’t been converted to dry matter fat (Kibble) yet, here’s an eg: 5% min fat in raw or wet tin is about 20min-25%max fat, now that’s very high for a dog who is prone to Pancreatitis, always stick with 3%max & under for fat in raw or wet tin food…..Hills wet tin vet diet’s have already been converted their fat to dry matter in their vet diet wet tin foods, Royal Canine & Purina Pro Plan vet diet haven’t converted the fat to DM yet but if you send any pet food company an email ask can you please convert the fat for ???? formula to dry matter % ..
always tell Pet Shop staff, my dog has Pancreatitis, then ask do you know much about Pancreatitis? & normally they will say oh my dog has Pancreatitis & I feed him ??? or they say they don’t know much about Pancreatitis..

Join this face book group, “Canine Pancreatitis Support” group https://www.facebook.com/groups/1435920120029740/
The lady that runs this group feeds a raw diet she can help you with what raw diets are best & there’s other people in the group that feed home made raw, cooked or wet/dry premium foods that are not vet diets..
also join this face book group, “Canine Diabetes Support & Information” group https://www.facebook.com/groups/CanineDiabetesSupportandInformation/
on the left you’ll see “Files” click on the Files & click on 3rd link “2017.3.26 CDSI Diabetes food options” scroll down a bit & you’ll see dry formula’s & wet tin foods you can buy in the pet shops & the lady has converted the fat% to DMB…..
Keep your girl on bland low fat diet for 1-2 weeks & feed more smaller meals to rest the Pancreas, she will go poo the rice has probably bound her up a bit, I don’t feed boiled rice it ferments in the stomach, your better off adding boiled potato or sweet potatoes, if she can’t poo then boil some sweet potato or boil pumkin & add about 1 spoon to her meals you can freeze the boil pumkin squares & take out as you need them… if you have the time to cook & freeze meals, cooked meals are best for Pancreatitis, look up “Balance It” it has recipes & Balance It powder to balance the meals https://secure.balanceit.com/
I was feeding cooked meal for 2 meals & dry kibble for the other 2 meals, my boy eats 4-5 small meals a day he cant digest big amounts of food, too much work & stress on his Pancreas….

[Susan]

Hi Melody D,
the Canidae link isn’t working I forgot to add /. Canidae also have their Life Stages
“Platinum” low fat-8% low protein 20% dry kibble & Platinum wet tin food just email Canidae asking for the max fat % in dry matter in the Platinum Wet Tin if your thinking of feeding it, it says 4.50%-fat but hasn’t been converted to dry matter fat (Kibble) the wet tin foods in the files on the Canine Diabetes Support face book group are lower in fat, a wet tin food needs to be under 3% in fat, when 3% fat in wet tin food gets converted to dry matter (Kibble) 3% is around 11% fat…….
The Canidae Platinum worked real well when Patch had his Pancreatitis & couldn’t eat the low fat Vet Diets cause they have Beet Pulp & fish oil….
http://www.canidae.com/dog-food/products

[Susan]

Hi Melody D,
yes it is definitely the Royal Canine Low Fat food, are you feeding the dry kibble or wet tin food, with Pancreatitis your better off feeding a wet diet instead of a dry kibble..
are you on Face Book ? join this group, “Canine Diabetes Support and Information Group”
https://www.facebook.com/groups/CanineDiabetesSupportandInformation/ go to the “Files” & 2nd link click on “2017.3.26 – CDSI Diabetes dog food options” all wet & dry low fat diabetic food will come up scroll down to the wet tin foods & the fat has been converted to dry matter….I would also change your vet…take the R/C Low Fat food back to vets & get a refund its Guaranteed money back & email R/C & tell them what’s happening a Vet Nutritionist will ring you back if you tick the box to be called back they will recommend another one of their foods but it’s always good to complain cause your dog may not be the only dog drinking water & R/C will change whatever is in the Low Fat diet that’s making dogs drink water…..
My boy does the same on another brand of dry kibble, he drinks & drinks water, I had to take him off the dry food…. Have a look at “Canidae” Pure Meadow Senior kibble easy to digest, the fat is 10.08%max http:/www.canidae.com/dog-food/products it’s on the 3rd page..

[Melody D]

I have a 6 year old Yorkshire Terrier that was diagnosed with diabetes in December 2016. He shortly developed pancreatitis about a month later. We spent over $850 in one month for diagnosis/treatment. I fed him Eukanuba Yorkshire Terrier Breed Specific dry kibble until his bout with pancreatitis. After 2 weeks of being off of Eukanuba and feeding him rice, boiled chicken, egg whites, and pumpkin, we put him on Royal Canine Gastrointestinal Low Fat. He hasn’t had a flare up of pancreatitis since (Knock on Wood). As for the frequent urination, since starting my dog on the Royal Canine diet, he drinks an entire bowl of water after he eats and urinates more frequently, also having accidents in the house. I took him off of it for two weeks and went back to the bland homemade diet, and the thirst and frequent urination stopped. After the two weeks, I went back to the Royal Canine and the thirst and frequent started again. I even had to buy a second water bowl. My vet upped his insulin for the thirst/urination and now I know that the diabetes wasn’t the cause of the thirst and urination. I’m curious to see after reading this thread if any of you have been successful with an alternative food. Thank you in advance for any insight.😊

[Susan]

Hi Michelle P,
the only thing that will give you answers is a Endoscope + Biopsies…..X-rays will be a waste of money, X-rays do not show what’s happening in the stomach…
Sounds like what happens with my boy, I was back at the vets Tuesday doing full blood test that were a waste of money, they showed nothing, blood test came back all good….
It very hard to work out what’s happening when its the Intestinal tract, the only why to know what’s wrong is thru biopsies, so either do an Endoscope + Biopsies which is the easiest way or cut open & do Biopsies, I said NO again on Tuesday cause you still treat with the same medications & just have a name for what type of IBD it is….I asked to put my boy back on the Triple Therapy medications, Metronidazole, Clarithromycin & Omeprazole (Losec) for 14 -21 days to kill the Helicobacter again, your boy may have the Helicobacter-Pylori why didn’t the vet put him on Omeprazole (Losec) instead of the Nexium?? they’re the same type of drug an acid blocker, PPI, it takes 12-24hrs for a Pump Protein Inhibitor (PPI) Nexium, Losec, Somac, start to work if the diarrhea doesn’t stop ask vet can he put him on Omeprazole instead of the Nexium, Omeprazole firmed Patches poos up & Zantac didn’t help Patch…when he’s gulping give some liquid Mylanta I keep a small bottle in the fridge it keep it cold it soothes the esophagus & stomach & stops the gulping straight away & they can sleep…Omeprazole is a blocker & sends a msg to the brain to stop making the excess hydrochloric acid in the stomach where Zantac is just like taking liquid Mylanta it just covers the acid reflux but it doesn’t stop it, once you stabilize him he will get better, feed a low fat, low carb, low fiber diet, it’s best to cook meals, boiled sweet potato is good when they don’t want to eat, sooths the stomach same as boiled pumkin, not much about 2 spoons mixed thru the chicken or turkey…
Maybe look for a low fat wet tin food make sure you email the pet food company to get the fat % as it isn’t converted to dry matter (Kibble) yet, so 4%min fat is around 16 to 20%max fat when converted to dry matter (Kibble), I was feeding the Hills I/D Chicken & Vegetables stew but they have changed the ingredients & it has Beet Pulp now, beet Pulp seems to make my boy acid reflux worse, do not mix kibble & wet tin food, feed one or the other or make sure you feed at least 6 hrs apart….Sometimes a dog needs to stay on a low dose of Metronidazole just take once a day, once the dog has finished the 21-28 day course, try & stay with the same vet so pick the vet you thought was better & helped more, find out the vets working hours, Patches vet only works Tuesday & Thursday..

Join this Face Book group- “Canine Diabetes Support & Information Group” & look in the “Files” 2nd post- 2017- C.D.S.I foods, scroll down for the wet tin foods they have all been converted to dry matter fat & they don’t have Beet Pulp a fermentable fiber, that most vet diets have for bowel problems….
*Weruva can/tin –
Cirque de la Mer -fat 9.8%
Bed & Breakfast -fat-12.4%
Grandma Chix Soup-fat-12.5%

*Natures Recipe
G/F Chicken recipe in broth-fat-11.11%
G/F Chicken Wild Salmon recipe in broth-fat-11.11%

* Simply Nourish
G/F Chicken & Beef Stew-fat-11.76%
G/F Chicken & Venison-fat-11.76%

*Pure Essentials
G/F Salmon Recipe in broth-fat-11.76%

[Susan]

Hi sorry to hear about your girl, my boy has IBD & gets Pancreatitis pain he had it yesterday & today again, real whingy I’m lucky he grinds his teeth when he has his acid reflux & licks mouth like he’s suckling, so I know he’s unwell liquid Mylanta is good too keep a small bottle in fridge & give 5mls & being kept in the fridge soothes the stomach more….
When they yarn & pant, they have pain my vet said, even paw licking can be pain & they set off endorphins from the licking & Patch does a big burp sometimes, I burp him like a baby sometimes when he has his pancreas pain, I rub his back & stomach area (right side rib cage) it makes him feel better, my vet wanted Patch on Prednisone small dose 5mg, actually 3 vets wanted him on Steroids I kept saying NO the Prednisone will give him more acid reflux in the end I have him 2.5mg with breakfast & 2.5mg with dinner & only gave for 3-4 days & stopped the Prednisone did take away his Pancreas pain BUT he felts real sick vomited a few times & got diarrhea, whe I told his vet she said yes some dogs cant take steroids now she said just start him on the Metronidazole low dose 200mg at night Metronidazole has a steroid anti inflammatory type drug & antibiotic, it does help but takes longer about 4-5 days the Prednisone worked within 1 day & Patch takes Losec (Omeprazole) 8.30am every day now, it doesn’t have to be given before they eat like other acid reducers, its a blocker, I thought the same with the Losec when Patch started taking it vet didn’t want him on a Pump Proton Inhibitor (PPI) long term & said just give it to him when needed for 3-4 days then stop but I found he was doing better when taking the Losec, I started just giving 1/2 the 20mg tablet, I buy his Losec from chemist $7.99, his vet writes me 6 repeat scripts, it’s cheaper then buying from vets-$100 & the chemist orders in the Losec that can be cut in 1/2 “Omeprazole Sandoz” I thought the same when Patch first started to take the Losec, that the Losec was causing sloppy poo’s but it was an ingredient in the R/C Low Fat Intestinal vet diet wet tin food, either the Corn gluten meal, whole corn or the wheat then I realized it was the boiled rice, he cant eat boiled rice, it irritates his bowel, he eats the Hills I/d Chicken & Vegetable stew, it has the least rice & no beet pulp, I take out the rice & carrots give to my cat she loves it but the fat is 14.9% sometimes Patch gets acid reflux, but not his pancreas pain, so I tried the Royal Canine HP wet tin but it has oil all on the bottom of can & fish oils cause Patch to have acid reflux & his pain so I was using a can opener that takes off the top of the can & sliding out the whole meat loaf & patting it with a paper towel to absorb all the oil & cutting the loaf in 3rds & putting the rest on a plate & cover with cling wrap put in fridge, I found he preferred the Hills I/d Chicken Vegetable stew, are you on facebook?? join this group “Canine Diabetes Support and Information? group https://www.facebook.com/groups/CanineDiabetesSupportandInformation/files/
on your left is the “Files” click on files & 2nd link- “2017.3.26 – CDSI Diabetes dog food options” click on this & all low fat foods will come up, just scroll down for the wet tin foods the lady has converted the wet tin foods to DM (Dry Matter) DM is the fat% if it were a kibble…or email the wet tin company & ask about the formula’s your interested in, can they email back fat% after being converted to dry matter, the lady has done it with the wet tin foods on the link, I ended up cooking lean pork mince or 99% fat free Turkey mince & Kangaroo mince all human grade minces, Patch did real well on the lean beef
I added 1 whisked egg some finally chopped parsley, peeled & grated 1 carrot & a few chopped up broccoli heads mix all together & make 1 cup size rissole balls or 1/2 cup size balls & bake in oven on baking tray lined with foil just take them out after 15mins & turn over the rissoles & remove any water & fat, I also boil sweet potatoes & add 1/2 a cup to 1 cup rissole ball, all mashed & cut up so it’s easy to eat, the sweet potato & rissoles can be frozen take out the day before put in fridge to thaw….
I also feed Canidae kibble have a look at the Canidae Pure Meadow Senior the fat is 10.8% max, or Canidae Life Stages Platinum fat is 8.5% min you”ll need to email Canidae for max fat % there’s also a wet tin Platinum fat say 4% but it hasn’t been converted to Dry Matter so it will be around 16 to 20% fat so its a must to email the pet food companies,
I feed 5 meals a day 7am 9am 5am is kibble & 12pm & 8pm is wet food.. I live Australia & our Royal Canine comes from France not America our ingredient list is a bit better, I would start looking for other wet tin foods to feed, have you read the ingredient list in the Purina EN? Purina uses by product meats….. I like the Hills I/d Chicken & Vegetable Stew but we can only get the small 156g cans now so I was going to make my rissoles sweet potato & add the I/d Stew…. ask vet can you try low dose of Prednisone for her pain, 5mg my vet said steroids taken in morning is best same with the Losec best to take of a morning…

It’s awful watching them in pain, Patch is a real talker & whinger, he tells me when something is wrong, he lifts his front paw up, at first I thought he wanted me to shake his paw, (he’s a rescue) but he kept pulling his paw away when I went to shake his paw, then lifting up his paw again, I realised he wants me to rub his stomach & pancreas area….
Have you joined the “Canine Pancreatitis support group” on F/B I hope this very long post something will help your girl…. she will probably also feel sick some days, the Losec will helped with the nausea, I would be making her comfortable, the Losec starts working in 12 -24hrs so when you do stop the Losec its still in their system for 12-24hrs, even if you give the Losec every 2nd day & see how she goes but in the end I give it every morning now… Patch is nilly 9yrs old weights 17-18kg =40lbs… I just remember if you want to stay with Vet Diets look at the Royal Canine PR Potato & Rabbit but I think the fat is too high in the wet tins, one of the Potato formula’s is lower I think its the PV-Venison but R/C has stopped making the PV you’ll have to contact Royal Canine..

[Susan]

Hi sb020,
My boy is a Staffy same as your girl got the white fur & pink skin he’s 8 & 1/2 years old now & has IBD, Pancreatitis & Skin Allergies & it has taken me 2-3 years to work out his diet for all his illnesses, I found “Taste Of The Wild” Sierra Mountain Roasted Lamb limited ingredient, single protein kibble helped with his IBD & firmed up his poo’s, he seems to do real good on the TOTW kibble, it only has 338Kcals per cup & TOTW uses Purified water & Patch doesn’t get his Pancreas pain, no acid reflux, no vomiting & no nausea, but the fat is 15%max…. then I tried other kibbles I thought he can handle the TOTW 15% fat kibble but I didn’t realise the Kcals were over 400 Kcals per cup, so that means the kibble is more dense & is harder to digest, he gets his bad Pancreas pain & whinges for me to rub the area where his Pancreas is when he eats kibbles over 380Kcals per cup… also when a kibble was higher in carbohydrates & fiber, over 4%-fiber he gets his acid reflux & Pancreas pain & seems unwell, then I read higher fiber diets aren’t good for dogs with Pancreatitis…..
Now I rotate between a few different foods, I feed 4-5 smaller meals a day, Patch can’t digest 1 cup of kibble all at once, it must start to expand & sit in his stomach & something happens & he start having his pain, so I give about 1/2 cup kibble at 7am, 9am 5pm & then his wet tin vet diets at 12pm & 8pm…. I was cooking for Patch lean pork mince rissoles with a whisked egg, some chopped up broccoli, chopped parsley, a leaf of kale & 1 grated carrot all made into a small round rissole ball & baked in the oven then I boiled some sweet potatoes all cut into 1 spoon size & I’d freeze sections so I just took out the day before & put in the fridge to thaw, I added NAS Digestavite Plus powder to balance the meal but the beginning of this year I changed where I buy my lean pork mince from & the fat must have been higher & Patch started vomiting & vomiting up un digested rissole he got his bad pain right side & was put on the Hills I/D Chicken & Vegetable stew, I think they use chicken & pork liver it doesn’t have as many ingredient & there’s no Beet Pulp like all the other Hills I/D wet formula’s has, he starts his scratching & is a bit itchy but he gets better with his Pancreatitis & like my vet says just bath him twice a week & add his cream….
I do not use any of the Vet diet dry kibbles they are all too hard to digest, I do a simple test, get a glass of very warm water & put about 2 kibbles in the cup/glass, a good easy to digest kibble will float to the top of the water & only take about 15 to 30mins to go soft all the way thru, all the vet diet kibble & other some premium kibbles sink to the bottom & can take up to 3 hours to go soft all the way thru Purina, Sensitive Digestion, Hills vet diets & Royal Canin vet diet kibbles are the worst for digesting & these formula’s are for dogs with intestinal stress ….
When I was feeding kibbles that were hard to digest I didn’t know & poor Patch got his pain, nausea & would sometimes vomit back up all the in digested kibble 4 to 8 hours later, it would say easy to digest on the kibble bag…
“Canidae” is another excellent kibble look at their “All Stages Platinum” has both grains & potatoes but very easy to digest & is around 8-9% in fat, fiber is 4%max, Kcals are 342 per cup & Canidea “Pure Meadow” grain free, 10.80% max fat.. http://www.canidae.com/dog-food/products
You don’t mention are the foods you feeding wet or dry or both?? was the vet diet the wet tin food & which I/D formula is yoiur girl doing good on? I feed the Hills I/D Chicken & Vegetable stew 156g tin & the Royal Canin Hypoallergenic wet tin food cause Patch has food intolerances, I cant feed certain ingredients he starts getting real yeasty & itchy skin, paws & ears, chicken makes his paws red & skin itch but it doesn’t bother his stomach & bowel & cause any Intestinal stress, so I rotate when something has chicken in it & he only gets it a few days then I stop & feed the Royal Canin HP wet tin food, you may find it easier to go thru a Nutritionist to make a special diet & use “Balance it” to balance the meals.
https://secure.balanceit.com/ there’s recipes on this link for Balance it..
Maybe stick with the Hills vet diet for a few meals & feed another brand kibble for the other meals, feed 4 smaller meals a day, like what I’ve been doing with Patch & he’s doing well again…..

If you go on this face book join this group. “Canine Diabetes Support and Information” then look for the “Files” on the left side & click on the 2nd document “CDSI Diabetic food options chart” scroll down to the wet tin foods as some of the kibbles are low in fat BUT are too high in fiber for a dog with Pancreatitis just read the fiber % on any dry kibble you feed & stay around 4% fiber & avoid any weight management/weight loss dry kibbles some are lower in fat but they add more fiber to keep the dog feeling fuller longer….
also when you read the fat on a wet tin food, the fat hasn’t been converted to dry matter (Kibble) the wet tin foods on this chart have all been converted, eg: 11.11% fat DMD there’s a lot of really good wet tin food formula’s if you live in America on this chart….

When you look & read at a wet tin if you read say 4%min fat when you convert 4%min fat that’s around 16-20%max in fat its best to email the food company & ask what is the fat % in ????? when converted to dry matter..

I hope you’ve gotten some good information from my experience with Patch & your girl gets better….

[pitlove]

Hi Lori-

What you consider “slightly” overweight, is not slightly at all for a dog that size. You will have much more success at controlling his diabetes if he were to lose that weight.

Are the bladder stones a concern at this point? You said there has not been another occurance.

I would consider getting the opinion of an internal medicine specialist to determine what things need to be focused on. You might also want to consult with a veterinary nutritionist regarding diet. Your less likely to be confused if you discuss your options with a specialist rather than looking on the internet or talking to a general practice vet.

[Acroyali]

Sorry you’re having difficulties Lori 🙁 Have you been able to do a search for any holistic minded vets in your area? You didn’t specify if his current diet is dry or wet, most dogs with diabetes (and many with stones) do well with a higher moisture diet than a dry food can offer. I’m not a fan of prescription diets , so I can’t help on that much, but if you’re thinking of trying something else a holistic vet who knows about raw and/or cooked feeding for a dog with health problems would be the person to consult, as when dealing with diabetes and possible liver problems, finding a good diet can be tricky (but not impossible).
I’ve been down your path. It’s frustrating as heck to spend thousands and see little to no improvement, but don’t give up. Contrary to what others seem to think, holistic vets and homeopathic vets are two very different types of practice and have absolutely nothing to do with one another; a holistic vet would be a good option.
Lew Olson at B naturals has a great book on feeding real food to dogs, and has chapters with information on what foods are good for what problems (based on the dogs current lab numbers, something you’ll want to keep up with). Hope this is helpful.

[Lori H]

I am beyond confused on what to do regarding my dog! I am looking for some kind of direction without completely going down the Internet rabbit hole and doing something I might regret! There is so much information out there and I am so overwhelmed!

My dog Buddy just turned nine. He is a Chihuahua/Dachshund/Pomeranian mix and slightly overweight. (19 lbs) should be around (16 lbs).

Here is a year in the life:

– March 2016 – discovered to have bladder stones; tried to eliminate them with a change in food (Royal Canin Prescription). There was a lot of confusion, second opinions and it was then discovered that they were calcium oxilate with two logged in his urethra. He had surgery to remove the stones and they have not yet returned. We did change his food to Hills Science Diet U/D.

– March 2017 – having what I could only call “panic attacks”. Went to the vet to discover after blood work that he has diabetes. We put him on insulin and slowly have been increasing it from 3 units to 5 units. He was going back every few weeks to have his levels checked. It was not getting better so a test for Cushing’s was ordered and came back negative (thank goodness). We continued with the dosing and he has been on 5 units consistently for the last month.

Thursday 5.4.17 – took him back to the vet for a check up and because he was again experiencing a “panic attack”. I was worried he was having an insulin reaction. They ran blood work and found that he was not having any type of reaction to either too much or too little insulin, but is now insulin resistant (Type II).

Next steps – they are concerned about his liver and want to do a liver biopsy to see if there is something severe going on. I have spent almost $7K on him in a year alone and don’t want to do something that might not be necessary, eliminate the stress on him and also the additional cost. I will do anything for him, but I am now thinking that a more holistic approach might be the answer.

With this, I am trying to determine what will be best for him because of the issue with bladder stones, diabetes and possible liver issues. I feel like he is broken. 🙁 I am willing to do research, but a point in the right direction is what I need to at least start somewhere.

I have gotten him Milk Thistle, I am planning to get Bragg Apple Cider vinegar, I am also thinking that SAM-e, Vitamin K and a probiotic are necessary. I just don’t know what to do to feed him. I would like to try a possible raw food that is commercially made first and then go from there…

Any help you might be able to give would be greatly appreciated. He has been through so much and I just want him to feel better, get healthy and be around for a few more years.

Thank you again!

[anonymous]

Many dogs tend to be stoic, inflammation of the gums is a red flag.
In fact, doing anything other than a dental cleaning and whatever else is recommended by the specialist could result in increased pain and infection.
https://www.avdc.org/periodontaldisease.html
excerpt below
Periodontal disease begins when bacteria in the mouth form a substance called plaque that sticks to the surface of the teeth.  Subsequently, minerals in the saliva harden the plaque into dental calculus (tartar), which is firmly attached to the teeth. Tartar above the gum line is obvious to many owners, but is not of itself the cause of disease. 
The real problem develops as plaque and calculus spread under the gum line. Bacteria in this ‘sub-gingival’ plaque set in motion a cycle of damage to the supporting tissues around the tooth, eventually leading to loss of the tooth. Bacteria under the gum line secrete toxins, which contribute to the tissue damage if untreated. These bacteria also stimulate the animal’s immune system. The initial changes cause white blood cells and inflammatory chemical signals to move into the periodontal space (between the gum or bone and the tooth). The function of the white blood cells is to destroy the bacterial invaders, but chemicals released by the overwhelmed white blood cells cause damage to the supporting tissues of the tooth. Instead of helping the problem, the patient’s own protective system actually worsens the disease when there is severe build-up of plaque and tartar.
Periodontal disease includes gingivitis (inflammation [reddening] of the gums) and periodontitis (loss of bone and soft tissue around the teeth). There is a wide range in the appearance and severity of periodontal disease, which often cannot be properly evaluated or treated without general anesthesia for veterinary patients. Effects within the oral cavity include damage to or loss of gum tissue and bone around the teeth, development of a hole (‘fistula’) from the oral cavity into the nasal passages causing nasal discharge, fractures of the jaw following weakening of the jaw bone, and bone infection (‘osteomyelititis’). Bacteria from the mouth can enter the bloodstream and are carried around the body. Studies in dogs have shown that periodontal disease is associated with microscopic changes in the heart, liver, and kidneys. 
Studies in humans have linked periodontal disease to a variety of health problems including poor control of diabetes mellitus and increased severity of diabetic complications. Additionally, it has been shown that diabetes is a risk factor for periodontal disease

[Susan]

Hi Luke,
I understand, the ingredients in the Hills W/D aren’t the best…. Have you joined a Face Book group for Diabetic dog?? groups are the best to join, you get support when you really need it & other people have gone down the same road & have done all the research & would know what are the better premium grain free kibbles, grain kibble & wet tin foods etc that will suit a Diabetic dog….
What I’ve just started to do for my IBD dog is use a vet diet wet tin food for 2 of his meals & a grain free premium kibble for his other meals, he eats 5 small meals a day…..or the only other thing you can do is see a Dog Nutritionist & get help making a special home made diet formulated for your dog health needs…
Here’s the F/B group called ” Canine Diabetes Support and Information” group, join group then click on the “Files” it’s up top of group just under picture & the first link is “Diabetic Dog Food Options” click on link & all these premium wet & dry foods all come up & have the link to the dog food site, someone has done all the hard work to help other Diabetic dogs. https://www.facebook.com/groups/CanineDiabetesSupportandInformation/

[elaine c]

guys, the food you are feeding causes many of the problems you are talking about. I have two pitties, I am a pro trainer.. I use Answers pet food. It is miraculous and I talk about every chance I get. It has saved many a sick rescue. you guys with diabetes and other things mentioned go to Answers pet food. If you like what you see, email them and ask them how to transition your dog over. This food is so unique ans special. It is fermented.. read why this is so important on their site. The royal canin is still filled with carbs… this is not good. You caned just give white rice ( not good anyway) and liver… you are missing so many parts of his diet.

[Jerry F]

My wife makes homemade white rice and cooked Liver for our Dogs. My 7yr old Westie was diagnosed with Diabetes 2 weeks ago and has already gone blind with Cataracts.
Is the White Rice and Liver (along with a small amount of wet Cesar’s) a good diet for low sugar high protein?

[Susan]

Hi Robert,
Why he tolerates the Hills W/D is it’s very high in Insoluble Fiber & Crude Fiber.
Crude Fiber-16.8%
Insoluble Fiber-28.8%
Soluble Fiber-1.5%
Protein is low at 18.9%
Fat is low at 9.1%
Carbs are 50.7%,
there is NO WAY you will find any dog dry kibble sold online or at a pet shop with those high fiber percentages, pet shop kibbles are for healthy dogs without any health problems……
Start looking at other vet diets like Purina contact or email Purina & other prescription vet diet companies & ask do they make a formula like the Hills W/D for diabetes/weight loss & write all the Insoluble, soluble & crude fiber percentages down, they normally ring you back to talk to you & you get free vet nutrition advice, then later look up their formulas online & see if ingredients are a bit better & see if it’s a bit cheaper..
If your vet ask why do you want to try another vet diet kibble (cause you need a prescription in America, we don’t need script in Australia, we can buy all vet diets on line) just say he’s getting sick of eating the Hills W/d & it’s getting too expensive for a large breed & I’d like to try such & such kibble it’s cheaper something like that, the Purina vet diets are very similar to the Hills vet diets & Purina is cheaper, also the protein % may be higher then the Hills W/D formula is.. then you introduce the new vet diet if he does well then start rotating between the vet diets making your boys gut stronger, 70% of our immune system is in the intestinal tract also are you giving the Purina FortiFlora Probiotic?? I know Purina has a bad name but their FortiFlora was tested with 10 other dog probiotics & Purina was one of the best of 3 that had active good bacteria the rest of probiotics were a waste of money.. I know you want cheaper kibble but all next year 2017 your going to make your boys gut healthy & strong again & the only way to do this is slowly introduce healthy whole foods that are high in omega 3 fatty acids, vitamins etc veggies high in insoluble fibers & introduce a new vet diet & look at introducing a weight management kibbles, I’ve written about weight management kibbles the 2nd last paragraph.
My boy has IBD & skin allergies, all I’ve done is research, join IBD groups trying to make him better & fix his stomach & bowel, looking for kibbles that work, introducing healthy foods in his diet that are high in Omega 3 very slowly, you start off just giving say 2-3 small pieces of peeled apple as a treat & some almonds, I bite 1/2 the almond & make Patch chew the other 1/2 of the almond he loves them & his coat has become so shinny but they can only have about 3 whole almonds a day, almonds can cause sloppy poos when given too many, when you introduce a fresh healthy food, do it same time every day, this way you know when he poos what poos are firm or a bit sloppy was that when he ate the new fresh foods ??

I started feeding a small cooked meal it was just turkey mince made into little balls baked in oven & I added some sweet potatoes, a very small meal for breakfast 7am & he still ate his vet diet at 8-9am, if your boy is thin then don’t take away any of the vet kibble if he is prefect weight then take away about 1/3 to 1/2 cup of the vet diet when adding fresh foods..

Google, vegetables that are high in Insoluble fiber & lower in soluble fiber, soluble fiber veggies ferment in the stomach, Insoluble fiber bulks up the stool, 1 serving of Sweet Potato contains 2.2 grams of insoluble fiber, I just got that online when I googled “Is Sweet Potatoes a soluble fiber” it takes time but in 1-2yrs I bet you’ll have a list of foods he can eat & be added to his kibble to make it more healthy..

Weight management kibbles are high in fiber look for weight management kibbles that are the highest in the crude fiber, you’ll find only crude fiber % on kibble bag or their internet site, you won’t find a kibble with 16% crude fiber but maybe you’ll find 10-12% crude fiber then contact that kibble company & I always send an email & write, something like, My boy has IBD & I want to try your name of kibble, my boy needs a high insoluble & low soluble diet can I please have the percentages to the soluble, insoluble & crude fiber please, get a book & start writing this all down cause later on as he gets better & older what didn’t work a few yrs ago might work later & you try again & I always go to pet shops so I can take back the kibbles when they’re money back guaranteed if they cause diarrhea…
Have you tried the Diamond Naturals Light kibble? its a weight management kibble over the yrs I’ve read a few people who have dogs with diarrhea problems do really well on the Diamond Naturals Light, I know its made by Diamond & they have a bad name but after paying triple price for a Hills vet diet what could be worse? if you find a kibble that you could even mix 1/2 vet diet & 1/2 normal kibble & poos are good who cares what brand name it is, like Taste Of The Wild, people on this site say this & that about TOTW kibbles but when I see my boy doing nice firm poos & he’s happy that’s all that matters, Contact Diamond & ask for the insoluble fiber % & the Soluble fiber % it may be close to the Hills W/d formula & this way your adding another protein to his diet which is lamb meal & this will strengthen the stomach & bowel, my boy needs a lower fiber diet he gets bad acid reflux & stomach problems when fiber is high…

Start google & find out which grains & veggies have more insoluble fiber with less soluble fiber.. Lentils are higher in insoluble fibers so look for weight management kibbles highest in the crude fibers then email the companies if he doesn’t do well on the Diamond Natural Light kibble.
It takes time but when you do find that kibble that works its like winning the lottery & when you get them OFF a vet diet its feels excellent but you still know that that vet diet will fix any diarrhea problems just for a while until you find that right kibble.

Look at Purina EN Gastroenteric Fiber Balance Canine Formula
https://www.proplanveterinarydiets.com/products/#for-dogs

Here’s the Diamond Light Naturals
http://www.diamondpet.com/our-brands/diamond-naturals/light-adult-dog/

List of high fiber foods soluble & insoluble
http://www.healthhype.com/list-of-high-fiber-foods-soluble-and-insoluble-fiber-chart.htmlesn

[Kenneth N]

I agree with rotational diet as not every dog food has what is needed, plus how boring it would be to eat the same thing day after day. A new concern growing among many is the “sugar” contents in foods. I am finding out that many kibble foods contain close to if most more than 50% sugars. Starches are needed to keep the kibble together like glue. Many are aware that cancer needs sugar to survive, so does diabetes and yeast infections. It seem like there is no kibble on the market that has a greatly reduced sugar content.

[Loren A]

I know you’re trying to do the very best for your pup. I don’t believe that the prescription diets are the best if you read the label they contain mostly non real food items If This Were your condition your doctor would not recommend that you take only artificial food. I had a dog with diabetes and we tried every prescription diet available her blood sugar would not remain level or even within range my vet Was preparing me for failure in her treatment. I looked into dog nutrition and it takes quite a bit of research I developed a diet for her and within 7 days of eating 4 meals a day her insulin usage went from 28 units twice a day to 11 units twice a day. It remained that way for the next four years. I met several dog moms in the waiting room of her opthamologist they wanted to try the diet for their diabetic pets both of the dogs but trying to diet had to drop in their insulin usage and the leveling of their blood sugar. We all closely monitored the kiddos testing their blood sugar from 3 or in my case 8 – 9 times a day. I don’t believe that food can solve all medical problems but I believe that chemicals cause medical problems. If you decide to try this I want to make sure that you check the pH with strips quite frequently to begin with and be sure to feed your dog meals 4 to 6 times a day and make sure they are quite moist. Good luck on your endeavors and best of luck to your pup.

[Joyce B]

Hello – my dog ruptured a disc and loss use of his back legs for 3 weeks. Not sure what the difference is between rupturing a disc and slipping a disc but I hope this helps anyway. He was not a good candidate for surgery and cannot have steroids due to diabetes so we never went to the specialist. From what I understand the surgery is not guaranteed to be a success and the recovery time is long and painful anyway. Our vet put him on some meds and it was a wait and see. During that time I hand-fed him and carried him outside and held him up to do his business. He gradually improved and can walk and run now, just a bit stiffly. Best of luck!

[CockalierMom]

Hi Steve,

I cannot offer any suggestions as to a canned food to recommend for diabetes/pancreatitis but can say that the two brands you mentioned are a lot higher in fat than the RC GILF. The GILF shows 1% min and 2.5% max for fat. To compare canned foods, you will need to convert to a dry matter basis since there is a difference in moisture content. On a dry matter basis, the GILF is 4% minimum and 10% maximum fat whereas the lowest fat TOW is a minimum of 16.5% fat on a dry matter basis and they do not state what the maximum is. This is a huge difference and I think it may be too high but check with your vet to be sure.

The other thing I wanted to mentioned is the GILF contains prebiotics and that is probably why he had a good stool on it and runny when you tried homemade. One food that I know is low fat and low carb is THK Zeal, however he would probably have a runny stool with it unless you tried adding THK Perfect Form or some other prebiotic/probiotic supplement.

Hopefully someone else will be along that can offer some food suggestions based on their experience.

[Steve P]

Hello all, I have been researching for days it seems now after my 10 year old Schnauzer was diagnosed to be diabetic and easily prone to pancreatitis.

He was originally diagnosed around a month ago after we had a sleepless night not knowing what was wrong with him, he kept crying and pawing at me all night and wouldn’t move further than a foot away from me.

We brought him to the vet where they did some blood tests to confirm it was his pancreas and also did a blood glucose test and UA. The vet said they were high and there was glucose in his urine that night but it could be because his pancreatitis so she wanted to test him again after his pancreatitis cooled down.His levels were in the high 3’s and mid 4’s. He was put on Royal Canin GILF. We brought him back a few days later to get more tests and his levels were in the 2’s now but he had glucose in his urine still. Diagnosed him with Diabetes and put him on 3 units twice a day 12 hours apart. He is right around 26.5 LBs give or take a few. He isn’t a standard but he sure as hell doesn’t seem like a Mini so we don’t know what’s up with that. He seems to be right in the middle of the 2.

2 weeks went by and we did his all day curve, glucose levels in the mid 3’s to high 2’s so bumped him up to 4 units 2 times a day. He has been getting royal canin GILF 1/2 can and 1/3 cup Blue basics lamb every 12 hours since he was diagnosed.

As we all know…. RC is an arm and a leg and I just want to find a food he can eat and be fine that isn’t prescription. We tried homemade lowfat recipe but he had very runny stool so we put him back on the RC GILF.

Now, I would prefer a combo canned/kibble but I am not opposed to going full canned. I am thinking Merrick’s grain free beef, or taste of the wild beef. Dog food advisor has different stats than on the can though, the can’s show a lower fat and higher protein than DFA lists. What is the reason for this? Also would these 2 canned dog meats be considered good for a dog with diabetes and prone to pancreatitis? RC GILF i have heard is just a ton of carbs to get the fat% down which I don’t really want for the long run.

Sorry for the novel of a first post I just need some guidance, thank you all for putting up with me 🙂