[Susan]

HI
PLEASE see a vet, when a dog is being picky with food this is a sign the dog may have digestive problems…. Yorki’s are prone to Pancreatitis & need a lower fat diet, feeding a higher protein, higher Kcals diet nornally has higher fat as well & may cause more problems.. I’d be seeing a vet to do blood test to see why your dog is losing weight……Have you tried cooking some chickem Breast & Sweet Potato & freeze small meals? “Dr Judy Morgan” has some really good easy recipes you can make & freeze…

Have a look at “Canidae” Pure Meadow Senior, it has supplements for aging dogs, Glucosamine, Chondroitin, Omega 3 & its low in fat-10.80%, Protein is 28% & the Kcals are 409, she will gain weight on this formula, if she doesnt have any health problems & she wont be getting the higher fat in her diet another really good dry food “Annamaet” Lean dogs do really well on but if she is fussy I’d be joining this group on face Book “Canine Pancreatitis Support Group” then look in the “Files” click on 2nd link “Low Fat Food” scroll down a bit & look at all the wet tin foods & the fat has been converted to Dry Matter (DM) heaps of good low-normal fat wet foods…..

[Susan]

Hi Weezerweeks
I hope this link works, it’s Dr Judy Morgan “Pancreatitis Diet” Video & Judy talks about Scout her 15 & 1/2 year old Cavalier Charles he has a few health problems, he can’t have any salmon/fish oils it sets his Pancreatitis off….
This recipe is good, you just need a Crock Pot you can tweek it a bit & leave a few ingredients out like the organ meats for now as they can cause diarrhea, Judy explains what all ingredients are for & what health benefits/vitamins they have… https://www.facebook.com/JudyMorganDVM/videos/1347288501986822/

You sound like you’re doing everything right, feeding a healthy diet, Judy Morgan explains how Beef is higher in fat, I didnt realise this I was buying the 5 stars very lean beef mince & I was making Patch his Beef Rissoles & Patch became unwell all of a sudden but he was OK the week before eating the same beef rissoles this also happened with Dr Judy’s dog Scout he was OK then all of a sudden he’s having a flare, so Judy said she doesnt feed beef every day now,
then Scout has another flare & all she had been adding a few drops of Salmon Oil & that was it he’s having diarrhea & didn’t eat 1 of his meals but he was OK 24hrs later cause she realise what was causing Scouts flare, my Patch still has a really good appetite when he has been real sick, this is what confusses his vet.. Judy talks about Yorki’s how they’re prone to Pancreatitis, but I cant remember if it’s in the beginning of this video, I just watch 2 of Judy videos & though of your little man… This Pancreatitis recipe is for when the stomach, pancreas & bowel isnt working properly & needs a rest, Chicken & Turkey are the easiest meats to digest & are lowest in fat, this Pancreatitis recipe is digested for the dog, its like a soup in the end, I think I wouldn’t cook it for the 12 hours, it’s too long, Dr Judy explains at end of video how you can thicken it up a bit more cause licking soup type meals can cause vomiting in some dogs….. I hope your boy is feeling better the drugs would be making him feel a bit sick they do with Patch…

@Cockier Mom,
we think alike our dogs all must suffer with the same health problems…

[Susan]

Hi Weezerweeks,
I wouldn’t be stressing out to much, sounds like your vet has given the best drugs in this situation, Metronidadazole & Clavamox…it will take a good 5-14 days to start seeing some good results.
Pepcid (Famotidine) is an old ant acid drug 1979, we do not use Famotidine anymore in Australia, there’s better ant acid drugs now…Zantac (Ranitidine) replaced Famotidine & might work better or ask vet about giving a stronger ant acid medication like Omerpazole (Losec)…1/2 the dose 10mg once a day, the Pepcid might not be reducing the acid in stomach, it would of been good if vet arranged an Endoscope & Biopsies to see what’s happening in his stomach & bowel….
I’d stop the boiled rice it could be irratating an inflammed bowel?
I boiled sweet potato + some boiled pumkin, only add about 1 teaspoon of the boiled Pumkin you can freeze cooked pumkin in ice cube trays & take out when needed.
Another very easy to digest food is egg, whisk 1 egg & put in microwave & lightly cook scramble egg…
also when this all started what did he eat that whole day & the days before?
does he eat the same diet 24/7 or do you rotate & change his food around?
Im very curious if you’re feeding a pet food & which one ??

Pooing blood & having mucus poos can be from food sensititivies/intolerances, sometimes after a dog eats the same food 24/7 they can all of a sudden start reacting to an ingredient in their diet, he might of had light red streaks of blood thru his earlier poos & you never noticed the blood streaks & still feeding the same ingredient that he’s become intolerant too making things worse, he might be eating treats something isnt agreeing with him??

When it comes to stomach & bowel problems the best thing to have done is Endoscope or Colon Scoped + BIOPIES, Biospies are a must & the vet will have more answers, the Metronidazole will start clear this all up & will reduce any inflammation, it just needs time..

Do you follow Dr Judy Morgan? go onto her Facebook page look to your left & click on “Video’s” & look for her “Pancreatitis Diet” & her “IBD IBS Diet” & start feeding a cooked diet, if you’re feeding any dog foods/treats etc, always keep a diary write all this down & see is there a pattern when he eats whatever he eats, does it happen again, also does he go on walks could he have picked up something, someone given him a little treat?

[a c]

I have been adding raw zucchini and yellow squash to their diet. They don’t care for raw broccoli. I tried broil baby kale and then cutting it up today, and they have no problem with it. I just love to give them some fresh veggies. I haven’t try okra. The only time I use okra is in the gumbo.

My 10 years old girl had pancreatitis once earlier this year after we gave her some leftover bbq. She really like it, but not her tummy. She end up getting IV therapy for 3 days, the metronidazole, and Science Diet ID.

Our vet recommended Purina One Smartblend Healthy Weight as maintenance, but it’s nothing but carbs. I tried Horizon Amicus Senior, but the calories are a little too high. I am now trying Annemaet reduced fat. Both are grain free. I will see how it goes. Ideally, I want to mix rotate a couple kibbles. I also add a little wet food or something we eat as the topper.

[Susan H]

A c. I actually used canned and rinsed them well because I had some on hand.
She also loved all kinds of vegetables, her favorite was stewed okra (I’m a southerner)

My Abigail had pancreatitis 3 times over the course of her almost 17 year life. She did not have naturally high triglycerides, fortunately. Just some missteps in her diet. One time I let my husband feed her taste of the wild canned lamb and he gave her too much, so off to the emergency vet we went. There is a product called Denesyl that you can use, it really helped with her liver enzymes.

I always fed grain free kibble. Mostly Blue Wildnerness, then the Blue Wilderness Senior but later I switched to Merrick’s Lil Plates grain free. I also topped it off with just a little grain free canned because she got tired of the food as she grew old.

• This reply was modified 8 years, 2 months ago by Susan H. Reason: Correct spelling

[a c]

Thank you, Susan H. I will try that. Do you use fresh, frozen, or can green beans?

I have 3 mini schnauzers. They are prone to have pancreatitis when they getting older. Good low fat kibbles are hard to find because most are full of carbs.

[a c]

I first stop giving my 10 years old Orijen senior after she has developed pancreatitis. I have tried several brands. Now I am trying Annemeat g/f low fat.

I also switched my puppy from Orijen puppy to Horizen Amicus puppy and Simply Nourish puppy.

There are so many information out there. It’s overwhelming. It’s difficult to tell which information is valid. The real question is do I want to give something with good quality or something with less toxin. What a hard choice!

[a c]

After losing my 10 years old to lymphoma earlier this year, I really started to take a close look at the dog food. I have been feeding them primarily Hill’s Science Diet since they were puppies because that’s what vet has recommended.

I went to a local pet store, I was told Orijen is the best out there in addition to the raw diet. I bought Origen and small bags of Stella and Chewy, Primal, and Honest Kitchen to try. My the other 10 year old end up with pancreatitis. She was put on IV therapy, metronidazole, and Science Diet ID can food. Then, I was told to put her on low fat Purina One Smartblend Weight management kibbles.

It has been a struggle to find low fat, good ingredients, and no/low toxin dog food. It shouldn’t be this hard.

[Dana B]

I love that you are so willing to help. I see your comments from WAY back. I wonder if you have your answers on a .doc so you can copy and paste, and save yourself some typing time… HAHAHA But, THANK YOU so much for your help. I hope your doggies are well.

I am looking for specific answers of Dasuquin ADVANCED (not the kind I can order online)… and a less expensive alternative in human form… like the actual product. My girl is almost 14, a pit/lab/pointer mix, best we can tell. Started with joint pain a year ago mainly in winter. Dasuquin Advanced helps, but it is so expensive. I will pay it, but if there is an equivalent, less expensive… it only makes good sense.

We also have a 9 year old Yorkie who gets pancreatitis abut twice a year. Since I have put him on strict RX ProPlan diet, he is better and less than 4% fat treats… But, he is a little spoiled and would like a variety of at least treats. Any suggestions?

• This reply was modified 8 years, 2 months ago by Dana B.

[Susan]

Hi Panya,
I can’t stop laughting, Patch does the same his farts scare him when he’s sleeping & he farts he jumps up & runs off my bed lol when his farts are loud, he’s the same he doesn’t fart now he’s eating the right diet….
Go on Face Book & in the “Search” bar put “Canine Pancreatitis Support Group” join then look on your left & click on “Files” then click on first link “Low Fat Foods” you’ll see all low fat dry & wet tin foods, scroll down look at the wet canned low fat foods, I would be feeding a low fat wet tin food instead of dry kibble or feed low fat wet tin for 1 meal & dry low fat kibble for other meal…. Wet canned or cooked diet is heaps better for dogs who have suffered with Pancreatitis as kibble is harder to digest & is higher in carbs, the fat% has been converted in all these wet tin formula’s, the fat % is to your right, the fat % in raw & wet canned food hasn’t been converted to dry matter (Kibble)….Hills convert their fat % in all their vet diets but the other vet diets brands are not converted, so stay around 1-3% fat in wet tin foods when looking to buy any…
If you still want to feed a dry kibble look at “Canidae” Pure Meadow Senior, it’s low in Fat at 10.80% max, very easy to digest & has all the supplements for an aging dog…
always email the pet food companies & get the accurate max fat % & protein % in wet & dry food your thinking of feeding. I’ve already emailed Canidae & got the fat % in the Pure Meadow Senior, it’s a really good kibble it has No Prebiotic “Chicory Root” you will see a big improvement in your dogs skin coat & health while eating te Canidae Pure Meadow Senior formula there’s also Pure Resolve weight management but teh Senior has all te supplements to a senior dog & te fat % is the same..
Here’s Canidae’s site scroll down a bit & click on “VIEW ALL” on your left, click on page 3 has the Pure Meadow Senior & Page 5 has the Canidae All Life Stages Platinum Less Active kibble its low fat easying to digest & good for dogs with Pancreatitis. https://www.canidae.com/dog-food/products

[Panya V]

Our Jackaranian will be turning seven this month and he just had his first bout of pancreatitis. He had been slightly overweight at 18 pounds before his illness, but is now back to his ideal 16 pounds. I’ve read that pancreatitis can reoccur, and that it requires a low-fat food. He’s had Halo Spot’s Stew Wholesome Chicken Recipe ever since we rescued him at six weeks of age, and the adult formula had 16% fat [min.; 18% DMB]. We had been thinking we could simply continue to feed him a lesser amount of this kibble and supplement with whole foods [he loves fruits and vegetables] to reduce the amount of fat in his diet; on the advice of his vet, this is what we did to get his weight down when he was overweight a few years ago. FYI, he also gets a bit of flax oil almost every day [he and our cat think it’s as a treat]. But now Halo has reformulated most of their foods and we can’t buy it any longer due to new allergies; we can’t have anything with fish, seafood, pork, and preferably no chicory. That is making it extremely difficult to find a kibble of good quality which isn’t too expensive for our budget [Halo was already at the top]. He’s always done so well on the Halo — regular, solid, drier BMs, no gas [only when he’s had too much fruit, and then the farts scare him because it happens so rarely! lol], shiny coat, lots of energy, etc. — the weight gain was usually due to my husband inadvertently over-feeding by rounding over the measuring cup. 😛 I’m positive we wouldn’t have to worry about the mental side of a food switch, since he’ll eat just about anything if we let him, though I am worried about how his gut will react to a different food, especially since we’re quickly running out of his supply of Halo. This very site helped us research foods when we had our first dog [whom we had to put down a few years ago due to a brain tumor] — so we’re hoping that we can find some help again.

[jenny p]

I have a 60 lb German Shepherd/ lab mix who is having loose stools with Acana. I was told that maybe she needs a lower protein lower fat food. Any recommendation on a kibble ? She also has has a bout of pancreatitis and UTI issues.

[Maria H]

Stephanie S, my toy rat terrier is exactly the same way, he is currently struggling with chronic pancreatitis and Im trying to find something to feed him besides the hydrolyzed kibble by Royal Canin which just seems so wrong.I was wondering if you found any solutions for pre mix your baby girl?

[Susan]

Hi Darlene,
He sounds like he has a lot of life left in him & has a exciting little life, going on daily walks, chasing squirrels, I’d say the Wellness Core Small Breed isn’t agreeing with him anymore it’s way to rich now for an older dog….Wellness Core Small breed is higher in fat & protein, probably causing bad wind pain like my boy gets when he eats a kibble that doesnt agree with him, he wakes up & is up & down thru the night & just walks around the common garden area then he comes back inside, I’d say he’s farting then feels better then my boy comes back inside goes to bed then he’s up again wanting to go out again, see how he goes after eating the Hills I/d wet tin food see if he settle down, cause he’s normal thru the day isn’t he??

I’d feed the Hills I/d low fat Restore wet canned food & also a Senior kibble like “Canidae” Pure Meadow Senior if he still wants a few dry kibble bisuits to chew & crunch on, Canidae Pure Meadow Senior formula is GF very easy to chew & digest, only has 10.80%max fat & has all the supplements older dogs need for their joints, skin, brain, heart etc, I’d start feeding smaller meals thru the day/night, I feed 4-5 meals a day 7am, 9am, 12pm, 5pm, 8pm….easier to digest smaller meals then 2 bigger meals.
You could feed 1-2 meals a dry kibble like the “Canidae” Senior kibble & the rest of his meals he gets the I/D Restore wet tin food & see if he gets better thru the night. Ask vet about “Gabapentin” capsules, it helps them sleep at night, helps any joint or nerve pain & doesn’t cause any stomach/bowel problems, if your on facebook, put “Canine Pancreatitis Support” group in the “search” bar, join then on ur left is their “Files” click & then click on the first link “Low Fat Foods” then scroll down a bit till you get to all the wet tin foods, the fat has been converted to dry matter (DM) fat (Kibble) on your right, then he can have a few different flavours & see which one he really likes best..
Here’s Canidae’s site to look at the dry formula’s but the wet tin foods haven’t been converted & probably will be too high in fat for him, when you see say 5%min fat on a wet tin food after it’s converted to dry matter 5%min fat is around 20%min -25%max fat that’s way too high…
https://www.canidae.com/dog-food/products

[a c]

I have been feeding my 10 yeas old schnauzer who has pancreatitis history 2/3 of Horizon Amicus Weight Management and 1/3 of Purina Smartblend Healthy Weght(this one is recommended by my vet). She is doing ok with it.

However, Horizon Amicus Weight Management has 400kcal/cup which it’s pretty high. She has gain some weight. I would like to try a different low fat food with less calories. Any suggestions?

[Susan]

Hi Shari,
I would be stopping the Carafate (Sulcrate) it lines the stomach so you can only give it when the stomach is completely empty so if there’s any food in his stomach the Carafate lines the food instead of his stomach & can make things worse, why has the vet got him on 3 a day? the food may not be completely digested, if he already has very low stomach acid the Carafate could be making things worse… Has he had any more gulping attacks since starting the Sulcrate or is he the same?

If you have the money have an Endoscope & Biopsies done to see what is happening in the stomach, the Biopsies will give your vet some answers, your vet must think his mouth licking & swollowing has something to do with the stomach for him to prescribe these types of drugs..
Ask your vet about “Gabapentin”?? it is used for seizures, pancreatitis, IBD, stomach problems, nerve pain, Gabapentin capsules covers a few health problems maybe see if he settles after taking the Gabapentin…

Even though you have change his food to a low fat food, how high is the fiber & carbs?? Is he on a vet dry diet kibble?? the carbs will be high & so will the fiber if its a vet diet, alot of vets prescribe the Hills W/D for dogs with Pancreatitis why I’ll never know the Insoluble fiber is 28%… Dry kibble is no good when dogs have Pancreatitis, the dry kibble could be causing acid reflux in the first place, have you tried feeding a lean meat like chicken or turkey low fiber, low carb, cooked meal, chicken breast & sweet potato & just give him the Losec 20mg every morning for 1-2 weeks & see how he goes?…. that’s what my Boxer was put on a home cooked diet by the new vet but it was too late by then, her old vet had her on the Hills vet diet it made her worse but vets never blame it’s the vet diet that’s causing the gulping swllowing drolling…..

Maybe best to have the Endoscope + Biospies done so the vet can see the stomach &
see is there’s any stomach ulcers or anything else, the biospsies will give some answers to whats happening…could be Helicobacter-Pylori, they eat & eat like they are starving, droll, swollow gulp as well..

[Shari G]

Brodi is currently on Prilosec one pill every morning and has been on it for over a month. Before that he was on pepcid and when he still had episodes is when they switched him to Prilosec. He is also on a low fat food due to the pancreatitis he has had in the past. He is also on sulcrate 3 times a day for 2 weeks now and hasn’t stopped these episodes. At one point I was nearly convinced it was a digestion problem only because it was grilled into my head that excessive drooling means nausea but I have a hard time believing that because while he is having an episode he’ll eat with np and also none of the nausea meds help even when injected.

[Shari G]

Omg..ty. I just cried a bit in relief because finally maybe a light at the end of the tunnel. He seems so spaced out at times too and then he will do these quick jerks almost like he got shocked. I’m praying for the potassium bromide to work. Brodi also has had pancreatitis a few times so another thing we have to be careful that the seizure meds don’t flare up. This is truly heartbreaking.

[Susan]

Hi Susan R,
How is your dog doing?? stop feeding the Royal Canine HP food, my boy did the same thing while eating the R/C HP formula when I first rescued him age 4yrs old, he was put on R/C HP for his skin & sloppy poos, but he couldn’t digest the R/C HP kibble properly & the fat was way too high for him causing acid reflux & bad pancreas pain, the R/C HP is high in omega oils, it’s for skin problems, a few vets don’t know how to use these vet diets properly & cause a vet diet has worked for a few of their other dog patients the vet recommends it for another dog & that poor dog might have another underlying health problem & the vet diet is not the right diet for that dog….

are you on Face Book? join this group put in the search bar- “Canine Pancreatitis Support” Group there’s help & support in this group from experience dog owners that have been thru what you’re going thru also look in the “Files” on your left click on the “Low Fat Foods” link scroll down & look at the wet tin foods, the fat has been converted to dry mater on your right.. your dog needs to rest his Pancreas, low fiber is a must so, no weight management diets they are low in fat BUT too high in fiber for Pancreatitis.. Hills vet diet has their I/d Low Fat Restore Rice Chicken Stew formula the fat & fiber is low, stick with wet foods, kibble is too hard to digest & is high in carbs too much work for the pancreas…

[Susan R]

Please help! I have a Bichon with pancreatitis, he is not vomiting now or have direaha ,
But he is so lethargic that he will not play and wants to sleep all the time. He has constant rumbling in his stomach. You can tell he feels so bad! He is on Royal Canine HP.
HE EATS IT BUT SHORTLY after eating he wants to sleep all day. He is only 4 years old.
What dog food has been successful in treating pancreatitis. Wet kept him at hospital clinic for 3 days. IV fluids and antibotic for infection . His stools look like tar. He has blood in his stools.
But when blood work was done at first vet visit, amamalze was off the chart. After 3 days of fluids they were back to normal. Please , any suggestions?

[Susan]

Hi gee you’ve been thru a lot so has your poor boy, the vets would be stumped they rely on test result, they probably haven’t see anything like this before, so go with your gut if they recommend to try news drugs if it doesn’t feel right don’t give the drugs cause your dog is being a guinea pig for them to learn on, try to contact other dog owners that have been thru the same thing.
I looked & there isnt any face book groups “yet” but you could start a “Dog or Canine with IMPT group” & just wait & see if a few dog owners join & talk about what they have been thru, especially if they live in another country (Australia) they may treat with different medicines, I read that there’s been no studies done on Canines with IMTP vets only know what owners have been thru & it has been documented…

Did the meds they prescribe for IMTP make him worse & sick?? he’s probably better off with no drugs if he seems OK…..I found this site it was written by Cold Coast Verterinary Services Australia, I wonder if you contact email other pet owners who have dealt with IMTP ?? you learn so much from other pet owners what they did, what worked, what didn’t work.
http://www.lowchensaustralia.com/health/imt.htm

The Royal Canne Low Fat Gastro he’s eating has Pork as the only protein, it has rice flour instead of the boiled rice & corn, if he’s doing OK on the R/C Low Fat Gastro then that means he does OK with pork, rice & corn, the fat in the R/C low fat Gastro is 2.5%max when it’s converted to dry matter (kibble) it’s 10.45% max fat.., so if you want to cook something you can add some fresh lean cooked pork meat, you can buy some lean pork & mince thru the mincer yourself that’s what my vet does & told me to do the same for Patch, then you know what he’s eating, I was buying the human lean 5 star pork mince but Patch started to get pancreatitis symptoms, vomiting bad pancreas pain, I had bought the pork mince from a different supermarket & the fat said 5% but it must of been higher & had more fat then the other lean pork mince I was buying & Patch became real sick…

“Canidae” make their “Pure Wild Boar” dry kibble.
https://www.canidae.com/dog-food/products

there’s “Walk About” made in New Zealand & Australia they import to California, they only make Jerky & freeze dried treats & wet tin foods-Wild Boar, Wild Kangaroo & Goat, fat is 2%min when fat is converted it’s around 15%max fat.
http://walkaboutpetproducts.com/

[Lauren S]

Information overload coming, but I want to answer all your questions!

He has been eating Royal Canin Low-Fat GI canned food at the recommendation of my regular vet, who said it’s better to have him eating something, even if it means we’re not solving the food allergy problem right now.

When he was REALLY sick with IMTP, we would do boiled chicken and rice but have since learned that chicken is the most common food allergy for dogs. We’re not sure if it was helping or hurting him since he doesn’t show any outward symptoms of this.

We stopped the Prednisone very, very slowly. We tapered every 3-4 weeks at 25%, eventually going from 60mg to 5mg. He was at 5mg for awhile until this lipase issue popped up, so then we tapered again to 0mg.

The vets are 100% sure he has IMTP, but they — like in most IMTP cases — don’t know what the cause was. He had a very rare lump on his shoulder that was removed in January. He wouldn’t stop bleeding during/after the surgery, which is how we discovered the low platelets. NC State suspects that the lump is what triggered his immune system.

We only stopped feeding Taste of the Wild because of the high lipase number. At the time, we thought he had acute pancreatitis so our vet put him on the low-fat food and started doing the fluids to flush his pancreas. He LOVES Taste of the Wild but I don’t think we can switch back to that (at this point, anyway) because if he does have a food allergy, it’s definitely to an ingredient in Taste of the Wild since that was all he was eating.

He used to be on probiotics because he had some diarrhea that would not resolve during his heavy duty IMTP treatment. We also put him on pumpkin. We thought it was caused by all of the drugs he was on because he needed a good 15-20 pills a day, but maybe not. I’ll be calling my vet today to get him the probiotics again.

He isn’t showing ANY symptoms except for an occasional desire to eat grass. He doesn’t try to eat any in the yard, but will grab a bite or two when we’re on walks. Otherwise, he acts completely normal. I think this is why the vets are stumped. With such a high lipase number and everything else being normal, my regular vet referred us to NC State because he thought he must have a tumor on his pancreas and we would need a biopsy. Prior to doing their testing, NC State said this is either “raging pancreatitis or raging pancreatic cancer.” Their testing found that it was neither. They said they had never seen this happen and that most dogs would be crashing at this point.

I will definitely look into the foods you recommended. It’s so tough to figure out what to do next since he doesn’t have symptoms and it can take 6 weeks to see a change in his bloodwork.

One more thing to note. When we discovered his high lipase number, it was at 5,000. After fluids, it dropped to 3,200. We thought he was getting better. A week later, we were back up to 5,000 and went to NC State. The next day, his lipase was 1,000. NC State said it is HIGHLY unusual to jump that much. A week after that, he was at 4,200. It’s all over the place, which adds another layer to things.

[Lauren S]

My 5 year old walker/fox hound has been battling IMTP since January. He was on Prednisone for this up until a few weeks ago.

Last month, we did some extra blood work on him to determine why he had rapidly gained 25 pounds. We were being very careful about feeding him, so I was concerned that something else was going on besides the effect the steroids had on him.

His blood work came back with his lipase at 5000 (normal is about 100). Nothing else on his blood work was off, and we confirmed with a CPL test that the lipase was coming from his pancreas and not somewhere else in his body. My vet gave him a course of antibiotics, switched him to Royal Canin Low-Fat GI canned food, put him on fluids for 3 days, and retested. His lipase was about the same, so he referred us to NC State.

NC State suspected raging pancreatic cancer, but found nothing to indicate this. They ruled out pancreatitis since his amylase levels are normal and he has no symptoms except occasionally trying to eat grass. His ultrasound was clear, as was his additional bloodwork. They suspect he has a food allergy. We tried giving him Royal Canin HP but he refused to eat it. They also took him off of the Prednisone he was on (5 mg) so we’re hoping that doesn’t cause his platelets to crash.

1. Does anyone know what could be causing this besides a food allergy? He doesn’t really show any other signs of an allergy and he had been on Taste of the Wild for a long time before all of this.

2. What hypoallergenic/novelty protein foods are good to try?

[Susan]

Hi a c,
I buy the “K-9 Natural” Green Lipped Mussels” freeze dried treats, I also give 1 to my cat as well she loves mussels but sometimes I think Patch gets his acid reflux after he has eaten a couple of the Mussels, he does his mouth thing & starts grinding his teeth, he’s nilly 9 yrs old & not showing any signs of arthritis or slowing down not yet, but his vet did an X ray a couple of months ago cause she thought he had a blockage (urinary crystal) but instead she found this weird looking bone with all nerve endings, it was coming out of the top of his left back leg towards his spine, she said she has never seen anything like it in the 35 yrs she’s been a vet, she showed me & it was weird, she did say she has seen something similiar before but it was growing out of dogs top of front paw into his shoulder bone, she went & showed the X ray to the Osteo vet & asked him what he thought it was, he asked was Patch slowing down, can he jump up onto the bed, up into the car etc & is he’s fine walking up & down stairs, Patches vet said, he seems fine & not showing any pain in his back end, then the Osteo vet said he may have been born with this defect & it’s not bothering him at all, at first my vet thought it might be what has been causing Patches pain he gets sometimes when he whinges & whinges, drinks & drinks water but I said no that pain is more around the stomach & pancreatitis area the pain is further up near his rib cage, then she said but nerve pain can travel & be thrown in a different area & go further up the spine, then she wrote him a script to try “Gabapentin” for nerve pain + his IBD pain, we had talked about it before on his last visit to be given twice a day with his meals, vet said it doesnt affect the stomach like NSAID & other pain meds can do & she has a few older dogs on the Gabapentin who have IBD & they can’t take NSAID for their Arthritis pain & they are doing really well on the Gabapentin it also reduces stress & stops anxieties, yeh cause they’re drug up I thought, I’ve only ever given him the Gabapentin 100mg capsule twice now, when he’s been whinging & whinging all day & I don’t know what’s wrong with him & it makes him OK, he’s not drug up like I thought he’d be, he just settles down & stops the whinging the Gabapentin relaxes him & he has a good night sleep, it does stops what ever was wrong with him but I don’t give every single day with his meals cause some days he’s fine there’s no whinging, no drinking & drinking his water…

[Susan]

Hi Sue,
Vet diets were once made to eat until the dog/cat became better then the owner looked for alternitive diets to feed, then Hills & realised vets were telling pet owners to just kept feeding their pets the vet diets, when owners didn’t know what else to feed their pets, so around 2014 Hills re formulated a few of their vet diets so the dog could eat the vet diet for the rest of it’s life & brought out a few more dry vet formula’s & more canned stew formula’s that were more palatable for sick dogs with kidney, weight management, skin health & intestinal health problems, my boy loves the I/d Digestive Care Chicken & Vegetable stew, I get it for him as a treat even though he gets his red paws from the chicken..
When the internet came along having a sick pet become very confusing epecially when there’s some poster that are anti healthy not into holistic natural ways to feed sick pets, you don’t need scientific proof to see how healthy your dog has become after being feed a balanced healthy home made diets, changing a pets diet can make a real big difference follow “Rodney Habib” on his face Book page & see the difference with dogs that were dying from cancer & now are cancer free after eating the Ketopet diets, after feeding either raw or home cooked especially when they’re sick or even healthy pets, you can tell by their coats, skin, their behaviour they are more switch on & act like they want to live all of a sudden they feel better also how they are getting around when they feel so good….
Chico would know he’s not eating the same food as his brother & sisters are eating, he’d smell & know his food is different…. I always feel sorry for my boy he has to eat his dry kibble & my cat Indy gets nice raw meat for breakfast & dinner, freeze dried for lunch, she gets everything healthy & he doesn’t he gets his dry boring kibble… he has IBD

Start looking for a Vet Nutrionist in your area, here’s a link it’s called “Just Food For Dogs”
https://www.justfoodfordogs.com/vet-support-diets
they also make Custom diets for dogs with multiple health problems.. you can still feed 1 meal the k/d wet tin food & the other meals feedthe new cooked meal, thats what I did with my IBD boy he ate his vet diet for 2 of his meals & the other 2 meals were home cooked lean beef or lean pork rissoles balls with broccolli, egg, parsley, kale, then add sweet potato.

Are you on Face Book? join this group “K-9 Kitchen” it’s run by Monica Segal a nutritionist you can contact her & she’ll make Chico a recipe for kidney disease, she also post recipes on her page or send them in an email if you subscribe join hersite its all free, then once you have joined her K-9 Kitchen group, post a post asking for a recipe for Kidney Disease, either Monica or a poster will post 1 of her Kidney disease recipes…
Have you joined the “Canine Kidney Disease” groups on Face Book there’s a few…then post in the groups where a good vet nutritionist is in your area near you & start from there…
Chico is only 5yrs old, he’s way to young to be just eating the k/d food
Do you have a crock pot? I also would start making cooked meals for all your dogs & freeze small meals or 1 big meal you can divide for all of them, still feed their food they are eating at the moment for 1 of their meals & feed the cooked healthy meal for their other meals….especially if you have small dogs that might be predisposed to stones/crystal, pancreatitis etc, there’s also Dr Judy Morgan find her face book page & follow her & she answers all post, here’s her link below, she has a few recipes on You Tube very easy to make, she has around 8 dogs, a few of them are sick, look at her Homemade Pup Loaf video very easy to make & can fed your other dogs… http://www.drjudymorgan.com/category/videos/

[Susan]

Hi Therese,
Glad you have finally found something Lucy likes, so she is a gravy lover like most dogs, this must be the type of food her original owner feed her gravy type stews, now when you give her her anitibiotics make sure she is taking them on a full stomach, this is why she’d be feeling nauseous, antibiotic’s must be taken with a meal & if she wasnt really eating much it would be hard to give her her meds…..

With Pancreatitis just make sure the fat in a wet tin food is 4% & below when feeding some wet tin foods, some are 5,6,7,8,9% min in fat, eating high fat foods 24/7 can cause Pancreatitis.. even with this Mighty Dog 1 food might be 3%min fat then another formula might be 6%min fat, just make sure you read the can first, if you see 5%min fat min when you convert 5%min fat it will be around 20-25% max fat, depending on the brand when it’s converted to dry matter, so it’s best to stay around the 2-4%fat in wet tin foods, for now just stick with the mighty dog wet tin food, then once she is off all her meds & she is feeling heaps better you can venture out & try better quality foods…

Hills Science Diet has their new Youthful Vitality 7+ Chicken & Vegetable Stew, the can is lime/green back round with a border collie dog running on the side, the Youthful Vitility food has everything a dog needs, even thought Lucy is only 3 she could be in poor condition on the inside, the Youthful Vitility Stew has antioxidants for brain support, L-carnitine helps with stomach & diarrhea, Vitamins C & E help bolster a strong immune system, Omega 3 & 6 for skin & coat & has high quality ingredients, the fat is 15%max, Hills converts all their wet tin foods fat, protein, fiber etc it’s on their Hills site, even if you just buy 3-4 tins a week & she gets 1 tin every second night for dinner or breakfast, if she does not eat this food then wash out the Hills tin & take it back to Pet Shop, Hills is guaranteed money back for palability….it’s a bit embarassing but the workers get to know you & your dog…
also instead of the boiled pumkin, try boiled sweet potato, the orange sweet potato, maybe its called Yams in America, it’s healthy like pumkin & taste like pumkin but it’s sweeter, just add 1spoon mixed thru wet tin food, I boil cut up squares about the size of 1 spoon & freeze then I take out when I need 1-2 spoons to add to a meal, it thaws very quickly & then heat in micro wave so its not cold, that’s another reason dogs & cats won’t eat their food if its cold from the fridge, I warm my cats wet & raw food for just 7-8 second to take off the chill..

[Jill T]

Hi! Just wondering if they have checked the dog for pancreatitis and have done any bloodwork? Also has anyone checked the dog for intestinal parasites? Since we are positive for heartworm, which is a very expensive, and long, drawn out treatment, it would not surprise me if we are positive for giardia, roundworms, hookworms, tapeworm, or any other intestinal parasite. Bland diet is the best choice for her right now, such as boiled, skinless, boneless chicken and white rice. If she has pancreatitis it my take a couple days for her to want to eat. The pancreas needs to rest, and if she does have it Caesar’s and Mighty dog are high in fat, which is the worst thing you can give your dog with pancreatitis. I’ve worked with animals for 15 years and have a dog prone to pancreatitis. She will always have to be on a low fat diet for the rest of her life. Her only treats she is able to have with no issues is pieces of her regular diet or it sends her into a bout of pancreatitis. Good luck with your dog and I really hope she recovers from this. If she is this nauseous from the antibiotics, I would sincerely hope the veterinarian would recommend changing it to something else. Hope this helps a little.

[a c]

I use Orijen puppy since he was 6 weeks old with no problem. Tootsie roll stool. 3-4 times a day. Groomer noticed his beautiful fur. I have heard a lot of bad things about Orijen lately. I am trying to mix some Horizon Amicus puppy to Orijen puppy food. So far so good.

I wish I can feed a Orijen senior to my 10 years old. Unfortunately, it may be too rich for her. She has pancreatitis history. Our vet put her on Purina One Smartblend Healthy Weight Management. I feel so bad to feed her that, but don’t know what to do. I do add a little Natural Receipe wet food to make it taste/smell better.

[Susan]

Hi Mirjana,
you need to take the full course of the Metronidazole other wise the bad bacteria just comes back again, but not as bad as the first time, you need to take the Metronidazole for 21-28 day course other wise it will keep coming back, vets & Dr’s normally say “even thought you see firm poos you must continue take antibiotics until finished” then when antibiotics are finished you give a Probiotic….Purina “Forti Floria” is a very good dog probiotic that has live good bacteria, they tested 10 dog probiotics for live good bacteria & the Forti-Floria came first…I give my boy the “Yakult” probiotic drink, I drink some then give him some as well.
She may have food sensitivities as well, that’s what Patch has “Colitis” I had to do a food elimination diet to work out what foods he’s sensitive too, also when you don’t rotate their foods & just feed the same brand & same ingredients year after year some dogs start to react to the food, this might of happened….
Why I said join the “Canine Pancreatitis Support Group” is they have grain free low fat wet tin foods, the link is in the “Files’, these wet formula’s are grain free….
Even though most low fat Intestinal vet diet don’t have the best ingredients, they have digestive enzymes, all the vitamin B’s which replace lost nutrients, electrolytes, easy to digest ingredients, in their Intestinal Health vet diet formula’s to get the dogs stomach & bowel healthy again, then when your dogs is better you can start introducing another food to the dog diet, then if your dog becomes unwell again you have a vet diet to fall back onto & make her better if needed….
If you want to feed healthy then your better off cooking healthy meals this way you know what she is eating…
Dr Judy morgan has easy to make recipes on her site, http://www.drjudymorgan.com/category/videos/
Judy uses “The Honest Kitchen” base to balance some of her meals, or you can get the normal Honest Kitchen formula’s you just add water, the Verve, Zeal & Preference have the lowest fat, but read what the fiber % is, cause in the Perferance the fiber is higher at 10%…… https://www.thehonestkitchen.com/dog-food

[MIRJANA V]

oh also she was never diagnosed with Pancreatitis, HGE was the diagnosis the first go around in the ER and the second time at vet was severe stomach upset which in turn they recommended switching to a low fat GI food.

[Susan]

Hi Mirjana,
your not in Australia by any chance??
this happened with my Patch after I rescued him, the vet said he has Colitis, now he’s been diagnosed with IBD, he does the best on “Taste Of the Wild” Sierra Mountain, Roasted Lamb grain free dry kibble & Canidae Pure dry kibble, I tried the Ziwi Peak venison formula before they changed their ingredeints but it didn’t agree with Patch, the Ziwi Peak new improved formula’s seem better then their old, there’s less ingredients, my cat does real well on Ziwi Peak cat formula’s, why I ask are you in Australia there’s a new organic ethically farmed freeze dried pet food that has just come out, you add water & it swells up, Frontier Pets has a lower fat formula their chicken formula…….
If you live America then join the “Canine Pancreatitis Support Group” look in the “Files” click on the first link, “Low Fat Dog Foods” scroll down a bit & you’ll see low fat wet tin foods the fat% has been converted to dry (Kibble fat) matter on your right…. you might be better feeding a low fat wet tin food now she’s 10yrs old, wet tin or homemade cooked food is easier to digest, just make sure you get a limited ingredient formula, so there’s less chance your dog won’t react to an ingredient…. has the vet given you Metronidazole script that you can get from chemist on hand so if you see her poo’s starting to go sloppy again, you can quickly put her back on antibitiics (Metronidazole), maybe she couldn’t cope with the raw Ziwi Peak….need a strong healthy gut to eat raw food, my boy can’t cope with raw, he needs his food cooked so all the bacteria is killed off…

[Susan]

Hi
this does my head in, I live in Australia & we are NOT having this problem with TOTW in Australia, TOTW have 5 manufacturing facilities that make TOTW, 1 plant is in Central California, 1 is in Northen California, Missouri, South Carolina & Arkansas…
People have to start posting the area they live, the TOTW formula they are feeding & the use by expiry date on the back of kibble bag????? not just “Don’t feed TOTW”
this way we can work out which facility these TOTW bags are coming from that are making dogs sick?:?? the TOTW that comes to Australia & goes to all of the countries in Europe comes from their South Carolina facility, we are not having any problems in Australia so there’s 1 facility that isnt having any problems with TOTW formula’s they are making, so probably people in America getting their TOTW from the South Carolina facility their dogs are OK….
after looking into this & emailing TOTW before any TOTW formula’s leave their facilities each batch gets tested & the test results of that batch gets put into their computer so the can look back if anything happens, I really think it could be a storage problem, it’s hot Summer in America & the last pet shop from California that made a big fuss about TOTW being bad ended up being contained to their customers buying from their pet store….

All these post on Face Book scares people especially when you have a sick dog, I have a Staffy with IBD + Skin Allergies + Food Sensitivities, he has a very sensitive stomach & he does his best with his skin & bowel when he’s eating TOTW Sierra Mountian Roasted Lamb formula, I do rotate between different brand kibbles but not as much as I did a few years ago when I was looking for a kibble that wasn’t a vet diet that helped with Patches skin as well as his IBD & finally I found a kibble he does real good on & doesn’t get his stomach pain & diarrhea was TOTW, he does OK on Canidae as well but Canidae uses chickpeas in their lower fat grain free pure formula’s, so he gets the Canidae Pure Wild only a few days a week so he doesnt get his stomach pain, it has chickpeas & is higher in Kcals then his TOTW formula is…..

I’ve read thru some of the complaints on Consumer Affairs site & some people are just idiots, 1 lady’s dog got Pancreatitis while eating the TOTW High Prairie formula, probably cause the protein & fat was too high for her dog, so her vet put her dog on a low fat vet diet then after 2 weeks this lady put her poor dog back onto TOTW High Prairie formula & then she complaining, TOTW is killing her poor dog cause it had another Pancreatitis attack, what an idiot donatate the rest of teh kibble to someone or a rescue group, some post the people had a sick dog with health problems, nothing to do with what the dog was eating, if you look Consumer Affairs 10 best dog foods, TOTW cames 13th & Canidae came 1st…. another thing that can make a dog react & very SICK is flea products…..

You should always rotate between a few different brands that have different proteins…… when a dog eats the same food 24/7 year after year they can react to an ingredient in the food after eating it for years…. Hills & Purina write this on their Hydrolyse vet diet section…

[a c]

My 14 weeks puppy has been on Orijen puppy kibbles since I got him when he was 6 weeks old. I have been slowly adding Horizon Amicus puppy kibbles for the past week. I am now using 3/4 Orijen puppy and 1/4 Horizon Amicus puppy kibbles pre soaked in the water overnight. No problems. 4 stools a day. Toosie roll like.

Horizon Amicus puppy dry food is actually one of the puppy dry food recommend by the website. I like to get him off Orijen puppy food if possible because all the things that I read about Orijen lately. It’s also very rich. I have tried to add Freshspot as toper, but it didn’t go so well.

I noticed even with homemade food. You have to add it slowly. I gave them some cooked ground turkey with broccoli. They have soft stool for a few days. I now use it as a toper.

As for my 10 years old, she has pancreatitis history. Our vet put her on Purina One Smartblend Healthy management kibbles. I have been adding a little Natural Receipe wet food and I also pre soaked the kibbles. The ingredients on Purina One is terrible, but what choice do I have? I must keep fat level low so she won’t have another pancreatitis.

[a c]

Thank you for the replies. I guess it must be the different mixture of ingredients in the kibbles that make it harder to transition.

Susan, When you rotate the kibbles, do you give one kibble at a time for a month or so and then move to the next kibble or do you mix the kibbles together?

I have tried the raw diet – Stella & Chewy’s, Primal, and The Honest Kitchen. It triggered pancreatitis on one of my dogs. The fat content is too high. I now use homemade cook of ground turkey and fresh vegetables as a topper.

When I tried to transition a new kibble, the stool is always sloppy and frequency almost double. Is this normal? It’s especially hard since I am trying to toilet train my 14 weeks old puppy. He is like a stool manufacturer. 🙂 Organic pumpkin is great. I also see pumpkin for dogs and cats at the pet store. Are those have the same ingredients?

Anne, What is the steel ball that you put it in his food? Two of my dogs also inhaled their food.

[Susan]

Hi Lindsay,
make sure you read the fat % on a wet tin foods, the fat in raw & wet tin foods hasn’t been converted to dry matter fat(kibble) here’s a calculator conversion link to help you work out the fat% protein & fiber %, higher fat can cause pancreatitis, weight gain etc. roughly 5%min-fat in a wet tin food is around 20%min-25%max fat % when converted to dry matter, so stick with wet tin foods 5% & under for fat…. http://www.k-9kraving.com/resources/calculator.php

I like smaller size kibbles, have a look at “Canidae” pure formula’s, they are grain free have limited ingredients & have single meat proteins, look at the Pure Wild, Pure Land formula’s, they both only have 7 ingredients & smell really good, no bad fishy smell… Canidae kibbles are easy to digest & soften within 20mins when soaked in warm water…
I would soak about 1/2 cup kibble in warm water for 15-20mins before your going to feed him, but make sure the kibble is soft all the way thru, so 20mins soaking should be long enough if it’s a Canidae kibble, Canidae kibbles are high in Kcals per cup, a 50lb-75lb dog that is exercise only need’s 2-3 cups a day, not much exercise 1-1 1/2 cups a day, the Canidae Pure Wild Boar is 454Kcals per cup, the Pure Land is 474Kcals per cup….

My dog doesn’t really like fish either but loves Bison, lamb, kangaroo & pork, he can’t eat Chicken or fish, change meat protein to 1 novel protein, Lamb, Bison, Pork, Kangaroo see how he goes.. Pure Land is on page 2, Pure Wild is on page 3 scroll down read ingredients & see kibble size, you need a small size kibble so when the kibble swells it isn’t real big don’t over soak & leave kibble soaking in the water for too long, no over night soaking the kibble it will swell & become too big & fill with water 20mins just softens the kibble & make sure it’s not hard in the middle, just squeeze a few kibbles to make sure they’re all soft all the way thru, so he doesn’t catch on to what you’re doing these dogs are very smart, lol
I just remember what I did with my boy when his IBD was real bad, I soaked the kibbles till soft then I fully drained out all of the water they were soaking in, I cuffed my hand in the bowl & pushed hand against kibble in bowl & squeezed out the water in the soft kibbles, then I put the soft kibbles thru a blender & this broke the soft kibbles all up, then you can mix thru the wet tin food, does he like treats?? when you first get the bag of kibble put about 1 cup kibble in a air tight container & give a few kibbles to him as treats so he gets to likes them…

Sometimes when food has cause pain or some type of health problem, the dog becomes fussy cause the food has caused some discomfort, gas, wind pain, diarrhea, acid reflux, vomiting etc so now he see’s kibble as bad……or he’s a very smart dog & knows how kibble is made, LOL
https://www.canidae.com/dog-food/products

[Susan]

Hi Jude,
once a dog has had Pancreatitis then he’ll need to be feed a lower fat diet, so he doesn’t have another Pancreatitis flare, stay under 15%-fat for raw wet diet, have you tried raw kangaroo?? Cats & dogs love Kangaroo it has a strong beefy taste & it’s very lean in fat & very healthy, you can get this brand in America, its called “Gourmet Game, Marco Meats, Kangaroo mince, here’s the link, scroll down to the bottom & it’s in the middle, Gourmet Game Marco meats is the only company in Australia that makes the human grade kangaroo & export all over the world… http://gourmetgame.com.au/products/kangaroo/

You’re better off making his raw diet, instead of buying a pet food pre-made raw unless it’s a small business that makes human grade raw for dogs, but they normally add grounded bones, my dogs Naturopath said no to the grounded bone for Patch he has IBD & Pancreatitis & she also said NO to the Pre-made raw dog food she said you don’t know what your getting & the fat % is way too high for his health problems….. are you adding anything else to his beef? you can add 1 crushed egg shell a day for calcium, give him a Krill Oil capsule for his Omega 3 fatty acids & in a few weeks try adding some broccoli, carrot, celery & apple, peel & de-seed fruit & vegetables cut up then put thru a blender stop just before it’s a pulp, you add 1-2 spoons of the veggie/fruit mix to 1 cup of beef meat or I froze 1-2 spoons of the veggie mix separate in ice cube tray & cover with cling wrap & thawed when I needed the fruit/veggie mix, I also froze the meat in sections separate, this way you’ll see if he eats his beef with some added pulped veggies/fruit mix.. or just added the grounded egg shell & give 1 krill oil capsule 3 times a week & see how he goes, don’t start adding too much to his diet at once, if something causes diarrhea or vomiting you won’t know what caused what….

Join this face book group “Canine Pancreatitis Support Group” Lisa who runs the group feeds her Pancreatitis dog a raw balanced diet, she may be able to help you add certain foods to balance his diet a bit better, you can buy “Balance It” they have Nutritionist vet as well & free recipes for some health problems but if the dog has too many health problems it doesn’t give any free recipes you have to contact Balance It vet nutritionist. https://secure.balanceit.com/

Even if you buy the pre-made raw dog food it has too many different ingredients & your dog will smell all the different smells & probably wont eat the pre made raw food, I don’t like the smell it didn’t smell like real raw, my cat wouldn’t touch the pre-made raw, I bought the Rabbit first then took it back & tried the Kangaroo she still would not touch it, now I just buy her the Aldis cat fresh raw mince, it’s Kangaroo mince & chicken liver & she loves it & it smells like proper raw meat should smell, I do live Australia & by-product kangaroo is in a few of our cheaper brand pet foods & she also eats her air dried raw “Ziwi Peak” air dried raw & dry kibble + I give the Green Lipped Mussel treats, try the K-9 Natural Green Lipped Mussels, mussels have what he needs for his joints, eyes, brain, skin & coat, Green Lipped Mussel is lean in fat & give about 2 freeze dried mussels as a daily treat, this way he’s trying different foods as a treat..so its special when given as a treat.

[Jude N]

Hello,

My senior chihuahua/JRT mix had a bout of acute pancreatitis several years ago. He had bloodwork done a few months ago and didn’t have anything elevated enough that it concerned the veterinarian.

I’ve been trying to feed him a raw diet, but he only likes beef, and is clearly unhappy when he feels forced to eat anything else. He’d rather not eat for several days than eat pork, venison, duck, or chicken willingly. This inability to rotate him on proteins has me nervous about trying to stick with a “homemade” raw diet, and I’m looking to switch to commercial raw. Budget is a major concern for me.

There’s a good deal going on at Chewy’s right now for a food called Tylee’s. Here are the ingredients:

“Nutritional Info
Ingredients
Beef Heart, Ground Beef, Water (Sufficient For Processing), Beef Liver, Spinach, Broccoli, Zucchini, Sweet Potato, Mangos, Tricalcium Phosphate, Chia Seeds, Sunflower Oil, Ground Flaxseed, Potassium Chloride, Salt, Cod Liver Oil Powder, Dried Parsley, Ground Cinnamon, Dried Kelp, Zinc Amino Acid Chelate, Iron Amino Acid Chelate, Rosemary Extract, Manganese Amino Acid Chelate.”

I read in another post on this forum that it has a very high fat content…something like 34-38%. Yikes.

His pancreatitis attack was the result of a dogsitter feeding him a fatty, greasy, smoked ham bone that she had thought was a yummy treat for him. He was on a low-fat diet for several months afterwards.

Chip refuses kibble, wet food, re-hydrated raw, and Nature’s Instinct raw patties (I think he’s just bored of the Nature’s Instinct; he used to eat it well). Primal , THK, and Darwin’s are too expensive for me.

There’s another food called Ollie’s that I’m looking into, but I’m not thrilled about a couple of the ingredients (potatoes and peas, specifically).

Does anyone have any advice/experience on how long a pancreatic attack needs to be considered in a dog’s diet? Does anyone feed Tylee’s, or Ollie’s?

Thank you 🙂

[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!

[Susan]

Hi,
it will all depend on your dog how he digests food, I know my IBD/Pancreatitis boy wouldn’t do well on Honest Kitchen, it’s high in calories over 370 Kcals per cup & it’s dehydrated, dehydrated seem harder to digest a few people have said their dogs pooed out the ingredients all un-digested….
What beef formula are you feeding, the Hope or Verve formula?? I wouldn’t feed Chickpeas (Hope) as they are harder to digest & can cause gas, also barley & carots (Verve) are hard to digest as well, maybe these ingredients have been grounded down into a powder, that will help with digesting them..

I think Pugmomsandy gave good advice, soak over night, then when you needed to feed i’d heat in a Micro wave or post a post asking for other brands that are dehydrated & need water added to rehydrate them but are more thicker like a cooked meal or wet tin foods are……
a lady from one of the IBD face book group said the Honest Kitchen was too sloppy, her dog was pooing out un-digested veggies, a few people were feeding the Zeal the ingredients are easier to digest no carrots, chickpeas or barley, but the fat-8.5% in the Zeal, also you’ll have to email Honest Kitchen & ask is the fat& the max fat% ??

Can you home cook instead for 1 of their daily meals & add the “Balance It” powder to balance the meal? https://secure.balanceit.com/
I think home cooked meals & freezing them is better, this way you know what they’re eating, I just hate the cooking part once a fortnight…..

Dr Judy Morgan has excellent easy to make healthy meals on you tube, she has about 8 dogs, a few of them have health problems, here’s one of her video’s a special pup loaf for her sick dog, she uses The Honest Kitchen Base mix Preference, she adds her own fresh ingredients to cook the pup loaves…

[a c]

Susan,

Thank you for your reply. He is a 12 weeks old miniature schnauzer. He has no problem with Orijen puppy kibble. His stool is like toosie roll, solid but soft. 5 times a day. He is also getting Freshpet select chicken and turkey roll and little vegetable as topper. I just want to rotate him with some other quality puppy food.

Both Holistic Select g/f puppy kibble and Eagle Pack kibble have Carbs at 47-48% in dry matter. Wellness Core puppy has Protein at 40% in dry matter. I am looking for kibbles that’s not too much on one component.

Besides Freshpet select roll, I have not introduced any raw or can diet for him. I know most of the raw diet have pretty high fat. I have learned my lesson from my senior dog with pancreatitis history.

[Susan]

Hi ac,
can he handle the high protein at 36% min, if poos are sloppy then maybe reduce the fat % again, email Horizon ask for the max fat%, there’s also “Wellness Core” puppy & Wellness Core Small Breed for when he’s older, both Wellness formula’s have a bit less fat at 18% min normally it’s an extra 1-2 % extra for fat & protein, it depends on the brand, you’ll have to email Wellness to get the max fat %, Wellness also has their Wellness Complete grain free small breed formula’s the fat & protein is under 30% for dogs that can’t handle higher fat & protein,
Wellpet make Wellness, Holistic Select & Eagle Pack, Holistic Select has a small breed formula but I think it has healthy grains, it’s good to rotate kibbles, Wellness are pretty good they email back & answer all questions, another thing if you feed wet tin or raw food the fat % is higher then it says on the tin or raw packet, it needs to be converted to dry matter (Kibble), so when you see say 5%min fat on a wet tin or raw packet is around 20-26%max fat after being converted to dry matter, a lot of people don’t know this until their dog ends up with Pancreatitis or diarrhea…. I always feed wet tin foods that are around 2-4% fat…
What small breed do you have??
Here’s the Wellness link https://www.wellnesspetfood.com/natural-dog-food
Wellness have toppers, their TruFood freeze dried raw you add water, I think the fat has already been converted to dry matter fat%, you’d have to ask Wellness, it’s best to rotate between a few different brands with different proteins so your dog gets use to eating everything, rotating also strengthens their immune system….

[LISA P]

I was so glad to see this thread pick back up. I am going to try to make a long story short. Nov 2016 our Maltese wasn’t acting right so we took him onto the vet and all this began. His intestine were full of gas, so our vet said that it could be pancreatitis or IBS so she wanted to change his food. We had him on Ziwipeak for 8 yrs and he is now 9. She suggested that maybe that could be too rich in protein for him now. She put him on the Hill’s Science low fat i/d. We had to go back and have ex rays in another 2 weeks. This gas was less than what he had previous so she thought this could be working. He continued to have episodes of stomach gurgling , stretching , not wanting to jump ect so each time I would call the vet take him in and again they assumed another attack of pancreatitis but yet with each attack he acted different. Still had some gas but not full like he was. One night after hours he was really down worse than I had seen so we took to emergency vets, they also said an attack of pancreatitis but right before we left they said that had a blood test that they could run to see for sure, when they did, it was negative. The only other thing that was found was a tooth really infected. We got him in to have surgery to remove the bad tooth and also had an ultra sound, this vet a different one again said she seen not signs of pancreatitis , that he could have just had a bacterial infection that caused all this and after being on 2 rounds of antibiotics maybe that will clear it up. The ultra sound showed liver slightly enlarged and also the intestine too. One kidney looked fine the other one oddly shaped but vet said that could be normal for him. Otherwise she thinks he is a healthy dog. 2 nights ago another attack……….belly again. He is always on a leash and in back yard in a fenced in area. We have been to 3 vets and don’t know where else to turn. When he doesn’t have these bouts with the gas , he acts like he is a puppy. Has anyone ever had anything like this happened? We still have him on the Hill’s Prescription also and would like to take him off.

[a c]

Thank you for reply.

She has pancreatitis history but she doesn’t have it now. I just want something low fat that’s a little better than Purina One Smartblend Weight Management Health(2 stars). I feel bad to give her that.

[Susan]

Hi Natalie,
I think no matter how many different foods you try your going to need a course of Metronidazole (Flagyl)….also I think poor Charlie needs to see a different vet, not the vet he’s been seeing in the past that said he’s healthy, did this vet test Charlie for giardia, he may have a parasite living in the bowel, vet should of tested 2 separate poos to see if he has Giardia or he may have Small Bowel Intestinal Overgrowth (S.B.I.O) sloppy poos will be baby yellow in colour, SIBO needs Metronidazole for 28 days sometimes vet only gives a 14 day course of the Metro & don’t give enough of the Metro & the SIBO comes back again in a few months or Charlie may have food sensitivities but if he has gotten better while eating the same food & you haven’t change his food & he gets diarrhea again then it’s not the food, you can try & try different foods but you need to get to the root of the problem & do tests if after doing test & vet has no answers then ask to test for EPI… also he may need weekly vitamin B-12 injections he may be low in vitamin B-12 this can cause problems with the digestive system…
The Hills I/d Digestive Care has electrolytes & B vitamins to help him get better + give the Metronidazole, the Metronidazole is an antibiotic & has anti inflammatory properties that heal the bowel, some dogs & cats have to take a low dose & stay on the Metronidazole long term I prefer to give the Metronidazole on & off, Patch starts having side effects & starts acting paranoid & scared of his own shadow…..
The foods you have tried have they been a single novel protein, limited ingredient, low protein, low fat, low Kcal per cup kibble or wet tin food?? “Taste Of the Wild” Sierra Mountain, Roasted Lamb is really good for dogs with Intestinal stress or “Natural Balance” limited ingredient Sweet Potato Bison kibble these kibbles don’t have any chickpeas or lentils & are not real high in protein or fat, but a vet diet will be the best to start off with & let his stomach & bowel rest & heal, Patch stayed on Eukanuba Intestinal low residue vet diet for 9-12months while his bowel healed then I started introducing a new kibble that was low fat, low protein with limited ingredients introducing slowly over 15-30 days then if poos went sloppy I’d put him straight back onto the vet diet, my vet writes me out a repeat script of Metronidazole 200mg x 21 tablets that I can get from a chemist this works out cheaper when Patch starts doing sloppy poos, I wait 2 days & if poos don’t get firm again & are still sloppy, if poo is yellow it’s the small bowel if real dark brown/black cow pattie poo’s it’s the large Bowel, he gets put straight on the Metronidazole for 14 days every 12 hours with a meal before he gets worse & has a IBD flare then it’s not as easy to fix his sloppy poo’s they can go for months…. boiled rice irritates Patches bowel & gives him sloppy poo’s, took the vet a while to click that the cooked rice in a vet diet wet tin food was causing Patches poo’s to stay real sloppy…. best to cook a lean meat + boiled potato is better then boiled rice..
or can you ask a vet can he put him straight on the Metronidazole (Flagyl) a 21 day course & get a bag of the Hills I/d Digestive Care dry vet diet & see if diarrhea stops & he does firm poos & stay on the Hills I/d Digestive Care vet diet over 6 months, it might work out a bit cheaper without any test, around $100 that’s what first vet did with my Patch put him on Royal Canine Intestinal low fat vet diet & a course of Metronidazole & Electrolytes the problem was Patch has bad bacteria in the stomach & bowel + food intolerances.
When you say he puts his bum in the air this could be Pancreatitis pain or whatever he has eaten is causing wind/gas pain in the bowel… Keep a diary & write everything down, meds he’s taken, foods he ate & what happened…. I also live in a unit & I have Patch in a routine, we go on 3 daily walks for poo’s same time everyday 7.30am, 10am & 5pm & in between Patch goes down stairs & does his wee’s in the common garden area….it’s hard but you’ll work it out in the end..

[a c]

I have a 10 years old miniature schnauzer with pancreatitis history. As a senior dog, she can’t have high protein. With pancreatitis, she can’t have high fat. Does that mean, she can only go with high carb food?

Our vet told me to put her on Pruina One Smart Blend Heathy Weight Management.
Other suggestions?

[Monika S]

Hello Everyone, My 13yrs old Pom kidney’s are failing..its paired with pancreatitis. I envy you all that your doggie actually eat. My Pom wont eat anything but cooked salmon. I am not even sure its good for her since the phosphorous content. Her BUT is 200 which improved slightly with the IV she got at the vet. Her last lab test showed that her red blood cells count is lowered in 4 days. I just so sad that she would not eat the right food for her.

[Susan]

Hi Michael,
These home made raw diets are the rage in Australia, the smaller pet shops have their own home made raw diets, where the bigger Pet food companies sell the commercial raw diets like Barf & Big Dog.. I’d stay away from the bigger raw companies the meat is lower grade…. is the Farmer Dog diet a cooked or raw diet?? wet tin & raw diets have not been converted to dry matter (Kibble) ….. Email the pet food companies & ask what is the fat % & protein % after being converted to dry matter, the protein is going to be around 40% & more being 12%-raw…. Just be careful with higher fat as dogs get older especially if your dog is prone to Pancreatitis….My boy is 8yrs old with IBD/Pancreatitis & I stay around 15% & under for fat when eating a kibble & it’s hard finding a pre made raw diet around 3-4% raw fat = 12-15%dry, unless I make it myself, it depends on the brand, Kangaroo & turkey formula’s are around 3-4%-fat raw, converted to dry matter (Kibble) that’s around 11-16%-fat…. your dog may be OK with fat around 5%-raw = 20-25% converted to dry matter, look what the fat % is in the dry kibble he eats, it’s probably around 12-15% in fat, so now you need a raw diet where the fat says 3-4% & then slowly increase to a higher fat %, first see if he’s OK eating the new raw diet, I started feeding my boy freshly home made raw for breakfast & I was still feeding him his kibble for dinner, the kibble keeps them feeling fuller longer & when they start eating a raw diet they get hungry quicker, your boy may lose a little weight when he starts the raw diet, but that’s a good thing, then you just increase the raw if he losses too much weight, your going to have a healthier dog being feed raw…..
It’s best to join a few raw feeding face book groups like “K9 Nutrition” – Lew Olson’s group & “K9 Kitchen” – Monica Segal’s group they have fresh home made raw & cooked diets & you’ll learn how balance & make your own home made diets with fresh human grade ingredients also follow Rodney Habib…

[a c]

Actually, my vet’s choice of dog food for my dog with pancreatitis history is Purina One Smartblend healthy weight formula. It received one star from CLP testing.