[Susan]

Hi Sue,
Sounds awful you’d stressing if & when it could happen again…

I found this post (Below) on the net so I copy & paste it..
I hope it helps, the vet recommends doing an Ultra scan but I would be doing an Ultra Scan every 3 months to be 100% sure another Intestinal Adhesions is not forming… Depending on how good the Vet is with using an Ultra scan machine, they can see if a dog has thickening of the bowel thru an Ultra Scan, I had an Ultra Scan done on my boy 2 yrs ago when I thought he had Pancreatitis & the vet ended up looking at his bowel as well to see if he had thickening of the bowel, so Ultra Scan will be able to see if any adhesions starting up again..
Here’s the post I found

**Poster- Has anyone dealt with intestinal adhesions in dogs I have
Resolved Question:

Has anyone dealt with intestinal adhesions in dogs???? I have a 3yr old dog who got spayed on 04/15/2010 and then formed an enormous intestinal adhesion,(almost died) had surgery to remove it and im horrified thinking that she might be getting another on (i think I feel a lump) does anyone have any ideas? or have ever dealt with this??? please only respond if it is something you are knowledgeable about. Thanks
Submitted: 7 years ago.

Category: Dog Veterinary

**Vet- Hi there!
Intestinal adhesions are simply internal scars that the your dog’s body forms after surgery. Just like humans, each dog forms scar tissue differently and there is no way to control it.

Occasionally, intestinal adhesions can rarely cause intestinal entrapments, leading to an intestinal obstruction which requires surgery. Your vet hopefully did a good clean up of the adhesion when it was removed and flushed the abdomen well which is the only “treatment” that is thought to potentially help prevent adhesions again but there is no guarantee since some animals are just super-scar formers. There has also been some research using povoiodine solutions but this has not been used in a clinical setting and the results are not conclusive.
As I said, intestinal adhesion formation is rare but does happen and unfortunately there are no way for you or your veterinarian to prevent it. I work in a specialty/referral hospital where the ER doctors and surgeons do A LOT of surgeries and the good news is that I haven’t heard of it happening more than once to a patient. If your concerned that it may happening again, you can have your veterinarian evaluate Lily and potentially have an abdominal ultrasound which is a non-invasive way to look inside the abdomen and see what is going on. Even if an adhesions forms, as long it doesn’t entrap the bowel, it does not need to be removed and most dogs will reabsorb/break down the adhesion over time.

I hope this helps!
Dr J Veterinarian

[a c]

I have a 10 years old miniature Schnauzer with pancreatitis history. I tried to switched her to raw diet. I went to an independent pet shop. The employees there told me raw diet is the best. So I tried Stella and Chewy’s duck frozen patties, Primal’s lamb frozen chucks, and Honest Kitchen Love. Since I switched her to raw diet, her poops have always been greasy with some yellow. I have my vet ran a blood work on her. Her level was above the normal range, and my vet was also really against the idea of raw diet. They put her on Science Diet ID wet food. Now, her poops are back to normal. Thank goodness. I think the fat content on those raw diet is too high for dogs with pancreatitis.

[suztzu]

Hello I have two dogs an elderly shih tzu 13yrs with cushings on trylostane and very stable and an 9 yr pom I just adopted a year ago, the senior tzu is ok with weight my pom has gotten a pound and a half overweight. They both have been on Natures Variety raw boost kibble for about a year the small breed variety which was 13 % fat and 33 % protein, but they are now changing the formula and pushing the fat up to 16 % fat same protein content. I would really like to get them off kibble altogether. They both get freeze dried raw a couple times a week ( northwest naturals or primal sometimes stellas ) But usually I give them Weruva canned food with the kibble. I am thinking of going just straight pre made raw maybe freeze dried I think this will help my pom shed some weight with the higher protein levels and moisture low carb. I am hesitant on my shih tzu because of his age and the possibility of pancreatitis. So I am thinking maybe a lower fat raw and good fiber content might be ok since he’s done well on freeze dried raw, which I know is the same as reg raw but it is mixed with kibble so it hasnt been exclusively fed as raw. Should I be worried about pancreatitis with raw diet ? They are not used to such a high level of fat, I have combed through the reviews and cannot find one under 30% fat. SO MANY QUESTIONS UGH !! Which brands should I go with Stella and Chewys or Primal or Natures Variety we sell all those at my work I am a dog groomer. I get a 20% discount so I would like to got with one of those brands, but I did pick up a bag of Northwest Naturals freeze dried which they really like. Thanks in advance for any help it is much appreciated.

[Susan]

Hi Ann c,
sounds like she is getting TOO much fiber that may be in the Purina One weight management formula, I posted in my posts above don’t feed a weight management kibble to a dog with Pancreatitis or has had Pancreatitis, weight management formula’s have more fiber, it may not say it on the Guaranteed Analysis section but they will have either more soluble fiber or more of the in soluble fiber to keep the dog feeling fuller for longer…Higher fiber diets are not recommended for dog with Pancreas, it’s more work on the Pancreas…..
What happened when you where adding the boiled pumkin?? Pumkin softens my boys poo, pumkin actually makes his poos very soft when I add 2 tablespoons with a meal or a treat, the vet recommended adding 1 tablespoon of boiled pumkin with my boy meals, pumkin is very easy to digest & soothes the stomach & intestinal tract…. also a wet diet is better then a dry proceed kibble….
Join the “Canine Pancreatitis Support group” look in the “Files” there’s 2 different links with low fat wet & dry formula’s you can feed, just avoid any of the weight management dry kibbles….
You’ll get heaps of support from other people in the group that have a dog with Pancreatitis & are going thru similar problems…Lisa who runs the group feeds a raw diet to her Pancreatitis dog, a few people feed raw, some feed a cooked meals & some feed both cooked for some meals & kibble for other meals this may help prevent any constipation that may happen when you fully introduce the Purina One formula….

[anonymous]

I’d give her a little more time to adjust. At least a week or two, you should see improvement.
She’s probably still getting over her bout with pancreatitis.
You are doing all the right things.

• This reply was modified 8 years, 5 months ago by anonymous.

[Susan]

Hi Ann C
Yes it’s best to feed wet tin or a balanced cooked diet if a dog has had or is prone to Pancreatitis, I buy the Hills I/D Chicken & Vegetable Stew 156g cans 24 in a cartoon online & keep in the cupboard has long use by dates, & if I see Patch isn’t well & going down hill, he start’s whinging & lifts his front paw up & wants me to rub his stomach/pancreas area, I stop what I’m feeding & feed the Hills I/D for a few meals to rest the stomach & pancreas & rotate his kibble, he does best when I rotate between kibble formula’s & don’t leave him eating the same kibble… he has IBD as well..
Years ago vet diet’s were feed to get the dog stable then you look for another food, but cause a lot vets were leaving these pets on vet diets around 2013-2014 the vet diet companies re did some of their formula’s & balanced them so they can be eaten for a life time, it’s written on the packaging now, its good you pick the Hills, Hills have started improving all their I/d formula’s they’re are for Intestinal Stress, Pancreatits etc, Hills once had the worse ingredients but since Rodney Habib exposed these ingredient & said these poor dogs are having Intestinal Stress & these vet diet are full of corn, wheat, tallow, how are they suppose to get better?? Hills cleaned their act up, now Purina has do the same,

Try not to feed any high fiber, high carb diets, back in the 1970-1990’s before processed quick & easy kibble became the big rage, dogs were feed table scraps, they ate what we ate, home cooked meals, they were more healthy & they seemed to lived longer, they didn’t have all these new skin allergies problems & cancer like we are seeing now, they are saying dogs are at their sickest now, we need to start doing what we did years ago, start adding some fresh healthy lean foods to the dogs diet, “Rodney Habib” face book Nutrition blogger has a video where Researchers found by just adding 2 spoons of healthy foods to a bowl of kibble a day reduces your dog from getting cancer & feed a very low carb, high protein, medium fat diet, Follow & Friend “Rodney Habib” on his face book page, he’s trying to show pet owners how to read pet foods ingredient list, how to prevent cancer & how to help & feed your dog if they have cancer, there’s a video on his F/B page about a dog called Cali she was pregnant but after having a ultra scan she just had 1 puppy & a big cancer mass Hemangiosarcoma, Hemangiosarcoma is an aggressive cancer she had 1-2 months to live, she now is cancer free all cause of a “Ketopet” diet, Ketopet is saving & helping dogs with cancer….Ketopets story is a beautiful story, Ketopet went to pounds around America & rescued these dogs on death row that their owners surrender cause they had cancer, these dog are now cancer free & now they all need homes a beautiful story…
https://www.facebook.com/rodneyhabib
Read ingredient lists, the first 2-5 ingredients should be a proteins then a carb,
for eg, “Canidae’s” Pure Meadow Senior formula, Chicken, Chicken meal, turkey Meal, Sweet Potatoes, peas, chickpeas, chicken fat, the fat is 10.80% max & protein is 28%….

[anonymous]

@ Ann C
“I took her stool to the vet’s office this afternoon. I was told to put her on Science Diet ID can food for a few days and transition her to Purina One SmartBlend Healthy Weight Formula on maintenance program”.

Sounds like a good plan. Especially since your dog is a senior and has specific health concerns. I would continue to work closely with your veterinarian to prevent a flare up of symptoms.
Pancreatitis is a serious medical condition for a dog and requires the expertise of a veterinarian for treatment and stabilization.
Prescription foods are especially formulated for specific medical conditions and can be effective towards keep pets stable in conjunction with other recommendations made by the examining vet..

[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%

[a c]

Thank you for your replies.

I took her stool to the vet’s office this afternoon. I was told to put her on Science Diet ID can food for a few days and transition her to Purina One SmartBlend Healthy Weight Formula on maintenance program. Does anyone has experience on this dog food? It seems like my vet is very concerned about the easy access to the food and the economical value.

I actually went back to that pet store last Thursday and talked to the owner. I told her that my dog is a senior dog, she had pancreatitis, and her stool is kind of loose and greasy. She think the raw still the best, and she didn’t think the fat content are too high for my dog(in her words, those are good fat). I was told to put 2 teaspoonful of pumpkin with the raw food and that should firm up her stool.

I also stopped by another pet food store this morning. I told the owner about my dog’s situation. She has suggested Canidae All Life Stages Platinum, Holistic Select Senior with chicken and rice, and Holistic Weight Management with chicken and rice. My vet is not very thrill towards any of those food.

I emailed some of the dog food companies this afternoon. I explained to them my dog’s situation and ask them whether they have products for my dog. Some of them reply, but they didn’t answer all my questions. They suggested the ones with the lowest fat content within their line of the products, but some of those still have pretty high fat content.

[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….

[a c]

Hi, I am new here. I feel very frustrated and don’t know what to feed my girl.

I have a 10 years old miniature schnauzer who had an episode of acute pancreatitis back in end of April. Miniature Schnauzer are pron to pancreatitis. She was on antibiotics and fluid therapy for 3 days. The vet put her on Science diet ID can food for few days and told me to transition back to her normal diet after that. The lab report from end of May suggested she level was back to normal.

She has been on Science Diet food since she was a puppy. I thought Science Diet was the best dog food out there. How dumb am I? I thought about switching her to something else.

I went to a local pet store in mid May. I was told the best dog kibble food for my girl is Orijen senior. They also sold me the idea of raw diet. I purchased Stella and Chewy’s duck frozen patties. I feed my girl half Orijen and half raw with additional blue berries, zucchini, or pumpkin. Her stool was firm but every so often with a little greasy look.

Once I finished the bag of Stella and Chewy’s duck. They told me to try Primal lamb frozen nuggets. I also brought a bag of Primal freeze dried nuggets in turkey & sardine for easy travel. I have also tried Honest Kitchen Force. Then, I noticed the fat level on Orijen senior is high, so I cut back on the kibbles. This is where problems begun. I noticed her stools are more greasy and even looser.

To make long story short. I put her on plain chicken and rice with a little pumpkin starting yesterday. I noticed she is not passing stool during our twice a day walk. She has been doing it very regularly for the past month and half after the pancreatitis. She just had a yellow, greasy, loose stool about a hour ago.

I am very frustrated right now. I don’t know what to feed her. I made a call to my vet’s office. I was told they will put her on Science Diet ID or Purina EN which I knew both of those are full of carbs, fillers, and by-products. What should I do? Can anyone help?

[Susan]

Hi Christine S,
Hills I/d Restore Low Fat dry & wet tin food has digestive enzymes, a lot of dogs with Pancreatitis are put on the Hills I/d formula’s or Royal Canine Intestinal Low Fat wet or dry but you have to read ingredient list in the wet & dry matching formula’s as they differ…. Patch was eating the Hills I/d Vegetables & Chicken stew wet….
Sound’s like she is having pain, yarning panting are all signs of pain after eating from Pancreatitis… Patch is the same when I feed home cooked some days he seemed OK but then he wasn’t OK & had his pancreas pain after eating his lean pork & sweet potatoes so I stopped feeding the cooked meals & went back feeding a kibble that is easy to digest & the Hills I/d wet tins, I feed 5 meals a day, so his pancreas doesn’t have as much work & he doesn’t have a full stomach & have to much to digest a heap of food all at once, smaller meals seems to work best for him… I never mix dry with wet food he had BAD pain…

[Christine S]

Hi Susan, yes I did join the Canine Pancreatitis Support Group. Lots of good information on that site. I have her on the canned, or wet tin food since she seemed to have difficulty with the kibble. I don’t give her any hard food because her panting was worse. She is still stretching a lot and yawning though it seems like she’s panting less. I read another post on this site where a woman’s dog was diagnosed with fluid in its lungs after she saw her dog panting, yawning and really lethargic. That dog also didn’t want to eat at times, Piper always wants to eat. But I am considering taking her back in to discuss the lethargy because that is worse, and I do not accept that it’s age. She’s 12 but she’s a young 12, has no arthritis and was always a great walker until the pancreatitis attack, and even then she had really good days. But lately she is soo slow, she walks behind me most of the walk and I’m walking very slowly. Beginning of May we had her blood tested and all her values were great. I don’t know if they would have shown an issue with lungs, I’ll have to ask the vet. I’m just frustrated because I want to see improvement with this food and when I don’t, I feel the urge to try something new. When that doesn’t show immediate improvement, I regret trying it and wish I had just been patient because it starts the clock over again. She’s been on the RC HP for about 2 weeks now. I did bake some lovely cod filets and boiled small sweet potato chunks and tried that one day over 2 hour periods. She started yawning after the second meal, 3.5 hours after the first meal. So I quit that and now I have some cod in the fridge that I will end up throwing out. I bought some digestive enzymes, but is that over doing it? I tried probiotics for 2 days and that seemed to make her more uncomfortable so I stopped them. I don’t want to aggravate her situation. Does anyone know if the Royal Canin Hydrolized Protein food has digestive enzymes in it? It doesn’t call them out in the ingredients but says “Helps maintain digestive health.”

[Susan]

Hi Christine S,
have you joined the “Canine Pancreatitis Support group” on Face Book?
https://www.facebook.com/groups/1435920120029740/
the lady that runs the group Lisa Hogan has posted 2 of Dr Judy Morgan DVM recipes for Pancreatitis.
It’s hard to know what’s going on, especially with the Lungs & Heart, checking a dog lungs thru Xrays & Ultra Scan might not show up much sometimes, I was having problems breathing, I’m breathless when weather is real humid hot & real cold, I had X Ray & Ultra Scan test came back everything was all good but I knew something wasn’t right then by accident while I was having an MRI for another health problem Gallbladder & Liver they found I have Fibrosis in lungs….
Has your vet prescribe Metronidazole (Flagyl) this will help with the sloppy poos/diarrhea & if there’s any Stomach or Pancreas inflammation, my boy was taking 1x 200mg Metronidazole twice a day for 2 weeks now he’s taking 1 x 200mg Metronidazole with his dinner, vet wants him to stay on a low dose of Metronidazole & see how he goes…
The Royal Canin food which food is she having the wet HP tin food or the dry HP kibble?

[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 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..

[Christine S]

My 12 year old golden was hospitalized for pancreatitis in January. Blood tests and ultrasound also showed an infected gall bladder; it was twice its normal size. She was treated with Enroflaxacin, Metronidazole and Ursodiol with 20 mg Famotidine 2 x a day and put on a strict GI diet. I’ve been giving her Purina EN Gastroenteric and Hills ID GI Chicken and Vegetable Stew, 4 meals per day. The vet said we should just keep her on that to ensure pancreatitis doesn’t return. Ultrasound and blood tests since then show she has recovered and indicate that she’s got no other issues, except we can’t see the stomach. The thing is, I noticed that between a half-hour to 2 hours after eating, she starts panting and yawns. She also bow stretches several times throughout the day. I can tell she’s uncomfortable but she doesn’t vocalize and she always looks forward to eating. She’s also gotten pretty sluggish on our walks. Until the pancreatitis she would always trot and I could barely keep up with her, and I walk fast. Now she’ll trot some then slow down to a crawl and walk with her mouth open, I can hear her huffing so I think she’s uncomfortable. We’ve tried several times to treat with omeprazole including liquid Carafate, but she got diarrhea so we stopped it. This last time we got her on 8 days of the omeprazole before the diarrhea hit. The vet now thinks the diarrhea is a food intolerance to something in her diet. So it would have to be one or both the GI foods, or the boiled chicken we were giving as treats. I’ve since eliminated the chicken, so she’s not getting any treats. I should also add that she’s getting canned food, not kibble because she would pant heavily after the kibble, even when moistened. Anyway, the vet recommended Royal Canin Hydrolized Protein (RCHP). I transitioned her on that over a period of 5 days based on vet’s recommendation. On her 3rd solid day of only RCHP, we opened a can at lunch and noticed it had a fishy smell. Piper started to eat it then suddenly stopped and wouldn’t finish it. Nothing except the severe pancreatitis attack stops her from eating. She always looks forward to eating. I offered some EN and she gladly ate that, so there was something wrong with the RCHP. I opened another can and I thought it smelled ok but my fiancé said it didn’t and wouldn’t let me give her anymore. So I had to get her back on the EN. The thing is it seemed as though it was helping. It seemed like she wasn’t panting as much, and she wasn’t scratching her ears as much or at all which is something I hadn’t really paid much attention to with all the other symptoms. She hasn’t had ear infections and other than biting at her hind ankles occasionally, she doesn’t show signs of allergies. (She doesn’t have fleas.) I read through a ton of responses to other posts and thought I would try Natural Balance LID Duck and Potato, because it wasn’t $5 a can and it had low fat, or so I thought. I didn’t realize that the fat content wasn’t converted like it was for the GI foods, which I learned after reading many of Susan’s posts. I only gave her about 1/4 cup and she really looked uncomfortable after that, I’m guessing due to the fat content. She also had really bad gas. So she’s back on strictly EN until I figure out what to do next. Honestly I’m afraid to try anything else but I really don’t like the ingredients in the vet prescription diets and she’s been on them since January. I don’t see us cooking her food and I have some reservations about going back to raw given the possibility of inviting bad bacteria into the mix. My other concern is should I give her antacids or not? A dog that doesn’t make enough stomach acid can have the same symptoms as one with too much stomach acid. The vet said it would be rare for her not to have enough stomach acid and thinks we should try the omeprazole again. I’d like to know she needs it before giving it to her because it seemed like it would make her more lethargic. Is there a test without having to scope her? I thought about trying a novel protein but would have to go with goat or kangaroo as she’s eaten just about everything else, in every form, due to our other dog being an extremely picky eater (a Hovawart.) I would love to hear your suggestions, or any ideas you have based on her symptoms. Treating GI issues really is difficult, especially when you’re the only one in the house that thinks her panting and yawning are signs of discomfort!!

[Susan]

Hi Wendy yes there was another lady with the exact same problem with her little dog about 1-2 yrs ago…. stay in the Forum section & click on “Diet & Health” and all people’s post come up that have been posted or put “Acid Reflux” in the “Search” bar up the top & all these people post will come up asking why is their dog “Swallowing & Gulping”…
When I first rescued my boy he was put on a high fat vet diet Hypoallergenic HP kibble for his skin problem, then one night I hear this sound coming out of the bedroom, I thought what’s he’s doing, he should be sleeping, I go & have a look & he was sitting up swallowing, swallowing & gulping & very stressed out, he even growled at me & he had never done that before that’s when I knew something wasn’t right, I didn’t know what was wrong, I went & told the vet nurses the next day & 1 vet nurse said that sounds like bad acid reflux coming up into his mouth, she asked what’s he eating, I told her Royal Canin HP Dry Kibble, she looked it up on computer & said, we have to ask your vet can he change the formula to another formula the fat is too high it;s 19% fat, the vet wouldn’t listen & change the vet diet he said it needs time to work (a load of bull) Patch ended up with Pancreatitis the following week, I didn’t know all this stuff, high carb kibble diets cause acid reflux, high fat kibble diets cause acid reflux….
What is she eating?? it’s best to feed a home cooked meals… I do both, cooked/wet tin & a premium kibble & try & stay under 40% with the carbohydrates with kibbles…
Talk to your vet, just hope he’s not a stubborn vet like some are, just won’t listen they think they’re more superior & if you mention your read this or that on the internet gee some vets don’t like it, go with your gut if something the vet says doesn’t sound right then question it or get a new vet like I did with Patch, Patch saw 4-5 vets until I got the lady vet we see now, she is into holistic & natural way of treating animals & Patch has responded really good with her & he see’s a specialist vet at the same office for his IBD….

[Charisma M]

Well about a week and a half before his tail started dropping. He would wake around with a droopy tail which never happens unless he’s extremely sick. So I had a feeling something was coming. Then he woke up vomiting one Friday morning, took cernia (vets order) and was back to normal, never lost his appetite. Then exactly one week later on a Friday he woke up vomiting again, once every two hours. He couldn’t hold down any food what so ever but he still had the appetite for it. We took him in to the vet because he couldn’t hold down the cernia either and his medication was going to be due and there was no way I could skip it. They did some blood work, and a little snap test. Snap test said positive for pancreatitis and his ALT, cholesterol, triglycerides, PSL were all high. I mean the Psl was 6216 and apparently that’s the one thing that really stands out with pancreatitis. Well we took him home with pain meds, fluids and he got cernia. He would do the downward yoga position I believe is what the vet called it over and over cause he was in so much pain. He couldn’t get comfortable. He couldn’t sleep he would pace. He was fine with the eating though till that afternoon he stopped. He wouldnt even take boiled chicken which is his absolute favorite thing in the world! You know he’s really sick when he turns that down. They had said if stopped eating (especially since he needed to take meds) to take him in to the emergency vet and from there he ended up staying there over night. He came home feeling much better but still really sad it took about 9 days for him to go back to normal. And no my parents don’t mind, they keep telling us to go but I just hate not being here if anything were to happen. ☹️

[Ann F]

Sorry I can’t be of much help. I don’t know what signs your dog showed of pancreatitis in the past, and whether your vet ordered a blood test to confirm it. For us it was pain and refusal to eat or drink any water. There was no vomiting or diarrhea. We did amylase and lipase which were both highly elevated. Then we’d do the Spec-cPL which came back around 1000 when he had pancreatitis. For the most part we were able to treat him at home with pain and nausea meds. If blood tests were not elevated it was something other then pancreatitis. It would take some fasting, subQ fluids, and the meds I mentioned to slowly get him out of it. At times it would take a week or so to get over it. They’d repeat the Spec-cPL and it would be back in the normal range.

I’d go on vacation, but make sure you have a plan with your vet about what your parents should do. You’d sign a release to give them permission to seek medical care in your absence. I remember missing so many family events. How long would it take for you to get home, and do your parents mind taking care of an animal that needs TLC?

[Charisma M]

Hey Anne and Susan! Sorry my response might be mixed up. Something was up with my email, it’s not even showing Susan’s reply till I came on here. Lots of confusion! But anyway, so do you guys know how to spot the pancreatitis before it happens? I know I had seen that one of you girls mention about it taking you to the emergency vet a few times a year. My husband and I canceled our honeymoon last summer cause baby needed to go into surgery for the exploratory since we didn’t know what was wrong (which by the way, I thought it was normal and everyone did it. Now I know and regret doing it cause I’m sure we could’ve figured out his diagnosis differently but our vets made it feel like it was life or death and only option😭) anyway we wanted to make up for our lost honeymoon this summer but now my husband can’t take time off so our only option is this month. But I’m deathly afraid of leaving baby. He would stay with my parents but honestly no one knows him like I do and if he got sick I would feel like it abandon him. He can have such good days then it all changes and goes downhill. It honestly feels like everytime we want to take a vacation is when he gets sick so we end up not going anywhere. But he’s been doing little groans everytime he lays down and idk if it’s his belly or his “back pain”. A few weeks back he had some trembling and didn’t want to jump on our bed for a whole day even with his steps. The vet said it was a back issue and he was doing crate rest but even then baby was acting normal, he wanted to do his normal activities so they always wondered wether it was a back issue or not. We even did acupuncture and they kept telling us maybe it was just a strained muscle cause he wasn’t acting painful just had a lot of heat in the center of his back and would flinch during the spine exam but he is normally really sensitive so idk if it was from not wanting to be touched or actual pain. After crate rest he was still doing good but it still worries me cause he still runs and jumps which is risky for him in case he does have a disc issue but honestly how do you tell him not to run and jump? He’s such an active boy. The issue is ive seen him hesitate a little and it’s a little hard for him to get comfortable so idk if that’s his back again flaring up? Or pancreatitis sneaking up, his ibd.. I don’t know which is why it’s so scary to take a vacation 😩

[Rachel K]

Unless your dog won’t eat its other food, cooking large chunks will be fine.
Personally when cooking for a dog, I like to shred up the meat afterwards so I can mix it into other things more effectively if I want to (such as with egg or the base food itself)

If cooking meat opt for leaner meats (too much cooked fats can increase the risk of pancreatitis) and poach/steam.

[Susan]

Hi Jessica, my boy has IBD Skin Allergies, Food Intolerances & Pancreatitis….he needs a diet high in Omega 3…When I have feed any vet diets for his IBD & Skin problems that had fish, oil, soybean oil, coconut oil he got bad acid reflux, same with premium kibbles, if they had fish or salmon oil, he’d get acid reflux, he grinds his teeth when he gets his acid reflux….. I’m the same I cant take any fish oil supplements, I get acid reflux…

The other day I won $100 to spend at the Chemist, I asked the lady pharmacist what can I take for my arthritis, I need Omega 3 but every time I’ve taken fish Oil capsules I keep burping up the fish taste & get acid reflux, same as my dog, she told me Krill Oil capsules are more milder & are easier on the stomach, good for people with digestive issues like yourself, so that’s something to remember..

I follow “Rodney Habib” on his facebook page & I’ve learnt a lot about healthy foods
to add to Patches diet, I’ve also be adding them to my diet as well lol
Almonds are very high in Omega 3 fatty acid, a dog can have 3 Almonds a day but I bite 1/2 of the almond & I give Patch the other 1/2 of the almond this way it’s the size as a small kibble & I tell him to chew it, I started with just giving him 1 almond a day then after 5 days, I gave him 2 x 1/2 almonds a day, till we got too 3 almonds a day….
K-9 Natural, freezed Dried Green Lipped Mussels are very healthy & not greezy….
Sardines, Salmon & Tuna in spring water or Olive Oil, not brine, I give Patch small tin salmon, all water drained, I add some boiled sweet potato & broccoli as a small meal…. Patch has a beautiful shinny coat but I do feed “Canidae” Pure Wild Boar kibble for a few of his meals, I rotate between a few different things & have made his gut healthier & stronger, when I rescued him he couldn’t eat anything without having sloppy, bloody poos or up 2am having diarrhea it was awful, now 4 yrs on & he can eat pretty much anything as long as it isn’t any food’s he’s sensitive too….
I’ve read a few dogs haven’t done well on the Honest Kitchen formula’s, I think it’s the freeze dried pieces of veggies & meat, they stay small, hard & don’t reconstitute back to bigger, softer veggies & can’t be digested properly causing intestinal problems……
Dogs can’t chew their foods like we do & don’t have salivary amylase (digestive enzymes in their salvia) so they can’t break down the Cellulase walls in the vegetable, fruit or grass,
Cellulase digests plant matter, that’s why when you feed a raw diet you have to blend & break down the veggies, fruit & make them into a pulp liquid…Same when a dog eats grass it either comes back up vomit or comes out in their poo undigested, the Chlorophyll in the grass settles their stomach…. I let Patch eat a little bit of grass no longer then 1 minute, it can cause diarrhea, it cleans him out…
*Foods High in Omega 3 fatty acids are
Spinach
Chia Seeds
Flax Seed Oil cold pressed
Canola Oil Patch does best when the kibble has Canola oil, Flax Seed Oil (No Acid Reflux)
Almonds
Walnuts
Green Lipped Mussels
Sardines, Mackerel, Salmon, Tuna
Soybeans
Tofu

[Charisma M]

Hey Ann! We haven’t worked with anyone because originally we were going to go through balance it but it fell through and his vet said if pork diet (royal Canin low fat) was working that maybe that was his match. I could try talking to them again but I’m not sure she’s going to be open about changing his diet cause she always would say if it’s working let’s not mess with it in case it ends up causing a flare up. ☹️ Ideally I would like him to be on fresh ingredients but I don’t know what protein would keep his pancreatitis at ease but not flare up the ibd. And then his stones make it hard for example he can’t have sweet potatoes. Another thing is I had seen all the packages of ground turkey have rosemary extract in the ingredients section and rosemary is bad for dogs with epilepsy so I didn’t know what to make of that.

[Ann F]

Charisma, I wondered if you have consulted with a board-certified nutritionist? You mentioned looking into a BalanceIt recipe, but I wasn’t sure if it was formulated using medical records from your vet. Years ago my Internist worked with a vet nutritionist to finally get a diet that worked for longer then a few months. If there are side effects from the medications she is on, the professional would be able to sort through that. There is a list of resources on the American Society of Veterinary Nutritionist site. I have no experience with any of them, but just looking at the PetDiets.com site you can get a consult for $350.00 and provide the contact for them to get records from your veterinarian. No experience with Rebecca Remillard either. I think the more experience a vet has in nutritional management of complex medical conditions, the better they may be in finding answers for dogs like ours.
My dog passed away a few years ago, but not from the IBD/pancreatitis. One of the vets we worked with had chronic pancreatitis herself. She said that she felt bad if she ate a large meal. She ate small meals frequently throughout the day, and that worked the best.

[Charisma M]

Hey Ann! Yeah he’s still on that diet, we don’t give treats or anything else! Just ice as a treat since we live in Texas and it’s super hot! We use bottled water so no tap water. His last test for pancreatitis was the only one they did when we first took him in at the end of march.

My boy has so many issues idk what else it could be. He has epilepsy, hypothyroidism, calcium oxalate stones, an adrenal gland tumor, ibd and now pancreatitis. 😩

[Charisma M]

Hey Susan! He’s on royal Canin gastrointestinal low fat canned food cause he also gets stones but hates water. He is on meds for epilepsy and hypothyroidism. When he got his biopsy done it did say he had h pylori as well. He also used to be on royal Canin rabbit and potato when he got diagnosed with pancreatitis. He just switched over to the low fat on march 31st. And yes girl baby is pacing all the time, he doesn’t sleep through the night anymore. He’s up every two hours asking for food crying and pacing not being able to get comfortable. If he goes more than 4hours without eating he gets a bad belly ache. They’ve never been able to tell me why, so we feed him when he asks which is every 2 hours on the dot. I stay home with him since he requires so much care. He also does wake up in the middle of the night for grass, he use to wake up vomiting yellow bile too around 3am when he was first diagnosed with ibd. I’m definitely at the point where I feel helpless cause we’ve been to so many vets, specialist, Emergency Vet and never any answers. I’m beyond stressed because I want him to get better and I don’t know what else to try. It’s so overwhelming sometimes. ☹️

[Susan]

Hi Charisma
What are you feeding him, what medications is he on?? has he been checked for Helicobacter & acid reflux? had Endoscope + Biopsies done?
He sounds like my boy 4yrs ago, when I rescued him he was put on a vet diet for his skin allergies, the vet diet gave him Pancreatitis fat was way too high 19% fat & that was the start of Patches misery, I found with my boy the vet diet dry kibbles made him worse….
My boy was diagnosed thru Endoscope & Biopsies, it said IBD {to look further with exploratory surgery} I wouldn’t do & Helicobacter-Pylori…… the Pancreatitis, food intolerances & skin allergies we already knew, he’s at his best now finally after 3yrs, he’s better in the cooler months, no environment allergies, his immune system isn’t in over drive…..
When Patch was having the rumbling, grumbling bowel, pacing back & forth wanting me to rub his stomach/pancreas area, wanting grass 2am 4am & thru the day, later I learnt it was Colitis from food intolerances/sensitivities… do you know what helps the best when this was happening, liquid Mylanta, not pink Pepto Bismol that has asprin in it, plain & simple liquid Mylanta, 5mls, 1 teaspoon would settle all the gases going thru his stomach & bowel…….
Are you seeing a new specialist, someone with new eyes, with all his results?? I keep diaries every single year & read back, this vet told me to keep a diary …. I saw 4 vets until I found Patches vet he see’s now & she also suffers with IBD, she understands & knows what I’m talking about when I tell her about Patches symptoms……

They break your heart watching them suffer, I didn’t know a poor dog could suffer so much with all these symptoms, now when I read a post, I know what that person & poor dog is going thru….
I have to feed 5 smaller meals a day, I can’t feed 1 whole cup of kibble for 1 meal, he gets bad pain, I can only feed 1/2 cup kibble at one time, that’s hand feed, I feed 2 kibbles at one time in a raised bowl so he chews the kibbles & doesn’t just swallow the whole hard kibble, I only feed kibble at 7am, 9am, 5pm, 1/2 a cup & wet tin vet diet Royal Canin Hypoallergenic at 12pm & 8pm, I have to rotate Patches kibbles, as soon as I see he’s not well & starts his whinging & lifts up his right paw for me to rub his stomach/pancreas area I know something is wrong & rotate kibble & foods, I stop feeding whatever he’s eating & feed something else…..
Hills vet diet kibbles & Royal Canin vet diet kibbles made poor Patch worse…only the kibbles…..

[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….

[Ann F]

Poor baby! Is he still just eating the RC low-fat food? How is his weight? Our vet had us repeat the Spec-cPL tests a few weeks after recovery. If it had not gone into the normal range, we would have to revisit his diet. When did you test for pancreatitis last?

The vet you’re seeing now should be able to get the exploratory surgery records from the specialist you didn’t like. Maybe that vet was just having a really bad day. This is awful stuff, and you feel no matter what you do they still get sick.
Some dogs with IBD, and pancreatitis also have gastritis. You could ask your vet if this might be adding to the problem.

[Charisma M]

Hey Anne! He was diagnosed with pancreatitis. He started with vomiting one morning, took him to the vet and they said it was probably just a belly ache from ibd. Well then exactly one week later he was vomiting again except this time it was 3 times within a few hours and couldn’t hold down food. He wanted food but just could hold it down. he was extremely sad, tail down(tail is only down when he DOWN) so I knew something was up a week before it all started. Well a few days after his second vomiting incident he stopped eating so we let him stay overnight to get fluids but it never got to diarrhea. With his ibd he did have the exploratory surgery but they never told us what kind he had. The first specialist we saw wasn’t very nice. Our issue now is that he’s ok still, not himself. Hes up every two hours at night. Sometimes pacing in our room. He wants to eat every two hours too. He’s just not himself. About two weeks ago he had about 5 days where he was perfect! It was my old baby boy! We didn’t change anything so idk what helped vs what could’ve changed in him. Then he went right back to the new ways of being sad and desperate for food all the time.

[Ann F]

Charisma, I don’t know if your dog has been diagnosed with chronic pancreatitis. With the diagnosis of IBD was there blood and mucous? I never could tell if the IBD, or pancreatitis was flaring up at times. Some dogs with pancreatitis show atypical signs. Mine refused to eat or even drink water so we would do a Spec-cPL test to measure pancreatic specific lipase. If that was normal we figured it was the IBD. Several times a year we would end up in the ER because the pancreatitis is so dangerous. Couldn’t tell what set it off, probably stress at times. It was very expensive, but the Specialist I finally found worked in collaboration with the UC-Davis Vet School, GI Department. I think they are doing the most research. My understanding is that they no longer believe prednisone causes pancreatitis. There are no studies about auto-immune pancreatitis in dogs, but it is present in humans. You don’t have intestinal biopsies to tell if your dog has eosinophilic enteritis. If there is an auto-immune component to the IBD there should be a response to the prednisone. They also use a drug called Budesonide in some cases.

We didn’t start the prednisone until we had also started the formulated diet. I was petrified because so many other foods had not worked. Run everything by your vet when you are dealing with a medical condition like this one.

[Charisma M]

Hey Anne! Thank you so much for replying! I’m desperate! Since last July 2016 it’s been nuts! Stressed doesn’t even begin to explain how I’ve felt. We’re in and out of the vet every two weeks since then. We’ve seen 5 vets and 2 specialists. I’m not sure how to know if his diet is working or not because his only symptom since the beginning has only been tummy gurgles 24/7 (which have gotten a little better) and nausea/grass eating which that he does about once or twice a week. Other than that his stool is fine, the vomiting had gone away till late march when he got the pancreatitis. I honestly don’t know what to do anymore. We’ve spent over 10k in less than a year with no true improvement. 🙁 we haven’t tried prednisone because I’m afraid of the side effects but When he started vomiting in march we decided it was time. Then we found out it was actually pancreatitis and not his ibd. Then I got pretty hesitant about it cause I read that steroids can make the pancreatitis flare up. What has been your experience with the steroids?

[sb020]

Hello everyone, my french bulldog was diagnosed with pancreatitis about four weeks ago and spent an entire week in emergency care—it was her nausea and refusal to eat that kept her there longer than normal.

She’s been home for three weeks now and has been doing very well! She’s currently eating the prescribed Hill’s diet and, after 10 days of no symptoms and shown improvement, my vet had said I can try to transition her to new low-fat diet. I attempted to transition her to Annamaet Grain Free Lean and once I got the point where is was 3/4 new diet and 1/4 prescribed, she got a little nauseous. I put a stop to the new diet and for the next two days, I gave her just the prescribed diet to settle her stomach—which it did.

Yesterday, I wanted to see if I could try again and only put 1/4 of the kibble in her prescribed diet. In the middle of the night, I heard her make a sort of gulping noise that made me fear that she was going to vomit. But she slept soundly through the night, as I stayed up worrying.

This has caused me to wonder how long it took other dogs that have been diagnosed with pancreatitis to transition back to a “regular” diet? (Or if anyone has any other food to recommend.) My vet did mention that it’s a possibility that she may have to live off a prescribed diet, which is expensive, but you have to do what you have to do for the sake of your fur-babies.

[Ann F]

Charisma, sorry I have not been on this site for some time. I don’t know if you can PM in this group, but I wouldn’t mind helping out. You said that Turkey was the only protein suggested with the BalanceIt. I’d check again! For a formulated BalanceIt diet, they gave us a choice of Duck or Fish. Some of their diets use more exotic proteins, low-fat cottage cheese, or tofu.
We used fish which I steamed or microwaved. For an 80 lb dog I needed about a lb of fish a day (before cooking). I’m hoping you have a smaller dog:-). I was in contact with the vet who formulated the diet at least weekly. We tweeked what was not working, and kept track of the stool changes. I gave NOTHING besides his daily food. If I’d started adding slippery elm, probiotics and miscellaneous supplements my Internist would never be able to evaluation the value of the diet. Too much stuff! After this worked we did add a very tiny amount of prednisone because the IBD was eosinophilic also. This had inflamed his small intestine, and even though he did not test for SIBO, he needed a bump in the amount of BalanceIt to compensate for some absorption issues.

We used pork enzymes for a trial after some pancreatitis. Ended up he was very reactive to Pork after a month. We couldn’t give him even hydrolyzed chicken in a vet diet. He recognized it for what it was eventually. There are still preservatives in the highest quality manufactured pet food. I think we finally did well when I made a fresh diet up. I’d been scared to do this for years, wish I hadn’t waited so long to cook my own formulated. Quality of life would have been so much better for him. It was hard to cut out treats, but there are a few you can give.

[Acroyali]

Charisma, that sounds awful 🙁 Hopefully you’ll find something your dog does well with.
One of mine is violently allergic or intolerant to chicken but does great on turkey; this isn’t set in stone of course. One of my cats has a terrible time with raw diets of any description (even boneless with Alnutrin added), but on a cooked diet he’s done very well.
Every 2 hours is pretty often but with chronic pancreatitis, several small feeds per day vs. 1 or 2 large(r) feeds might not be a bad idea. My cat with IBD (no pancreatitis, thankfully) does much better on 3-4 little meals per day. When we were still doing 2 feedings per day, he would eat then seem to have abdominal discomfort from the larger portions.

[Charisma M]

Debbie, my dog was also recommended Ultamino, what was your experience with it?

Anne f, are you able to email me so we can talk more about the diet you have your fur baby on? My boy has chronic pancreatitis and ibd so trying to figure out a diet has been hard. I’m having issues finding him the perfect diet. We were thinking about working with balance it but they do turkey as the main protein in the recipe and his internist had said turkey is like chicken or in the same “poultry” family so she was hesitate to put him on it. Right now he’s on RC gastro low fat but it’s pork and he’s still having days when he rushes out desperate for the grass. Tummy is always gurgling and he’s hungry every 2 hours on the dot. Anyone struggle with their furbaby wanting to eat that often? He even wakes up in the middle of the night, literally every 2 hours.

[Susan]

HoundMusic,

I think it’s ridiculous you feed a sick dog a high fat, low quality mince especially when the dog is vomiting & has diarrhea, say that dog has Pancreatitis??..
When was the last time you went to see a vet specialist for a dog with Intestinal problems IBS, IBD, Pancreatitis?
Your talking about feeding litter Puppies, introducing puppies to food….Read original post I’m talking about dogs with intestinal STRESS, sloppy poo’s with mucus & then diarrhea, not 4-6 week old puppies being weaned onto food, even then I still wouldn’t feed a sick puppy any cooked hamburger mince or boiled rice…. When you have a SICK dog with Intestinal Stress feeding greasy hamburger mince with boiled rice, rice has pointed corners that can irritate the bowel…..who’s not to say the dogs in this post aren’t sensitive to chicken like my boy is?? one of the poster’s dog became a bit better after being put on a vet diet while the other dog got diarrhea after eating the Hills wet tin food, like my boy did after eating one of the Hills Intestinal health vet diets, this sounds like food sensitivities to me, food sensitivities/intolerance can take anywhere from 1 day up to 6 weeks to react & show symptoms….Food sensitivities normally start when the dog is around 6-8 months old….
I’m pretty sure when Rich took his dogs to see vet, the vet didn’t suggest to go home & feed some boiled hamburger mince with boiled some rice, if he did I would be changing vets & seeing a younger vet who’s up to date with more modern methods, it sounds like Rich vet knew what he/she was doing & did all the proper tests needed to rule out parasites, parvo, infection etc & placed the dogs on a antibiotic (Flagyl/Metronidazole) & a vet diet till Rich works out what to feed them both….if the dogs were placed on a Hydrolyzed diet or a single novel protein, single carb vet diet I do not know, probably not cause one dog had liquid diarrhea after eating the vet diet…..

I’ll stick with what my Specialist vet recommended to feed, 1 lean novel protein + 1 gluten free carb (Sweet Potato or Potato) he suggested to cook white boneless fish or lean turkey breast + boiled sweet potato, if I didn’t want to cook he recommended feeding a vet diet “Royal Canine” Hydrolyzed wet tin food, Sensitivity Control, Duck & Tapioca dry, PV-Potato & Venison, PR-Potato & Rabbit or PD-Potato & Duck & then when dog is stable & doing firm poo’s start an elimination diet & add 1 cooked ingredient for 6 weeks with their vet diet food….these vet diets are 100% balanced with the right vitamins, minerals, enzymes & you’ll get to the root of the problem by doing an elimination diet like I have done in the past with my IBD boy, when you look at the ingredients in these vet diets you will not find any hamburger mince, chicken, rice….. Sweet Potato + 1 lean novel protein seems to work best for Intestinal health problems especially when you think the dog has food intolerances….
You have your opinion & I have mine…..

[J]

My dog has had reoccurring episodes of pancreatitis. The vet has put her on the Royal Canin Gastro Low Fat dry food. It seems to be helping, but she still has diarrhea and loose stool every once in a while. She has stopped throwing up, and is getting some of her energy back.

This food is hard to come by in Canada. It can only be obtained from a vet clinic, and it is upwards of $8.00/lb. Unfortunately, I can’t purchase it in the states and bring it across the border… even though with the exchange rate the food would only be about $3.00/lb.
My dog is a malamute cross and based on her weight she has to eat 6 cups of this food a day. A 6.6lb bag only lasts 5-6 days and this is costing about $55 bucks a bag. It is a little cheaper when I am able to get the larger bags but this is inconsistent, and the vet clinic does not always get consistent deliveries.

I have been trying to find other comparable products, with a low fat content, but I am not finding many alternatives.

Does anyone have any suggestions? I am not really wanting to change her food… but if you have any suggestions, I would like to talk to my vet about them.

Thanks!

[Acroyali]

Even dogs without pancreatitis sometimes don’t tolerate a high fat diet. I have one who does not, and he does just fine on raw provided I stick to low fat options for him. My IBD’er is doing great on cooked; I cook the meat in the crockpot until it falls off the bone and add some broth back in; I then re-add the bones to water and make bone broth for everyone.
Like you I prefer to feed my family (which includes the animals) real food. When I was feeding an elderly pet with organ problems and joint problems, fresh food made all the difference.

[Jasmine T]

He is on a bland diet right now. I was asking for future reference because i am here on this forum, and i was wondering how other people cook their meat.

I was wondering if there was a healthier way other people might do it. MayBe il put it on a grill in the oven so the fat drips off.
One vet told me not to boil his chicken , she said that she was worrried he wasn’t getting enough fat. She said coconut oil is a good source for healthy fat and thats one of things she recommends for her clients.
I dont know if he is at risk for pancreatitis. After recent events i am going to talk to his favorite vet about it. She is very nice and he just loves her. My dog will not eat kibble EVER. I want him having only fresh healthy food that is alive and full of good organic energy. .

[Acroyali]

http://dogaware.com/articles/wdjpancreatitis.html

So glad he’s doing better, Jasmine 🙂
The above article has a lot of info on pancreatitis. If you’re concerned about the possibility, boiling the meat vs. baking might be a good precaution as boiling (and rinsing after) removes a lot of the fat.
A good low fat protein source is turkey breast, very lean. When I was cooking a very low-fat diet for a dog of ours the staple was turkey breast mixed with pulped steamed veggies and pumpkin (as a temporary diet) and we added in calories with coconut oil. Dogs that have had recent bad gastric upset (or are at risk or suffer from chronic pancreatitis) seem to do really well with MCT’s.
I would personally avoid lamb and pork; very high in fat and his tummy doesn’t need the stress right now. I would seek out lean beef.
Depending on where you’re located, my pet carnivore (dot com) offers spleen as well as pancreas. I’m not sure if Hare Today offers this or not. I would contact the distributor about whether or not it’s OK to cook these things lightly if it’s something you’re interested in researching further.
Best wishes to you and your pup.

[anonymous]

Has the dog made a full recvovery from the gastrointestinal upset you spoke of in another thread, less than an hour ago?
Has the dog had diagnostic testing to determine the cause of his symptoms?
Did the dog get the blood test that determines if he has pancreatitis?
What did the vet that examined him recommend for a diet?
I would imagine a bland prescription food as a base would be recommended, at least till the dog is stable,.

[Jasmine T]

Hi, i rotate my dogs meat every week. Cooked to slightly cooked, Beef, pork, chicken, lamb, goat , little fish. He gets a raw egg coconut oil, colostrum ,eggshell powder, liver, beef kidney, hearts and gizzards are all part of his diet. A raw veggie mix. Some canned peas or something for more of a filler cus too much veggi mix gives him gas. Oh, probiotic yougurt sometimes,and always a quarter cup OVERCOOKED brown rice. 50% protien, rice and veggies, 10% organ meat(i am looking for spleen and other things in my area)
Hoof soup ice cubes, for the natural glucosamine. Usually two or 3 a day. He is almost 12 and arthritic with torn acl.
I add dehydrated chicken feet. As a treat.
I cook meat in oven, i trim all the fat but its still greasy. I drain the juice during cooking at least once and the the rest after.
I boil my hearts and gizzards ,kidney, lightly cook liver in coconut oil in pan.
Will these things cause pancreatitis? The grease ftom the meat?

[Susan]

Hi gee poor boy, I just looked at the Fromm Gold Weight management, it has too many ingredients, to many proteins, grains & fish oil & the fiber is too high, like the Wellness Core Reduced Fat was 8.5% fiber, you need a kibble with limited ingredients, so there’s less ingredients to cause the acid reflux….
For 2 yrs I struggled with Patches Acid reflux & finally I’ve worked it out, in the beginning had Endoscope + Biopsies done & he had the Helicobacter-Pylori infection plus IBD, Patch started taking Zantac (Ranitidine) a more modern ant acid medication then the Pepcid is, with the Pepcid you might find the Pepcid wont really help much, Patch takes Prilosec (Omeprazole) now, so if after the 10days on Pepcid & the blood test doesn’t find anything wrong with liver gallbladder or pancreas, I’d ask can you try Prilosec 20mg x 1 a day in the morning & see if he’ll write a few repeat script you can get from chemist, it will be heaps cheaper, also you can’t just stop the Prilosec if taking more then 20 days it needs to be reduce slowly.. I was giving the Losec for 4 days then stopping & seen how Patch went but after 2 days Patch would have his acid reflux again, I was giving liquid 1 teaspoon liquid Mylanta nights Patch wouldn’t settle…. I kept feeding low fat kibbles but when kibbles are lower in fat they are higher in carbohydrates & normally have grains, rice, oats, barley, millet, bran etc these are all soluble fibers, soluble fibers sit in the stomach longer & ferment, same as weight management kibbles they put more soluble fibers in the kibble so the dog feels full longer & they normally are higher in fiber as well & can cause acid reflux, so best to stay away from weight management kibbles…….Insoluble fibers pass thru the stomach quicker, it doesn’t sit in the stomach & ferment like soluble fibers do, insoluble fibers bulk up the poos, also prevent digestive disorders like IBS IBD ….. I have found kibbles with sweet potato, potatoes & peas worked the best but a lot of these new grain free kibble are using chickpeas, lentils & garbanzo beans these are harder to digest & higher in fiber, my boy can’t eat kibbles with chickpeas, Lentils especially if they’re 2nd 3rd 4th 5th ingredients… fish oil & salmon oils can also cause acid reflux, best to look for kibbles with canola oil & fish meal instead of the fish oil/salmon oils…
I found the fat can be around 12-15% max, the higher the fat the lower the carbohydrates are, stick with kibbles under 40% carbs, it’s a lot to look for in a kibble but there are a few grain free kibbles out there that have more insoluble fibers, low in carbs & are 12-15% max fat…
Holistic Select Adult/Puppy Salmon, Anchovy & Sardines grain free has only 28%-Carbs, 13%-fat & kcals-341per/cup & just have fish & potatoes peas not too many ingredients..
if your on face Book join this group called “Canine Pancreatitis Support” https://www.facebook.com/groups/1435920120029740/
look in the file section & there’s a list of foods from 12% fat down to 6 % fat, I looked & the 4Health Turkey & Potato has about 8 ingredients, fat was-14% kcals-337 per/cup, 39%-carbs no grains,
there’s the 4Health Mature 7+ the fat-10% protein-20% fiber-3%, kcals-320per/cup but it has grains you could always give it a go & see how your boy does…. this is why I feed Taste Of The Wild Sierra Mountain, Roasted Lamb, it’s the only kibble that works, it only has 1 protein Lamb, sweet potatoes, potatoes, peas, egg, limited ingredients & canola oil, carbs-38% & Kcals-337 per/cup, but I think TOTW puts Salmon Oil in their TOTW formulas for their American customers, but if nothing is helping him you could give the TOTW Sierra Mountain Roasted Lamb a try & the Prilosec tablet in the morning… First I feed TOTW Pacific Stream Smoked Salmon & Patches acid reflux stopped straight away, but he was taken the Zantac but it wasn’t working great, the fiber is only 3%, fat-15%, protein-25% Kcals 360 per/cup 39% carbs… but he seems to prefer the Lamb kibbles maybe the fish kibble doesn’t agree with him as much as the Lamb does.. also feed smaller meals thru the day not just 2 large meals a day, I feed 5 small meals a day, 7am-1/2cup TOTW Lamb Kibble, 8.30am-Losec tablet, 9am-1/2cup TOTW kibble, 12pm-1/3cup kibble, 5pm 1/2 heaped cup kibble & 8pm 1/3 cup TOTW Kibble… the best is a cooked diet, I was feeding lean pork rissoles + sweet potatoes for dinner so his stomach isn’t bloated with kibbles thru the night…
Good-Luck, keep us updated what’s happening..

[Susan]

Hi, gee poor boy he must be in comfortable, sometimes the Pepcid doesn’t work cause their acid reflux is real bad & they need a stronger ant acid reducer, the Pepcid (Famotidine) worked the first week for Patch but then after 1 week it wasn’t working…..Zantac (Ranitidine) was developed mid 90’s a bit better then the Pepcid, Patch was on the Zantac for a while while I tried different kibbles, but I wasn’t trying grain free kibbles cause the fat was over 12 % he didn’t get better, he was still grinding his teeth at night, uncomfortable changing beds thru the night, waking me up wanting grass…
If the Pepcid works but doesn’t work good enough, I would ask vet can you try 20mg Losec (Omeprazole) just give for 4 days then stop, give once a day in the morning, then see how he does, then when you see he’s getting uncomfortable again give a losec tablet with water, I push the tablet down throat back of tongue & I have a 20ml big syringe & fill with water & slowly squirt the water in side of Patches mouth so the Losec tablet goes down his throat, I even rub throat downwards to make sure pill isn’t sitting in his throat & goes into his stomach….Omeprazole (Losec) is a Pump Proton Inhibitor (PPI) once you take a PPI for more then 20 days you can not just stop taking it, it needs to be reduced slowly, PPI are the best for bad acid reflux especially as they get older…Patch is on 20mg Losec permanently, I found he did so much better when taking the Losec when I’d stop the Losec his acid just came back with in 2-3 days..
Blood test wont show up any health problems to do with the stomach & small bowel, but yes the liver, gallbladder & pancreas will show up thru blood test, the only way is to have a couple of Biopsies done of the stomach & small bowel it’s the only way by doing an Endoscope & Biopsies, I wish I did it first in the beginning, the money I wasted doing blood test, Ultra Scans, trying vet diets that made things worst cause most vet diet are high in carbohydrates & high in soluble fiber grains that makes the acid reflux worse…..
A cooked lean diet is the best this way you can control ingredients, carbs, fiber & fat etc… Finally after 2 yrs of trying every single kibble, I found TOTW Sierra Mountain Roasted Lamb, limited ingredients, I had never tried it cause the fat is 15% max, now I feed 5 smaller meals a day, 7am-breakfast 1/2 cup TOTW kibble then walk, then I give Patch his 20mg Losec around 8.30am then 9-9.30am another 1/2 cup TOTW, 12pm 1/3 cup TOTW, 5pm cooked lean pork rissoles + boiled Sweet potatoes or 1 heaped 1/2 cup TOTW Lamb Kibble & at 8pm 1/3 cup TOTW kibble, the fat in the TOTW is 15%max but the Kcals per cup are 338 very low & the Carbs are low at 38% Carbs the TOTW kibble & the 20mg Losec has stopped his acid reflux FINALLY…..
I just looked at the ingredients in the Fromm Weight Management formula, gee there’s too many ingredients, too many proteins & has fish oil, & fiber is 7% too high, you need to look for a grain free, limited ingredient, low fiber around 4-5%, & fat around 12-15% the lower the fat the higher the carbs, so you need to increase the fat a bit to reduce the carbohydrates, grains are soluble fibers, you need foods like sweet potatoes that are insoluble fibers, so the food isn’t sitting in the stomach fermenting, insoluble fiber passes thru the stomach quicker, where soluble fibers sit in the stomach longer, no good, Patch use to vomit the kibble back up all undigested when he was eating kibbles with grains….. The Wellness Core Reduce fat kibble is very high in fiber 8.5% that would have made his acid reflux worse…I wanted to try the wet tin Wellness Core but the fiber was too high. So I cook instead.
It’s taken me 3yrs to work it all out finally, if the Fromm kibble doesn’t really work, take it back for refund, just say he stopped eating it, the fish oil is probably giving him acid reflux, now he won’t eat it…… I can only feed kibbles with Canola Oil…..NO fish or Salmon oils they give you acid reflux, the fish oil repeats on you, you burp it back up… the Australian TOTW has no Salmon or fish oil but I think the TOTW made for America has Salmon Oil, I live Australia….
Patches acid reflux was good when eating the Holistic Select Salmon, Anchovy & Sardines grain free kibble, the fat is 13%, Kcals 341per/cup, carbs are only 28% so if you do have to take back the Fromm look for the Holistic Select Adult/Puppy Salmon Grain Free formula, if you email the kibble companies they email you the max fat, max fiber & carbohydrate % its very hard to find kibbles that are low in carbs, low Fiber, low Kcals per/cup & medium fat%..
I stay away from weight management kibbles the fiber is to high to keep the dog feeling fuller longer & they use soluble fibers that stay in stomach longer to feel fuller longer then the food starts fermenting in stomach, but weight management kibbles may work for your boy.. you wont know untill you try a few different kibble, how I knew was I’d feed a cooked meal with sweet potatoes, no rice no grains & Patch wouldn’t get his acid reflux then feed him a grain low fat kibble for dinner & he’d be grinding his teeth, the acid must come up throat into his mouth leaving an awful taste in mouth, In the beginning he had a real sore mouth & throat when the acid was real bad from the Helicobacter-Pylori infection, I wonder if your boy has the Helicobacter? now there’s a blood test for humans, I had to have the Endoscope + Biopsies 3 yrs ago for Patch but for myself I just had a blood test last year, I suffer with GORD’s real bad acid reflux, then I was put on a PPI, Somac it’s like Losec all my symptoms went away within 2-3 days + a diet change & eating smaller meals thru the day, if your on Face Book join this F/B group called “Canine Pancreatitis Support” look in the files & there’s a heap of low fat foods, a lot of dogs with Pancreatitis suffer with acid reflux as well..
https://www.facebook.com/groups/1435920120029740/
I just had a look, on f/b Pancreatitis group you might have been better buying 4Health Turkey & Potato formula instead of the fromm, it has less ingredients, no tomato pomace, no fish or salmon oils, no garbanzo beans, no chick peas or Lentils has only 8 ingredients, the less ingredients the better, less foods to cause acid reflux, the Kcals are 337 per cup, protein-24, fat-14%, Carbs-39% or there’s 4Health Mature 7+ the fat-10%, Protein-20% fiber 3% Kcals-320% per/cup but carbs are 49% & it has more ingredients then the 4Health Turkey & Potatoes..
Good luck, keep a diary, so you can look back what & when he ate ?? & what meds were given, keep us up to date what’s happening…

[Sharon D]

Hi! I’m a retired scientist (biology/ecology) and I’m interested in this topic because my 8 year old Chihuahua, Poncho, has been diagnosed with chronic pancreatitis and we’ve started him on a low-fat diet, Royal Canin Gastrointestinal, low fat canned and kibble, the only brand my vet carries for this. Like some of you, I was also not happy with the ingredients with “animal bi-products” high on the list, but was going to use the product until I could find a better one. Then I saw comments by some of you about increased urination and I cancelled the order I placed today for monthly repeat delivery of a a 24-can case from Pet360.com (great prices!) so I could research this a little more. Even in the two days I’ve had Poncho and his brother, Tank, on this food, I think I’ve noticed them peeing more, too. Then, in thinking about the issue a bit I have this question for you:

Have you noticed an increase in water INTAKE?

It occurred to me that the explanation may be as simple as “this food makes them more thirsty than other, “regular” foods”. This makes sense to me when I think about the thick, gummy consistency of the canned food. With less protein and fat than regular foods, this food is like eating a dry piece of very dense bread. It’s a thought! It would be a nice benign explanation that could put our minds at rest about it. Maybe we can all watch water intake and see if there’s a noticeable increase… Anyway, there is still the food quality issue with its ingredients, so I think I’ll continue to look for an alternative. I’ll be keeping an eye on this thread for your ideas and suggestions about this dog food, too. Thanks for being here! 🙂

[Linda W]

I am going crazy going through dog food websites looking for a good quality low protein, low fat, low phosphorus diet for my miniature schnauzer.

As a breed, miniature schnauzers need a low fat food because they do not digest fat well – my rule of thumb has always been <15% fat.

Now I need a low protein and low phosphorus diet as well as she has recently been diagnosed with renal disease. The canned prescription renal diets have too much fat for miniature schnauzers – I do not want to throw her into pancreatitis and quite frankly, she will not eat the canned renal diet without me force feeding her – that is not a long term solution as it breaks my heart when she sees me coming with her food dish and runs away. It seems like all of the renal diets compensate for low protein by increasing fat and for miniature schnauzers that just doesn’t work – the dry food I looked at had brewers rice as first ingredient and chicken fat as the second and was above my rule of thumb for fat at 16%.

I am hoping that someone can point me in the direction of a good quality low protein, low fat, low phosphorus diet. It is clear that she prefers kibble as she will by-pass a bowl of wet dog food and eat the kibble next to it.