[Annie J]

So glad she’s liking the digestive formula! They can be punks about not getting what they want sometimes. It’s sooo tough because they give you those puppy dog eyes!! I have the same exact problem because I feel guilty eating in front of my girls but vet bills and their health aren’t worth it (as I initially found out the hard way when growing up with garbage gut dogs). Once the panc has chilled out maybe your vet would be ok with Patchy getting a certain amt of unseasoned carrots or green beans for snacks. we ended up getting low-calorie cheddar bite dog treats from the pet store that they LOVE. Since the dogs are sorta treat restricted around here they actually think their nightly fish oil pill is a treat 😉 Also, sometimes adding a touch of warm water to the food makes it more stewy and “delicious”

good luck!

[Annie J]

Thanks for the sites, Bobby Dog!

re: pumpkin seeds-happen to have a source for this information? there are a multiple parasites that our pets get infected with so I wonder how the pumpkin seeds work and for which parasites they target. Hopefully the source will include a dosing strategy that is paired to the life cycle of the worm(s) (guessing gastrointestinal parasites instead of mites, fleas, ticks, heartworms and in turn the swath of blood-borne bugs from the fleas and ticks). Thanks!

[Annie J]

Good article! There are plenty of board-certified veterinary nutritionists who would be happy to serve you and develop a diet that meets your intentions while ensuring the pup gets the nutritional requirements she needs. I know you have good intentions but this is a critical time in the baby’s life for growth and development of her skeletal, central nervous, and other systems. I can tell you from experience that we’ve had at least 3 young animals come in to our specialty clinic due to malnutrition from online diets that people swore by. the most unfortunate case was actually a 4 month old german shepherd pup who was extremely painful and couldn’t walk. when we took x-rays you couldn’t even count the number of micro-fractures this poor boy had all over his body from months of improper calcium/phosphorus ratio, amongst other nutritional deficiencies. the family members mean well but please at least seek advice from a trained veterinary nutritionist before keeping her on a homemade diet. Raw food harbors numerous microbial agents/pathogens that her immune status may not be able to tolerate at the moment but a nutritionist can also advise about this

[Annie J]

Pancreatitis can be a pretty severe disease and can ultimately end a dog’s life, so now is not the time to experiment. A dog with panc needs to be restricted to a low-fat diet, at least until the pancreatitis has resolved. If Patchy doesn’t like canned food then try the dry versions of the low-fat diets (Hill’s I/D low-fat, GI low fat Royal Canin, Purina EN, etc). Pancreatitis can be the primary problem from dietary indiscretion (“garbage gut”, table scraps, bacon, etc) or secondary to another disease so if it’s not from her eating weird things then resolve the panc first then have her reassessed. Definitely avoid raw food, at least until her panc is taken care of- there are a plethora of pathogens in raw diets so don’t give her body anything else to fight off at this point in time. If you want to do raw in the future just make sure it is “AAFCO” approved on the label and sear the raw meat for a few secs before giving it (studies show it reduces the infectious bugs considerably). This certainly wouldn’t take care of toxo or parasites, just enteric bacteria. My friend’s dog got incredibly sick while eating raw food and when she was hospitalized they had to keep her in isolation (addtl $$$$$) until her antibiotic treatment was long enough for her to stop shedding salmonella. Cod liver oil in the future is a good source of omega-3s but is fatty so definitely not for a dog trying to overcome pancreatitis. Digestive enzymes are really only needed if they have a different pancreas-related disease (exocrine pancreatic insufficiency) so if Patchy can make her own enzymes no need to feed her another animal’s. Sounds like your vet provided good advice and since they assessed Patchy’s overall condition I’m sure they’d be happy to give you guidance about how you want to manage her condition 🙂 hang in there Patchy! lay off the fatty foods

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