[greygirl]

Hi everyone,

New to the forum and just have a question. I have an 11 year old Greyhound who had a very serious bout of Pancreatits this past December. How she survived, I don't know. As a result, we put her on the Medical Gastro formula. It's not a food I'd ordinarily keep my dog on, I'm not fond of the ingredients and how her coat looks as a result. The problem is, it's 8% fat and I am so scared to put her on anything else.
Does anyone know what an acceptable range of fat content is for dogs living with Pancreatitis? I've found another food that I'd rather feed her, but it's 10% fat content. Any suggestions?

 

[RawFedDogs]

Put her on a prey model raw diet. She will be fine.

 

[MyGirls]

Pancreatitis

I have a miniature schnauzer age 2 that just had an acute pancreatitis attack about a month ago. The lab test for pancreatitis (cPL) has a normal range of <or= 200, and >or= 400 if positive for pancreatitis. Her level was greater than 1000. Since high triglycerides can cause pancreatitis she had her lipids checked. Her triglycerides were 4022 (normal 20-150) and cholesterol 586 (normal 112-328 with the lab used). We had her on Exclusive by PMI at 15% fat and changed her to Exclusive Reduced Fat at 11% immediately after this. I have been researching food recently and switched her to Blue Buffalo Weight Control at 6% fat one week ago. I have also started making her treats from Blue Buffalo canned food so that I can further watch any fat and sugar content. Some of her treats had sugar and caramel color. She has been doing very well since changing her to Blue Buffalo-more energy than ever! She gets repeat blood work done in 2 months and hopefully it comes down. I hope this may be of some help to you.

 

[carolspets]

My dog had this problem, plus a number of other health issues. And, I agree...a coat without the correct fat is an unhealthy coat. I started using a semi raw diet, raw chicken twice or three times a week. And, I used a lower fat commercial diet...I actually use a couple of them, including Blue, which I like a lot. I would not use a prescription diet like Hills.

But the thing that made the most difference was when I added Dinovite to the mix. It has kept the pancreatitis under control for the past 4+ years! And, my dog had so much trouble keeping weight on but is at a great weight now too. I recently started adding salmon oil to the mix and it has made a good change to his coat and skin.

It's a balancing act, but so worth it. The raw chicken is so good for him and it's loaded with good protein but is 70% water so it is easier to digest. And the supplement has digestive enzymes in it to help as well. All in all, I have been thrilled with the progress.

 

[EnglishBullTerriers]

Or... You could just feed a raw diet and go with chicken for longer then most and then test the waters in a couple of months with another meat source!

 

[StellaLucyDesi]

My male dog, Desi, recently had an acute pancreatitis attack. At first, I put him on Natural Balance Reduced Calorie. It has only 6% fat, but also only 16.5% protein! He did fine on it. After he was back to his normal self, I wanted a higher protein for him, but I also wanted to stay in the lower fat range because he needs to lose some weight. So, I decided to go with Wellness CORE Reduced Fat. It also is grain-free and doesn't have all the carbs, like the grain-full low-fat/senior diets. It's 33% protein and 9/10% fat. He's doing good on it so far. I hope this helps. Good luck!

 

[whiteleo]

StellLucyDesi, what were you feeding your dog when he had the attack? I'm glad he's O.K. I had a friend who lost their Golden Ret. to undiagnoised pancreatitis, they were feeding Innova, vegetables and premade raw.

 

[StellaLucyDesi]

Whiteleo, sorry it has taken so long to reply back to you....
Anyway, I was feeding Eagle Pack Holistic Select dry/can....BUT, Desi is a "garbage monger"! Right before the attack, he had gotten into the cats Orijen AND into the garbage and had eaten the bristles off an old toothbrush that was in the garbage. So, it really wasn't the EPHS at all. But again, after his attack, I decided to go grain-free and a lower fat content. He's doing fine!