[Stacy L]

Hi, all. I have a 15 1/2 YO schnauzer/staffie mix who was diagnosed with chronic pancreatitis three years ago (snap test plus lipase/amylase testing). Once we got her off the food we were feeding her (I think it was Eukanuba…so long ago I can’t remember) and put her on the Royal Canin prescription food, the vomiting stopped. As a matter of fact, the vomiting was the only “symptom” she ever had. Over the last three years, her amylase/lipase levels have gone up and up and up and finally this past November, my vet recommended putting her on Atopica as A&M was checking into its usage for pancreatitis. I said no way, my old girl isn’t a guinea pig, and decided to figure out if there was anything else I could do. I found Mercola’s digestive enzymes for dogs and started her on those a couple of days later. We ran her blood work two weeks ago and her amylase had dropped from 2344 to 648 (normal!) and lipase from 3231 to 1063 (elevated, but still WAY lower). My vet is skeptical the enzymes did anything (of course), but I’m sold.

Daisy has been completely asymptomatic for three years. If she’s in pain, she hides it incredibly well. She’s ridiculously active for a geriatric dog (still walks a mile a day, plays with her younger poodle sister), can see and hear, and her only real physical problem is really weak hind legs. She can’t even jump up on the couch anymore.

Having said that – I want to get her off the RC food. Why, you may ask, if it’s working? Because it’s full of crap. I cringe when I look at the ingredients, and I’m now learning that the paltry protein values are actually not good for her. So my question is…does anyone know of a good alternative? I’m looking for something lower fat, but higher protein. I fear my old girl is getting so skinny because she isn’t getting much into her to keep her from getting skinny.

Any recommendations would be appreciated…thanks!

[Susan]

Im going thru this at the moment with my boy, looking for a good food for Pancreatitis, my vet told me just give him boiled chicken breast for 1 month, just chicken doesnt seem to fill my boy up & Im still giving him his Eukanuba Intestinal kibble for his dinner but then Patch has his pain after the kibble, May I ask what are Paltry Proteins??? as Im trying to learn everything on Dog Pancreatitis.. Ive read low fat, low fiber & low protein then Ive read a low fat & high protein diet…The vet showed me the R/C Low Fat & the Hills Z/D Ultra, does the R/C Low Fat Kibble break up easy or is it a real hard kibble, Ive tried the R/C Low Fat tins when my boy was real ill last yr, but his poos were too sloppy.

[Susan]

I forgot to write the food Im going to try, Ive looked & looked for a low fat & low fiber & found this one ‘Holistic Select Senior Health’ Chicken Meal & Rice the fat is only -10% the fiber-3.50% & the protein-26% see my boy isnt use to a high protein being on the Eukanuba Intestinal it’s only 23% so going to 26% I’ll see if he can handle it slowing plus Ive bought the Holistic Select Duck Meal before & its not a hard kibble it digest easily.. I always boil the jug, I put boiling water in half a glass & drop a kibble in for 40sec then pull out put kibble inbetween 2 spoons & try to crush it, if it crushes easily I know it will be good for my boy to digest if I have to really apply pressure to crush a kibble I take the bag of kibble back to Pet Barn, its too hard for my dog.. Before I knew a little about kibbles my dog was on the R/C Hypoallergenic & Sensitivity control they were hard kibbles thats when my poor dog started having all his stomach problems & vomiting now the vet say Pancreatitis..The only thing Im worried about this Kibble is for dogs over 7 yrs old, my boy is only 5yrs old 6 in November & it has 750mg/kg Glucosamine… I dont know if that matters the Duck Meal & other Flavours Lamb etc the Glucosamine is 340mg/kg..

• This reply was modified 10 years, 8 months ago by Susan.

[mountainhound]

which RC formula are you feeding? I would look at the guaranteed analysis to see what % of fat, fiber, etc you’re required to stay under, then look for a comparable alternative. For example Honest Kitchen Verve is only 9% fat, 23% protein and 5.8% fiber. Or you could do something like KH preference (for fiber) mixed in with a good quality grain free canned food for reduced protein/fat content.

[Stacy L]

I’m using the Royal Canin lowfat GI food – ridiculously low fat only 5%. There’s nothing on the commercial market that even comes close. I switched her to Wellness Core Weight Management to see if she could tolerate a little higher fat and also add in a bit more protein, six weeks later her triglycerides were up and her pancreatic enzyme levels had also gone back up. So, back to the drawing board.

I hate the idea of putting her on canned food because she’s a schnauzer and canned food makes a huge mess on her doggie beard, but I guess that may be a way I need to go.

Thanks all.

Oh – “paltry protein” means “small amounts of protein”. I didn’t like having so many carbs going through my girl in relation to protein.

[Brian S]

Hi there,
I have a 10 year old Staffordshire that was having recurring diarrhea. After her Xray showed up nothing and blood work showed calcium and protein deficiency plus raised white blood cells ,we knew there was a pretty major problem absorbing nutrients in her digestive tract,she had also lost a lot of weight.Without surgery and a biopsy ($1400 +) there was no way to know for certain but the vet thought it could be anything from pancreatitis to cancer.Ultimatelyshe was treated with anti-parasites and antibiotics to rule out those as a cause and then a course of steroids to reduce inflammation. The only food she could eat without getting diarrhea was Royal Canin gastro intestinal which of course is ridiculously expensive and here in Canada at least is only sold by vets. After much research I found that it wasnt because this was so low in fat that she could tolerate it but in fact because of the addition of a naturally occuring compound called Zeolite which Royal Canin add to the food. It is listed on their ingredients as Sodium aluminate silica. It works as a powerful anti-diarrheal and has also been tested with some success as an anti carcinogenic (http://www.researchgate.net/publication/11905741_Natural_zeolite_clinoptilolite_new_adjuvant_in_anticancer_therapy). The only other non-prescription dog foods that I can find that contain it are Royal Canin Sensitive digestion and Derma comfort which are available in pet stores.These are more affordable than the gastrointestinal one and do have higher fat and protein levels. You can also buy Zeolite as a food supplement online and that will be my next step.

[TheNaturalDog]

Earthborn Weight Control GF is 25% protein, 7% fat.
Solid Gold Holistique Blendz is 18% protein, 6% fat.

[Susan]

Hi brain be careful with the Earthborn Weight Control, I looked at it the other day, the fiber was 9% fiber, see when it’s a weight loss kibble the fat% is lower but they put more fiber so the dog stays fuller for longer, I’m pretty sure the fiber in the Royal Canine gastro low fat, is only 1.70% like the Eukanuba Intestinal….Can you get the Eukanuba Intestinal, not the Intestinal Plus, just the Intestinal…. Its a low residue kibble, it breaks down real easy, so easy to digest, the fiber is low at 1.70% the same as the R/C gastro, low fat & the fat is 10% fat, its cheaper then Royal Canine in Australia & the ingredients are better….when looking for another food always try & stay around the same % fat fiber & protein as the Vet diet kibble that shes doing good on, that way you will have less problems also have you tried an enzyme to help with the digestion & to harden the poos, a few ladies from a Face Book group called “Dogs With Inflammatory Bowel Disorder”
https://www.facebook.com/groups/11164787803/10152840949182804/?notif_t=group_comment_reply
use enzymes & their dogs are doing nice firm poos now, just remember if you start the enzymes, start the new food first see how she’s doing on the new food then add enzymes if poo soft or sloppy diarrhea, if you can stay with just one diet as changing & rotating doesn’t work with dogs with IBD can make everything worse & flares start to happening…theres a few good commercial foods on the F/B site in the files, the lady Heather that runs the group is also from Canada….

[Elaine]

Hi Everyone,
Don’t know if I’m in the right forum here ’cause my 5 yr old Golden has not been diagnosed with pancreatitis.
The diagnosis is a vague “gastritis.” He has always had occasional bouts of regurgitating a clear slimy liquid sometimes including a little undigested kibble if he had just eaten. Eventually, I switched to a grain free kibble and there was a significantly less regurgitation for about a year. In December, he had an episode of extreme lethargy, listlessness, wasn’t inerested in food or anything else. The vet examined him but couldn’t find anything. The bloodwork came back normal for everything tested. The vet gave us famotidine, an antacid. In 24 hrs he was back to normal. Last week, he had a 2nd episode of the lethargy but this time he did want to eat. His stools were normal. The episode lasted 2 days. Again, the antacid improved things but he is still doing a little burping from time to time.
The vet wants to put him on the Royal Canin low fat GI. He needs to lose 15 lbs. Right now he eats Blue Wilderness Natural Evolutionary Diet – chicken recipe. He gets approx. 3.5 cups a day divided into 4 small meals.
The RC low fat GI gets such a low rating. I need a highly rated low fat diet that is good for dogs with gastritis.
Appreciate any advice.

[Susan]

Hi Elaine, there’s the Honest kitchen ZEAL http://www.thehonestkitchen.com/dog-food/zeal the fat is 8.5% a friend is feeding the Zeal & her dog is doing really well now, wet food is better then kibbles, as kibbles are harder to digest & can cause more acid reflux, I use liquid Mylanta 3ml in a syringe when Patch has his episodes, the Mylanta seems to work quicker & better for Patch ..Patch was put on Zantac 1 hour before food every 12 hours…you can always feed the R/C low fat GI for 3 months till he loses his weight then start feeding another food just until his Pancreas settles down….What was he eating last week when he has another episode?? maybe stop feeding it… is it high in protein, sometimes dog cant handle high protein diets, there’s a group on Yahoo called “Dogpancreatitis” they may also help

[Elaine]

Susan,
Thanks for the info and link! It would be helpful to me if you or anyone else could tell me what percentages of protein, fat, etc., that I should be looking for with a diagnosis of “gastritis” which is pretty vague. Am I really dealing with a mild pancreatitis? The vet really seems to think his weight is the problem and thinks he’ll do much better when he loses 15 lbs. (I can agree to the 15 lbs but this dog is nowhere close to being fat.) She has recommended a GI diet (Royal Canin low fat GI) but I’d like to find a better low fat GI than RC. Will check out Dogpancreatitis. Thanks again.

[Brian S]

Thanks Susan,
You were right about the fibre,after a few days we were back to square one after trying the other RC foods that had almost the same ingredients and fat levels but higher fibre ,but at least we’ve learned that much.it needs to be low fat and low fibre and preferably contain zeolites aswell.We’ve tried another low fat ,low fibre food with almost the exactly same ingredients as the RC gastro intestinal but different ingredients to no avail.We just had bloodwork for TLI,PLi,cobalamin and folate done ss that should tell us whether we’re dealing with a pancreas related issue like EPI hopefully and if enzyme supplementation might help.Interesting that I’m the 3rd person in this specific discussion about the RC gastro intestinal food that has a Staffordshire or Staffy x,wonder if thats a factor.I’ll have a look to see if I can find the Eukanuba one you mentioned.

• This reply was modified 9 years, 7 months ago by Brian S.

[Joni h]

Hi Brian, I’m just wondering what you ended up going with? Did the RC Sensitive digestion or Derma contact work out? And/or did you order the Zeolite supplement?
I have a 3 year old boxer with Pancreatitis history (the whole 1st year and half of her life!!)
The vet put her on the RC LF Gastro- which did work- but it’s SOOOO expensive!!! And I didn’t like the ingredients, plus she was super skinny on it. I’m in Canada too. I put her on raw which worked like a charm, but she lost interest in it recently, plus I’m concerned about salmonella etc.. So I have had her on RC Boxer kibble for about the last year, but my vet thinks it’s only a matter of time before she has another attack. I can’t bear to see her go through that again! We almost lost her a couple of times!! But I just don’t like the ingredient profile of the LF Gastro- despite my vets assurance it has very high quality of minerals and vitamins etc, which is apparently the whole point of the food- NOT the actual “food” (protein, fibre etc). So I’m wondering if the Zeolite is the main ingredient that will be key for her.

[Shawnna G]

I have my boy on Annamaet lean formula with some enzymes. My vet also put him on milk thistle.

His pancreas issues may be 2nd to his epilepsy and medicine for that.

[Linda C]

I have been feeding my dogs a home-cooked diet. My 10-year-old Doxie-poo was diagnosed with pancreatitis. After experimenting with many commercial foods, I found that most upset his tummy or bowels and the vet suggested RC GI low-fat. He’s adjusted to this food without a problem, thankfully.

However, after being on this food for 2 to 3 weeks,he has started peeing in the house. I seem to recall this happening with one of my dogs in the past, after a switch to a new food. In this case, who knows, maybe it’s a coincidence, but I’m going to him switch to something else, so I’ve been interested in this thread. Has anyone ever had an issue like this before? That is, the peeing after starting a new food ( in particular RC G.I. low-fat)?

• This reply was modified 8 years, 1 month ago by Linda C.
• This reply was modified 8 years, 1 month ago by Linda C. Reason: additional info
• This reply was modified 8 years, 1 month ago by Linda C.

[anonymous]

I suspect that urinating in the house has nothing to do with the dog’s diet. As a senior he is vulnerable to all sorts of things, such as UTIs, struvite (urinalysis will rule out), bladder stones (ultrasound will rule out).
So, I think a call/visit to the vet is in order. I wouldn’t change his food from what a veterinarian that has examined him has recommended. Pancreatitis is a serious condition.

PS: I would see if you can collect a urine sample to take to the vet. A empty prescription pill bottle (clean) will do. You only need a small amount.

[Linda C]

To follow up on my dog peeing in the house after being on RC gastrointestinal low-fat: I took him off it and immediately he stopped peeing in the house. I have slowly transitioned him back onto it, and sure enough after being on strictly this food for two weeks he has started peeing in the house again (it was exactly 2 weeks last time also). That seems to me to be more than a coincidence. I’ve just switched to a new vet and I’ll take him in for full tests. PS : The other dog just started transitioning onto it, as well… She’s about half old food and half RC. I believe she Peed in the house today 🙁

[Susan]

Hi, my boy was on a vet diet I think the Royal Canin Hypoallergenic HP & he was wanting to go outside to pee more then his usual amounts of peeing thru the day & night, I’d STOP feeding any Royal Canin products..There must be something in the Royal Canin wet that’s making them wee more, if you have to feed a vet diet have you looked at the Hills prescription I/d Retsore Low Fat wet tin, the fat & is around the same fat % as the Royal Canin Low Fat Intestinal & the ingredients seem better in the Hills.. Hills is starting to improve their formulas FINALLY…

[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! 🙂

[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 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..

[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

[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?

[anonymous]

Stop listening to strangers on the internet and people that work at pet supply stores that may or may not have medical training/expertise.
Take your dog back to the vet for a quick exam and go by his recommendations.
You may find this site helpful: http://skeptvet.com/Blog/2016/07/more-nonsense-from-holistic-vets-about-commercial-therapeutic-diets/

This is not veterinary advise; consult your veterinarian.

[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]

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.

[Stacy L]

This post seems to be getting active again, so I thought I’d follow up and let y’all know what I ended up doing with our sweet Daisy. We lost her in January of 2015, but for her last few months we fed her Honest Kitchen Preference with cooked, ground turkey mixed in. This was the lowest-fat but highest-protein concoction I could come up with. She LOVED it. Didn’t end up really gaining any weight, but she ate and that was all I could ask for at that point in time.

It was expensive and time-consuming, but when I remember how excited Daisy used to get when I was cooking up the ground turkey (I’d rinse it to get rid of any residual fat), I’d do it all again in a heartbeat. We actually kept our other dog Callie (mini poodle, 6 1/2 yo now) on the Honest Kitchen food and when we added our newest dog Tess (terrier mix, 2 1/2 yo) to the family a couple years ago started her in it as well. We have no complaints about any of their products, and I love that it’s real food.

• This reply was modified 7 years, 5 months ago by Stacy L.

[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%

[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..

[a c]

Thank you for your replies and suggestions. I am so new on this topic.

I will feed her Science Diet ID cans until her stools return to the normal. Then I will decide whether to continue with Science Diet ID, Purina EN, Purina One Smartblend Healthy Weight, or something else.

I also heard that can food are more gentle on the digestion. Is this true? Do I have to worry about bpa on can food?

The reason that I have started to switch her to better dog food and raw diet is because my boy, a 10 years old miniature schnauzer passed away with Lymphoma a few months ago. He didn’t have any symptoms until early January. Our regular vet thought he has hurt his disc and put him on prednisone. In end of January, he was diagnosed with Lymphoma by ER vet and oncologist. He was on chemotherapy, but passed away within 2 months.

I don’t know if dog food have anything to do with Lymphoma, but I started to read more about dog food. The more I read, the more scared I am. I don’t know what to feed them.

[anonymous]

Cancer tends to be genetic, some cancers such as hemangiosarcoma strike between 8 and 10 years of age. Often, by the time they show symptoms, it is too late.

Some dogs do better on canned food (especially seniors). You can presoak kibble in the fridg overnight, also, adding a splash of water is a good idea, a lot of dogs don’t drink enough water.

This is not veterinary advice; consult your veterinarian.

[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%….

[a c]

So my girl has been on Science Diet ID low fat rice, vegetable and chicken stew can food since Wednesday night. I haven’t noticed whether she has pooped since that episode of yellow, greasy, and muddy stool early Wednesday afternoon. We have a big backyard, a doggy door, and multiple dogs, so it hard to tell whether she did or didn’t.

I started to walk her at least once a day for about 3 months. Until a week ago, she usually will do her business during the walk. Not in past few days.

She is never big on drinking water. I put some pumpkin and extra water with her food last night and this morning. I also try to syringe feed her some water. I don’t know if she is constipated or something else is going on.

[anonymous]

If she is recovering from an episode of loose stools/diarrhea it could take up to 72 hours for her bowel movements to return to normal. This is not unusual. Continue adding water to her meals, I’d skip the pumpkin (yuck).

This is not veterinary advice; consult your veterinarian.

[Susan]

Hi Ann,
yes start adding 1 spoon of the Pumkin with each meal, Pumkin makes my boy go to the toilet but sometimes boiled pumkin can firm a dog poos, it all depends on the dog…
The Hills I/D vet diet may be constipating her as it has beet Pulp & ingredients to firm up poo’s…One of my posts above I have posted premium wet tin foods at the bottom of my post that are low in fat & not a vet diet…When they eat wet food they get moisture/water heaps more then when eating a dry kibble….
Start a routine with walks same time everyday, it’s best to walk after she eats a meal, dogs normally poos after they eat, so you can see her poos & see are they too hard or too soft…. also running is good it moves the bowel, does she like to chase a ball?
If the pumkin doesn’t work & she still hasn’t done a poo, I’d stop the Hills I/d wet & feed something else that’s low in fat that she has eaten before & you know she does go to toilet….but I wouldn’t fed a dry kibble yet it may constipate her more….

[a c]

After 6 days of Science Diet I/D can food, her poos are back to soft but firm. Thank goodness. I have been adding some water and small amount of either pumpkin, zucchini, or blue berries with the food. Now is the hard part. What kibble or wet food should I transition her to? She is never a big eater. But I am not very thrill about Science Diet I/D can for long term usage.

I have offered her some low fat cottage cheese and yogurt for snack before last week. I don’t know if it has anything to do with the diarrhea. Should I continue? I also have been adding a pump of fish oil into her food. That has also been stop due to the greasy stool. I like to restart on that because fish oils are good fat. I also try to offer her some apple yesterday. No luck.

I feed her three times a day. 730pm, 1pm, and 7pm. We do our daily walk at 8am and 8pm. It’s funny that she will be waiting at the door around that time. We do have a big fenced yard that she has free access through the doggy door. It seems like she does enjoy the walk though.

[a c]

I am in process of slowly transition her to Purina Smartblend Weight Management kibbles( this is my vet’s suggestion). Currently is 50/50. I presoaked the kibbles. I also add some fresh zucchini, squash, blueberries, and add additional water to the mixture. She also gets 1tsp cottage cheese and 2 slices of Apple for snack.

However, it seems like her stool is little on the hard side. What can I do to make it little softer?

[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 7 years, 4 months ago by anonymous.

[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 also add some fresh zucchini, squash, blueberries, and add additional water to the mixture. She also gets 1tsp cottage cheese and 2 slices of Apple for snack.”

I just wanted to add, I would suggest taking it easy with the additions (except water).
Sometimes less is more. Keep her diet as simple as possible.
I am so glad that you are working closely with your vet, your dog sounds like she is doing very well 🙂

[LISA P]

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

[Susan]

Hi LISA P,
this post is long, it’s too hard explaining everything in just 1-2 paragraph post, start feeding a diet that has just 1 protein & limited ingredients, less ingredients are best while you work out what foods are causing the bad gas & bloating, sounds like your boy might have IBS or IBD being 7 yrs old it’s probably IBD, you need to see a vet that specializes in IBD, the only true way to diagnosed IBD is biopsies either thru Endoscope or cut him open, I will not let Patches knife happy vet cut my Patch open, 2014 vet did Endoscope thru the throat
& biopsies, if the pyloric sphincter flap from the stomach to the small bowel is open they can go thru into the small bowel & get a biopsies as well, you need the biopsies cause Patches stomach looked excellent then the biopsies results came back he has Helicobacter-Pylori & IBD but I don’t know what type of IBD the results said he need further investigation, even if I knew what type of IBD I asked my vet, would you do anything different in medications? she said no we’ll just have a name of the type of IBD he has…
Patch was getting the rumbling & grumbling bowel noises early hours of a morning when I first rescued him, we found out he has food intolerances to certain foods, this is what your boy probably has too food sensitivities, most vet diets for Intestinal stress have the foods Patch can’t eat, I have found kibbles & cooked meals that have sweet potato, egg, potato & a little bit of peas work the best for Intestinal stress, stay away from fermentable carbohydrates, ingredients that ferment in the stomach & bowel like rice, barley, oats, beet pulp, soybeans, legumes, no ingredients that are hard to digest like Chick Peas, lentils they can cause wind/gas…
The Ziwi Peak he ate was it the wet or air dry Ziwi Peak cause Ziwi Peak have changed their formula’s & have added chickpeas to the wet tin formula’s.

The vet would have prescribed your boy Metronidazole, was he better while taking the Metronidazole?? sometimes dogs are kept on a low dose of Metronidazole it stops the bad bacteria from taking over stomach bowel & has anti inflammatory properties that helps with any inflammation of the stomach & bowel, Patches vet writes out a repeat script of the Metronidazole I can take to a chemist & take out & when I noticed Patch doing smelly farts, whinging & wanting me to rub stomach & Pancreas area & or starts doing sloppy poos for 2 days straight & start him on the Metronidazole for 10-14 days straight away before he has a IBD flare & gets real bad….

Have you looked at cooking his meals or I feed kibble for some of his meals & cooked meals for the other meals, Patch eats 5 smaller meals a day this has helped heaps when his stomach & Pancreas isn’t working properly its easier to digest smaller meals then to digest 2 bigger meals….Patch was the same pain in the Pancreas stomach area blood test say Pancreas was OK even ultra scan said the pancreas looks good, so his vet said it’s his IBD & I put him back on the Metronidazole again & it seems to help him & I feed his TOTW Sierra Mountain Roasted Lamb kibble & don’t give anything else cause I know the TOTW kibble is very easy to digest…

Have a look at “Canidae” Pure Meadow Senior the fat is low at 10.8% max, I’ve emailed Canidae to find out the max fat %, the protein is 28%, it has limited ingredients, but cause it has chicken Patch gets his red paws then starts getting itchy cause he’s sensitive to chicken but he did really well when on the Canidae just wish they didn’t use the chicken & I feed “Taste Of the Wild” Sierra Mountain, Roasted Lamb kibble it just has 1 protein Lamb & has limited ingredients, sweet potatoes, egg, potato & peas & I was feeding the Hills I/d Chicken & Vegetable Stew but then I realized the new formula has beet pulp & Patch didn’t really want to eat it no more, he had his red, I was taken out the rice & carrots, he can’t eat boiled rice it irritates his bowel causing sloppy poo’s….
I have found when Patch gets a rumbling grumbling bowel I give him 1 teaspoon – 5ml of liquid Mylanta that I keep in the fridge, when the Mylanta is cold it soothes the throat & stomach & it stops the gas rumbling thru the bowel also dry toast only use white bread the toast helps relieve the grumbling bowel & Patch finally goes to sleep, but since I’ve worked out what foods he’s sensitive too he hasn’t had his rumbling bowel…
Your best to do a cooked elimination diet, add 1 new ingredient every 6 weeks & see does he react to that ingredient & get bad wind pain & bloat up, it can take 1 day to 6 weeks to react to an ingredient in a kibble or wet tin cooked food or feed a vet diet like the Hills D/D Venison & Potatoes as long as you know your boy is OK with venison & potato, the D/D has just potato & venison, it has no beet pulp, no peas, no soy protein, it’s grain free, gluten free & high in omega 3 fatty acids what’s needed for the stomach & bowel to heal, Patch does OK when he eats the D/D Venison formula, I rotate between the TOTW Lamb breakfast & the D/D Venison for lunch then TOTW for his 2 dinners, When a dog eats the same diet for years & years then sometimes they start to react to 1 or 2 ingredients this is why I always tell people to rotate between different brand kibbles with different proteins & add cooked fresh ingredients to your dogs diet…Vet diets are good to get the dog stable then you start to work out a new diet for your dog……
Is he doing real well on the Vet diet he’s eating at the moment which formula is it?? Patch hasn’t done well on any of the Hills I/d vet diets, he did Ok on the I/d Digestive Care kibble & the I’d Chicken & vegetable stew wet tin but after 1 week eating the I/d kibble his poos when sloppy & he started getting gas & bad farts then he started to itch, the Hills D/D Venison + potato is the first vet diet he’s doing OK on & it helps with his skin allergies no red paws & also helps with his IBD, it’s also lower in protein-19% the fat is 16% its does cause some acid reflux sometimes so I feed the TOTW for all the other meals for that day & only a small meal of the D/D venison for lunch he really likes it….

Here’s “Balance It” site, https://secure.balanceit.com/ there are recipes on this site & then you add the Balance it powder to balance the meals also have you tried giving a probiotic? Purina Forti Floria is suppose to be a good dog probiotic & when it was tested it had live bacteria & made it on the best 10 dogs probiotic list, I give Patch some of my Yakult probiotic drink, also only change or add 1 thing at a time in a week in his diet so if he gets pain, gas bloating diarrhea you know what caused the problem if you start a few things at once & he reacts you wont know what caused what….

Your boy is only 7 yrs old, he’ll bounce back, start to read the signs & rub his stomach & bowel area & help push out any of the wind he might have my boy is very vocal & tells me straight away when something is wrong, his vet said she has never seen a dog that can understand everything we are saying & talks back…. Hopefully in 1 yr you’ll have his diet all worked out & know what he can & can’t eat & he’ll be doing real well once you work out his diet also be careful with treats, Canidae make healthy biscuit treats limited ingredients, the Canidae Pure Meadow Senior kibble is on page 3 ….just remember when introducing any new formula’s do it very slowly over 12-15 days so he doesn’t get any gas wind pain…
https://www.canidae.com/dog-food/products

[MIRJANA V]

Hi Lisa!,
I’m so glad to have seen your post and all these others above. I have a 10 year old adopted yorkie-poo who in the last year or so started having bouts of loose stools every few months. Last month was the worst it’s ever been so much blood and vomiting we had to rush her to the ER where they admitted her overnight on fluids and antibiotics. They diagnosed her with HGE after all her blood work came back normal we had to do 10 days of antibiotics which confused me as to what exactly we were treating since HGE from what I read didn’t seem like it was a bacterial or parasitic infection . It happened again exactly 30 days later this time minus the vomiting and blood jut loose stool. We took her to our regular vet which was on vacation and had a fill in there for her. I brought everything that my Tilly girl eats which has strictly been Ziwipeak air dried since 2013. She suggested that we switch her food do Royal Canin lowfat GI or Hills Science Diet low fat GI. Both foods to me don’t sit well to me because of their ingredients but her stomach is doing better. I’m starting to wonder if this is all happening now because Ziwipeak recently changed their recipes I believe they stated they only omitted items streamlining the ingredients but I am no really sure. Or is this a case of Tilly just getting older an in fact this food being too high in fat/protein for her? I am inclined to reach out to Ziwi to speak to someone and research this a little more. I have been really happy with their product and she was doing so well on it for so many years I find it hard to switch her to crappy ingredients but if it will help whatever is happening I guess I have to I am hoping to find another brand that has better ingredients than RC or HSD. If anyone has any suggestions or insight to this please share!

[Susan]

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

[MIRJANA V]

hi Susan!
Thank you so much for the reply! I am in NYC. Yes she had a script for Metr but I took her off it as soon as she got better I’m really not into pumping her up full of chemicals and teh vet said as soon as he stools clear up take her off it. She has been on ziwi for 4 years now so am confused as to why all of a sudden it would be a problem. I love their ingredients (air dried) and love that it’s grain free no fillers and crap like some others on the Market that’s why I’m so hesitant to keep her on Royal Canin just reading the ingredient list makes me so upset it’s full of unhealthy unnecessary fillers and on top of that she started itching like crazy another reason I switched her to a premium food like Ziwi to begin with. So although her stomach and stools are better nw she has other symptoms of almost food-like allergy is best I can describe with the itching. I just want her to be healthy and especially since she’s older now. She get’s so much exercise I have a dog walking service here in NYC and she can still crush 15 miles a day with me no problem so very active still I just want to make sure what I’m putting in her body is doing her good and not harm and I don’t think Royal Canin is that product that I can trust.

[MIRJANA V]

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

[Susan]

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

[shirley j]

Hi my dog is an 8 year old shih tzu and has experienced pancreatitis. I changed her diet to boiled chicken daily. Also give her Purina ProPlan Savor Adult shredded blend chicken & rice formula. They have two like this. I get the Adult without the number of years on the label.
I soften the food by adding warm water and mixing. He loves it and he is a very finicky eater! It seems to work for him. Every now and then he bows down in the prayer position and I rub his tummy. His pain is NOTHING like it was before.

Hope this helps

• This reply was modified 7 years ago by shirley j.

[Kay K]

My Silky-Chon (Silky terrier and Bichon) all of a sudden started pee-ing in the house, just randomly. Even while she was sleeping! We thought maybe because I got a full time job and my daughter went a way to college she way to college she was having anxiety or something. So the vet did some blood work. 2 times… He found that she had too much fat in her blood. So he wanted to switch her food to the Royal Canin Veterinary Diet Gastrointestinal Low Fat Canned Dog Food mixed with the dry also. She is a very picky eater. But she LOVES this stuff. The wet more than the dry of course. Like instantly within.. a week. No more pee spots!! I thought it was weird but it worked for her. But reading some of the other posts.. this seems like it should not be the case, should I be worried about something else?

[Dee D]

I have a 12 yr old male chihuahua with pancreatitis with severe pain and loss of weight and additionally he also has a problem with leaking urine. I really hope when I get the pancreatitis under control permanently, this issue will go away too like member Kay stated she experienced. I have him currently on the Hills I/D low fat maintenance the Vet had on hand but I am questioning whether my dog will get enough protein in his diet and being this should be the major part of a canines diet, it worries me because that supports their muscle mass. I did the DM calculation for this canned food (stated 5%) to determine the DM protein percentage and it’s only 22% DM plus the first 2 ingredients are water and rice including Cellulose which can be saw dust. It does have an egg and liver organs it in but I hardly think this is quality RX food for a sick animal at the high price they command. Very despairing how the world works. I’ve looked at the brand Wellness Core Grain free which has 5% min crude fat on the can (15% DM which is consider medium amount) but has 11% stated protein (50% DM) now that’s more like it and the source ingredients read high quality including Omega 3 which is great for inflammation. Still not cheap but at least you’re getting something for your money. This maybe to much fat during an initial attack but long term I like it much better for my dog. I also have wondered like an earlier member posted, if supplementing digestive Enzymes would help since pancreatitis by nature means the enzymes produced are not processing correctly to the intestines to digest and absorb the nutrients from the food as it is broken down so it just goes through their GI tract out the other end and this could contribute to over all poor health and lost weight. FYI, Enzymes should be given with food to work for this purpose. My vet is saying no too. I have learned eggs are the #1 excellent source of protein at 100% but for my dog I will remove the yolk and just give him the white portion which has no fat content but better to add cooked to avoid possible Somalia. I just gave my dog a a little of the white of a hard boiled egg and he loved it and I just bought a dog digestive enzyme supplement, so wish me luck!

[Author]

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