What to feed dog with pancreatitis

[Rivsky]

My sister's 4 year old border collie was diagnosed with pancreatitis just before Christmas.

Does anyone out there have any suggestions on what "real" food she can feed her other than chicken breasts?

So far her vet has been just about useless saying she needs to food that is less than 5% fat which is fine as long as it comes in a packet - but what about other ideas she can feed? Is whole fresh fish ok for example.

They have of course also given her the prescription Science Diet food but again this isn't something that she necessarily wants to feed her on all the time - particularly given it's ultra expensive and she has to wait for the vet to order it in specifically for her.

[k9hullio_sam]

Mattie the german shepherd has that. She gets fed Royal Canin, but she has to have enzymes added to it before each meal. The vet had her eating Science Diet for a while as well, but her owner had a friend whose dog also had the same problem and told her to switch to save unneccesary expenses.

[calgal]

In Ditcairn's book, NATURAL HEALTH FOR DOGS & CATS, he stresses the dog be put on very lean meats such as turkey and /or giblets, liver (beef, chicken, or turkey), mackerel, most chicken and /or giblets, tuna, heart (beef, chicken, or turkey), lean hamburger, lean chuck, duck, (without skin), rabbit, or various fishes. Other great sources of protein are eggs and he suggests buying the no-hormone, no-drug, free-range eggs often sold in natural food stores. The extra cost is worth it. Be sure to use vitamin E to help prevent pancreatic scarring. (100 to 400 IU, depending on size. For vegetables, emphasize corn (preferably raw) and raw grated cabbage, but include a variety of others as well. Avoid fruits.
Feed small, frequent meals instead of one large one. Offer all food at room temperature for best digestive action. Sometimes adding pancreatic enzymes to each meal will help as well, assisting the digestive process. They can be obtained in health food stores. Use the human products, giving 1/2 capsule to small dogs, up to 2 capsules for the larger dogs.
Use vitamin C and bioflavonoids regularly. Depending on the dog's size give 250 to 1,000 milligrams of vitamin C three times a day, if possible.
Exercise is important because it improves digestion and peristalic movements of the intestinal tract, thus regularizing the bowels and keeping this part of the body preventively more healthy. It also keeps weight under control.

[Kymcole25]

My little man Jagger has this problem. He gets fed boiled chicken, steamed white rice, and sweet potatoes mixed up with his wet food, and then heated. He loves it, and it really helps him feel better. We also use roasted turkey, steamed carrots on occasion to mix things up a little. You can even scramble an egg, and mix it in, that will help keep his enzymes up.

We also have mixture that we call "the white stuff" it helps keep weight on, and can also help keep enzymes up. Let me know if you want the recipe.

[Kymcole25]

I almost forgot, Jag loves the science diet chicken treats. We get them especially for him, since he can't have a regular milkbone without getting deathly sick

[Rivsky]

Thanks for the info - looks very helpful and I'll pass it all to my sister.

Kymcole would you mind either posting or PMing the recipe to me please?

Thanks again

[Kymcole25]

I pm'ed it too you!

[dogs4life]

Looks like you got some great responses, I'd also like to add...little late but it might still be of help

Sorry to hear about your sister's dog, 4 yrs old is pretty young for getting pancreatitis isn't it, I've only seen it in older dogs and it's been brief not chronic? Since your sister's dog is so young, I wonder if it's hormone related or diet related. Do you know what caused the pancreatitis? Is it chronic, recurring, brief?

From what I understand about pancreatitis, it's a broad diagnosis and there is a range of treatments available based on cause of the inflammation of the pancreas, the symptoms and test results.

Calgal gave you great recommendations for foods. I'd seriously research the ones she gave you.

Assuming the pancreatitis is not due to diabetes, hormonal imbalance, pancreatic cancer or pancreatic cysts, I'd feed:

1. I would feed whole raw fish. I feed whole raw (previously frozen) trout and salmon. I also feed raw shrimp and raw tuna meat. If you feed tuna or mackrel, make sure they are super fresh and small. The larger the fish the older the fish and the fish will have acquired and stored more toxins in it's meat and fats. I'm not too familiar with your fish available in Australia but there are a few pathogens you might need to be warned of, like bacterial diseases, tapeworms, flukes, other parasites and toxic algae. You might want to consult your holistic vet or other Australians who feed raw fish for fish information.

2. I'd feed lean raw meats (heart meat is great), vitamin B6 rich meats and organs, anti-inflammatory herbs, only grain fed free-range poultry, raw Omega-3 rich egg yolks from free range chickens, grass-fed animals, digestive enzymes, and probiotics.

I'd never feed:
grains, salty foods, egg whites, fatty foods, glucose rich foods and foods known to induce inflammation. I'd also stay away from antibiotics, steroids & hormones.

If you still need more info on foods you might want to check out:

K9Kitchen : dog diets raw cooked allergies disease
advBARF : Experienced canine raw diet feeders
K9Nutrition : Dog Nutrition and Health
rawfeeding : Raw Feeding for dogs and cats!
RawChat : Raw Chat
Canine Pancreatitis
P - Pancreatitis
Pancreatic Insufficiency in the Canine


Keep us posted.

[Rivsky]

I'm pretty sure the pancreatitis is diet related. She only came to my sister last year and up until that time we're pretty sure her entire diet was based on kibble. It was a raw chicken frame that set off the bout that caused her to be diagnosed. I'm pretty sure they are only brief episodes when they do occur - she tried to switch her onto a different dry food which set her off again but she seemed fine a day later.

I agree Calgal's response was awesome and I've passed it all on to my sister, I really think she's just going to have to try small bits of "new" food at a time to see what happens. Will also pass on your suggestions, thanks!

I'm trying to get her to take Zeta to a holistic vet but there's a bit of a finance problem at the moment so hopefully she'll sort that out soon - I definitely think the expense will be worth it though. If she does go I'll let you know what the recommendations are.

[dogs4life]

Originally Posted by Rivsky

I'm pretty sure the pancreatitis is diet related. .....It was a raw chicken frame that set off the bout that caused her to be diagnosed. I'm pretty sure they are only brief episodes when they do occur - she tried to switch her onto a different dry food which set her off again but she seemed fine a day later.

Nutrition induced makes sense, but still with her being so young I would be concerned with inducing diabetes via diet and like calgal said about pancreatic scaring, I'd also be worried that her pancreas is damaged. I think you have to tweek diet and test pancreatic function over time to figure this out, which might be costly in lab fees, but yet I'm not an endocrinologist either

When I was doing research when I gave Montana pancreatitis a couple years ago, I came across info about Calcium levels and pancreas inflammation. I wonder if it was the calcium levels? I'll try to find it again. Don't quote me on this as I might have read it wrong.

[dogs4life]

I searched for hyperparathyroidism, hypercalcemia, pancreatitis, nutrition, canine in different combinations. There's lots of info out there in forms of books, journal articles, newsletter and vet websites. Maybe you'll see something that makes sense for Zeta's case.

BTW, I caused Montana's pancreatitis with Hyperlipemia with bacon fat.

[Rivsky]

I'll check out the info thanks.

[petguy]

My Chihuahua was sick a while back and almost lost him. I have him on a rice and chicken diet. He eats his dry yukies now too. He is much healthier than when he ate beef and people food. His little tummy is fragile. After cooking the rice, wash starch out real good with cold water. Use chicken breast boiled. use broth too. My Mugsey is sooo healthy now. You can add some asodophalis too. Digestive bacteria.

[petguy]

Wow! Great advise ! I didn't read your post until I posted mine. That is terrific advise! Their tummies are sensitive after pancreatitis. My dog healed up fast and is really healthy now. I recently wrote an article in my newsletter about dogs being vegetarians. You must check with your vet first. They need proper balance of vitamins and protein too! Did a lot of interesting research. Thanks

[dogs4life]

Here are 2 more foods to check out, raw green tripe and pancreas from cow, goat and sheep. I've never fed them but there are a couple vet sites that talk about it.