Has anyone elses dog suffered with pancreatitis

the_devil_made_me_do_it

My dog has been quite poorly over the last couple of days and it turns out he has pancreatitis.

Just wondering whether anyone else has experienced this problem with their dog?

Been looking for info on the internet and it appears they need to be on a low fat diet. Can anyone recommend a dog food brand. I usually feed my dog dry kibble with a wet meat topper, so want to try and keep this feeding routine.

So far from what I can see, there is a lot of good reviews on feeding Chappie wet food.

mtbbuxton

My whippet has pancreatitis. First time it happened she had 8 days in the Vet hospital. She's had one episode since, but with the support of our Vet, we managed that at home, thankfully.
Foodwise, the advice normally given is to keep dry food at 8% fat or lower and wet food 3%. My whippet is actually on a bit more fat than that as she also has some kidney problems, so with her it's a balancing act.
It can be a bit daunting at first, but you soon get into the routine of reading absolutely every label. From my own research, I've found the following; Burns dry foods are 7.5% and the Naturediet fish variety is 2% Wainwrights do a light version of their wet tray in turkey, which is 3.5% and also a Tuna, rice and veg pouch at 2% They also have some dry foods at 8% but I can't remember just now which ones Chappie wet is a decent low fat food and often recommended by Vets for gastric upsets as it's easily digested.

My girl is actually on Skinners Salmon and Rice, which is 12% fat, topped with the Wainwrights low fat turkey meat at 3.5% This takes the fat content of her meals to just under 8% overall and the referral Vet is happy with this compromise. It's at a level she can cope with too, without it upsetting anything.

Just make sure you check the fat content of absolutely everything, including all treats and don't feed table scraps as they can also trigger an episode.

Hopefully you'll find your own balance quickly and settle into a routine.

M x

redrufus

I have had a nightmare of a time with my dog and pancreatitis! She was very very poorly and at one point I thought I was going to lose her...
To cut a very long story short she wasn't just suffering from Pancreatitis, when she was scanned she has actually got quite a large mass on her adrenal gland even though all the tests she had for Cushings came back border line.... She had the SpecCPL test done weekly and her blood count came back off the scale for 2 months and no matter what we did we could not get it down, at this point she was on the Royal Canin Gatrointestinal Low fat diet.... Eventually I decided to swap her back onto her Burns low fat diet with a spoonful of Chappie and gradually her bloods have come down, but are still higher than we would like.. I think the problem with my girl she has numerous things going on that are giving lot's of false negative results for each other but she is happy now and not so uncomfortable. What breed is your dog, is he/she overweight? Cut out any treats and any table scraps.... do you know the cause of pancreatitis?
Just to add my dog is a 10yr old Staffy cross who i've always struggled to keep slim! I'm also a veterinary assistant/Nurse so was very fortunate that she could come to work with me and I was able to have vet advice at hand.
Hope your dog is doing OK and if you want to ask me anything from my experience please feel free x:)

paddypaws101

I have dealt with cats with pancreatitis and do think that supplements can help. L-Carnitine helps with metabolisation of fats, Slippery elm soothes the gut, probiotics provide gut support, B vitamins help also
Ask your vet about the above and also Pancreatic enzymes or other veterinary neutraceuticals.

the_devil_made_me_do_it

My pooch is a Bedlington/Whippet cross. He's not particularly over weight. Since I got him nearly 2 years ago, I've fed him on Wainwrights kibble and Wainwrights wet food. In fact, just changed to their grain free version.

The vet can't say what cause Pancreatitis redfus. It can just happen unfortunately. You are welcome to offer me any advice you can too

I have bought a tin of Chappie today for him to try. Going to try him with a little bit tomorrow. If he likes it, I'm going to keep him on it until he's starting to show signs of recovery. Then might try foods that have been suggested in this thread.

As for treats, I'm cutting out all shop bought treats and going to give him steamed chicken or turkey as a treat instead. Although am considering still allowing him to have dentisticks & joint care bars.

One thing that's evident is his poos are quite slimy and dark in colour. Is this part and parcel of this condition until it settles down?

Whats very weird is my cat suffered from Pancreatits too. Unfortunately that's what killed her in the end. She had a good life, she was 19 when she died.

mtbbuxton

Pancreatitis interferes with the blood clotting mechanism, so yes the darker, slimy poo's are normal due to the combination of passing old blood and gastric irritation. If it's really dark and almost black, please go back to your Vet as this indicates a more serious gastric bleed.

My whippet has Autoimmune Haemolytic Anaemia, where the body destroys it's own red cells, so we keep a really close eye on her red blood cell count. When she had her first bout of pancreatitis her levels dropped from over 50% to 37% - mild anaemia in a sighthound.

In the early days of an episode, I feed my whippet boiled pasta and plain white fish fillet. After a few days I then move onto plain pasta with the Wainwrights wet tray meat, before gradually reintroducing her usual kibble.
Hope your boy improves very soon.

M x

the_devil_made_me_do_it

Thanks mtb.

I have booked an appointment for Monday as the vet wanted to see how he's doing. So am going to mention his bowel movements. I've also noticed his nibbling and licking his right hand side. Wonder if that's also related. Was only a few weeks ago he needed is anal glands expressing for the first time and he was nibbling and licking his right hand side then. The only difference is he isn't biting his backside.

Today I've fed him small amounts of Wainwrights wet food, small amount of low fat natural live yogurt and a few small pieces of steamed chicken. Had to introduce the wet food earlier than I would've liked as it's the only way I can get him to take tablets.

I used to feed him twice daily before this episode, however, going to feed him a few smaller meals instead. Just got to work out how much to give him over the day. Just wondering, I used to feed him 100g of kibble & 40g wet food twice daily. Should I be feeding him the same amount now over a few small meals or just give him quite a bit less for a few days?

mtbbuxton

I usually have a couple of days with several small meals of about 75% and if all is well, keep to at least 4 meals but feed the normal daily allowance.

M x

the_devil_made_me_do_it

I'm going to get a bag of kibble tomorrow. Just hoping his bowel movements get back to normal soon.

Frodobaggins

My 2 year old German shepherd dog had pancreatitis in March this year and she was really ill. She took weeks to get better but she is doing really well now. We have since kept her on a diet of Wainwrights low fat turkey and rice dry food and the wainwrights trays of meat to mix with it. Initially we gave her low fat trays of meat but now we have found shes OK with the normal ones as well, although we now only ever feed her wainwrights whereas before we would give her the odd tin of dog food, we don't risk it now.

Hope your dog makes a good recovery.

the_devil_made_me_do_it

Vet has said that my pooch is a lot better. He wants to see him again in 10 days once he's finished the medication.

I have bought Burns dry food and Wainwrights low fat wet food. He's being a bit of a fusspot. He's eaten it this morning, then turned his nose up when I put out his 2nd small meal. So I'm just gonna leave it down in case he decides to eat it.

Will eventually transfer him back onto Wainwrights, just don't want to waste the bag of Burns food, as I've already wasted his Wainwrights food I'd bought before he took ill. He just won't eat it. So it will go to a local dog rescue.