Non-Greyhound Pancreatitis

[Guest Lovemyhound]

If this is in the wrong category, please move it.

 

My daughter has a nearly 2 year young miniature beagle. He is a very happy, healthy, active little doggy. Probably his worst trait is that he GETS INTO EVERYTHING! Of course, he is still a puppy you may say, and he is a beagle after all, you may also say. My daughter is very health conscious herself and buys only high quality food for him. She does not however necessarily stick to the same brand ALL of the time. She NEVER buys "junk food" for him nor does he regularly get junky treats.

 

He recently suffered a HORRIBLE case of pancreatitis, I was really worried about the little guy. We have not been able to determine exactly what was the cause, but as I mentioned earlier, he has a tendency to get into things. She is very careful that things are not left around for him to "get into". They were visiting friends (for football sunday) recently and he got into their resident dogs food - brand unknown at this time - could have been junk food. Maybe he got a hold of some people food snacks there... What we KNOW is that the friend gave him a nice treat from the local butcher which she buys for her own pup (a small raw bone with some meaty bits on it?).

 

Anyway, the little guy really suffered, but he is on the mend (finished with his antibiotics). She is struggling to get him back onto a regular diet of sorts, understanding that this may become a life long maintenance thing for him. Ok, a low fat diet, not so difficult, right? His appetite is still a little lacking, but he really HATES the prescription type dog food her vet gave her. So, where do we go from here?

 

I have researched some of the quality name brands I read about here on this forum and it seems that most of them have a "weight management" formula which consists of the lowest fat contents. But, if she feeds him a weight management formula from now on, might he be missing out on any of the other important ingredients he may need? He is not a senior after all, remember this little boy is barely 2 (birthday in Nov, as I recall).

 

Home cooked food all the time is not an option, nor is raw. She is a very busy cardiac surgery ICU nurse here in Baltimore and she will prefer the convenience of kibble. Does anyone have a suggestion of a great kibble for a pancreatitis pup? Yes, the vet agreed that this being an "acute" attack of pancreatitis, he may recover and never have it again, however, she would like to just avoid pontential problems with keeping a more low fat diet.

 

So, thoughts, suggestions? ...and sorry for being long winded.

[Batmom]

Technically, the senior and adult formulas of AAFCO-compliant dog food are based on the same nutritional requirements. So if he eats enough of the food to maintain his weight, he should be getting the basic vitamins/minerals he needs.

 

Might look at the Solid Gold dog foods. IIRC a couple of those are quite low in fat, and most dogs find them palatable.

[Hubcitypam]

Poodle is a double whammy. The bacon my sister fed him almost killed him with pancreatitis then that scarred his pancreas so bad a couple of months later he was diagnosed as diabetic. Tell your daughter to watch for excessive thirst and if his thirsty switch won't turn off get him in for a glucose check ASAP.

 

I refused to feed the vet recommended Science Diet as it contains celluose which is one of only two things I won't feed -- the other is meat and bone meal.. But that's just me. Celluose is in a lot of senior and light foods.

 

He was on the Natural Balance Ultra Light for a while, liked it and did well on it. On the overwhelming recommendations on a diabetic pet forum we switch to Wellness Core reduced fat, which he likes even better. Maybe look into those two.

Edited October 10, 2010 by Hubcitypam

[Guest Lovemyhound]

He was on the Natural Balance Ultra Light for a while, liked it and did well on it. On the overwhelming recommendations on a diabetic pet forum we switch to Wellness Core reduced fat, which he likes even better. Maybe look into those two.

 

 

OK, see, Wellness is one of the brands she mostly feeds him and he seems to do well on it. I reviewed all of their products and they have something called "Super5" Healthy Weight which has a fat content of only 6%. I will tell her to look for that one.

 

Thanks for the diabetes tip - I will remind her to keep an eye on that. BTW, since the diabetic pet forum recommended the Wellness Core, I assume it should be pretty good in the sugar/carbs department too. I'm pretty sure it was a Wellness Core product she had been feeding him - a brown bag.

[Hubcitypam]

The Super5 Healthy Weight sounds like a good idea. It has 6% minimum and 8% maximum. The Natural Balance Ultra light is 6% minimum but doesn't list a maximum, but I'd bet it is probably about the same.