Low Fat Food For Pancreatitis

[cleptogrey]

felix's blood work came back with totally off numbers for his pancreas. i'm going back tomorrow to have an in house CPLI test to further investigate it's function. but from the conversation with my new vet(my vet of 39 years is more retired than on duty) she has recommended a super low fat ID diet. I have researched the #s for fat/protein/calories and cost and no way can my pocket book indulge is buying that garbage. it seems as if the fat content is around 7% and calories range from 300-340 per cup.

 

presently he's looking fantastic on blue seal lamb and rice(22% p 12% f 390 c per cup). blue seal does have a senior (25%p 10% f 375 c per cup) and a low calorie (24%p 7%f 300 c per cup).

 

i did read something that KRISSY posted when one of her dogs had pancreatitis, sounded good as a start, but i'm wondering about an economical maintenance diet. rice for breakfast for felix today- he loves the good sushi quality rice!(so do i)

 

BTW,this new practice does have quite a few GHs and a trainer that i have known for many many years uses her and works there as well. the dr. is in her early 50s with a good number of years of experience, graduate of cornell, referred annie to a fantastic ophthalmologist who she is a student of. up on many new protocols (my old vet was more of a great diagnostician and county doc, and has steered away from too much medical intervention). she has a very different attitude towards lower back pain which felix has and has prescribed a regime of metacam right now which can be enhanced if necessary, my old vet didn't want to administer any meds for it. it was time to leave. she also calls a day or two after a visit to check up on her patient's progress.

 

 

[Hubcitypam]

When Poodle almost died from Pancreatitis the vet suggested w/d. I told him I wasn't feeding a food with wheat, corn and cellouse as the first three ingredients no matter how scientifically based the formulation may be. Poodle did well for several years on Natural Balance Ultra light. I believe that it has been renamed reduced calorie. It is in a light blue bag and 8% fat. They since have come out with "Fat Dog" which is 7.5%. I never researched calories per cup.

[cleptogrey]

thanks pam, it's 250 per cup,. from what i see the light food is 130 calories per cup less....so, he's maintaining 74 # on nearly 4 cups a day at 380 per cup+1520 calories a day, he will need 6 cups per day....yikes that's a lot of poop!!!!. i'll see what the vet says.( it kills me, my good friend now has a warehouse in Ca. filled w/ natural balance food- a tad out of the way.....)

[Burpdog]

Try Solid Gold Holistique Blendz (might be a newish name now)

[PrairieProf]

Beth did fabulously well on ID for years after a near-pancreatitis scare. Expensive but it was so good for her (perfect weight, beautiful coat, good poops) I never wanted to mess around.

[RedHead]

My old dog had a severe attack of pancreatitis. I managed her on a homemade diet with veggies, rice and low fat meats/eggs/additives and she did great on it (better in fact than the prescription food which we originally got from the vet). We also added some kind of digestive enzyme in the beginning as well. I have some old recipes...I can pm you if you are interested.

 

Unless it is chronic, most dogs with pancreatitis can go back to a regular diet eventually...obviously not too high in fat, but moderate levels. I would never permanently keep a dog on an extremely low fat diet, unless I had to for a chronic problem. There can be health consequences from that as well, so it is a bit of a balance act.

Edited November 18, 2015 by RedHead

[cleptogrey]

ok, the in-house CPLI showed that he does not have full blown pancreatitis, but there is an inflammation the numbers are higher but lower than a full blown case. the vet wants him on a low fat diet. she said the 7% blue seal supplemented w/ rice should work, let's try it. w/o the rice felix will loose weight and i keep my dogs on the thin side. so, my rice cooker has paid for itself many times !!!! off the the asian market for more good bulk rice and tasty pickled radishes for myself....yomyum.

 

but redhead, i would like your recipes.

[RedHead]

E-mailed them to you

[retread]

thanks pam, it's 250 per cup,. from what i see the light food is 130 calories per cup less....so, he's maintaining 74 # on nearly 4 cups a day at 380 per cup+1520 calories a day, he will need 6 cups per day....yikes that's a lot of poop!!!!. i'll see what the vet says.( it kills me, my good friend now has a warehouse in Ca. filled w/ natural balance food- a tad out of the way.....)

6 cups of 7% food has more total fat than 4 cups of 10% food.

[cleptogrey]

isn't it the fat load that the pancreas has to deal with per meal?

 

i'll be feeding him 3xs a day- starting with 4 cups and bulking up with rice and other carbs as the vet recommended. so,4 cups will give him 1200 calories and i need to right now guestamate how much in additional food. all of the recipes that becky have sent are excellent. now it's a matter of s-l-o-w-l-y adding things to his diet that he has never ingested as well as getting used to a chicken based food. i have always served lamb or duck since felix showed allergic symptoms as a pup. i will know very soon if indeed he has outgrown this sensitivity. my dogs never have the opportunity to taste table scraps....there aren't any in my house!!!

 

btw- the recipes are good enough to serve DH!!!! it's almost what we eat presently....a low fat diet!(except for last night i made him some french fries and i had plantains....once a year i'll bing on something that tasty and that bad!)

[krissy]

i did read something that KRISSY posted when one of her dogs had pancreatitis, sounded good as a start, but i'm wondering about an economical maintenance diet. rice for breakfast for felix today- he loves the good sushi quality rice!(so do i)

 

Not sure if you meant me? My dogs have never had pancreatitis, but I certainly treat a lot of dogs with pancreatitis (though I can't really remember anything I've posted about it).

[JJNg]

What symptoms is/was Felix showing? Was the bloodwork run because he was sick? Just curious as there was no mention of any clinical signs, just bloodwork results, but maybe I missed it in another post.

[cleptogrey]

jennifer,i just changed vets after my long long term vet(nearly 40 years) has just about retired. it one is lucky they can talk to him, but he's down to maybe 3 short mornings a week and the last time i had a problem that needed vet. care he prescribed 2 adult aspirins, 2xs a day for annie when she was in intense pain and screaming. he doesn't have an X-ray machine and unsuccessfully treated her ulceration to her eye. the vet i have changed to was schooled at cornell and i know a good couple of people w/ greyhounds who use her and one of the trainers with whom i have studied with has been working there for years. she was also used when annie had an abscessed ulceration to her other eye-she sent me off to an excellent opthomoligist and knew her limitations.

 

felix was brought in for his annual visit to a new vet. a CBC to get a base line and to make sure his liver functions could handle metacam. the numbers for his pancreas were off, the dr. was concerned since they were really off she called home to inform me. i brought him back for a cPLI test which confirmed that it was indeed inflamed. symptom wise- stomach area very tender to the touch- he'll rip your arm off if you happen to touch it and erratic strong foul smelling loose stools.(we did a stool sample since i was convinced he had picked up something)

 

my old vet had just treated the stinky loose stools w/ tylan powder for 5 days. that generally would clean him up. prior to this blood work a base line has never been done. only urine analysis, specific gravity(urine) and dip stick for sugar when we were dealing with what was though to be diabetes incipedus. we also measured his water intake for 24 hrs- it was over 3xs the standard amount for a dog his weight. felix was tanking up and drinking non-stop. a 2x treatment w/ vasopressin tannate stopped the problem. that's felix's history besides cuts and scrapes and a couple of staples which comes with being a young crazy dog. and as a pup he was not tested yet diagnosed w/ giardia- flagyl was given, that took quite some time to get under control. he had a couple of strange flare ups over the last 2 years- which i thought could have been the giardia where he was crouched over, head hanging, stiff and in pain and his stools were off- stinky and slimy. this has happened periodically- tylan powder was the only thing used. when i did mention felix's soreness to his lower back to my retired vet i was just told, "don't let him run". with that message i sorta knew it was time, he was only 7 years old. so, felix has been sore for quite some time.

 

the only physical complaint on his intake visit at the new vet was his soreness in his lower back. she did notice a sensitivity to his stomach, but i think she attributed it to his lower back. the new vet has put him on metacam. he was given one dose daily for 1 week, we got to see how crazy felix can be again and we have reduced the anti-inflammatory to every other day as suggested and will try every 3 days and see if he still remains limber and spry.

 

so,that's his history in a nutshell. i offered (commenting that i do not mean to insult her) the greyhound handbook for racing and retired greyhounds. she assured me that she has the gh #s to memory and knows the difference. the other clients who use her are pretty fussy- one had gone thru medical school and realized that she just didn't want to enter the world of medicine!!! she's really onto of who know what. the others have used her for quite some time, some of them have lost their dogs to old age.

 

can this be a matter of error? can felix be that stoic that he, unlike my female just isn't showing pain? annie screams and freaks out- felix will stand and just have a low growl when stapled. my concerns are good nutrition, what about his coat and skin quality and avoiding pancreatitus ? did i move to the wrong vet? my other option is at a VCA hospital, all the work is done behind closed doors and i just don't feel comfortable there. i used a good orthopedic man at that hospital, but it's a factory. so, what should i be looking for????

 

btw, felix is almost 9 now.

[JJNg]

Thanks for the background information. Chronic pancreatitis could potentially explain his symptoms of a painful abdomen and intermittent foul-smelling, loose stools. Since his signs are pretty mild, I think it would be fine to try an OTC low fat food, rather than going with a prescription diet. If it's a good quality brand, a diet should be balanced and nutritious even if it's low fat.

You can also include omega-3 fatty acids in his diet by supplementing with fish oil. You do have to be careful with the fat content, and it's better to use the double strength capsules which have proportionally more omega-3s. In addition with helping skin and coat health, omega-3s and other antioxidants have actually been shown to help manage pancreatitis.

As to whether you're using the 'right' vet, do you feel comfortable with and trust your current vet? Do you feel that she listens to and respects you? IMO, those are a couple of the most important points in deciding whether a vet/clinic is a good fit.

[cleptogrey]

Jennifer, I was told no fish oil. We currently have been using grizzly cold pressed salmon oil. Can you explain how the omega-3 oils work vs. other fats which are a no-no???.....thanks

 

As to do I trust this new vet. So, far with her referral for Annie and acknowledging that she was not the right vet to deal w/ her horrible ulceration and cronic eye problem, I felt very comfortable. Her ego is not too big, she will send you to the fastest route for healing. She has been very communicative about test results, concerned- always calls back to follow up on your dog's progress(both w/ annie and felix after a week of anti-inflammatories). Her handling of the dogs is superb, she's always teaching the vet techs how to relate to a dog- and treat them as a young child who does not understand a situation. I believe she has a new one working for her. She did a non-anethesica dental on annie and was able to scale and use all the high powered water scaling, she was gentle kind and thorough. So, I guess I just answered my question....she's on top of things, has a heart, knowledge(knows the gh info) and has had detailed conversations with me about the types and uses of anti-inflammatories and low fat diets. And yes, she does listen to my concerns.

 

As to food, i have been feeding an old fashioned brand that she knows of and feels is a good food. Blue Seal is the brand, the senior recipe is 7% fat. She has me adding rice, for caloric intake(it's 80 calories a cup less) and feeding him 3xs(what a pain) a day....but he's not loosing weight and is always ready to chow down.

[JJNg]

Dogs prone to pancreatitis need a low fat diet, but fat is an essential part of the diet that can't be avoided completely. So it's more a matter of being aware of the total dose of fat that the dog is getting in their diet. Omega-3 fatty acids are actually beneficial in decreasing cholesterol and lipids in the blood (they are used to treat high cholesterol in people). I'd suggest asking your vet to look into this and help you determine a safe dose of omega-3s to give.