Pancreatitis

[Rjelly]

Hi everyone,

 

Im new here and am just after some advice.

 

Our 8 year old Billy has been diagnosed with pancreatitis.

 

After vomiting on the weekend and being in discomfort we took him to the vets where they said it could be pancreatitis. They gave him some anti sickness drugs along with a pain killer and an antibiotic and followed it up with a blood test.

 

Since then he has been on the mend and seems to be getting back to his normal self.

 

Since he vomited, hes been on a chicken and rice diet (once he started wanting to eat again).

 

They called this morning to confirm a diagnosis of pancreatitis and have advised to keep him on chicken and rice for at least 10days.

 

I just wanted some experiences and advice from everyone as to whether you think chicken and rice for 10+ days is a good plan and what people have done to combat it.

 

(We were recently transferred to a different branch of our vets due to our one closing down and we arent too confident in our the new one, were looking at changing but at the moment were stuck where we are)

 

Thanks in advance and any information you can provide will be welcome.

[greysmom]

Pancreatitis can take a while to completely resolve, and you want *minimal* changes to their diet while that's going on. Small feedings given more often, if you can, are best in the beginning, but as he gets better and wants/needs more food you can move back to am/pm meals with increased amounts. It won't hurt him to be on it for 10 days and he will need to eat to take his meds.

 

To make it easier with the rice you can a) purchase quantitites from a local asian restaurant and freeze in serving sizes, or spend a bit of time in the kitchen and make your own, and freeze. Same with the chicken - ground chicken is usually more cost effective in bulk, but chicken breasts shredded after cooking work too. Don't use the dark meat as it may bring on a relapse of the pancreatitis being more fatty.

[Rjelly]

Thanks for the reply Greysmom.

 

We werent given any meds for him to take when we went to the vets. Should I be concerned?

 

Well carry on with the bland food in the mean time and see how he goes though. Hes so much more himself already but gotta make sure the insides match the outside I guess! 😂.

 

Thanks again

Thanks for the reply Greysmom.

 

We werent given any meds for him to take when we went to the vets. Should I be concerned?

 

Well carry on with the bland food in the mean time and see how he goes though. Hes so much more himself already but gotta make sure the insides match the outside I guess! 😂.

 

Thanks again

[RaineysMom]

Our Rainey had pancreatitis for most of the years we had her (4+) -- once the initial acute incident passed, we just needed to ONLY feed her low-fat food -- any "people" food had to be basically fat free (like veggies). Not easy finding low-fat treats but easier now I would think. I tried to keep stuff 5% or less.

 

After that initial episode she never had another (did develop bloat, but that was another incident....). Good luck!

 

she was not put on any meds (that I remember, this was back in like 2006).

[Rjelly]

Thank you Raineysmom, were grateful for the information! Yeah were looking into changing up his treats for low fat versions. Were always giving him little bits from our dinners (I know its not great but those puppy dog eyes! We do try not to give him any fatty bits) were not going to be doing that anymore with anything other than a little chicken.

 

Glad to hear you didnt get any meds either, thats reassuring.

 

Now weve just got to find a new vet in our area!

[Hubcitypam]

I don' remember Poodle being given any pill after his stay at the vet, but that was a long time ago. His case was very severe after my sister fed him bacon while I was asleep. The vet told me to immediately start him on Hill's w/d but I fed Natural Balance Ultra light for years. Their Fat Dog will also work.

[cleptogrey]

i've had dogs on chicken and rice for extended periods of time. the best way to get them to eat the rice is: quarter the chicken, remove the skin. place quarters in a stock pot w/ rice, chicken broth and water and cook it. debone the chicken when it's cooked. better to debone it while still warm. felix was on this for 8 months! but there were other complications. it's a human grade tasty meal. just make room in your fridge. once things settle down the "weight reduction" kibbles should work. the RX diets are $$$, but if you can afford it, go for it.

 

btw, it seems as if Japanese short grain rice is the tastiest of all if you can get it. the cheap cheap rices don't hold the water well, never use minute rice. even DH became proficient at making "congee" for felix.

[cmc333]

I had a diabetic dog that had pancreatitis and we used Earthborn Holistic Weight Control, which had a Dry Matter Basis of 7%. Dogs with pancreatitis should keep their fat down below 10%. Frozen green beans are a favorite for snacks and sometimes I gave her a small piece of dried lamb lung. It's hard to resist those puppy dog eyes, but knowing the outcome if you give in....

[Rjelly]

Thank you Hubcitypam. Im not sure of those foods you used (Im in the UK so that might be why) but thanks for the information, definitely going to be sorting some low fat food to get him on soon

Thanks for the recipe cleptogrey! Thats great, might try that one later, just to change things up for him even if its just a little bit! We really appreciate the reply. Thank you

Thank you cmc333. Thats helpful information, I will be reading the labels on everything he has from now and will definitely stick to a less than 10% rule! I dont think Ill ever get a vegetable in Billy though, he seems to absolutely hate them! Haha... I know exactly what youre saying with the puppy dog eyes, knowing how dangerous it can be now we definitely will stick to a proper diet for him! Thanks again!

[Rjelly]

Thanks for the recipe Cleptogrey! Really do appreciate all the information youve provided!

Thank you cmc333! Thats really helpful info, I havent heard of those foods before but Im in the uk so they might not be available here but Ill be looking around to see what is available here. The figures you have are helpful but out of curiosity, where will it say on the packaging about the fat content and is it per portion or per packet? Sorry for the ignorance on my part, Ive never looked at the the nutritional make up before!

[cmc333]

Thanks for the recipe Cleptogrey! Really do appreciate all the information youve provided!

Thank you cmc333! Thats really helpful info, I havent heard of those foods before but Im in the uk so they might not be available here but Ill be looking around to see what is available here. The figures you have are helpful but out of curiosity, where will it say on the packaging about the fat content and is it per portion or per packet? Sorry for the ignorance on my part, Ive never looked at the the nutritional make up before!

I'm getting ready to run out the door, but I will get you the algebraic formula for figuring Dry Matter Basis. I will also check with my canine diabetic forum to see if any of the UK members can give me a list of low fat foods. I know you have a bunch of food we don't have available and vice versa. My dog wouldn't eat the regular frozen green beans, but she loved the French cut green beans - but only frozen. I'll get back to you later today.

[ozgirl]

Cody had pancreatitis once - brought on by my giving her a Greenie!! Apparently they're almost completely fat (which I didn't know) - she was really sick for a week, then gradually got better. Needless to say, after that, NO Greenies and only low fat food & treats... She was never on any meds except pain meds the first few days...

[Rjelly]

Thank you for the reply Ozgirl, thanks for the information

[cmc333]

23 hours ago, cmc333 said:

Thanks for the recipe Cleptogrey! Really do appreciate all the information youve provided!
Thank you cmc333! Thats really helpful info, I havent heard of those foods before but Im in the uk so they might not be available here but Ill be looking around to see what is available here. The figures you have are helpful but out of curiosity, where will it say on the packaging about the fat content and is it per portion or per packet? Sorry for the ignorance on my part, Ive never looked at the the nutritional make up before!

I'm getting ready to run out the door, but I will get you the algebraic formula for figuring Dry Matter Basis.  I will also check with my canine diabetic forum to see if any of the UK members can give me a list of low fat foods. I know you have a bunch of food we don't have available and vice versa.   My dog wouldn't eat the regular frozen green beans, but she loved the French cut green beans - but only frozen.  I'll get back to you later today.

Try this link for DMB - there's an explanation as to how to achieve this number, but at the top right corner there is a calculator that you just plug the numbers in and it will calculate the DMB for you.   The numbers you use for the calculator are the numbers listed for fat and moisture on the back of the dog food bag.  I'm still looking for low fat foods available in the UK.

https://www.pawdiet.com/articles/dry-matter-basis-calculator-for-pet-food/?fbclid=IwAR09JkPqrT3NWsMe6QZ5kR_pphnCPIMDW0dvHj6r8UC46RKqSSItJg4x8BY

[cmc333]

Here's a list of some of the foods the people in the UK use for their diabetic dogs.  You'd need to check the DMB (based on the calculator I mentioned above) but here's some names:

James WellBeloved, Wellness Core Reduced Fat, Pooch & Mutt Health & Digestion, Natural Instincts Low Fat, Burns Chicken & Oats, Chappie, Wainwrights.

I assume you could also ask your vet for a prescription low-fat dry food too.  Wet food has much more fat than dry.  For snacks, a tiny bite of white boiled chicken, a piece of broccoli, a baby carrot.

Good luck.  Pancreatitis is awful.

[Rjelly]

42 minutes ago, cmc333 said:

Here's a list of some of the foods the people in the UK use for their diabetic dogs.  You'd need to check the DMB (based on the calculator I mentioned above) but here's some names:

James WellBeloved, Wellness Core Reduced Fat, Pooch & Mutt Health & Digestion, Natural Instincts Low Fat, Burns Chicken & Oats, Chappie, Wainwrights.

I assume you could also ask your vet for a prescription low-fat dry food too.  Wet food has much more fat than dry.  For snacks, a tiny bite of white boiled chicken, a piece of broccoli, a baby carrot.

Good luck.  Pancreatitis is awful.

Thank you so much for all your help! You have been so helpful to us! 

The good news is that he is already on Wainwright’s as his standard food so that’s a relief that he won’t have to change.

And thank you for the link for the DMB, will definitely bookmark that so I can keep an eye on things!

Thanks again! We really do appreciate it!

[cmc333]

That's what this forum is all about - helping people and their hounds to lead a healthy, happy life!

[sarabz]

Our almost 14 year old was just diagnosed with pancreatitis and it's been a brutal week. She hasn't eaten since Tuesday, hoping today is the day for a turnaround.

[cleptogrey]

sara, the whole chicken cooked in rice kept felix going for months....it's delicious- i've tasted it. add a box of chicken stock when cooking. you can always feed it to the kid and husband. good luck, it's most taxing dealing with decline.

[sarabz]

Apparently I wasn't choosing the right options to suit Bella. Talked to another vet at the practice who said to offer a bite of a high value treat to see if she'd at least respond. She did! Then she ate about a 1/2 cup of hamburger rinsed, no fat). Beef, not chicken, was apparently the answer! So will continue to try small meals of the beef through the afternoon/evening and go from there. This second vet also had some adjustments to her meds which might help.

[sarabz]

Sorry for hijacking the thread.

[EllenEveBaz]

 to both of you going through this now.  

[cleptogrey]

16 hours ago, sarabz said:

Apparently I wasn't choosing the right options to suit Bella. Talked to another vet at the practice who said to offer a bite of a high value treat to see if she'd at least respond. She did! Then she ate about a 1/2 cup of hamburger rinsed, no fat). Beef, not chicken, was apparently the answer! So will continue to try small meals of the beef through the afternoon/evening and go from there. This second vet also had some adjustments to her meds which might help.

the more heads the better- it's trial and error quite often. also, this sounds very strange, but white bread toast- yup the cheapest white bread that you can get at the supermarket is sweet and delicious-so the dogs have told me(i sneaked a crust-it's yummy). toast it and dice it up to help get some food in- carbs no fat.  felix used to eat 10 slices of toast a night- 10 pm he would start barking for toast.

[sarabz]

Thanks!!!