# Pancreatitis



## lee44 (Oct 2, 2010)

My husband and I were recently on vacation with out four year old cockapoo, and he suddenly developed pancreatitis. We found a great animal hospital, who cared for him and placed him on antibiotics. He is recovering, though weak.

Now I know I have to change his diet. Low fat would be best. He is a lazy eater, meaning large pieces of dry food he can't be bothered with.

The vet, recommended Hill Prescription Diet, I/D, dry and canned. He's not thrilled, but I'll stick with it. Any other recommendations. 

Also he's used to getting a treat after walks (we walk a lot). He used to get a "chicken strip", dried chicken. What should I do now. Any suggestions.
Thanks.


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## RawFedDogs (Jun 16, 2008)

lee44 said:


> Now I know I have to change his diet. Low fat would be best. He is a lazy eater, meaning large pieces of dry food he can't be bothered with.


He is a lazy eater because you allow him to be. Stop catering to his whims and he will eat anything you give him.



> The vet, recommended Hill Prescription Diet, I/D, dry and canned. He's not thrilled, but I'll stick with it. Any other recommendations.


Hills I/D is among the worst of the worst foods you could possibly feed. There is no meat in it but they did decide to include sawdust as one of the ingredients. Your dog is a carnivore, he needs meat, bones and organs. He has absolutely no need for corn, brewers rice (the lowest of low quality rices), dried egg product (whatever that is), or corn glutten meal.

I am not a kibble feeder so I'm not going to try to recommend any brands of kibble. Others will be here to do that, I'm sure. :smile:



> Also he's used to getting a treat after walks (we walk a lot). He used to get a "chicken strip", dried chicken. What should I do now. Any suggestions.
> Thanks.


If you fed him nothing more than dried chicken the rest of his life, he would be healthier than that I/D garbage.


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## lee44 (Oct 2, 2010)

In the past 40 odd years of owning dogs, this is the first time I've had to contend with a sudden illness such as this. Of course I started him on Hill I/D, because the vet suggested it after feeding him chicken and rice for several days. That is why I posted the questions, asking for suggestions. 

While I appreciate your views on raw feeding, I feel your remarks were ill-mannered. I asked for suggestions, not to be told I "cater to his whims".

I joined this site to learn, not be told off.


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## stajbs (Jun 5, 2010)

Hi lee44, I do not think RFD meant to tell you off, so much as to perhaps caution you about how tyrannical dogs can be about foods if we allow them to be. I've had seven siberians in 17 years now, and in the beginning I experienced two picky eaters, and I eventually came to realize I was the problem. The more I tried to get them to eat something, and gave them different things to try to entice them to eat the pickier they got. Eventually I sort of had to play hard ball about food. It can and does happen.

Unfortunatly, if your dog is going to struggle with pancreatic issues and you feed kibble(which I do too) you are going to hopefully find 2 or 3 kibbles that should work well for the dogs needs and the dog will have to eat them. Eventually any healthy dog will eat nearly anything you put in front of them, in my case that has meant skipping a meal or two in the past. My two current seniors are fed a rotational diet of kibble, dehydrated, and canned and some lightly cooked meats which are added on occasion. They enjoy the variety and any picky tendencies they might have had went away when they wondered what was coming. lol

Also, if your dog does not like dry kibble because he is a "lazy" eater you can always add a bit of warm water to the kibble. You can also add good quality canned to the kibble. I would have to do some kibble research to find those lower in fat that still have respectable amounts of protein not totally derived from grain. 

I wonder if you could check some of the better quality kibbles perhaps for senior dogs because the fat may be lower. Like I said, I could do some research, so could you, and I suspect others may have input for you about what kibbles may be appropriate. You could also consider cooking for your dog, but really need to research that well to insure you feed a well rounded diet, you can also look into the dehydrated foods such as Honest Kitchen and I think Grandma Lucy's is dehydrated.

I definitely agree that you will be able to find a better food than the Hills Prescription Diet. If I get some time I will poke around and look at some options to suggest. In the meantime perhaps you could google dog foods and pancreatitis and see what pops up. When I had some slightly elevated numbers on our boy with respect to his kidneys I actually found a website that suggested some very decent good quality kibbles. I researched those foods and then made my decisions.

Just my two cents but hope it helps a little.


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## luvMyBRT (Mar 8, 2010)

Hi Lee. Welcome to the forum! I'm glad your here. :smile:

I agree. RFD wasn't meaning to come across as if he was telling you off. As far as picky eaters goes...we will recommend doing what is called "tough love". Put the food down. Leave it for 15 minutes. Pick it up. Nothing else to feed at all. At the next meal time put down that same food that wasn't ate before. Do this until the dog gets hungry enough to eat. Don't let the dog dictate what it will eat and what you will feed. You are in control. :smile:

Most of us here feel that Science Diet anything is just horrible and will do more harm than good for your dog. I would look into some other kibbles for sure. I am not exactly sure of the requirements the food should have, but Champion kibbles are the best of the best when it comes to kibble. Look into Orijen and Acana.

Another option is to switch to raw feeding. Many people that have dogs with problems see great improvement with their dogs once switched to a raw diet. If this is of any intrest to you, please come over to the raw feeding section of the forum. :smile:


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## k9capture_16 (Aug 23, 2010)

Natural Balance Reduced Calorie which only has 6% crude fat or Natural Balance fish and sweet potato I heard are good from a friend whos dog is going through this. Your vet sells Science Diet for profit, nothing more. Science Diet is the equivilent to feeding your dogs chicken feed. A couple others are Wellness Core Reduced Fat (RF), a grain-free food, Canidae Platinum, Avoderm Chicken & Rice, Eagle Pack Holistic Fish Formula, Innova Lower Fat Adult Canned Food and California Natural Low Fat Rice & Lamb Meal Adult Kibble

I dont feed kibble but this is what I could come up with


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## stajbs (Jun 5, 2010)

Hi Lee,

After poking around last night on the internet I found the kibbles that k9capture mentioned. Definitely better quality than Hills Science Diet and much better nutritionally. Eagle Pack Holistic Fish formula is now just called Holistic Selects Anchovy/Salmon Sardine I believe. I used to feed it to my guys a lot but now we rotate as I said. I also like the California Natural, just keep an eye on the ingredients list now that Proctor and gamble bought Natura the makers of Calif. Natural , Innova and Evo. I would also give serious consideration to the Wellness Core RF formula if you think your dog can handle grain free, this would be a good choice.


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## k9capture_16 (Aug 23, 2010)

Oops forgot to mention the Proctor and Gamble buy out. Just watch the foods for change in ingredients as we all know they are known for crap foods.


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## lee44 (Oct 2, 2010)

Have intoduced him to Blue brand _Basic_. So far so good. He's going to have new blood work in about 10 days. Hopefully everything will be fine.
Thanks


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