Pancreatitis in Dogs: Symptoms, Causes & Feeding

August 18, 2020   |   By David Jackson, AllAboutDogFood.co.uk

Feeding dogs with pancreatitis

What is Pancreatitis

The pancreas is an organ that fulfils two very important roles in dogs - firstly, it secretes hormones like insulin and glucagon to help control blood sugar level and, secondly, it produces enzymes to help in the breakdown of carbohydrates, proteins and, especially, fats.

Any time the pancreas becomes inflamed, it is called pancreatitis and when that occurs, the flow of enzymes into the digestive tract can become disrupted, forcing the enzymes out of the pancreas and into the abdominal area. These enzymes can then begin to break down the fat and proteins in the other organs, as well as in the pancreas itself and the results can be very severe.

@allaboutdogfood Replying to @leahann For everyone who has asked for advice when feeding their dogs with pancreatitis. #allaboutdogfood #dognutrition #dogfood #dogpancreatitis ♬ original sound - AllAboutDogFood

Acute vs Chronic

Pancreatitis is generally described as being either acute and chronic. Acute pancreatitis is an isolated episode of usually severe pancreatic inflammation while chronic pancreatitis is a longer standing inflammation which can continue for months or even years.

It's important to note, though, that acute and chronic pancreatitis are not mutually exclusive - acute pancreatitis, for example, may lead to chronic pancreatitis and it is possible for dogs with chronic pancreatitis to experience episodes of acute pancreatitis.

Symptoms

Canine pancreatitis symptomsIn both cases, the most common signs of pancreatitis are fever, vomiting, diarrhoea, loss of appetite, weight loss, dehydration, lethargy and abdominal pain (especially after eating).

If you suspect your dog is suffering from pancreatitis, it is very important that you first seek the advice of your vet in order to confirm the diagnosis and ensure that all necessary medical steps are taken before moving on to the dietary measures suggested below.

Causes

There are several possible causes of inflammation to the pancreas. High levels of fat in the blood (lipemia) is the most common cause but trauma to the pancreas, hypercalcemia (excessive calcium in the blood), and some drugs and toxins can also result in pancreatitis.

Acute pancreatitis is most common around the christmas break as millions of dogs are treated to large amounts of very fatty leftovers which their bodies simply can't handle.

Although pancreatitis can occur in any dog, it is more common in females than males and older, overweight and relatively inactive dogs are particularly at risk. Some breeds are also more prone to pancreatitis than others with Miniature Schnauzers, Miniature Poodles and Cocker Spaniels having the highest incidence.

Treatment

Whether your dog is suffering from a bout of acute pancreatitis or a long-running chronic episode, your first step should always be to consult your vet. For acute cases, vets will usually withhold food and fluids for a day or two to give the pancreas time to rest and to slow the production of digestive enzymes. Your vet may administer drugs for pain and/or to help ease nausea and vomiting. In some cases, IV fluids may also have to be given.

Once back home, it is important to follow your vet's instructions until your dog is back on his feet.

Following an acute episode, your vet will likely recommend a prescription diet specifically designed for dogs recovering from pancreatitis. Although we at All About Dog Food are not the biggest fans of prescription diets (find out why here), we would recommend sticking with their recommended food at least until the episode has subsided, after which we can start to look at a more nutritious, long term solution.

Don't forget to provide plenty of fresh, clean water to avoid dehydration.

Dietary management and prevention

Getting the diet right is absolutely crucial for both managing chronic pancreatitis and preventing future acute episodes. The primary aim should always be to minimise the workload on the pancreas by only giving it nutrients that it can easily process and avoiding anything that could put it under unnecessary strain.

Please note that these guidelines are meant for adult maintenance only. For puppies, nursing females or for dogs with other concurrent health conditions, it is best to consult your vet.

So what are the options?

Option 1: Prescription diets

There are plenty of prescription diets out there specifically designed to manage pancreatitis and for many dogs they undeniably work well. Most vets will, of course, recommend this option but what they probably won't tell you is that many over-the-counter foods fulfil essentially the same nutritional criteria as the prescription diets and can be used to effectively manage pancreatitis at a fraction of the price.

Option 2: Over-the-counter dog foods

As we mentioned above, the main dietary aim is to make life easy for the pancreas and although the specialist prescription diets can do that admirably, so can many regular pet foods.

Fat

Since one of the pancreas' main roles is the breakdown of fats, the easiest way to reduce its workload is to feed a low fat diet. High quality named animal fats are also better than lower grade vegetable fats or fats from unknown sources.

Digestibility

A food that is easy to digest is good for all dogs but for dogs with pancreatitis, it's really essential. Look for foods with good, bio-appropriate ingredients and try to avoid any of the nasties (the ingredients we highlight in red and yellow) that can put excessive strain on the digestive system.

Protein

The pancreas also helps to digest proteins so you will want to avoid foods with very high protein levels. With protein, though, quality is always much more important than quantity. The best protein for dogs comes from high end, named meat ingredients. If the food contains too many plant protein supplements (like pea protein, maize protein, soya etc) that's generally not a great sign.

Carbs

Less carbs also means less work for the pancreas so avoid foods with high percentages of NFE carbs or too many starchy 'fillers' like white rice, white potato, maize, tapioca, pea starch etc.

Sugar

Added sugars in dog foods are never a good thing but for dog's with pancreatitis they are certainly worth avoiding.

To summarise, you're looking for a food that is...

    Pancreatitis diet checklist

  • Low in fat (between 5% and 10% dry matter)
  • Highly digestible (hypoallergenic & clearly labelled)
  • Moderate protein (between 20% and 30% dry matter)
  • Low to moderate NFE carbs (no more than 60% dry matter)
  • No added sugars
    • Get suitable foods

The button above will take you to a list of foods that tick these boxes but the list is not exhaustive so you may also want to ask your favourite dog food manufacturers if they have something that would also fit the bill.

Canine pancreatitis

Home-prepared food

A suitable home prepared diet, be it cooked or raw, can work wonders for dogs with digestive problems like pancreatitis but careful planning is crucial. The points above are a good place to start but to fully cover recipe formulation for pancreatitic dogs is, frankly, an article in itself which will have to go on to the to-do list for now. In the meantime, though, this page provides a fairly comprehensive guide on the subject.

treats for dogs with pancreatitisTreats, leftovers and tidbits

Be sure to avoid any treats, tidbits and table scraps that are high in fat or of a low quality - the Treat Directory will help you to find suitable alternatives. Make sure other family members and friends are also onboard with this as even a slight indiscretion cold result in another bout of pancreatitis.

It is also important to make sure your bins and pet food storage containers are well and truly dog-proof.

Supplements

Certain supplements may also help reduce the risk of acute pancreatitis or control the effects of chronic pancreatitis. You might be able to find them included in complete foods or you can add them to your dog's diet yourself.

Pancreatic digestive enzyme supplements have been reported to help some dogs with pancreatitis while fish body oils (such as salmon oil or EPA oil but not cod liver oil), can help to lower blood lipid levels which may reduce the workload on the pancreas.

Probiotics and prebiotics can help with digestion and may aid in the management of pancreatitis. The most common prebiotics in pet food include Mannan-oligosaccharides (MOS), fructo-oligosaccharides (FOS), inulin and chicory extract.

Changing diets healthily

Whatever food you decide to go with, be sure to introduce it gradually (over the course of at least a week or two) to give the system plenty of time to adjust and to make it easier for you to spot and rectify any potential issues early on. You can find our guide to changing diets here.

Your experiences

If your dog has suffered with pancreatitis, we would love to hear from you in the comments section below. What worked and what didn't? How would you do things differently in the future? Please do let us know as your tips could make all the difference to other dog owners out there.

Comments

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Cecil3 •6 days ago
This post is in relation to Morning sickness, it is something Cecil has been dealing with over the past couple of years but it has gotten worse: I believe I read a few people complain here about their dog throwing up and perhaps it is the same issue that I have with Cecil. Cecil will throw up a little of a mostly clear liquid, and he will usually do so in the morning. It was happening about once a month but it got worse a couple weeks ago. I originally thought it was due to his thyroid and liver medication, but then he threw up his bread covered pills before they even dissolved so it is not his medication that is causing the problem. I think the problem got worse because he is likely eating something in the yard that has fat or protein (my landlord dumps waste food including bones, etc in the yard as fertilizer). I have been watching him closely when he goes outside now to make sure he is not eating anything when he goes outside. Anyway I am referring to this as morning sickness because it really only happens in the morning, and Cecil is also very reluctant to eat in the morning (even on days when he has not vomited). Cecil gets 3 meals per day, spaced 6 hours apart (10am, 4pm, 10pm). I believe that the issue may be related to him having an empty stomach in the morning (thus why it is often just a clear liquid). So for the past few days I have been getting up at 4am and feeding him 1 slice of egg white french toast (1/2 an egg white, 40ml bottled water, 1 slice white bread, fried dry in a non stick pan). I have it preprepared and precut into small bite size pieces in advance so I just have to get out of bed and take it out of the refrigerator and give it to him, and then I can go right back to sleep. So far the results are very encouraging. His appetite in the morning has increased and he has not thrown up yet since I started feeding him a 4th small meal in the middle of the night. Hopefully this information is helpful to those who complained about their dogs throwing up. I would also be very careful about how much fat and protein they are eating. Cecil has severe pancreatitis and if he eats any more than 2-2.5g of protein per pound of bodyweight per day he starts to have issues. Good luck.
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anto135 •23 days ago
Why does this article advise against cod liver oil?
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Cecil3 anto135 •17 days ago
I would be very careful giving your dog any fat supplements. Perhaps it might be ok for dogs with very mild pancreatitis, but as the disease progresses added fat may cause discomfort, or worse. You probably want to take your dog on long walks and see if you can notice any signs of discomfort between the days that you give the supplement and the days that you do not. Diarrhea, vomiting, lethargy, etc are all great signs of severe pancreatitis flareups, but there are more subtle signs when the pancreas is causing pain or discomfort (like wanting to end a walk early, less trotting on walks, etc). Oils are pure fat and fat is very bad for dogs with pancreatitis. For me oil and fat supplements are just not worth the risk. Cecil requires a diet with as little fat as possible. Even just one mouthful of a fatty food that he finds on the ground can make him ill. Good luck.
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Cecil3 •one month ago
Weight gain with severe pancreatitis? Ok, I think I have figured out the problem with dogs with severe pancreatitis gaining weight. One is all the vegetables they eat are filling. The other is that in order to gain weight you must increase calories, but when doing so you also increase protein (or fat) which causes problems for the pancreas. The answer is when trying to gain weight you must change the meals so that you limit fat and protein enough so the pancreas can tolerate the additional calories necessary to gain weight. I have analyzed the foods Cecil eats comparing amount of protein per calorie. I also bought a small kitchen scale to more accurately calculate calories consumed. Bananas and yams (orange sweet potatoes) are the best at 1.2g protein per 100 calories. Rice and carrots are second with about 2g protein per 100 calories. White bread is third with about 4g protein per 100 calories. Green vegetables (peas, broccoli, string beans, etc) all have about 6g protein per 100 calories. Beans are the worst with 8g protein per 100 calories. So, for the next 4 to 6 weeks Cecil is going to be on a new diet. I stopped giving him beans and peas a while ago, now I also temporarily stopped giving him broccoli and I decreased the rice and increased sweet potatoes, bananas, and carrots. His new daily diet is: 200g bananas 150g yams 67g carrots 42g rice 70g chicken (post cooked weight, about 100g precooked weight) With this recipe his weight should remain about the same, however I have previously discovered that Cecil is always willing to eat a slice of bread, even right after eating a meal. So after each of his 3 daily meals he gets one 32g slice of white bread. He has been eating this meal plan for a week so far without issue, so I suspect the problems he had with eating bread in the past was due to excessive protein intake. But with this recipe Cecil gets about 900 calories per day, but only about 40g protein per day. By my calculations he should be getting 200-250 calories in excess of what he needs to maintain his weight, so he should gain about a pound every 2-3 weeks or so (3700 excess calories = pound gained). So far everything is going well. I am hoping that he will be able to go from 7.95kg to about 9kg in about 6 weeks, and then I will change the recipe back to normal and discontinue giving him bread. Anyway fingers crossed! I explained this in great detail because Cecil is very unusual and most dogs won't eat bananas and they also may not like white bread that much. But perhaps with some substitutions this could work for others who are currently struggling with underweight dogs with pancreatitis. I will update this is about a month or two with his weight results. Good luck!
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Cecil3 Cecil3 •one month ago
Update. So the recipe with bananas worked really, really well for about a week, Cecil was getting about 850-900 calories a day and he was gaining a little weight. But he got sick of eating bananas and he started only eating about half as much of his meals, so I reduced his chicken and gave him more bread to keep his calories high enough to not lose any weight. We did that for about 1.5 weeks. This week I changed the recipe, he is now getting 75g rice, 75g peas, 75g mixed veggies (carrots, broccoli, cauliflower), 150g sweet potato, ~75g chicken (precooked weight / ~ 45g cooked weight), plus bread. But then Cecil started getting sick of bread, so now I give him a little less chicken in his meals to give him with his bread instead. The amount of bread I give corresponds to the amount of his dinners that he eats. Cecil requires about 700 calories a day, and I want him to gain wait, so the target is 750-900 calories a day. If he eats all his rice and veggies then he only gets about 50g of bread. If he eats 3/4 of his veggies then he gets about 125g bread. If he only eats about half his veggies then he gets 150-200g bread. Also, I start reducing the amount of chicken he gets when he is not eating his veggies, because the bread has a higher protein content than the veggie mixture. Cecil weighs 8kg and he cannot tolerate more than 40g of protein per day. I have found that the best way to feed him bread is to make small bread balls about the size of a chickpea. I start giving him them plain, and when he loses interest I put a tiny piece of chicken on the outside (5g of cooked chicken is enough for 50g of bread). Or I cut open a slice of cooked Italian sausage and I just touch the bread ball with the sausage before giving it to him. It has been about 3 weeks and Cecil appears to have gained about 0.2 to 0.3 kg so far. He definitely gained weight because his back no longer feels boney. 3 weeks ago I could feel all the lumps on his spine, now they are disappearing. The plan going forward is to change the recipe weekly. The next recipe will likely be less sweet potato (or no sweet potato) and more rice, with an adjustment to the amount of chicken to keep the amount of protein below 40g. I may substitute the peas for string beans too, and remove the carrots. Then we will probably go back to the fruit recipe again for a week after that provided he wants to eat bananas again. Hopefully this is helpful to everyone who's dogs are losing weight and getting too thin. Good luck.
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Cecil3 Cecil3 •one month ago
Unfortunately my other post is still waiting to be approved by the moderators before it can be seen (the last time that happened it took a few weeks to be posted). That post includes a lot of information about Cecil's weight gain progress and his latest dietary changes. However I had to take my other dog to the vet today so I had Cecil weighed while we were there, and he weighed a whopping 8.65kg! He weighed 7.95kg at the vets office about 4 weeks ago, so the new diet to gain weight is definitely working as his weight increased 0.7kg. His weight can fluctuate due to hydration, full stomach, etc, but I would say he gained at LEAST 0.4kgs which is at least a 5% increase in total body weight after changing his diet 3 weeks ago. If he did in fact gain 0.7kg then that would be a weight gain of over 8% in 3 weeks. Hopefully he will continue to gain some more weight over the next few weeks.
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Cecil3 Cecil3 •one month ago
Well it has been 12 days and my previous post is still waiting for a moderator to approve it to be posted. It may never get posted, I don't think this forum is monitored much. Cecil did very well on the weight gain diet. It only took about 4 weeks from him to go from being very thin (boney spine and 2 hip bones sticking out of his back) to him appearing to be about his ideal weight. I have not weighed him recently but his back / spine is now smooth to the touch and his 2 hip bones are no longer visible, I assume he weighs somewhere between 8.5 and 9 kg. I have reduced his daily calories to between 650 - 700 per day now. I believe this will be enough for him to maintain his current body weight. He still won't eat bananas though, I overdid it and now he is avoiding them entirely. Now I weigh his meals daily and I calculate calories per meal, and if he does not get at least 200 calories per meal (he eats 3 meals daily) then I give him bread balls with a little chicken on the outside (30g of bread to 3-4 grams chicken - post cooked weight) or bread balls dipped in his veggie dinner if he will eat them that way. I am giving him less chicken in his meals to compensate for the extra protein from the bread and for the chicken I mix with the bread. He is currently eating about 100g of bread daily to maintain 650-700 calories. Sadly he can no longer eat ham, I suspect due to his liver problems. I tried mixing 20g of ham per day inro his meals to try to get him to eat more veggies so he could eat less bread, but then he vomited a little and he had a little diarrhea so I stopped giving him the ham. Hopefully he will do well over the next couple of months and then I will have his blood tested again.
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lydia kawana Cecil3 •one month ago
Thank you so much for posting this, I have had a lot of trouble with getting my girl with chronic pancreatitis to put on weight but after reading your posts she has gone from 9kg (June 25th) to 10.6kg (August 17th) and she is looking and doing so brilliantly I am so in awe, I really appreciate the work you’ve put into finding the info and sharing it and think you absolutely rock. From a girl in NZ and her baby dog Sam (9 years foxy cross)
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Cecil3 lydia kawana •one month ago
I am very happy that Sam is doing better! Cecil did very well on the weight gain diet too, I am guessing he now weighs about 9kg. His back is now smooth and his 2 hip bones no longer stick out of his back. He is probably near his ideal lean weight now. I reduced Cecil's daily calories to 650-700 per day. If he starts looking a little too thin then I will increase his calories again for a week or so. I do not want him to put on too much body fat though, excessive fat is also bad for the pancreas. It must be nice living in NZ. :) I very much wanted to move there but it would have been very difficult coming from the USA and I was not sure I met the income requirements to move there (and also the dog quarantine rules were difficult), so we moved to northern Portugal instead. I hope Sam continues to do well.
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Cecil3 Cecil3 •23 days ago
Cecil is doing well. We are now on a weight maintenance diet (600-700 calories per day) as he looks great and he does not need to gain any more weight. I have another recipe for those who are interested. It is not as nutritious as some of the others, but it is a good change with a different taste and smell for when Cecil gets finicky. This recipe needs to be pureed or mashed really well as corn and peas are difficult to digest. 75g rice (precooked weight) 75g peas 75g corn 150g sweet potato He can eat as much of this as he wants, and I also sprinkle 12g of boiled chicken breast on top of each meal (12g post-cooked weight, 20g pre-cooked weight) for each of his 3 meals daily. I weigh his meal before and after he eats, and then I calculate the calories he consumed. If he does not get enough calories (200-230 per meal) then I give him some low fat white bread packed /compressed flat with a little chicken on the top until he reaches his 200 -230 calorie target. The ratio is about 3g of chicken (5g pre-cooked weight) to 33g of bread.
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Cecil3 Cecil3 •23 days ago
Correction, that was incorrect. The recipe is 75g rice, 75g peas, 75g corn, and 75g sweet potato. 150g sweet potato would be ok too, but that might take away from the corn flavor which is the purpose of this particular meal.
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Cecil3 Cecil3 •17 days ago
Here is another change of taste recipe. Cecil has been extra finicky lately, feeding him a lower protein diet with less chicken added means that the recipe must be adjusted every few days to keep him interested. This one is a really good change of taste which he will eat when he refuses his standard veggie meal, but with a lower nutritional value: 100g rice (dry weight), 150g sweet potatoes, 150g corn. I sprinkle a little chicken (10-15g post cooked weight) on top of each of his meals (3 daily). If he does not eat enough to maintain his weight I give him bread with a little chicken on top (ratio of 10g bread to 1g chicken). I must adjust the amount of chicken I give him to compensate for the amount of bread he needs to eat, otherwise he will get too much protein and he will feel discomfort or get sick.
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Cecil3 Cecil3 •6 days ago
Well the diet changes are working well, along with feeding Cecil a small meal in the middle of the night. I am now rotating the veggies every 4-5 days. I make 200g rice (precooked weight) and 300g of sweet potato, and then I add EITHER 150g corn, 150g peas, 400g broccoli, or 350g string beans and then I puree it. I also give him one slice of egg white french toast in the morning after his regular breakfast (he usually eats less in the morning), and another slice in the middle of the night (without a veggie meal, this is just to help eliminate morning sickness). The egg white french toast recipe is 1/2 medium egg white whisked with 40ml of bottled water, then soaked into a 33g slice of low fat white bread and the fried dry in a clean non-stick pan. Cecil loves french toast!
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Cecil3 Cecil3 •6 days ago
Correction, it is 20ml of water per slice of french toast. 40ml is probably too much water. You just want enough to help distribute the egg white and lightly soak the bread.
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Blackpete Black •2 months ago
My Border Collie Merle Angel has pancretitus. She has dry food from chappie which she loves. As a snack she loves her carrots. I am trying her on gravy bones which are within the limit of fat and protein levels. I am keeping a very close eye on her. Just a thought if your dog gets turned of his/her food and has diarhoea then get them to the vets it is so important. I know it can turnout expensive but that's what insurance is for. Angels Bill came in at £2000 pounds plus. Hope these comments help.
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Cecil3 Blackpete Black •2 months ago
That is one insane vet bill... Is your dog able to digest carrots? I used to chop up carrots for Cecil, but I noticed after it rained I would find piles of carrots and peas in the yard. Now I puree his vegetables to make sure he is digesting them and benefiting from them. I hope your dog does well!
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Cecil3 •5 months ago
I have another update on Cecil's diet. Cecil is doing ok again. I was feeding him 3-4 slices of bread daily between meals to help him gain some weight back, but that caused problems and his stomach was gurgling in the mornings and he was getting sick so I discontinued giving him bread. This was also the same time that I tried giving him 1000mg of fish oil, so I stopped giving him that too. I still wrap his pills in bread, and if he refuses to eat I still make him egg white french toast, and also if he is reluctant to eat I take a slice of bread and break it into very small pieces (15mm). I feed him one piece plain, then I start piling some of his veggie meal on the bread and I hand feed him that. I can usually put a teaspoon of food on each small piece of bread, so he still gets maybe 1/3 of a meal in him as well as a slice of bread. Sometimes he will eat some more of the veggie meal after the bread is gone. Another issue is that Cecil is not enthusiastic about eating the same food day after day for 4 years straight. If he is very hungry it is not a problem, but it is a problem when I want him to gain weight. So I have been experimenting with his meals lately. I started adding stewed fruit to his meals and so far the results have been encouraging. I have tried banana and apple so far, and he really seems to enjoy it. I reduce the amount of sweet potato in his meal and then I take a half an apple or a small banana, chop it up fine, put it in a small bowl with some water and microwave it for a couple of minutes. I then add that to his food, mix it well, and then I put the warm chicken or turkey heated in a little water on top and serve it to him. So over the next few weeks I plan on changing one or two of his meals daily. I will be adding less sweet potato to those meals, and I will probably switch to yellow flesh sweet potatoes for those meals (they have less flavor than the orange flesh variety). I will then add stewed bananas, apples, pears, or blueberries to those meals for a different smell and flavor. Hopefully this will be enough to get him to eat more and to gain some weight. Hopefully we can find some more recipes to try, I think changing the recipes might help him eat more and gain some weight. I used to sometimes give him ham which he LOVES but now that his liver is failing I am afraid to give him the nitrates, etc. I don't even cook with or give him tap water anymore due to the chemicals in tap water. Good luck with your dogs, and if you have a unique pancreatitis friendly recipe please share it.
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Cecil3 Cecil3 •4 months ago
Cecil is doing very well with his latest diet change. His appetite is much better, and sometimes while I am preparing his meals he is bringing his toy duck into the kitchen and laying it at my feet to offer me a trade for his dinner. I am not even asking him to do it, it has been a long time since I used to ask for a trade for snacks. And he is spinning in circles and begging when I am ready to feed him, which he also has not done in a while. I reduced the amount of sweet potatoes by about 40-50% in his latest lower protein recipe (sweet potatoes, rice, broccoli, carrots, and a little chicken or turkey) and I now add 1 chopped banana and 1 small chopped pear or apple per day mixed into his meals. He had some diarrhea the first couple of days with the added fruit but his bowel movements are back to normal again. I don't even bother heating up the chicken anymore, I just sprinkle a little chopped cold chicken on top of his banana and veggie or pear and veggie meals. He seems to be starting to gain a little weight back but it may take another month or two before I know for certain about the weight gain.
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Cecil3 Cecil3 •4 months ago
Incase anyone is interested, this is what Cecil (15yo, 8.5kg, severe pancreatitis and liver disease, and hyperthyroidism) has been eating daily over the past few weeks. 80-90g boiled chicken or turkey 55g rice (precooked weight) 150g sweet potato 110g broccoli 45g carrots 1 large banana 1 small pear or apple 1/3 slice white bread (for taking his pills) 330mg milk thistle bottled water (drinking and cooking) thyroid and liver medication So far the new diet appears very promising. We are able to take three 1km walks on good weather days, and we have even taken some long 2km walks on the beach and he is not complaining and he is even still trotting at the end of the walks. In comparison, when the vet had me feeding him 150g chicken daily, along with peas, beans, and other high protein foods, he would stop walking after only 100-200 meters and tell me he wanted to go back home. Now he does not even try to turn around after walking 500-1000 meters, and he is walking at a faster pace too. He is not vomiting and he has very good bowel movements. I have read that low protein diets are controversial for his condition, but his comfort and quality of life has clearly risen since I started reducing the amount of protein in his diet. We are going to continue this diet for a few more weeks and then I may try reducing his protein levels another 10-20%. Online resources claim a 9kg dog requires a minimum of 20g of protein per day, and about 65g of lean chicken breast contains that much protein. Considering that Cecil is 15 years old and his liver numbers are off the charts, and the vet has run out of ideas to help him, I think quality of life is probably the most import thing for him going forward.
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Taters Mom Cecil3 •2 months ago
Hi Cecil's Dad, Its so good to see that everything is going in the right direction again! Tater went to a 2nd vet for more blood tests, ultrasound and xrays. Thankfully they advised the same information as my initial vet. This time they believe she's out of pancreatic stage and can't find any further reasons for her continued diarrhea and occasional vomiting. Good yes, but ?? So we're off all kibble, only doing a brown rice/oatmeal mix with lightly browned ground turkey, shredded chicken,3-4 small pieces of browned stew meat, and a little ground up canned salmon. I mix this with a low sodium broth/water/her thyro tab, a spoon of bone meal for calcium, and her 100mg of gabapentin in the breakfast mix. I've tried probiotic,yogurt,fortiflora and those all make everything worse again. In working on getting kidney beans, green beans and carrots back into the mix slowly. She's been hanging steady at a pretty slim 27.5 lbs, and the vet says that's on the low side of healthy, hence, adding veggies back in. She's a spry 9.5 years now, I'm praying for many more years too. Best wishes to all!
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Cecil3 Taters Mom •2 months ago
That sounds good, I am glad the blood tests came back better! I am putting off Cecil's next blood test until October. Gaining weight is nearly impossible for Cecil on a no fat and limited protein diet. I have greatly increased the fruit in Cecil's diet and his appetite and exercise levels continue to get better. Now we walk 2 to 2.5km per walk, and he never tries to turn us around. He is now eating 2-3 bananas and one small pear per day, and his weight is steady at 8 - 8.2kg. He probably gets 35-40% of his calories from fruit now and he loves his new meals. I would prefer him to weigh about 9kg but it takes several months to just gain 0.1kg. I am convinced that excess protein was making it uncomfortable for Cecil to walk long distances so I removed the peas and beans, reduced the sweet potatoes, and added lots of fruit to increase the calories. I have a similar problem as Tater with my other dog Rodney, he has chronic diarrhea, he is flatulent, and sometimes he throws up and he often gets a nasty cough. He cannot eat dog food, I cured the diarrhea and gas by feeding him boiled chicken with rice, peas, beans, carrots, broccoli, and cauliflower. The coughing and occasional vomiting have been mostly cured by putting a muzzle on him when he goes out into the yard unattended. He was homeless and living on the street and eating garbage and he will eat just about anything, so the muzzle limits what he can eat when he is out in the yard. I tried going back to dog food briefly last month and the gas and diarrhea returned immediately. When in doubt try something really simple, then slowly add things back afterward. I started Rodney on chicken, rice, peas, and beans and then later I added more veggies.
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Cecil3 Taters Mom •2 months ago
Well please strike my comment about Cecil gaining a little weight. The vet weighed him yesterday at 7.95kg, so he lost another 0.15kg over the past 6 months. The vet cannot do anything else for him, and the blood tests are mostly irrelevant now because no matter what they reveal there is nothing else we can do. Next month I will be changing his diet again. I am analyzing protein vs calorie percentages in dog friendly foods and trying to reduce his plant based protein as much as possible. It seems fruit and sweet potatoes have the lowest percentage of protein per calorie, and carrots and white rice are fairly low as well. Most of the green veggies and beans have 3-5 times more protein per calorie. I will also be cutting back his chicken a little bit too (from 80-100g to 60-80g per day), and then I will try adding 1.5 medium egg whites and 3 slices of bread per day to his diet. He will always eat egg white french toast, so I will be giving him one slice after he is done eating each of his 3 daily meals. I had some problems in the past giving him 3 slices of bread per day over the course of several days, but I suspect that may have been due to excessive amounts of protein and thus why I will now try limiting his plant based protein as much as possible. Gaining weight seems to be an impossible task when on an extremely low fat and reduced protein diet. If the french toast snacks do not succeed I have no idea what else to try. Other than the low weight he is doing ok though. We take at least 2 walks per day, with a distance of 1.5 - 2.5km per walk. He has not been willing / able to walk 2.5km at one time for at least a couple of years, and he sometimes even trots at the end of our long walks.
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Melanie Lee Cecil3 •3 months ago
Thank you for sharing. I have 14-year-old golden retriever with pancreatitis and I don't know how to make her gain weight when she is so nauseous.
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Cecil3 Melanie Lee •3 months ago
What are you feeding your dog? Cecil has gained about 0.2 kg over the past 2 months. It is extremely difficult for him to gain weight when on a diet with minimal fat and limited protein. He is eating 2-3 bananas and one pear or apple per day now, he likes the fruit mixed in with his meals. He is walking further now too, now we walk 2 or 3 times a day with each walk between 1 to 2km each. On the higher protein diet he would walk about 500 feet and then stop to tell me to turn around, now he will walk a mile without trying to turn around. You can try giving your dog the minimum amount of easily digestible animal protein (boiled chicken or turkey breast with fat removed). Dogs require a minimum of 1g of protein (about 3.5g chicken breast) per pound of body weight per day, I try to give Cecil about 20% more than the minimum amount in chicken or turkey. For the rest of the meal make some changes and try to reduce the amount of plant based and other protein. I stopped giving Cecil peas and beans due to the high protein content in those foods. You can try something like Cecil's diet now which is rice, carrots, broccoli, sweet potato. and fruit. Since the amount of chicken is limited it must be chopped up very fine and mixed into the top layer of the food to make it more appealing. Try feeding several times a day, especially if you want to try to gain weight. I am trying to feed Cecil 4 meals a day now, spaced evenly at 6 hours apart. It requires me getting up at 3am to feed him though :(
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Monty B •5 months ago
Hi everyone I too have a whippet with chronic pancreatitis. I was advised to have her put to sleep after a really bad attack in December 2020 but managed to get her through it by taking her home and feeding her proper food. She’s almost 15 now and behaves like a puppy on her strictly controlled, mostly home cooked diet. It’s taken a lot of thinking, research and advice seeking to get her diet right but she’s been stable for quite a while now. I’m happy to share what I do to manage her condition but it will make a very long post.
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Hunters Mum Monty B •5 months ago
Please share your management diet and supplements etc. my boy has chronic pancreatitis and has symptoms daily. Discomfort and acid reflux. I’d love to know more
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Melanie Lee Hunters Mum •3 months ago
Me too, i'd love to know more on how to manage. My goldie has acid reflux and vomits white foam daily and seemingly randomly too.
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Ami Shah Monty B •5 months ago
Can you please share how you manage and what you feed
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Cecil3 Monty B •5 months ago
Yes please share what you feed your dog and whatever else you do to manage her condition. Thank you.
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Wilfredwhippet Monty B •4 months ago
I have a whippet with chronic pancreatitis too. Would love to hear how you’ve been managing your whippets diet
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Yvonne and Ted Monty B •one month ago
I have a whippet with chronic pancreatitis. We have found that feeding him 4 times a day has helped. He used to vomit bile when he was hungry in the daytime. However he still often does it in the night His last meal is 9pm. Apart from getting up in the night to feed him again, i dont know what else to do? He is fed on Royal Canine low fat gastro with a small amount of Chappie. I would love to hear any tips.
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Cecil3 Yvonne and Ted •one month ago
We all want to know what he is feeding his dog, but he has not been back for 4 months so he may not be coming back here again :( Splitting the meals up is very helpful. I feed Cecil 3 meals a day spaced 6 hours apart. If it was not for his thyroid medication I would probably space them 7-8 hours apart. But 4 meals is even better if evenly spaced. Are you feeding your dog dry or processed food? If so perhaps that may be causing problems. Perhaps he is getting too much protein? Fat is the enemy, but too much protein can also be a major problem for dogs with pancreatitis. Cecil (a rat terrier/beagle mix) has moderate to severe pancreatitis and I have found that he does fine when he is fed 40g of protein or less per day. Cecil's ideal body weight is about 20lbs, so he needs to be fed 2g of protein per pound or less otherwise he starts developing issues. I have read that 1g of protein per pound is the minimum recommended amount that must be fed to a dog daily. So now I make sure that Cecil eats 1.5 to 2g of protein per pound of ideal body weight per day. If the protein content of his food is mildly higher than this then Cecil will want to walk and exercise less, if it is moderately higher he may get diarrhea or vomit and he will exercise less, and if the protein is excessively higher he will not want to eat and/or drink, his stomach will gurgle, plus all of the other symptoms. Did you try changing his diet to see if the problem goes away? My second dog was previously homeless and living on the street and eating garbage and he has pretty severe gastro-intestinal issues (but not pancreatitis as far as I know), and he cannot eat regular dog food. I read the labels on the gastro-intestinal dog food but they were not too good and they are also not cheap, so I feed him 100g boiled chicken, 125g white rice, 125g peas, 100g mixed veggies (carrots, broccoli, cauliflower), and 100g beans per day. He weighs 22lbs and this mixture contains about 55g protein daily so it is a little too high in protein if he had moderate to severe pancreatitis, but it would probably be ok for a dog with mild pancreatitis. He is very healthy on this diet with no more gas or diarrhea. But if he had moderate to sever pancreatitis too then I would reduce the amount of chicken, remove the beans, add sweet potato, and make sure the protein added up to 45g or less for the amount of calories that he requires to maintain his body weight (about 800 calories). Talk to your vet about what to feed your dog, or maybe find a new vet until you get the correct answer. Good luck!
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MelJ •5 months ago
Hi Cecil3 I am in awe of all you are doing for your dog and I think it is so wonderful you are making him comfortable! I have a senior Yorkie with pancreatitis chronic, and just also learned anemic. I have been feeding royal canin gastro and she did fine for the first bag but recently stopped eating it and also had some vomiting. I switched to rice and chicken and she has recovered pretty well bit over this past year in general has lost a lot of weight. I will bring her to the vet again next week but they are not very helpful. I have been told more than once she is old and just make her comfortable. One vet hospital told me it would be fine to put her down at one point but thank god I didn’t listen and she recovered. Anyways, . I reintroduced the royal canin I blend it into a powder and add water to make it a much. She seems ok for now but I really would like to get her on homemade food. Especially after reading the food isn’t as great as the vet says. I went to balance it site and they give you a recipe but tell u it is nutritionally deficient and u must buy their supplement. Most I read says that homemade food is not ok long term because of the deficiencies. I’m not sure what to feed her at this point. I would like to make her homemade meals but want it to be nutritionally sound and safe. And I also worry about rice being on the fridge for a week if I make a large batch. Any advice is welcomed. Ruby, Yorkie, 15 years old, about 8 lbs.
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Cecil3 MelJ •5 months ago
Hi, I do not know anything about anemia. I can give you some advice for dealing with the pancreatitis, but I do not know how it will effect anemia. Considering your dog's age and problems I do not think dog food is going to work very well. Fat needs to be mostly eliminated from the diet, and protein needs to be given in controlled doses as if it were a dangerous medication. For a dog with mild pancreatitis, meals with boiled chicken, sweet potatoes, rice, peas, beans, broccoli, carrots, and cauliflower works very well. Cecil was on this diet for a few years and his nutritional blood test last year was very good. I believe he may have an Omega 3 deficiency (some skin issues) which I plan on working on in the future by adding 1000mg fish oil per day. But as the pancreatitis gets worse I now believe it is best to remove a lot of the plant based protein from the diet, and also limit the amount of animal protein. Less protein and minimal fat will put less strain on the pancreas, and it is also best to feed several meals as evenly spaced as possible. 4 meals spaced 6 hours apart seems to be ideal. Weight loss is a problem, I am fighting that now too. The higher protein diet the vet had me feed him had an adverse effect on Cecil's pancreas and he lost weight and did not want to walk as much. But he is slowly putting some weight back on now and he looks better and his appetite is better. Extremely low fat and lower protein diets will make weight loss a problem, but there are some tricks you can try. I start off by giving Cecil about 2 meals worth of pureed sweet potatoes, rice, broccoli, and carrots. I then take the correct amount of minimal animal protein (currently about 90g boiled chicken per day, which is divided into 4 equal size meals resulting in 20-25g of chicken per meal). This is a very small amount. To make up for this fact you want to chop up the boiled chicken or turkey very fine, and then pour a couple spoons of water on it. Then microwave it for about a minute so the chicken expands and the water takes in the flavor and aroma of the meat. Then pour the water directly on top of the rice and veggie mix and spread the chicken around on the top of the food (do not mix it in, leave it right on the top). Allow your dog to eat until he is full, he should eat all the chicken and 1/2 - 2/3 of the rest. Then put the dish in the refrigerator and at the next meal add more pureed rice and veggies, and then repeat by covering it with the chicken and water. It is still unlikely your dog will gain weight by doing this, so you need to give your dog snacks between meals. I used to give Cecil egg white french toast to help him gain weight, but that has too much protein now that his condition is so severe. So now I give him plain white bread. I give him a couple slices of low fat white bread per day between meals, and sometimes I give him some banana too (although most dogs will not eat banana). If your dog refuses to eat you can try substituting a chicken and veggie meal with egg white french toast which is fed by hand. When Cecil refuses to eat I can usually get him to eat a slice of egg white french toast. Just take 1 large egg white, add a spoon or two of water, whisk, then soak / cover a slice of low fat white bread and lightly fry it in a dry non stick pan. Cecil loves french toast. Cecil is doing much better now on this new diet, as opposed to the increased protein diet which the vet recommended that we try. When he was eating the mixture with peas and beans included along with 150g chicken per day he would walk a couple hundred feet and then stare at me until I turned us around to go back. He walks about 2-4 times further on the low protein diet. Sometimes he had minor pancreatitis attacks with the higher protein diet too. As for the rice being in the fridge too long, that problem is amplified for me. I have a refrigerator that does not get very cold and food spoils in only 4 days. What I do is I cook the rice, broccoli, and carrots, then puree and freeze about half of it. I cook the sweet potatoes daily in the microwave. I then put some puree in his bowl, then add some sweet potato and mash it together. Then I microwave it for 2 minutes, then add a little bottled water and mash /stir it up again. The texture of the rice and veggies gets dehydrated and messed up from freezing, but adding some water and sweet potatoes makes it much better. But you can also add the rice daily instead. The veggies are what need to be pureed, especially carrots, peas, beans, etc. If you do not puree them then they will be pooped out whole with minimal nutritional benefit. Anyway, the question you need to ask yourself is how severe is your dog's pancreatitis, and also if the liver is damaged (pancreatitis attacks damage the liver too). If mild or moderate then you can feed your dog something like my original recipe, but if it is severe then I would try something more like my current recipe. You can try something in the middle too (like adding less peas, beans, and cauliflower). I would not worry too much about nutrition as that will likely take years to become a problem. If you need help let me know, but to start off I would say your dog will likely need about half of what I feed Cecil. Good luck.
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Cecil3 •5 months ago
I have another update on Cecil's diet. We are moving away from a diet for a healthy dog with pancreatitis and into a diet for a dog with severe pancreatitis and imminent liver failure. Cecil had another blood test taken about 2 weeks ago, and he has gotten much worse since his last blood test taken 2 months earlier. 10 months ago his ALP was at 500+, and 2 months ago his ALP was at 1100+ (off the chart). The Vet had recommended trying a higher protein diet for 2 months to see if it would help his liver regenerate, but that idea was a failure. His ALP is still 1100+ (off the chart), and now his GPT is 1000+ (off the chart), and he now also has elevated total proteins in his blood. Cecil lost some weight from being on the higher protein diet too. His weight dropped to 8.2 kg so I am now waking up in the middle of the night to give him a forth meal (4 meals daily at 6 hours apart), and I am giving him some banana as a snack between meals in an effort to help him slowly gain back 0.75 kg of body weight. The Vet has run out of recommendations and is no longer helpful, she said she is looking into other medications but has not recommended anything. Cecil is 15 years old so surgery is not an option either. But Cecil still looks ok, and he jumps in and out of bed and on good weather days we can still walk 1-2kms on the beach. He was unwilling to walk for more than 0.5kms most days when he was on on the higher protein diet, but he is doing better again. His bowel movements are always very good and he is not vomiting more than once a month. He is still a happy and comfortable dog. I have made some fairly substantial changes to Cecil's diet last week. This is more of an end of life diet which I am hoping will extend Cecil's life somewhat and make his remaining time happier. I have completely removed the peas, beans, and cauliflower from his previous diet to reduce the amount of plant based protein, and I have reduced the amount of boiled chicken to 80-90g per day (originally he was getting 100-120g per day, and over the past 2 months I tried 130-150g per day). I am still giving him carrots, and I increased the amount of broccoli. I also now only cook with bottled water (instead of using tap water), and I only give him bottled water to drink. I am trying to find distilled water however it does not appear to be available locally. I am still giving him Legalon liver medication once per day. I am also still giving him milk thistle, but instead of mixing it into his food I am making custom size 165mg capsules which I give him twice a day. The milk thistle does not taste good and has a strong odor and it appears to decrease his appetite when it is mixed in with his food. I am also going to try giving Cecil 600mg of Omega 3 (1000mg fish oil) starting next week. Cecil's new daily diet is: 80-90g boiled chicken 300g orange sweet potatoes 50g rice (precooked weight) 100g broccoli 40g carrots 1 banana (snack to help him gain weight) distilled or purified water 330mg milk thistle 140mg Legalon (liver medication) 150 micrograms Eutirox (thyroid medication) 1000mg fish oil (if he can handle the fat) I am not recommending this new diet for anyone with a healthy dog with pancreatitis. I have come up with this new diet out of desperation to keep my dog with a failing liver alive. I do not know if it will work, and nutritional value has become somewhat meaningless now. Just 2 more months until summer, and then we can ride the motorcycle until the wheels fall off. That OneRepublic song is stuck in my head, time is running out so spend it like it's gold.
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JayneMM •6 months ago
Hi Cecils dad thanks for all your helpful advice .i just wanted to ask about probiotics and prebiotics and why you don’t put any in your mix I have been cooking my dogs food for a few years and pancreatitis has shown up and forced a recipe change I have always put a probiotic in their food and it seems suggested in the article on this site but I’m very interested in your thoughts and why you don’t use it , unless I’ve missed it! This is by no means a criticism but a genuine enquiry Thanks a lot
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Cecil3 JayneMM •6 months ago
Hi, I do not know much about the probiotics, etc. I designed Cecil's meals over time and from doing my own research, but the medication/supplements are given to him from the advice of my veterinarian. I never gave him the probiotics, enzymes, etc because I had the pancreatitis under control for many years. I think at one time I did try yogurt but for whatever reason I did not continue. Cecil's biggest problem now is his liver, and attempting to give him increased protein in his diet appears to be causing issues with his pancreas. Cecil does great on 100-120g boiled chicken breast per day fed in 3 meals 6 hours apart (Cecil's is 19lbs and lean). When eating this precise amount of chicken or turkey mixed in with rice, sweet potatoes, and pureed beans and vegetables he has perfect bowel movements every time and he only vomits maybe once every 4-6 weeks (which is normal). His problems occur when he eats something that I do not feed him. Thus I never felt the need to try anything else. But now his vet wants to try more protein in his diet to see if his liver will regenerate since the Legalon and milk thistle are not working. I tried giving him 200g of chicken per day (spread out over 3 meals each 6 hours apart), but that causes a pancreas attack the following day. 150g per day (or 120g of chicken and 2 large egg whites) appears to sometimes cause some minor issues and some discomfort, as well as reduces his appetite. I have been trying something else since last week, and the results so far are encouraging. I am now feeding Cecil about 150g of chicken per day (and no egg whites), but now it is over 4 meals per day (instead of 3), with each meal still 6 hours apart. This requires me to wake up in the middle of the night to feed him the 4th meal. His exercise levels and appetite levels so far appear to be the same as when I feed him 100-120g of chicken over 3 meals. From my experience it is best to remove as much fat from the diet as possible, fat is the main enemy. The next most important thing to do is treat protein like it is medication, and feed the correct precise amount as evenly spaced throughout the day as possible. Most research I have read suggests a dog requires a minimum of 1g of protein per pound of ideal body weight. I believe a good target is about 1.5g of animal protein per pound of body weight. After this, you want to add vegetables for vitamins, minerals, fiber, calcium, etc. And then lastly you want to add something like rice and sweet potatoes to get the meal up to the required calories (maybe 30-40 calories per pound body weight to start). If this does not fix the problem then try other things, like enzymes. Meal presentation is important too. Cecil regulates his own weight so I give him about 1.5 servings of his meal (minus the chicken) and I heat it up in the microwave and then add some water and mash/stir until it has the consistency of baby food. I then take precisely 35-40g of preboiled chicken breast and I chop it up fine on a small plate. I then take a handful of water and pour it onto the chicken and microwave it for 1 minute. I then pour the liquid and chopped chicken onto the top of his meal, and I spread it around but I do not mix it in so the chicken remains near the top. This way Cecil gets all his chicken and he can eat as much underneath until he is full. I cannot stress enough that protein needs to be treated like it is medication. Under 1g per pound is not healthy, and over 2g per pound can cause discomfort (or worse), and even if it is fed in 3 meals at 6 hours apart.
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Jaynemm Cecil3 •6 months ago
Hi This last paragraph suggesting no more than 2g protein per lb body weight per day is different yo your suggestion of 5g per day per body weight I’m following your recipe and would like to know if it’s based on 2 g or 5 g THANKYOU Jayne
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Jaynemm Jaynemm •6 months ago
so just to clarify I have two dogs 12 and 13 years old 70lbs and 50 lbs So that’s a 2.5 x and a 3.5x the recipe Would you just increase the chicken and not the veg/rice THANKYOU 🙏🙏
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Cecil3 Jaynemm •6 months ago
Hi Jayne, I believe you are confusing protein weight with chicken weight. 100g of chicken breast contains about 30g of protein according to online nutritional information. Cecil weighs about 20lbs, so a 50lb dog would probably require about 2-2.5 times Cecil's recipe, and a 70 lb dog would probably require about 3-3.5 times the recipe, so that is correct. Let us do the math for your 50lb dog. A 50lb dog requires a minimum of 50g of protein which would be a minimum of about 175g of boiled chicken or turkey breast. So 200-250g of chicken breast would probably be a good amount to try per day. This is assuming your dogs are lean and not overweight. And if they are overweight you eventually want them to be lean and trim. The calorie calculation is not so precise, online information on dog calorie needs is all over the place. I believe an older 20lb dog requires 500-700 calories depending on activity levels. I am not sure if larger dogs require less, more, or the same calories per pound of body weight. I would start with maybe 1500 calories per day and monitor their weight, unless you know how many calories your dogs actually require. You can also ask your vet to help with the calorie and nutrition requirements. Perhaps something like this for a 50lb dog: 200-250g boiled chicken breast - 330-400 kcal & 60-75g protein 400g yams - 450 kcal 175g peas - 140 kcal 175g beans (not dry weight, I use beans from a can or jar) - 140 kcal 125g string beans - 40 kcal 125g carrots - 50 kcal 125g broccoli - 40 kcal 125g cauliflower - 35 kcal 175g rice (dry weight) - 600 kcal This recipe would be 1.2 - 1.5g of protein per pound for a 50lb dog, and about 1800-1900 calories. So perhaps start off giving your 50lb dog about 20% less of everything (except for the chicken). If you need to reduce or increase calories do so by adjusting the rice, sweet potatoes, or everything / anything except for the chicken breast. Also you can replace the 450 calories of yams with 450 calories of rice if you wish to reduce the recipe cost. You can probably also replace the 140 calories from beans with rice too, if you wish. Your dogs are large and it will be expensive to feed them! And you are going to need a REALLY large pot too. Also all my weights are precooked weights, I do not have a kitchen scale and I do not actually weigh anything. I have become really good at judging the weight of chopped chicken breast by eye.
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Rhonda Weiss •6 months ago
Good Morning everyone, I have an 8 year old American Bully who is the apple of my eye. 4 Days ago we almost lost her to pancreatitis with acute kidney injury. Our pup is on phenobarbital for seizures that started 4 years ago. So we were concerned that maybe the medication was to much with her not eating. The signs were a dragging back legs, tremors, lethargy, loss of appetite. We took her to the vet and they did an xray on her spine and diagnosed her osteo arthritis. They didn't check her blood so we took her home with some medication. We were back the next day in crisis. She had bloody stools and was shaking badly. The new doctor immediately ran the blood tests and let us know she had pancreatitis with acute kidney injury. She was hospitalized with an IV for 4 days. She is now recovering slowly but we must change her diet drastically. She is now on a low fat, novel protein diet and we've taken her off the phenobarbital since we think this contributed to the pancreatitis. (she hasn't had a seizure in over two years so the Dr. feels we should be ok). This was such a stressful time and my pup was in so much pain. Does anyone else have information about low fat dog food that are novel proteins, but not too high in protein that it makes the pancreas work hard? We are trying Just Food for Dogs (venison and sweet potato) and she seems to be handling it well. But sheeesshsh...its expensive.
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Nancy Kerr •6 months ago
Hi, I have a cavapoo who had a bad flare up of pancreatitis and he’s currently on the Royal Canin gastrointestinal kibble but according to this website its not the best. Is it worth me looking into getting him on a different one? I would appreciate if anyone who is informed could give me any advice he’s 2 years old and weighs around 6kg. Thanks
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Cecil3 Nancy Kerr •6 months ago
I did look at that food and also Advance for my other dog who has severe diarrhea issues, but it was expensive and when reading the ingredients list it appears to be garbage. I cannot recommend a kibble as I have become very discouraged with dog food over the past few years. I have been experimenting with another fresh food recipe that is a bit lower in cost which is should be both pancreatitis and gastrointestinal friendly. I recently rescued a 2 year old homeless dog who was living on the street and starving to death. He weighs 22lbs and he is healthy now and he does NOT have pancreatitis. But I cannot feed him kibble as every brand I have tried gives him chronic diarrhea. The vet recommended that I try gastrointestinal kibble, but it costs 50 euros a month and the ingredients are absolute garbage (contains corn and meat byproducts). For the past week I have been feeding him a very limited ingredient diet to test if the diarrhea is food related. I am feeding him 100-120g boiled chicken breast, 125g rice, 125g peas, and 100g beans. He is doing very well so far on this diet, and his diarrhea is completely gone. His poop used to smell really foul too, but now I don't smell it at all (not that I try to smell it, but the smell of kibble poop is really hard to avoid!). When dogs eat a fresh food diet their poop is nowhere near as disgusting. Next week I will be adding 40g carrots, 40g broccoli, and 40g cauliflower to his daily recipe. If the diarrhea does not return then I will leave him on this diet long term. This fresh meal made from only human grade ingredients will cost about 40 euros a month to feed him, so it is actually cheaper than the gastrointestinal kibble. This meal is easy to prepare too, I cook enough rice for a week in a large pot, and then I add the peas, beans, and veggies to the pot and I let it sit on the stovetop for an hour to cook the previously frozen veggies. I then puree it with a hand blender and then I put it into daily containers and store them in the refrigerator. I feed him 3 times a day, and at each meal I just put the correct amount of puree into his bowl and then I mix in 35-40g of preboiled chicken and I serve it to him cold. He eats it all and licks the bowl clean at every meal. I am monitoring his weight and I will adjust the calories of the meal as necessary by adjusting the amount of rice in the recipe. I am hopeful that Rodney will do very well on his new diet! Good luck with your dog!
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Sarah S •7 months ago
Unfortunately all the 'Suitable Foods' are all dry food. I'm looking after a 3.6kg senior dog that won't eat dry food, so there are no suitable foods :-(
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Cecil3 Sarah S •6 months ago
Hi, I am sorry you cannot find suitable wet food for your dog. You always have the option to make fresh food with human grade ingredients. Your dog is quite small so it would not be very expensive. Considering the weight and age of your dog he/she probably requires a minimum of 8-10g of animal derived protein per day, and perhaps about 300 calories per day (if not very active). I would try 40-50g of boiled chicken or turkey breast per day, plus add some pureed vegetables for vitamins, and also add some rice and/or sweet potatoes to raise the calories and fiber. If you need help please ask and I can try to help you come up with a recipe. I have been fighting this disease for many years now. Fat is the enemy, as well as the incorrect amount of protein (either too little or too much). Cecil is a 8.5-9kg 15yo senior and he seems to do best on 100-120g of chicken breast per day and about 700 calories. Over 150g of chicken and he does not walk as far as he normally would, and if I feed him 200g per day he gets ill.
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Taters Mom •7 months ago
Hi Cecil's Mom, Your information is greatly appreciated. I'm new to Tater's recent Pancreatitis issue, confirmed and well loved by my vet. She's down to 33.6 lbs Feb 2, from 48 lbs in Nov. Tater loves brocolli and pea soup(broth based), so I'm going to slowly introduce your diet ideas to her. She loves most of the items - DEFINITELY the sweet potato, but definitely needs some fiber. She's on Hill's wet and kibble now, and isn't crazy about it unless smushed up into pumpkin puree. Her bouts of poop soup are clearly uncomfortable for her, and pretty gross for us, so wish me luck! She's recently started her thyroid meds, on an anti-barf, and a food stimulant as she thinks any food is now medicine. She hates the probiotic powder sprinkled on her food. I'm adding milk thistle per your idea, the vet has told me on our weekly discussions that most veggies that you listed are safe, so I'm not just taking 'anyone's' info for my lil babe.
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Cecil3 Taters Mom •7 months ago
Actually I am Cecil's dad. I research everything I give Cecil. He is like my son, we ride together and he has 160,000+ kms riding motorcycles with me already. Cecil's bowel movements are nearly perfect just about all the time on his diet. I stopped blending the sweet potatoes into the mixture, it makes it easier to freeze it without them. The beans really help with the fiber too. I now only puree the rice, beans, and vegetables. I then add some of that to some pre-microwaved orange sweet potatoes and then I microwave it until warm, and then I add a little water and mash it together (with a little milk thistle sprinkled in). I then chop up the pre-boiled chicken very fine and add several spoons of water, and then I heat that in the microwave for a minute and then I pour the meat and liquid on top of the vegetable mixture. This makes it much more appealing. Lately I have also been adding some chopped up precooked egg whites to see if the extra protein will help with his liver blood test numbers. Cecil is on Eutirox for his thyroid, 75mg twice a day. I usually give it to him at 8am and 8pm, and I feed him at 9am, 3pm, and 9pm. He also gets 140mg Legalon at 6pm for his liver. All his medication is human grade. He does not eat much in the morning, and it requires some coaxing to get him to eat, but he eats much better in the middle of the day and evening. Cecil is very good at taking capsules, I am not sure if you can give the probiotic that way. I squeeze a capsule to make it thinner and then I complete cover it with low fat bread compacted completely around it (but small enough to swallow whole). I then give him that and before he has a chance to try to chew it I give him another piece of bread to force him to swallow the first. I also wrap the tiny Eutirox tablet in a little bread and he swallows that down without issue. I do not give him probiotics or anything like that. If he eats only his meals with the correct amount of protein then he does not have any problems. But if he eats some kibble or something he finds on the sidewalk then we have problems. I believe protein amounts are very important. Cecil's lean body weight is about 19lbs and 120g of boiled chicken per day seems to be the ideal amount for his pancreatitis. You want to keep your dog lean too, but not to the point where they have protruding bones through the skin. Less weight means less food and protein is needed, which is less work for the pancreas. Good luck, it may take some time to get Tater weaned onto a fresh food diet. There is no going back though, kibble is like poison now for Cecil. I rescued a dog off the street and I got him kibble with only 8% fat content, and even that makes Cecil sick if he eats any of it.
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Cecil3 •7 months ago
I have been doing a lot of experimenting with protein over the past month, hopefully my research will be helpful to someone. Cecil's liver problems are getting worse. he has been on legalon and also milk thistle for about 8 months but his liver does not appear to be healing and his numbers are climbing. The vet suggested that Cecil may need more protein to help heal his liver, but excess protein is not good for his pancreas. Cecil was getting 100-120g of boiled chicken breast per day, which is enough protein for a 9kg dog. I was able to raise his protein to about 150g of chicken per day and he seemed ok, but by the appearance of his bowel movements I believe the 100-120g per day was a little better. After a couple of weeks of 150g of chicken per day I attempted to raise that to 200g of chicken per day. The next day Cecil was not walking as far and letting me know he wanted to go back home early, and in the morning his stomach was making gurgling noises and he started refusing to eat and his bowel movements were not good. I attributed the problem to too much protein, so I went back to 120g of chicken per day and when he refused to eat I gave him some egg white french toast (he seldom refuses that, even when he is feeling sick). Cecil is back to normal after a few days, so now I am trying 120g of chicken and 3 cooked egg whites per day. In another week I will probably try 150g of chicken and 3 egg whites, I am curious to see if egg whites put let strain on his pancreas. If it were not for his liver problems 100-120g of protein would be perfect for him. If you are fighting pancreatitis I suggest remaining vigilant with watching your dog's liver as well, as the 2 appear to be linked. And when feeding your dog with pancreatitis the amount of animal derived protein needs to be precise for your dog's needs, too much protein can cause problems. I am now walking a tightrope and trying to keep his protein low enough to not cause issues with the pancreas, but also keep his protein high enough so hopefully his liver will heal. Cecil has had severe pancreatitis for many years. It has been 4 years since his body inflated and I thought he was going to die, and probably 6+ years since I first noticed symptoms of pancreatitis. If you are feeding your dog a fresh food diet I have some more suggestions. After I warm up the puree mixture of yams, rice, beans, and vegetables, I then take about 40g of preboiled chicken or turkey (on days when he gets 3 meals a day) and chop it up very fine, and then I put a few spoonful's of water on it and microwave it for up to 60 seconds. This brings out the smell and flavor of the meat, and then I pour the water and the chopped chicken directly on the top of the pureed vegetable mixture. I push the meat in just a little bit so all the meat is in the upper layer of the meal, and so the meal smells like meat. He is much more likely to eat it when I prepare it this way. Cecil is also on thyroid medication, and in the morning he just does not want to eat. I often must take some chicken out of his bowl with my fingers and hand feed him a little, all while I coax him to walk closer to the bowl. After several small tastes I can usually get him to eat directly from his bowl. Occasionally when he is extra fussy, or when he needs a break from chicken or turkey, I then take about 30g of chicken and I add about 12g (half of a thin slice) of low fat ham. I also chop up the ham and chicken and put some water on it and heat it up. The ham has a very strong odor and it makes the meal much more enticing. But sometimes he refuses to even take the meat off my fingers, and when that happens the only thing I can sometimes get him to eat is egg white french toast. It is simply an egg white and a spoon of fat free milk which is whisked and then soaked into a slice of low fat white bread, and then cooked in a non stick pan with no oil. If Cecil refuses french toast then I know he is extremely ill. If that happens I will usually give him a little pepcid or I consider taking him to the vet. I am not sure how long Cecil has left. We are fighting but the illnesses are stacking up against us. I may not be posting updates on Cecil's meals any longer. Any future changes to Cecil's diet will probably be due to his liver problem and not due to his pancreatitis. Good luck with your dogs! Hopefully my experiences with Cecil will help extend the lives of other dogs.
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Cecil2 •9 months ago
In case anyone is interested, I did change the recipe again. I stopped giving Cecil the egg white french toast most of the time because I cannot get egg whites here, and he was getting about about 90-100g of chicken per day (Cecil weighs 20lbs). But lately Cecil lost a small patch of fur on his back, perhaps 1 square inch. The vet believes it may be from his hypothyroidism but to be safe I now give him about 120g of boiled chicken per day. The modified recipe is: 1kg bag of broccoli, cauliflower, and carrots (333g of each) 400g bag of string beans 500g bag of peas 400g jar of beans (feijao manteiga) - rinsed well 2kg of orange sweet potatoes (yams) - microwaved and then peeled (peels are bad for dogs) 500g white rice (dry weight) These are all cooked and then I use a hand mixer to puree them together. This recipe will last Cecil about a week. I add 120g of skinless chicken or turkey breast per day (boiled, chopped fine, added to each meal individually to ensure he gets precisely 120g of chicken per day). So that would be 840g of chicken per week, to go along with the above recipe. If your dog gets fussy you can mash in some more orange sweet potatoes, Cecil really likes the sweet potatoes. Cecil has been on a recipe similar to this for almost 3 years now. He is about 15 years old and he also has thyroid and liver problems. Liver problems are common with pancreatitis so remain alert. He is currently on liver and thyroid medication and he also takes 300mg of milk thistle per day. His vet recommended the milk thistle as it is known to regenerate the liver. I have been trying to research it and it is also possible that it may be helpful to the pancreas too, but there is very little information about it. The MAXIMUM recommended dose is about 15mg per pound of body weight. Hopefully his next blood test will be better! Good luck.
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Cecil3 Cecil2 •9 months ago
Also, occasionally I substitute the boiled chicken or turkey with low fat ham lunch meat (<2g fat per 100g). The ham has a lot of flavor and when Cecil gets finicky the ham can make all the difference! Cecil has had zero issues eating the ham. Sometimes when we take a day trip and we must eat lunch on the road I buy some ham, a baguette, a tomato, and a couple of bananas and make a sandwich for me and I will feed Cecil 40g of ham and some bread broken into small pieces, and then we share the bananas for dessert (Cecil likes bananas). He never had a problem after eating this. You can also buy a small can of peas and carrots and rinse well and add that to the ham too. Another occasional substitute for the chicken, rice, yams, beans, and veggie meal is egg white french toast. I take 2 egg whites, whisk with fat free milk, and then soak that into 2 slices of low fat white bread and fry in a non stick pan with no oil. Cecil loves egg white french toast. If Cecil finds and eats something fatty and it gives him a pancreatitis attack, sometimes the only food that I can get him to eat is the egg white french toast. I usually try to hand feed him just one slice and then I let him rest. An attack can last from several days to a week. Good luck! PS - All the Cecils here are likely to be me, for some reason whenever this forum forces me to log in to post (using same email and password) it forces me to choose a new unique username...
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hedgehog •10 months ago
I've been reading your posts and the evolving recipe and will be trying my Scotty/Yorkie cross with it, but can you tell me how you store a week's worth of the food once cooked and blended. Do you portion it out and store in separate bags in the fridge?
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Cecil hedgehog •10 months ago
I assume you are talking to me. :) I did change the recipe a little again, now I put in 1.5kg of orange sweet potatoes (instead of 1kg). I am still using 0.5kg of rice. I may try increasing to 2kg of sweet potatoes in the future. More sweet potatoes makes it taste better. I keep the meat separate from the mixture and then chop some up and add at each meal time. It is important to give them the precise amount of meat in each meal, you want to regulate the amount of protein - not too little and not too much. Also, I found a place that sells meat at 30% off when it is approaching the expiration date, so I use that to cut costs. How you store it will depend on the quality of your refrigerator! I had a really good fridge with digital temp control in my last residence and I could keep it just above freezing and thus it could go the entire week and it would not spoil. I would just leave the entire pot in the fridge and dish out a serving at each meal. The fridge I am using now is horrible and it does not get very cold and food spoils after only 3-4 days, it is old but I am renting so I am stuck with it for now. So I freeze some of the mixture in plastic containers (maybe 4 - 5 meals per container), and I leave a pot in the fridge with about 3 days worth too. It does not freeze very well though, the quality degrades and the water separates and it no longer has a pudding like consistency. Cecil will still eat it though. You can also adjust the recipe to match the quality of your refrigerator. Figure out when it spoils and then choose a size so it gets close to but does not spoil. Also if you are just starting him on it you may want to start off with 1 meal a day (along with his current food, if it is safe for him to eat) and give it some time. This recipe is very high in fiber and very different from store bought dog food and it may take some time for his stomach to adjust to it. Cecil has been on it for about 4 years and he has very good bowel movements all the time. But I was giving some to my other rescue dog (he gets jealous) and I think it gave him diarrhea as he is used to eating kibble. Cecil had this illness for almost 4 years now, and he has other problems (liver, thyroid, etc) and he is also on medication. Sometimes, especially in the morning, he does not want to eat it. When that happens I hand feed him a half slice of low fat white bread and then see if I can coax him to eat the mixture, which he often will do after eating some bread to settle his stomach. The white bread, egg white, and fat free milk french toast fried with no oil is also very good when they have an upset stomach. If you have questions let me know, I am always willing to help. It is difficult disease. It may take a week or more for me to respond though, I do not get notifications from this website so I only see responses when I check the webpage on occasion. Good luck!
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Cecil •11 months ago
A warning for folks looking to feed their dogs with pancreatitis low fat kibble. I recently took in a homeless dog who I have been feeding low fat kibble. My dog Cecil has pancreatitis and has been on a home cooked meal plan for over 3 years, and he is not allowed to eat the kibble (or any dog food for that matter). However yesterday he ate some of the kibble (maybe 1/3 cup or so, I am unsure) and then later he was drinking large quantities of water all night and he refused to eat his dinner. He looked fat so I measured his waist and it was enlarged by about 1.5-2". Thankfully today he is doing better and his waist size has decreased and he is eating again and doing better. The kibble he ate has 20% protein and only 6% fat. I bought the lowest fat kibble I could find for the homeless dog in case Cecil ate some of his food accidentally. However even one meal of the kibble with 6% fat has enflamed Cecil's pancreas. It is a very difficult situation as the homeless dog will not eat at specific times and he requires me to leave the bowl of kibble out for him all day. Anyway if you are new to this disease and looking for options, I would avoid the low priced low fat kibble. 2 years ago Cecil was hospitalized because I was forced to feed him low fat kibble while we were moving and I could not cook for him. The kibble is horrible, and especially the cheap kibble. Now when we travel if I cannot cook for him I buy a can of peas and carrots, rinse them well, and mix them in with chopped low fat lunch meat (ham or turkey breast) and small pieces of low fat bread.
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Chance •one year ago
My dog has pancreatitis but is losing his coat from his low fat diet, is there any good fat i can give him? And the amounts he's about 100lbs
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Cecil Chance •one year ago
Are you sure it is from fat and not something else, like too little protein maybe? A 100lb dog requires at least 100g of animal derived protein per day (1 pound of skinless boneless chicken breast per day has about 100g protein). If it is from fat perhaps you might try reducing the fat content of the food even lower (like giving a quart of egg whites daily instead of a pound of chicken, which also adds up to 100g protein), and then adding only a very beneficial high quality fat to the recipe? Sorry but I have no experience with this issue, at least not yet. Hopefully someone else will be able to respond with some experience with your issue. Good luck!
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Shiba •one year ago
My dog was recently hospitalized for pancreatitis. We are under the care of several veterinarians. I feel very discouraged about what to feed her safely. Most advice has been lean, meats, rice, low fat. She has been picky, her whole life she totally stopped eating with her attack of pancreatitis. One of the veterinarians told me dogs are lactose intolerant, and I should no longer feed her yogurt, which was a Favorites treat for her. I am not sure who to believe as far as treats and advice would be appreciated.
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Cecil Shiba •one year ago
Hi, I typed a long response to you yesterday but somehow it got lost. Unfortunately you cannot send me messages through this forum either as there is no option. I will try to remember what I wrote and condense it. I have been fighting this condition in Cecil for several years. Fat is the enemy. You want to give you dog a high quality protein (like boiled skinless chicken or turkey breast) with all the fat removed, and you want to give the correct amount of animal protein (about 5g of chicken or turkey daily per pound of dog weight). Cecil weighs 19lbs and he gets 100g of chicken daily. After that you need to add healthy dog friendly ingredients, and the total calories should meet your dog's daily energy requirements. You want to keep your dog slim and trim too, no excess fat on the body either. Fat is the enemy. Your dog may not want to eat certain foods, and he/she may not be able to digest certain foods well either. I recommend using an electric hand blender to puree the dog food until it resembles baby food. Also, to relieve stress on the pancreas it is best to feed several meals per day. I feed Cecil 4 times a day and 5-8 hours apart. I also add a little milk thistle to each meal (about 80mg) as Cecil also has liver problems. Right now Cecil is fed this daily. He weighs 19lbs, he is about 14 years old with low to moderate exercise. It takes about 700 calories daily for him to maintain his weight. All the vegetables are frozen and cooked, the beans are from a jar and rinsed very, very well. The yams are fresh and microwaved until soft and then peeled (the skin is very bad for dogs). The chicken is boiled then the fat is washed and picked off, and then it is chopped up and the precise amount is added to each meal. The veggies, rice, beans, and sweet potatoes are all pureed (I make enough for a week at a time). Here is Cecil's diet: 100g boiled chicken breast - 115 kcal 22g protein 1.3g fat 128g (microwaved then peeled) yams - 114 kcal 2.6g protein 0.2g fat 2.8g fiber 71g peas - 60 kcal 3.9g protein 0.2g fat 3.9g fiber 57g beans - 45 kcal 3.6g protein 0.4g fat 4.4g fiber 57g string beans - 18 kcal 1.1g protein 0.1g fat 1.9g fiber 47g carrots - 20 kcal 0.4g protein 0.1g fat 1.3g fiber 47g broccoli - 16 kcal 0.9g protein 0.1g fat 1.2g fiber 47g cauliflower - 14 kcal 1.3g protein 0.2g fat 0.9g fiber 72g rice (dry weight) - 264 kcal 3.5g protein 0.3g fat Most important is not throwing up and good solid bowel movements, so keep watch. With this recipe Cecil has good bm's every time, unless he eats something that I did not give him. He also gets snacks of bananas, apples, pears, or blueberries and sometimes something to chew on to clean his teeth. As for pancreatitis attacks, they can last a long time. Your dog may not want to eat for a week or longer. I have found that when Cecil refuses to eat I can still get him to take small pieces of egg white french toast when fed by hand. After he eats a half slice I can sometimes can coax him to eat some of his chicken and veggie dinner. If not then I hand feed home some more french toast and then I try again a few hours later. The french toast is simply 1 slice of low fat white bread, 1 egg white, and a couple spoons of fat free milk, and fried with no oil in a dry nonstick pan. If Cecil does not want to eat the french toast either then I usually give him a little famotidine Pepcid, etc). I usually try 5mg at first but if that does not work then next time I try 10mg, up to twice per day. I really try to avoid giving him Pepcid though, usually I can get a couple slices of french toast in him and then I try again later. I am very happy if he can get half his daily calories when he suffers from an attack. You should ask you veterinarian before giving your dog Pepcid though. Anyway hopefully this helps you. I am not a vet nor do I have any education in medicine (other than spending many long and stressful nights reading information online. I hope your dog does well, every day is a blessing. If you need someone to write to perhaps we can find a way to send emails. Good luck!
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Cecil Shiba •one year ago
I'm sorry. I posted a response 2 weeks ago (Aug 15), but the moderators of the forum have yet to approve the response so it can be seen. Hopefully your dog is doing ok. If you are on another forum please let me know and I can send you a private message there.
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Cecil Cecil •one year ago
Here is my response from August 15th again: Hi, I typed a long response to you yesterday but somehow it got lost. Unfortunately you cannot send me messages through this forum either as there is no option. I will try to remember what I wrote and condense it. I have been fighting this condition in Cecil for several years. Fat is the enemy. You want to give you dog a high quality protein (like boiled skinless chicken or turkey breast) with all the fat removed, and you want to give the correct amount of animal protein (about 5g of chicken or turkey daily per pound of dog weight). Cecil weighs 19lbs and he gets 100g of chicken daily. After that you need to add healthy dog friendly ingredients, and the total calories should meet your dog's daily energy requirements. You want to keep your dog slim and trim too, no excess fat on the body either. Fat is the enemy. Your dog may not want to eat certain foods, and he/she may not be able to digest certain foods well either. I recommend using an electric hand blender to puree the dog food until it resembles baby food. Also, to relieve stress on the pancreas it is best to feed several meals per day. I feed Cecil 4 times a day and 5-8 hours apart. I also add a little milk thistle to each meal (about 80mg) as Cecil also has liver problems. Right now Cecil is fed this daily. He weighs 19lbs, he is about 14 years old with low to moderate exercise. It takes about 700 calories daily for him to maintain his weight. All the vegetables are frozen and cooked, the beans are from a jar and rinsed very, very well. The yams are fresh and microwaved until soft and then peeled (the skin is very bad for dogs). The chicken is boiled then the fat is washed and picked off, and then it is chopped up and the precise amount is added to each meal. The veggies, rice, beans, and sweet potatoes are all pureed (I make enough for a week at a time). Here is Cecil's diet: 100g boiled chicken breast - 115 kcal 22g protein 1.3g fat 128g (microwaved then peeled) yams - 114 kcal 2.6g protein 0.2g fat 2.8g fiber 71g peas - 60 kcal 3.9g protein 0.2g fat 3.9g fiber 57g beans - 45 kcal 3.6g protein 0.4g fat 4.4g fiber 57g string beans - 18 kcal 1.1g protein 0.1g fat 1.9g fiber 47g carrots - 20 kcal 0.4g protein 0.1g fat 1.3g fiber 47g broccoli - 16 kcal 0.9g protein 0.1g fat 1.2g fiber 47g cauliflower - 14 kcal 1.3g protein 0.2g fat 0.9g fiber 72g rice (dry weight) - 264 kcal 3.5g protein 0.3g fat Most important is not throwing up and good solid bowel movements, so keep watch. With this recipe Cecil has good bm's every time, unless he eats something that I did not give him. He also gets snacks of bananas, apples, pears, or blueberries and sometimes something to chew on to clean his teeth. As for pancreatitis attacks, they can last a long time. Your dog may not want to eat for a week or longer. I have found that when Cecil refuses to eat I can still get him to take small pieces of egg white french toast when fed by hand. After he eats a half slice I can sometimes can coax him to eat some of his chicken and veggie dinner. If not then I hand feed home some more french toast and then I try again a few hours later. The french toast is simply 1 slice of low fat white bread, 1 egg white, and a couple spoons of fat free milk, and fried with no oil in a dry nonstick pan. If Cecil does not want to eat the french toast either then I usually give him a little famotidine Pepcid, etc). I usually try 5mg at first but if that does not work then next time I try 10mg, up to twice per day. I really try to avoid giving him Pepcid though, usually I can get a couple slices of french toast in him and then I try again later. I am very happy if he can get half his daily calories when he suffers from an attack. You should ask you veterinarian before giving your dog Pepcid though. Anyway hopefully this helps you. I am not a vet nor do I have any education in medicine (other than spending many long and stressful nights reading information online. I hope your dog does well, every day is a blessing. If you need someone to write to perhaps we can find a way to send emails. Good luck!
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Margaret Saunders Cecil •10 months ago
How many days meals is this for please?
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Cecil Shiba •one year ago
They seem to be allowing my short responses to be posted without needing approval. I posted a recipe here about 2 months ago, if you read through the responses you will see it. I am still feeding Cecil the same recipe, except that I increased the amount of orange sweet potatoes by 50% (to improve taste) and the amount of rice by 50% (to increase calories), and now I don't need to feed him any egg white french toast except as an occasional treat.
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Cecil Shiba •one year ago
I have been fighting this condition in Cecil for several years. You want to give you dog a high quality protein (like boiled skinless chicken or turkey breast) with all the fat removed, and you want to give the correct amount of animal protein (about 5g of chicken or turkey daily per pound of dog weight). Cecil weighs 19lbs and he gets 100g of chicken daily. After that you need to add healthy dog friendly ingredients, and the total calories should meet your dog's daily energy requirements. You want to keep your dog slim and trim too, no excess fat on the body either.
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Cecil Shiba •one year ago
Most important is not throwing up and good solid bowel movements, so keep watch. With this recipe Cecil has good bm's every time, unless he eats something that I did not give him. He also gets snacks of bananas, apples, pears, or blueberries and sometimes something to chew on to clean his teeth.
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Cecil Shiba •one year ago
As for pancreatitis attacks, they can last a long time. Your dog may not want to eat for a week or longer. I have found that when Cecil refuses to eat I can still get him to take small pieces of egg white french toast when fed by hand. After he eats a half slice I can sometimes can coax him to eat some of his chicken and veggie dinner. If not then I hand feed home some more french toast and then I try again a few hours later. The french toast is simply 1 slice of low fat white bread, 1 egg white, and a couple spoons of fat free milk, and fried with no oil in a dry nonstick pan.
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Cecil Shiba •one year ago
As for the episodes, they can last a long time (many days). I have found that when Cecil refuses to eat I can still get him to take small pieces of egg white french toast when fed by hand. After he eats a half slice I can sometimes can coax him to eat his food. If not then I hand feed home some more french toast and then I try again a few hours later. The french toast is 1 slice of low fat white bread, 1 egg white, and a couple spoons of fat free milk, and fried with no oil in a dry nonstick pan.
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Cecil Shiba •one year ago
Sorry, it seems anything else I try to add to your thread needs moderator approval (even though it should not). Unfortunately it appears the moderators here only check on it once or twice a month. :( If you find a way for us to communicate I can try to help you.
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Cecil Shiba •one year ago
When your dog is sick and does not want to eat you can try giving a little egg white french toast, I posted that info a couple months ago.
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Cecil Shiba •one year ago
Also, you can ask your vet about giving your dog a little Pepcid occasionally when he/she refuses to eat for a long time. Between this and the fat free french toast I can usually get Cecil to eat something even when he is sick after eating something fatty that I did not feed him.
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Cecil Shiba •one year ago
I just signed up on Petforums,co.uk with the username Cecil2. You can message me there if you wish, although my account there still needs to be approved by moderators. I hope your dog is feeling better!
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YorkieJack •one year ago
Forgot to mention his appetite is off the charts!
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YorkieJack •one year ago
I also feed him small meals 4 to 5 times a day.
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YorkieJack •one year ago
Jack gets major bouts of diarrhea and not much is working I’ve tried everything. He’s on boiled chicken with rice peas white potato. Also a probiotic plus FortiFlora (just started) and RX Clay. No pancreatitis symptoms other than diarrhea. He refuses all dog food canned or kibble. He’s only 5lbs. Can’t seem to gain. All bloodwork is good except for the pancreatic panel.
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Cecil YorkieJack •one year ago
Have you tried swapping the white potato with sweet potato / yams? Or maybe add some more fiber (like beans) to his diet? I also give Cecil 4 meals a day, and he only gets diarrhea when he eats something he finds on the ground. I have been mixing in a little milk thistle in each meal too, since his last blood test shows possible liver problems. Milk thistle repairs liver damage, and it may also help the pancreas too. I also had issues with Cecil gaining weight too. When he starts getting too thin I give him a slice of egg white french toast (1 slice low fat white bread, 1 egg white, and a couple spoons of fat free milk) per day in addition to his 4 meals to put some weight back on him. I try to keep Cecil between 18 and 20lbs. I am also adding more rice to his diet now to increase the calories a bit.
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Cecil •one year ago
Cecil had another pancreatitis episode about 2 weeks ago, but before that the previous one was about 1.5 years ago. I was walking him at a fair and he ate one mouthful of something off the ground and the next morning he threw up. He was sick for 10 days and he did not want to eat his meals. He would take one mouthful and then walk away as if he was sick or in pain, and most of the time he would not come to eat at all. He did not have diarrhea though, and he only threw up the one time. I tried giving him small doses of Pepcid (5mg) but that was only marginally helpful. But I found that if I hand fed him a half slice of egg white french toast in small pieces (slice of low fat bread, 1 egg white, 2 spoons of fat free milk, and then fried with no oil in a dry pan) I could sometimes also get him to eat half of his regular meal afterward. We had to do this for 10 days until the pancreatitis attack subsided and he went back to normal. Just one mouthful of the wrong food made him sick for 10 days. But I think the french toast is easy on a sick stomach, and after eating some he regains some of his appetite back. Perhaps my experience will help someone else.
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Cecil •one year ago
Hi, I changed the recipe again, this one is much better. Cecil is around 19lbs and he gets about 700 calories a day. I reduced the amount of chicken and added rice to my previous recipe (for more calories and to reduce the cost). I also added 1 slice of egg white french toast per day (1 slice white bread, 1 large egg white, a couple spoonful's of fat free milk, then fried with no oil. The new recipe per week is: 1kg bag of broccoli, cauliflower, and carrots (333g of each) 400g bag of string beans 500g bag of peas 400g jar of beans (feijao manteiga) - rinsed well 1kg of orange sweet potatoes (yams) 333g white rice (dry weight. 1/3 of a kg package) These are all cooked and then I use a hand mixer to puree them together. 700g skinless chicken breast per week (boiled, chopped fine, added to each meal individually to ensure he gets precisely 100g of chicken per day). Plus 1 slice of egg white french toast per day, which is 1 slice of low fat white bread, 1 large egg white, and 2 spoonful's of fat free milk. NEW meal nutrition (daily): 100g boiled chicken breast - 115 kcal 22g protein 1.3g fat 128g yams - 114 kcal 2.6g protein 0.2g fat 2.8g fiber 71g peas - 60 kcal 3.9g protein 0.2g fat 3.9g fiber 57g beans - 45 kcal 3.6g protein 0.4g fat 4.4g fiber 57g string beans - 18 kcal 1.1g protein 0.1g fat 1.9g fiber 47g carrots - 20 kcal 0.4g protein 0.1g fat 1.3g fiber 47g broccoli - 16 kcal 0.9g protein 0.1g fat 1.2g fiber 47g cauliflower - 14 kcal 1.3g protein 0.2g fat 0.9g fiber 48g rice (dry weight) - 176 kcal 3.5g protein 0.3g fat 1 egg white - 17 kcal 3.6g protein 0.1g fat 1 slice bread - 59 kcal 2.2g protein 0.8g fat 0.7g fiber 2 spoons fat free milk - Total per day: 664 kcal, 45g protein, 3.8g fat, 17.1g fiber Analysis: 5.2% of kcal from fat 27.1% of kcal from protein 5.2% of kcal from fiber Plenty of vitamins (including calcium) from all the vegetables.
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Cecil Cecil •one year ago
I have since increased the rice in the recipe from 333g per week to 500g (precooked weight) and Cecil is doing very well. With the added calories from the extra rice I don't need to give him the egg white french toast anymore. 100g of chicken per day (and no other egg or meat protein) seems to be enough for him at 19lbs weight. I suspect I can increase the rice a little more (possibly 2/3 or 3/4 of a kg of rice total per week) but I don't think I would be able to fit everything in my 10L pot. Cecil seems to be doing well on the milk thistle too. It was vet recommended due to his liver issues but I also read that it might be helpful with the pancreas too. Cecil gets 4 meals per day and I sprinkle about 75-100mg of milk thistle onto each meal.
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Cecil Cecil •one year ago
I tried changing the recipe again, this time I increased the white rice to 2/3 kg per week. Cecil did not like it very much and I had to add more sweet potato to get him to eat it. So I changed the amount of white rice back down to 1/2 kg per week, but I also increased the sweet potato to 1.5 kg per week for better taste. If you are feeding your dog a similar recipe and he/she is not very enthusiastic about eating it then try adding more orange sweet potato to the recipe. :)
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Scheryl Levelheaded •one year ago
Henry my 11 yr old deer legged Chihuahua has been dealing with chronic pancreatitis. He never has had nausea or thrown up. He def turns his head at the new menu. He is super picky and we always joke Henry had better taste in food than we humans so we jokingly call him filet mingon Henry! I couldn't get fruits in him even if they were delivered by a man named jeeves on a silver plate. Which im sure he would enjoy. But. I am having some luck with the rice, peas,beans,yams,boiled chicken( i was told Absolutely no pork) I am worried if he's getting enough vitamins though. He won't eat cottage cheese or yogurt. Of course he loves a 3 yr aged gouda. And cheese is fat right? I haven't let him have any.. carrots are good for vit c i believe as well as beta caroteen. What other important vitamens should we not forget?
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Cecil Scheryl Levelheaded •one year ago
Broccoli, cauliflower, carrots, and string beans are all good along with the peas for vitamins, calcium, etc. You might need to use a hand blender though. I found that Cecil does not digest peas and carrots well, so everything gets pureed like baby food. Also I cook the yams in the microwave so they are extra sweet, which makes the puree vegetable mixture taste better. Boiled yams do not taste the same as microwaved yams. Yes, I do not give Cecil any cheese. Even low fat cheese seems to have too much fat. Fat free milk though has very little fat and maybe that could be an option. I cook a weeks worth of meals at once so I did not try adding milk to the recipe, but it could be pureed into the mixture and it would probably make it a little creamy. :) But Cecil is only 19lbs and he eats more than 4 lbs of veggies every week so he gets enough calcium.
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Hamilton House •one year ago
Hi my 8yr old rescue staffy Rodney has just been diagnosed with pancreatitis, spent 2 days at vets and became so anxious we had to bring him home. I have read as much as I can and I have started cooking meals no store bought foods I have also made treats, and he likes them.
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Aniston Forster •one year ago
GASTROELM PLUS IS LITERALLY A LIFESAVER!! IT CAN STOP A FLARE IN IT'S TRACKS. STOPS VOMITING DIARRHEA ETC. AND IS ALSO TO BE USED DAILY FOR MAINTENANCE. A SMALL BAG IS SUPER CHEAP AND WILL LAST EVEN BIG DOGS, CATS AND HORSES A YEAR PLUS. I CAN'T BELIEVE NO ONE HAS MENTIONED IT HERE.
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Aniston Forster Aniston Forster •one year ago
GASTROELM PLUS ALSO STOPS BLOODY DIARRHEA IN A DAY OR TWO AT MOST.
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Chang Aniston Forster •9 months ago
Hi Anniston, I can see your comments were 7 months ago so I hope you will still see this. My Labrador has just this week been diagnosed with pancreatitis, he was vomiting extremely badly 10 times in a day/ evening. I took him to the vets the morning after, she did tests, and has given him a course of lypex & a course of Omeprazole. He is not himself but can now eat boiled chicken & brown rice, white of an egg, and a few nuggets of his chappie dried chick which I soak first. My concern is what will happen when his tablets finish, I can see you are advising Gastroelm Plus? I do not know anything about it but will research it, in the meantime, please can you enlighten me with any information that you think would help me please. The vet fees are ridiculously high, so if I can try something that first of all could work and is cheaper it will benefit both my dog and myself. I hope you receive this message. Many thanks Chang ( this is not my name just the user name)
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Button •one year ago
The one thing my vet advised me to stop giving my dog with pancreatitis is dentsticks,. He said they are not good for the digestive system and he recommended plaque off on the food. I did this and am already seeing better gums and whiter teeth on my dog after only one week
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Button •one year ago
After just having my boy diagnosed with a pancreatic flare up. I have started to introduce wet food to his normal dry dog food and he shows less signs of nausea by doing this. This makes me believe that dry food causes problems for the pancreas even though it is only 8% fat content.
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Miamate •one year ago
Hi all Thanks for all the comments - ye answered a lot of my concerns. I’ve a 3 year old border collie with EPI, which is like her having pancreatitis full time. At 10kg, she hasn’t regained much weight with her current regime (going on 18 months now) but is just about acceptably healthy. I’ve learned a lot from reading all of your comments so lots of new stuff to try to enhance her regime. My big problem is the cost. She eats the daily prescribed amount of Hills I/D low fat twice a day (€108 per 12kg bag) and has a Lypex (€70 per month) tablet with each meal and a cobalamin injection monthly. Effectively she costa us €200 per month. For me, and I know you won’t all agree, but for me, it’s unacceptable money to be spent on a dog and if I’m honest because of this, there are many days when I wish the vet hadn’t saved her but we do love the little rogue that she is. So looking for 1. simple cheap home made meal ideas (thinking brown rice based as I buy it by the sack anyway) and 2. a source of a cheaper dog enzyme capsule/powder provider. I got raw pancreas once but of course it was the one thing in the world that she wouldn’t eat. I will try again.
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Amy Pagnozzi Miamate •one year ago
Look at the can ingredients. My dog has extremely severe pancreatitis but doesn't like the Hills. The vet told me if he refused it he could have lean meats (white chicken or turkey, wildcaught frozen whitefish comes in 2 lb bags in walmart, pork loin when it is on sale). With white, not brown rice because fiber is less digestible. They can have sweet potato, white potato, canned pumpkin. If your dog will eat it, the frozen salmon in bags is wild caught. Less fat. About $6 a pound. (whitefish is cheaper). They can also have some cooked carrots and green beans. Also ask the vet if your dog can have chicken hearts & gizzards which are super cheap like $2 a lb (but definitely ask because I know they can't have liver even though it is low fat). The hearts are very tasty if you only cook them a little bit in chicken broth. Mix in white rice and safe veg (never corn which is too hard to digest). Given the portion size for dogs, even if you buy best quality meat it works out cheaper than prescription food. Cooking dog-food like stews can be done in big batches and frozen for convenience. i understand the need for frugality. We are dealing with all manner of costly health issues at our house so If I had the money I wouldn't begrudge my dog truffles if that would save him -- but the truth is, all of the prescription foods are low quality ingredients for a high price. You can make much better food at home for a fraction of that money
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Cecil Miamate •one year ago
I am sorry about the cost of your dog food. I think it costs me about 50 euros per month to feed Cecil a fresh food diet, and he weighs about 8.7 kg. Your dog probably needs quality low fat meat, but perhaps not too much. At 10kg I think she probably only needs about 125g per day of skinless chicken breast. White rice is inexpensive and will add calories to her diet. Also beans (kidney, etc) are inexpensive and will add fiber to her diet. Sweet potatoes can be inexpensive (yellow or orange), and they are also wonderful to add to her diet. You can also add some cheap vegetables for nutrition (I think peas, carrots, and string beans are the cheapest frozen veggies). I also give Cecil broccoli and cauliflower, but those are more expensive than peas, etc. I would think if you cut costs and bought in bulk you could still make her a fairly healthy meals for about 50e a month. You also want to use a hand blender or something to puree the meals, this way she will digest it better (especially the peas and carrots). I cannot help you with the other things, Cecil does not have EPI yet. Good luck.
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Cecil Miamate •one year ago
I tried to come up with the cheapest recipe I could think of that might work for you. 1kg frozen peas 830kcal 1.5 euros 1kg fresh carrots 410kcal 1 euro 500g frozen broccoli 1kg fresh sweet potatoes 860 kcals 1.5 euros 700g white rice (dry weight) 2485 kcal 0.5 euros 875g skinless chicken breast 1000 kcal 5.5 euros Per week: 5755 kcal, 11 euros Per day: 822 kcal, 1.6 euros I suggest alternating meals between Hills and whatever fresh diet you create, that should cut your food expenses and you can see how she reacts to the diet change. Personally I will never give Cecil dog food or treats again. Unless the dog food is ridiculously expensive it is usually garbage. Cecil is doing so much better on his fresh diet and with less trips to the veterinarian. Hopefully you can find a way to reduce your medical expenses, perhaps you can switch her to human medications? Is there a human medication substitute for what she is taking now? My vet prescribes human medications for Cecil (he has hypothyroidism and possible liver problems along with the serious issues with his pancreas), and his medications are only about 10 euros a month total. My vet understands that dog medications are extremely overpriced. I also buy Cecil's flea meds, etc. in the largest dog size possible and then I break it up into several doses. Take Nexgard for example, a 3 pack of 20lb dog doses is about the same price as a 3 pack of 100lb dog doses, but I can make 12 small dog doses from the larger dog size so it is actually 1/4 of the price. Good luck, I absolutely love Border Collies!
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Cecil •one year ago
I have been fighting this disease for 3+ years now. Cecil blew up like a balloon about 3 years ago and then I switched him to a 50% dry dog food and 50% human food ingredients. But I had to move last year and I could not cook for him and then he got very sick again with high pancreas numbers. Since then (14 months ago) he is now on an all human food diet and doing very well. The vet just checked him and his pancreas numbers are in the low to normal range now. Cecil is an 8.5kg rat terrier / beagle mix who is now 13-14 years old. I use a hand blender to puree everything but the meat (some of the veggies like peas and carrots are difficult for him to digest). Cecil will eat the following ingredients every 5 days (divide the recipe by 5 for his daily consumption). I also feed him 5 small meals a day (about 3-4 hours apart) to put less strain on the pancreas. I add the chopped meat to each meal individually, and then I microwave the meal until it is warm. I have been adjusting and making changes to this recipe over the past 3 years but I think I will be keeping it the same from now on. It has high protein and very low fat, as well as many vitamins and minerals and a lot of fiber. These are boiled together: 1kg bag of broccoli, cauliflower, and carrots (333g of each) 400g bag of string beans 500g bag of peas +250ml water This is added after the veggies are cooked: 400g jar of beans (feijao manteiga) - rinsed well 1kg of orange sweet potatoes - microwaved until soft, peeled, and then added to the veggies. Then all the veggies are pureed with an electric hand blender. 1kg of skinless and boneless chicken breast - trimmed, boiled, and rinsed by hand to remove all fat. I also give him occasional snacks of bananas, apples, pears, or blueberries. He gets no dog food or dog treats anymore, and he will never eat anything not fit for human consumption again.
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Miamate Cecil •one year ago
Hi, this is very helpful. Interesting to note that it’s all veg and no rice or grains. Are the bags of veg frozen veg? My shep also likes apples & pears & melon. I’ve never thought to give her bananas.
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Cecil Miamate •one year ago
Hi, yes all the veggies are frozen (it is easier for me), but the sweet potatoes are fresh. I used to give him all fresh veggies but it was a lot more work. I did change the recipe and added rice and a slice of egg white french toast, and I reduced the amount of chicken as he was getting too much protein. Cecil loves bananas, and also blueberries :)
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Beanie Cecil •one year ago
Do you know the calories per cup of your recipe?
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Cecil Beanie •one year ago
Hi, I am sorry but I do not know the per cup calories. I did just change the recipe again, the new one is less expensive and has more calories from rice and less chicken, plus I added an egg white and slice of bread (egg white french toast). The new recipe was posted today. It is about 700 calories per day, and Cecil weighs 19lbs.
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WENDY “WendyMae22⠕one year ago
Our Jett was diagnosed with pancreatitis 4 months ago. Initially vet recommended a presciption diet but he did not do well on this. After trying many different low fat kibbles and after extensive research he is now doing well on his current food. He has Pero super sensitive kibble , ocean fish with tapioca but only 60g this is mixed with 60g fresh chicken and also Burns Wild Fish Carrots and Organic Brown Rice Wet Dog Food Trays, 200g each meal. We use protextin digestive enzyme half a capsule per meal sprinkled on his food. He also has protexin pro fibre 1 scoop a day. His poos are now solid and its such a relief. He lost almost 5kg in weight. He is now at amost 19kg and is a Staffordshire Bull Terrier aged just over 10 years. In my opinion the presciption diets are not always the best option
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Renee Obrock •one year ago
My dog has chronic pancreatitis. She's allergic to chicken and the fishes we tried didn't suit her. I use Dr. Harvey's. This stuff is great. I mix in the appropriate amount of lean ground beef. The ground beef is boiled and rinsed the portioned out. She loves it! It's very expensive to do a home diet for a dog weighing 67 lbs, but she is loved, so the cost is meaningless. It was very scary when she was first diagnosed, we almost lost, the vet was very worried. After a few days and being vigilant with her diet she's doing well.
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Cecil Renee Obrock •one year ago
Cecil weighs 19 lbs and it costs me $3 a day to feed him his home cooked meals and fruit snacks. It must be very expensive to feed a dog that is 3.5 times larger. But the love we receive in return is priceless. I hope your dog is still doing well.
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Colm Dunne •one year ago
Do you think the odd Bonio is OK for a Lab that has gotten over pancreatic? They are low in fat, at 4.5% Thanks Colm.
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WENDY “WendyMae22â Colm Dunne •one year ago
Hi i do not give my Jett any treats even the odd biscuit like bonio as it can set them back Regards
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shovana Samal •one year ago
Hi! Can dogs with pancreatitis and kidney issues drink rice water?
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Camolin •2 years ago
Our cockerpoo Lilly had a very serious bout of pancreatitis. She was hospitalised for four days. I believ it was 100% caused by ourselves over indulging her with unhealthy treats and scraps. Since, we have kept to a low diet and cut all snacks snd treats out. Even people in our local now know not to give her any. She isn’t happy but her body is . She’s very much healthier all round since managing her diet more strictly. Your article was really helpful and informative. I want to move from prescription food now, so having a ready made list of which brands to use was so helpful. Thank you
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YelyaH Camolin •one year ago
Hi, thank you for sharing your experience. How much do you feed your dog now? How often and what kind of food? Thank you
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WENDY “WendyMae22â YelyaH •one year ago
Hi i have posted a new comment above just waiting for moderator approval.it shows what i feed Our Jett who was very poorly with pancreatitis. Different dogs suit different foods. I have kept a diary for the past 4 months showing what amounts he is fed and take photos of his poos. This is how i could adjust his diet and the amount given. Its all trial and error Hope this helps
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Bear Harley •2 years ago
Please do not give your dog aspartame or artificial sweeteners. It can kill your dog. Very irresponsible of someone to post about their own experience with diet coke in relation to dogs with pancreatitis. I find a very small amount of psyllium husk helps soothe and aid digestion. This herb acts as fibre and has anti-inflammatory properties. Don't add too much.
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Susan Carlson •2 years ago
My Bailey age almost 14, has suffered from pancreatitis. We just have been made aware of this, so now we make his food from scratch hes better but still has issues.
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Sue •3 years ago
Hi,
My vet has recommended beef stips and rice for my dog with pancreatitis. Here states rice may not be suitable. I am confused has the vet informed me incorrectly? I want my best for my dog and do not wish him to suffer. He has had two bouts last month and I worry for him. I have had to be stricter with him when he demands more food. He is 11 years old.
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Cheese Sue •2 years ago
Lean Meat is best.. easy to digest. If the beef is difficult to digest, avoid it. One MAJOR HELP for my dog is Pancreatic Digestive Support Enzymes. It is raw pig pancrease that is freezed dried into a powder. The Raw Pancreas of Pig, beef and lamb have the enzymes needed to digest foods. Google pancreatic enzyme powder for dogs and you will get some options. All the Best
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Jess Harrison-Johnso Cheese •2 years ago
Cheese, would buy raw pig pancreas be ok and helpful to feed?
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YorkieJack Cheese •one year ago
My 14 year old yorkie has diarrhea at least once a week. He refuses canned food will eat kibble as a treat but not much. He’s on boiled chicken rice peas white potato. Also a probiotic and I just stated forti flora and I give him clay powder. He does have pancreatitis. No symptoms just the diarrhea and occasional bile spit up. Appetite is off the charts!! What to do about the diarrhea it’s awful.
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sheila •3 years ago
Great ARticle!!
My doggie has had it twice and is better now. One thing I did learn was. Check your environment for the pesticides and other toxic chemicals. if they are on your dogs feet after walk. wash your dogs feet. Those chemicals can aid in pancreatitis.
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Cheese sheila •2 years ago
Pancreatic Enzymes in powder form can help tremendously. Google it, pancreatic enzyme powder for dogs and it will give you some options to choose. All the Best.
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Kathy •3 years ago
My Carli is now almost 14 years old (Maltese) she got pancreatitis in December of 2017, spent a week in the hospital for over fluids, lost 2 of her 6lb body weight. I’ve kept her in a baked chicken and barley diet as any alterations cause a flare. She’s been receiving minced chicken and barley at about 4:1 with a commercial vitamin supplement. Everything is finely chopped because she’s been without teeth for the last 2 years and doing very well. Still full of energy and still runs the big dogs off. 😄
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Cheese Kathy •2 years ago
Pancreatic Enzymes in powder form can help tremendously. Google it, pancreatic enzyme powder for dogs and it will give you some options to choose. All the Best.
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Pam •6 years ago
Hi. My dog has just been diagnosed with chronic pancreatitis. Can she have barbecued chicken with the skin removed and tinned tuna?
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Jason •6 years ago
I have a border terrier who has suffered from reoccurring colitis for years, (due to a colon deformity and being highly strung), and in the last few months has had pancreatitis around four times, (finally broke the cycle of one triggering the other just before Christmas!). Anyway, a fussy eater at the best of times, (if you discount fox poo and grass! Has to be watched), after numerous attempts with some very costly low fat foods, I managed to get him on Chappie dry by adding a desert spoon of Weight Watchers chicken soup whilst he was ill, and now he's well, he'll now eat it dry. I'm greatly relieved that A. He's back to his stroppy self, and B. This budget manageable solution works out. We all love our hounds, but some of us don't have the means to continuously sustain the specialised foods, and even though he's on a Premier insurance, unless it's prescription, they won't pay for it.
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Cheese Jason •2 years ago
Pancreatic Enzymes in powder form can help tremendously. Google it, pancreatic enzyme powder for dogs and it will give you some options to choose. All the Best.
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