Need to help a dog with Pancreatitis

[Nicky, Riley & Boris]

At Day Care today there was one dog who couldn't have any of my home made treats. A lovelyTibetan Terrier who is four years old and has had three bouts of Pancreatitis, the latest last week which was very serious. The owner is frantic and I talked with her today. She had just brought him in so the groomer could even out his legs because they had shaved one of them for the IV.  The vets had misdiagnosed the first first two bouts and it was the specialist hospital that took care of him last week and made a definite diagnosis. She was sent home with a bag of expensive Hills ID or some other RX rubbish.

I offered to help her to find a better food that will suit her dog since I just knew there were several dogs on DK who have had this serious illness and are now more prone to it. I did search for diet advice but couldn't find it though I do have Jane's great Pancreatitis post which I have copied.   For now she is giving boiled chicken and rice. I couldn't help myself when I offered to get some good advice for her and promised I would send her an email. It is difficult to get all the brands that are on offer in the US here but if I could get the breakdown of what is necessary in a safe long term diet I could research what is available. She is prepared to home cook indefinitely if needs be as this boy is the love of her life.

[Karen, Jasper and Jackdoodle]

All she really has to do is keep the fat content in the dog's diet low. She can homecook if she wants to, we do have Jane's homecooked diet recipe here in TFG in a PDF format, and it's been approved as nutritionallly complete by both Jane's vet and one of JD's internal medicine specialists. I'll find the link for you.

But there are also any number of commercial diets that are low enough in fat; the question will be which are available in your area. Guinness eats Honest Kitchen in addition to the homecooked food. 

JD is on a part homecooked, part kibble diet. His kibble has only 12% fat, it's Wellness Simple Solutions. 

Look for a fat percentage under 15%. The canned and dehydrated formulas will probably be your best bet, as they contain so much moistue, but there are kibbles with lower fat percentages, too. 

[Karen, Jasper and Jackdoodle]

Nicky, there's a link to Jane's recipe in this discussion. Look for her post with the link: http://www.doodlekisses.com/group/thefoodgroup/forum/topics/help-wr...

[Nicky, Riley & Boris]

Thanks so much Karen for your reply. Commercial diets that are good are thin on the ground here and this is what I was looking for.

[Nicky, Riley & Boris]

Just one problem that I can forsee with this diet and that is that bonemeal is not available here (it was withdrawn following Mad Cow disease some years ago) What would be the best alternative do you think. I am also trying to work out the portion size for this dog but need to get his weight first. (He looked a little overweight to me today when I saw him)

[Karen, Jasper and Jackdoodle]

She may have to get some advice on a calcium supplement from her vet, if she goes the homecooked route.

Some veterinary info on calcium supplementation for dogs: http://www.vcahospitals.com/main/pet-health-information/article/ani...

[Karen, Jasper and Jackdoodle]

Okay, I just checked one of my canine nutrition books, and a dicalcium phosphate supplement can be substituted for the bone meal in a home-cooked diet. The amount given was one teaspoon per day for a 40 lb dog, for both the bone meal and the dicalcium phosphate supplement. 

[Jennifer and Jack]

Not that it matters what I think here but I LOVE Jane's recipe guidelines it is completely complete .... I am still new to all this home cooking and raw stuff but if I understand correctly the Bone Meal Powder would be to balance the bone making it a better calcium to phosphorus ratio then just meat without the bone?  

That is an awesome plan..... Jack is on almost the same exact thing but raw.. all the same low fat proteins, all the same different veggies and everything.. I just have all the ratios done for me right now..

[Karen, Jasper and Jackdoodle]

Oh, and remember that the feeding amounts in Jane's recipe are for an 18-20 lb dog. 

[Leslie and Halas]

I don't have any advice, but I'm sure you're on the right track with Jane's information and Karen's advice.  I hope you can find a good sub for the bonemeal, and I hope the terrier is ok going forward.  It's so nice of you to help, especially when the person seems like they are willing to accept it.

[Nicky, Riley & Boris]

Thanks Leslie the woman was so grateful for my input and made me promise to email her. When I told her about the Rx food rubbish she was shocked though said she wasn't surprised as the vets had mis-diagnosed her dog on a flipped retina as well as the pancreatitis  and he had to have expensive emergency surgery because she insisted he go to the Vet eye specialist...poor little fellow and he was so adorable. A friendly very loved little dog :(

[Jill, Woody & Maxi]

We also had a bout of pancreatitis.  We do a home cooked diet, very similar to Janes, and also supplement with The Honest Kitchen.  THK has a product, Zeal, which has a low fat %

[Karen, Jasper and Jackdoodle]

Like Zeal, THK Verve formula also has a very low 8.5% fat content. Zeal is fish based, Verve is beef based.