Pancreatitis and dog food questions

Roberta

Roberta

Forums Regular
About 3 weeks ago Avery, my 12-and-a-half-year-old sheltie, was diagnosed with pancreatitis. He was hospitalized a few days for vomiting and diarrhea. They ran tests (ultra sound and blood work) he was given IVs for hydration, anti-diarrheal and some other medication. He is home now and doing much better. He finished his prescriptions except for a probiotic called Proviable DC which I sprinkle on his lunch every day. My vet put him on Royal Canin Gastrointestinal Low Fat Canned Dog Food.

If I’m reading the instructions right, a dog Avery’s size (28 – 30 pounds) is supposed to get about 2 cans of the Gastrointestinal Low Fat dog food every day. This seems like a lot of food to me. Are any of your dogs on this dog food? If so, how much do you feed them each day?

I’m afraid to transition him back to his usual dry food, Royal Canin Mobility Support for his arthritis. I tried mixing a little of it in with his breakfast yesterday and he had very loose stool that afternoon. So now he is back to just the canned Gastrointestinal Low Fat and things are better today. Have any of you kept a sheltie on this type of low fat dog food long term? Am I correct in assuming it still provides full nutrition? I appreciate any suggestions. Thanks.
 
It's a very popular food for dogs with pancreatitis, I know a lot of dogs who have been on it for many, many years and done very well. It's a popular choice with dogs with IBD too. Honestly, I think you'd be pushed to find such a well researched product that is low enough in fat to support pancreatitis.

Tully has chonic pancreatitis. Unfortunately it's one of those diseases that can just develop in older small breeds so you may find Avery continues to have a sensitive pancreas that will flare up with higher levels of fat.

I imagine the mobility kibble has a higher in fat. Is there any reason you don't use the RC GI LF dried food? The difference with the cans and kibble is the cans are pork and the kibble contains chicken, so the kibble should only be an issue if Avery is sensitive to chicken.

When Tully was on the RC GI LF cans she didn't get anywhere near the recommended amount. she was 7kg and got 3/4 of a can (sometimes a whole can), which was about half a can below what they suggested. Unfortunately we had to stop using it as the Australian version of the can has chicken and Tully is allergic to chicken. Now I had a vet nutrition develop a diet. Unfortunately, because of the pancreatitis she couldn't include some of the fats that are usually used for joint support. I'd have to check the email to tell you what those fats were.

Btw - when the vet ran bloods do you know what Avery's lipid levels were like?
 
Caro said:
It's a very popular food for dogs with pancreatitis, I know a lot of dogs who have been on it for many, many years and done very well. It's a popular choice with dogs with IBD too. Honestly, I think you'd be pushed to find such a well researched product that is low enough in fat to support pancreatitis.

Tully has chonic pancreatitis. Unfortunately it's one of those diseases that can just develop in older small breeds so you may find Avery continues to have a sensitive pancreas that will flare up with higher levels of fat.

I imagine the mobility kibble has a higher in fat. Is there any reason you don't use the RC GI LF dried food? The difference with the cans and kibble is the cans are pork and the kibble contains chicken, so the kibble should only be an issue if Avery is sensitive to chicken.

When Tully was on the RC GI LF cans she didn't get anywhere near the recommended amount. she was 7kg and got 3/4 of a can (sometimes a whole can), which was about half a can below what they suggested. Unfortunately we had to stop using it as the Australian version of the can has chicken and Tully is allergic to chicken. Now I had a vet nutrition develop a diet. Unfortunately, because of the pancreatitis she couldn't include some of the fats that are usually used for joint support. I'd have to check the email to tell you what those fats were.

Btw - when the vet ran bloods do you know what Avery's lipid levels were like?
Click to expand...
Wow, Caro... thanks for the detailed response! I had several Shelties with pancreatitis and now understand more about these wet vs dry foods in future!
 
Excellent information and advice from Caro! I use one of the kidney vet foods for Checkers for one meal a day and only give her 1/3 can per feeding and she's still gaining weight. I don't think you can ever follow the amount cans or kibble bags say you should feed.

As to whether it's nutritionally complete and meant for long-term use, it should say on the can if it's not. If you're in doubt, I'd ask your vet. Glad to hear Avery is doing better!
 
Cran was on the RC kibble last fall after his emergency visit- when I saw the bag, I asked the vet about feeding him more of it as the calorie content was significantly lower than his regular kibble. He'd gotten skinny on most of the first bag and I was able to transition him back to regular using the second bag. very glad that he didn't need to stay on it.......
 
Caro, thank you so much for this information. I don’t have a copy of Avery’s most recent blood test from when he had his digestive issues in late August, but I do have them from early May when he had his annual checkup.

I believe that cholesterol is a lipid and Avery’s was high at 455. According to the test results the normal range is 92-324, so I don’t know if that is really high or just borderline. What stands out to me most is the PrecisionPSL. Avery’s value was high at 246 and the normal range is 24 – 140. The test results say “PrecisionPSL elevations correlate closely with abnormal PLI concentrations. In dogs with appropriate clinical signs, a PrecisionPSL result >216 is supportive of, but not definitive for, a diagnosis of pancreatitis.” At the time Avery wasn’t having any symptoms other than occasional diarrhea which I didn’t mention to the vet because it was so intermittent and always resolved in a day or two without any medication.

My vet put him on the RC gasto canned low fat food so that is what I have been using. I much prefer dry kibble. Now that I know there is a dry version of this food, I will get that and try to transition him slowly to the dry. Thanks again for the information.
 
Sorry, yes cholestorol and triglycerides indicate lipids. The reason I asked is because hyperlipidemia is often indicative there could be a chronic metabolic condition like pancreatitis (also could indicate thyroid problems or diabetes). I know the RC GI LF does manage hyperlipidemia because it was recommended for Tully for that reason.

We spend so much time at the Internal Medicine Specialist, I have certainly learnt a lot about managing pancreatitis and enteritis. Also got pages of information about nutritional requirements from the vet nutritionist (mind you I pay for it).

It's a bugger when they get older. Poor Tully with her pancreatitis, enteropathy and now gallbladder. On the plus side science knows a lot more about these things nowadays so they can be managed if caught early. Hopefully you've caught it early enough with Avery that it can be managed with a special diet alone. If you keep having issues I can really recommend seeing an Internal Medicine Specialist.
 
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