Shelties, Pancreatitis, Gallbladder Disease, & Commercial Food

That is a really good recipe. I hope your baby gets through the pancreatitis and never encounters that one again.
 
Thank you so much for posting this!
I lost my first beloved rescue sheltie to gall badder disease. I was devastated!
I now have a 14 year old with gall bladder and one with pancreatitis.
Laddie has a very sensitive stomach so I ordered the Fromm heartland no grain large breed just now.
Chance my 14 year old has gall bladder issues and we caught it early so he is on Ursodiol 250 mg daily

This is great information for sheltie parents struggling with these diseases!
 
Ok, I got the Fromm large breed that you mentioned and have slowly introduced it over a week. Stools are soft, formed but soft. Does this mean they are allergic to the ingredients?

My Laddie who has pancreatitis issues seems to have a sensitive stomach. Any suggestions?

Was thinking of trying Addictions is that helps the loose stool issues!
 
Not uncommon for dogs with sensitive tummies to get loose stools when introducing something new. Give him from canned pumpkin and time to adjust!
 
Perhaps the beef/pork of the recipe does not agree? I have found the Addiction / Wishbone really makes for less and firmer stool. My two are doing well on the lamb (Wishbone Pasture) and I am slowly adding to the shepherd to see how far I can go in ratio to Fromm or if he can tolerate it 100%. I am not sure if lamb is an issue or everything else in the lamb we have tried before. On the Fromm, the dogs had pretty solid stool with sometimes softness. If it doesn't firm up I might wonder if beef/pork is an issue. I am still liking the Wishbone. Less stool, less smelly stool. I dream of my shepherd being able to eat this too and have ONE food for all. He is just so sensitive and gets the squeakers and groaners of a tummy.
 
Well, so far no change in the stool... still soft. I wish I had not bought the large bag! I should have known better! :(

I will give it another week to see how things progress. They seem to love the taste!
I think I will buy a bag of Addictions - lamb (Wishbone Pasture) to see how that goes...

I LOVE the thought of less stool and best of all less smell! Laddie's stool always seem smellier than the others :hungover:!

I had him on lamb years ago. He has always had issues with loose and smelly stool! Wonder if that is the result of the pancreatitis issues.
 
Cubby2014 said:
After reading an article on gallbladder mucocele and speaking to rescuer Eva Saks who has seen this more times than she can count, I began a mission. I wanted the most appropriate commercial food to promote sheltie gallbladder & pancreas health. However, I refuse to sacrifice quality in this pursuit.

I started with a number of premises:
1. Shelties get pancreatitis easily.
2. Shelties get gallbladder disease / mucocele easily.
3. While protein under about 31% appears to be not much of an issue, the magic number for fat is 10%.
4. Someone has a convenient list of ethical companies with no recalls, no Chinese ingredients, transparency to the consumer, no complaints against them, etc. The problem is, every list is focused on the 31% protein and 18% fat which just won't do.
5. I'm American.
6. I live in the middle of nowhere so I need access to obtaining said food (Chewy).
7. Money is no object.

This group for several years has been studying dog food. http://www.reviews.com/dog-food/

If you go all the way to the bottom of the article, they have a full list of brands and formulas they like. They come up with a short list by removing brands & formulas based on the following: Products where the first ingredient is not a meat of any kind; products containing corn, soy, wheat, grain, or flour; products containing beet pulp or sugar; products that contained by-products or sauces; brands removed for serious recalls, poor ingredient sources, poor history, and poor customer satisfaction; and individual formulas reviewed based on the ratio of protein, fat, and carbs, as well as the source of protein. SO . . . taking the list of 29 ethical “brands” I examined them for good formulas. Oddly, and unexpectedly, this left ONLY these brands and formulas. Seriously, out of all the food on the market I was stunned to find this short of a list.

Addiction Dry & Wishbone Dry. They have several formulas made in New Zealand with fabulous numbers. Wishbone Lake (Duck/fish, 26%, 10%), Wishbone Ocean (Salmon/fish, 26%,10%), and Wishbone Pasture (Lamb/fish 26%, 10%), La Porchetta (pork/fish, 23%, 12%), and for dogs already suffering from known gallbladder issues and/or allergy to normal proteins Wild Kangaroo/apple (22%, 6%). This one is a little pricey, but it is a fabulous option for dogs needing very very low fat and/or a novel protein.

Annamaet – Lean Low Fat (chicken, duck, herring, 30%, 9%). I think this would be one of my chicken top contenders if I wanted a chicken-based appropriate food, esp. for a dog with known gallbladder issues.

Earthborn Holistics – Meadowfeast (Lamb, 26%, 15%), Grain-free Large Breed Dry (chicken, 26%, 13%). Grain-free Weight Control (chicken, 25%, 7%). These are excellent foods and not as expensive as many others. If I had a dog who could eat chicken these two would be serious top contenders. I leave the lamb there because lamb-based appropriate formulas are pretty hard to find.

Fromm -- Heartland Gold Grain-Free Large Breed Adult (Beef & Pork, 24%, 12%). This is my absolute favorite beef/pork recipe. Don’t let “Large Breed” fool you, the numbers are great, the dogs love it, and it seems to sit well with even the sensitive tummies. However, some dogs are allergic to beef so that is a consideration. Gold Coast Grain-Free Weight Management (fish, 25%, 10%).

Horizon – Amicus Adult/Senior & Weight Management (turkey, chicken, 30%, 10.5%). This company is from Canada and is very open about quality, GMO free, chemical free, and glycemically balanced. I think this company bears a lot of attention. If you have a very active dog, such as an agility competitor, the Legacy line has good fat content but pretty high protein (like 34%). This would be really solid for your very active dogs though. I think if my dogs could tolerate chicken, they would be tried on the Amicus recipe. This might edge out my other favorite chicken recipes based on company philosophies.

To sum up in an easily copy & pasteable list . . . My overall rankings by meat source (in order of preference):

Beef / Pork:
Fromm Heartland Gold Grain-Free Large Breed Adult (Beef & Pork, 24%, 12%).
Addiction La Porchetta (Pork/fish, 23%, 12%).

Lamb:
Addiction Wishbone Pasture (Lamb/fish 26%, 10%)
Earthborn Holistics Meadowfeast (Lamb, 26%, 15%)

Fish:
Addiction Wishbone Ocean (Salmon/fish, 26%,10%).
Fromm Gold Coast Grain-Free Weight Management (fish, 25%, 10%).

Chicken / Duck:
Horizon Amicus Adult/Senior & Weight Management (turkey, chicken, 30%, 10.5%)
Addiction Wishbone Lake (Duck/fish, 26%, 10%).
Annamaet Lean Low Fat (chicken, duck, herring, 30%, 9%).
Earthborn Holistics Grain-free Large Breed Dry (chicken, 26%, 13%).
Earthborn Holistics Grain-free Weight Control (chicken, 25%, 7%).

Other:
Addiction Wild Kangaroo/apple (22%, 6%). For dogs who need really low fat but can’t eat the chicken, this is a really solid formula. It’s pricey, but it is quality and appears to be good for dogs with a lot of allergies.
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Thank you for this post! I appreciate you sharing your research...I have lost my rescued sheltie, Rico, to a gallbladder mucocele one short year after he blessed my life....
I am trying to do whatever possible to prevent my current two shelties, Lucy and Elliot, from the same fate.
Thanks again!!
 
ghggp said:
Well, so far no change in the stool... still soft. I wish I had not bought the large bag! I should have known better! :(
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Perhaps a mix would work well to use up the bag . . . Wishbone has 3 recipes and all three are similar with different meat sources. If he can eat chicken duck there is a nice one called Lake or fish being Ocean. I have always been a fan of lamb food, personally. I swear, feeding has become an art form.
 
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