# Help for 15yr old with Pancreatitis



## oliver75 (Feb 19, 2011)

Hello,
I am new to this forum and am hoping to get some diet help for my 15yr old Italian Greyhound. Here is a little background on him:
He's eaten raw pre-made formulas most of his life. About 6 months ago he started having pancreatitis attacks here and there. He was eating Stella & Chewys Raw Chicken formula at the time. I switched him to a different raw brand thinking that might help (NW Naturals Raw Chicken or Turkey). It did not seem to alleviate anything. I took him to the vet and they did some blood work. It did not come up positive for Pancreatitis, but she still suspected it because of his symptoms, and put him on Science Diet (ID formula, I think). It seemed to help, but the ingredients are terrible, so I didn't want to keep him on it long term. I cooked for him for a while (chicken & rice) but don't really have the time, and felt that I was not giving him a balanced diet. 
After quite a lot of research, I settled on a canned food (he doesn't have many teeth left) called Simply Nourish Chicken & Pasta Stew formula. It only has 8% Fat, 59% Protein, 25% Carbs. Since feeding this, he has not had another attack. The problem is, his stools are not formed and are very light in color (orangey). Recently, it seems to have gotten worse. He is having more bowel movements a day (sometimes going in the house which is unusual for him), stools are never formed and are very mushy, and I can see undigested pieces of veggies. I tried giving him a digestive enzyme formula from Bertes Naturals, but that seemed to make matters worse. 
I am wondering if I should switch his food at this point, or just try to bulk up the stool? I am hesitant to switch his food again. He is such an old dog, and I don't want to put more stress on his body and GI tract if I don't have to. I have read that adding Psyllium fiber powder can help form loose stools. Has anyone had any experience using this with their dog? 
Thanks in advance for your help.


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## Bumper1 (Jul 14, 2013)

Try Annamaet Lean. It was made for overweight dogs and those with pancreatic problems. You may never get his bowels under control with canned food.


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## oliver75 (Feb 19, 2011)

Thanks for your recommendation. The only reason I am feeding a canned food is because he doesn't have very many teeth left, and can not eat kibble. I tried feeding a kibble and soaking it in water, but it took a very long time to get soft and became a pain if I forgot to prepare it ahead of time.


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## Bumper1 (Jul 14, 2013)

How about crushing it and mixing with some water? Do you have a mortar and pestle?


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## oliver75 (Feb 19, 2011)

I had never thought of a mortar and pestle for crushing food. That is a good idea! I just looked at the Annamaet Lean. It looks like a good food. Will keep it in mind. Thanks!


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## Little Wise Owl (Nov 12, 2011)

Coffee bean grinders work too.


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## bowie (Apr 26, 2010)

Have you considered dehydrated food? Honest Kitchen makes a low-fat formula called Zeal. Pricey though.


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## Kathyy (Jun 15, 2008)

He is a lucky dog to have you working so hard to figure out what is best for him!

Also try feeding more often. Perhaps the meals are a bit too large and rushing through his system. Sassy was my teacher in how this all worked. When she was only a senior I tried to fatten her up by increasing the meal size and only got a very happy dog with enormous soft poop. Later when she was geriatric she told me her tummy just couldn't hold as much food so she regurgitated about 1/3 of each meal right after eating. After about 3x I figured it out and split into more meals. And it turned out I could fatten her up by feeding more meals per day too.

If he has always been on soft food I would stick to something canned. Sassy ate chicken and rice kibble until she was 13.5 years old and she was so much better on home cooked chicken and rice I will never feed kibble to my pets again. Maybe try a small box of the simplest form of Honest Kitchen really well soaked?


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## Jacksons Mom (Mar 12, 2010)

Honestly for a 15 year old dog, I would feed what the vet tells you to. If he was doing okay on SD I/D, why did you take him off? Sometimes you have to get past ingredients and just do what works. Don't let your dog suffer just because you want a prettier ingredient list (I had to learn too, as my dog had a possible pancreatitis attack, or really bad GI upset that landed him in the hopsital for a night). I've heard of other dogs getting pancreatitis from S&C's food. It is very high in fat. You can look at Royal Canin RX foods, too. They have some better options IMO as far as RX foods go. Those foods were specifically formulated for these problems. Sometimes it's not even necessarily the fat % but the ingredients. We still don't exactly know what can set off the pancreas.


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## Kathyy (Jun 15, 2008)

JacksonsMom, the dog doesn't have clinical pancreatitis, just nasty stool. THK Zeal has 9% fat, right where script foods are and the ingredients are top notch as far as quality goes. Whether they are right for this dog is another matter. Sassy did better with just chicken and white rice cooked super soft, no veggies at all so the food was very low fiber and fairly low in fat.

When I was cooking for Sassy and tried to increase calories by adding fat there would be nasty poop. Back off the fat and things went back to normal. She also refused peanut butter and green tripe - both fatty foods. She did have one pancreatic enzyme that was near the top of the normal range but this wasn't pancreatitis by a long shot. 

And here is some information that might help research what to look for.
http://www.dogaware.com/articles/wdjlowfatdiets.html#


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## georgiapeach (Mar 17, 2012)

This diet might work, as it is 18% protein and only 8% fat: http://www.caninecaviar.com/product/special-needs/ This is a good company, and it specializes in making food for sensitive dogs. This formula is their most "special" formula for extremely sensitive dogs. And yes, you could crush the kibble and add a little water to help your dog be able to eat it.


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## Jacksons Mom (Mar 12, 2010)

Kathyy said:


> JacksonsMom, the dog doesn't have clinical pancreatitis, just nasty stool. THK Zeal has 9% fat, right where script foods are and the ingredients are top notch as far as quality goes. Whether they are right for this dog is another matter. Sassy did better with just chicken and white rice cooked super soft, no veggies at all so the food was very low fiber and fairly low in fat.
> 
> When I was cooking for Sassy and tried to increase calories by adding fat there would be nasty poop. Back off the fat and things went back to normal. She also refused peanut butter and green tripe - both fatty foods. She did have one pancreatic enzyme that was near the top of the normal range but this wasn't pancreatitis by a long shot.
> 
> ...


Oh, I know, I mean... it doesn't even have to be the RX food but I just feel like, for a 15yr old dog, I just would want to use whatever works best for him, even if it's not "the best". I don't know anything about THK except my dog wouldn't touch it with a ten-foot pole, LOL, and he eats a lot. 

But yeah any simple, low fat formula should work, but I would just be concerned about the stool still being so loose and just continue feeding what works, and not really play the food switching game right now.


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## NicoleIsStoked (Aug 31, 2012)

I agree with Jacksonsmom. I had an old dog with liver failure and despite Royal Canin RX being total crap on paper, it just worked for him and so I didn't mess around with it. I would just stick with whatever the vet recommended and add warm water to the kibble if necessary.


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## Bumper1 (Jul 14, 2013)

georgiapeach said:


> This diet might work, as it is 18% protein and only 8% fat: http://www.caninecaviar.com/product/special-needs/ This is a good company, and it specializes in making food for sensitive dogs. This formula is their most "special" formula for extremely sensitive dogs. And yes, you could crush the kibble and add a little water to help your dog be able to eat it.


I can't imagine a rational individual picking a Canine Caviar product over a therapeutic diet for an animal this age or in this condition.

CC is another one of these marketing companies. Three people work there mostly in sales. It is amazing how the food is allowed to stay on the market with its cancer claims. That is totally illegal.


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## Doggle (Sep 5, 2013)

Hope your dog feels better soon, Oliver75.


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