Pancreatitis - bland diet

Identityincrisis

Identityincrisis

Well-Known Member
Joined
10 November 2011
Messages
1,859
Visit site
Looking for some infamous H&H knowledge, please!

On Thursday evening my 12/13 year old Lurcher (I’ve had him 5 1/2 years) vomited all of his afternoon lunch and refused to eat that evening (very unusual for him) he was unsettled and during the night was clearly in pain, stretching and unsettled. I had a previous dog with pancreatitis so recognised the signs ☹️ I took him to the vet for them opening and vet confirmed highly likely to be pancreatitis but very early stages. She sent us home with a painkiller injection and anti sickness injection, instructed to feed bland diet for a few days and start on Chappie.

He perked up quickly following the injections and started eating by the afternoon (chicken, scrambled egg and gastro dog food from the vet) this was Friday. Saturday, he continued to get better, i fed him little and often. He had a normal poo and a bit of diarrhoea but was keen to go on short walks. By Saturday evening he was getting more fussy with the food, this is normal for him on bland and I normally move him back onto his normal food at this point. He is raw fed and it is quite a high fat diet but he loves it!

This morning (Sunday) he is refusing all bland food, including wet and dry chappie but whinging because he wants food!!

Any ideas how to get him to eat?

Can pancreatitis be a one off, or is it an ongoing condition? My last dog had several bouts over the years

I hate this awful condition!!
 
It's a lifelong condition, so unfortunately you will have to modify his diet. You will be able to mostly stop the flare ups if his diet is better. Have a think about what you could use as a topper on his food to make it more appealing. If that doesn't work I think you just have to persevere and hope he eats out of hunger eventually.

This is the main reason I had my 17 year old dog pts when she was diagnosed with acute pancreatitis. It would have been stressful for all of us going forward as she was so fussy with her food.
 
Identityincrisis said:
He is raw fed and it is quite a high fat diet but he loves it
Click to expand...

I have no experience of pancreatitis.

Some of the raw food companies sell lower fat meals, would they be any good?

Complete rabbit 5.6% fat, complete chicken 6.3%, complete turkey 5.6%.

www.prodograw.com

Lower Fat

This bundle contains meals with less fat in them than our other meals. Perfect if your dog needs to lose weight or has to eat less fat for medical reasons.
www.prodograw.com www.prodograw.com
 
Last edited:
l think you’ll find he needs a bland diet so if you’re wanting to continue feeding raw if would need to be very low fat, chicken usually works ok and similiar BUT you need to stabilise first and Chappie is usually the recommended choice.
 
Could you get hold of some Oralade from the vets/online? I always have some for stomach upsets, and the mostly whippet loves it. I assume an upset tum is sore from the pancreatitis so little volumes of hydration fluid help till it’s more comfy. If he likes it, you could then mash a tiny bit of food in and see if that goes okay.
 
Identityincrisis said:
Looking for some infamous H&H knowledge, please!

On Thursday evening my 12/13 year old Lurcher (I’ve had him 5 1/2 years) vomited all of his afternoon lunch and refused to eat that evening (very unusual for him) he was unsettled and during the night was clearly in pain, stretching and unsettled. I had a previous dog with pancreatitis so recognised the signs ☹️ I took him to the vet for them opening and vet confirmed highly likely to be pancreatitis but very early stages. She sent us home with a painkiller injection and anti sickness injection, instructed to feed bland diet for a few days and start on Chappie.

He perked up quickly following the injections and started eating by the afternoon (chicken, scrambled egg and gastro dog food from the vet) this was Friday. Saturday, he continued to get better, i fed him little and often. He had a normal poo and a bit of diarrhoea but was keen to go on short walks. By Saturday evening he was getting more fussy with the food, this is normal for him on bland and I normally move him back onto his normal food at this point. He is raw fed and it is quite a high fat diet but he loves it!

This morning (Sunday) he is refusing all bland food, including wet and dry chappie but whinging because he wants food!!

Any ideas how to get him to eat?

Can pancreatitis be a one off, or is it an ongoing condition? My last dog had several bouts over the years

I hate this awful condition!!
Click to expand...
I would highly recommend trying AVA dog food ( you can only get it at pets at home) you can get tinned and dry. Get the coat/ digestion one and the one for his size. I'm so impressed after using it on my little dog that had a flare up that all of my animals are on it.
 
My little dog had an episode a few years ago, it was due to me feeding him fatty lamb, I felt awful, he would not eat the bland food supplied by the vet, so I bought fish and chicken from the supermarket and just steamed it, for a few weeks, which he loved, after that I put him back on his normal diet, but was always careful not to give him anything too fatty and he was fine.
 
Pancreatitis can come in acute or chronic form. It can be caused by a high fat diet or even one off high fat meal (looked after two toy breeds that almost died of pancreatitis after being fed a one off whole Christmas dinner). But it can also be spontaneous, particularly in dogs that may have other underlying issues going on.

Pain management, low fat diet (to “rest” the pancreas) and supportive therapy if indicated are the main treatments. He needs to be on the bland diet until he is recovered fully, not at first signs of improvement. I’d suggest another trip to the vet. A lot of pancreatitis patients are unstable until their pain can be properly managed, it’s a very painful condition for most.
 
Once they have had pancreatitis they are more prone to flare ups. He will need to be on a low fat diet for the rest of his life.
As stated, pancreatitis can be caused by feeding a high fat diet or even just a one-off fatty meal. It can be more common in certain breeds such as miniature schnauzers.
It can be an incredibly painful and debilitating condition. If not caught early, some patients may be hospitalised for days and can unfortunately lead to euthanasia in very severe cases.

Wet chappie, or Hills I/d low fat, Royal canin gastro low fat are ideal diets. Something like chicken/white fish is fine to try to get him eating again.

If he was eating ok and has now stopped, I would be going back to the vets. It could suggest that he is in pain and the pain injection he had has worn off.
Has he had any blood tests or other diagnostics to confirm that it is actually pancreatitis?
 
Last edited:
I'd get the vet to confirm he definately has actual pancreatits before making longterm dietary modifications.
Especially in an elderly dog where abdominal discomfort,vomiting and diarrhoea can be causes by a large list of other issues as well as pancreatitis.
There's a lot of issues that would initially resolve with pain relief,an antiemetic and bland diet.
But recurrence and ongoing issues mean it's worth knowing what your actual treating.
 
My 14yr old whippet has had Pancreatitis for years now. He has the option of Butchers Tripe Lean and Tasty, Winalot pouches, chappie or Ceaser - anything low fat. He has treats which are below 5% fat. He also has Special K (loves it mixed with meat - weird dog), Ryvita and Royal Canine Gastrointestinal Low Fat biscuits At one stage he had to have less than 1% fat but is now on Famatodine (human antacid prescribed by the vet) which gives us a bit of leyway.
 
I would have a blood test to confirm it is Pancreatitis. Don't feed your high fat food until you know either way. Avoid chicken and rice ( chicken is a common protein for dogs to be allergic too, rice is not that easy to digest). I would feed white fish and mashed sweet potato if he won't touch the tinned chappie etc. Anything under 10% fat content is the way to go, if it is indeed Pancreatitis.

It's not cheap so you could just feed it for a few weeks until things settle down, but look at Different Dog home cooked food. It's highly palatable, most mixes are low fat and my old girlie loves it.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Top