I have one dog (Chi-Chi) that suffers from pancreatitis and another (Cha-Cha) that suffers from occasional IBS. Talk about a sore stomach!
As a pet parent, I want to ensure my dogs are eating foods that will not aggravate their sensitive stomachs and since I have two dogs with gastrointestinal issues, I have to be vigilant about choosing the correct foods.
Here are three things to keep in mind when feeding your dog with chronic pancreatitis
- Ensure the food is low in fat
- Opt for all-natural and organic treats when possible
- Add healthy food options to their regular diet to entice them to eat
1. I try to ensure his food is low-fat
I always make sure that his food is maximum 7% fat.
Many times only the minimum is shown on food and treats so if the minimum is 7% I will definitely bypass that food.
I feed him Royal Canin low fat (gastrointestinal) which is a prescription diet and can be quite costly.
An alternative that I like to use is Ultra weight management. Sometimes I will mix this food with the Royal Canin, just to give him another taste.
2. Give healthy treats
I also ensure that his treats are low fat. Some common treats I give him are pig ears (while I know some some people don’t like them, my Chi-Chi loves them), dried sweet potato and raw hide.
Some rules of thumb I use when giving him treats is:
- The main thing with rawhide is making sure I take it away from him when it gets to be extremely small. Small enough for him to swallow whole because my little guy is pretty greedy so he will try to eat the entire thing once it’s small enough. This is why some people opt to bypass rawhide completely.
- I opt for treats that are harder and take a while to get through. Because again, my Chi-Chi is pretty greedy he will scarf down anything soft in a millisecond. So the longer it takes him to get through a treat the better. This is why I like things like the rawhide and dried sweet potato.
- I go all-natural. My fur baby loves apples, broccoli, and carrots just to name a few natural treats. If I’m making something that has these ingredients I will usually toss him a couple as a treat.
- I opt for treats that are made from all-natural products like chicken and sweet potato, here’s a tip, you can find treats similar to the one’s below at overstock stores like Marshalls and TJ Maxx a lot cheaper than you would most retail stores. If you’d rather have a regular supply, you can have them delivered to your home monthly through Chewy.com.
For more things, I try to keep in mind when giving my dog treats you can read my article: 7 rules of thumb I use for choosing treats for a dog with a sensitive stomach.
3. Food Substitutes
Because my dog gets pretty bored with the same old food day after day. I will make his food from time to time. Usually I will mix in some boiled rice, or chicken breast in his food.
I also really like to give him bone broth as it’s healthy and also adds some extra flavor to his regular diet. Just make sure the bone broth is low in sodium or preferably sodium-free. They do have bone broth specifically for dogs.
Let me know some of the things you do for your dog with pancreatitis!
Court
The answer to your dog that won’t eat with pancreitis is Royal Canin Hydrolized Protein canned dog food. It is prescription so you have to have Petsmart, Chewy, or Petco contact your vet. Its an easy deal. This is for dogs with sensitive digestive issues. I spent over $100 on different food trying to get my skin and bones dog to eat. I was actually giving up on her. My daughters dogs are on the Royal Canin Hydrolizeds Protein so I had nothing left to lose. I tried it and my dog who hadn’t eaten in two and a half months gobbled it up. I had tried other Royal Canin products during this bout of pancreitis but she wouldn’t eat it. Great news. My dog is almost back to her old self and is slowly regaining weight and interest in life. She is a 16 year old toy poodle. I almost put her down so I wanted to leave a message here for other dog owners who are desperately trying to get their sick dogs with pancreitis to eat.
Yes! Totally agree with this if your dog will eat it. My dog loves it too.
My dog won’t eat it or any canned or kibble for 6 weeks now. he spits it out if hidden, but is not eating anything but chicken.
My Chi was a homeless person’s dog and her stomach is messed up along with pancreatitis. She seemed ok on the Hill low fat diet but when I added the Hills low fat kibble since I know she liked to crunch on food, it messed her up again.
I switched to all homemade and mostly organic using the same purified water we do.
White chicken breast no skin, jasmine rice from Thailand (smaller and thinner than Cali Jasmine), after a few days of just that when her stomach improved I added kale minced so tiny and mixed in with rice. Once that was tolerated I added organic pumpkin baby food,
She has improved and I think this is the route I will stay on. I will only add one thing at a time and won’t switch food quickly.
That sounds like a great plan if it’s working for you! Every dog is different, but adding in the ingredients slowly is ideal. Keep us updated on how it goes.
Royal canine mature wet dog food workswell for my girl. I limit the treats to fruitables pumkin apple 2 per day. They ran outof my dog food as i just finished the lastcan claimed shortage…. I tried the royal canin adult, its been 3 cans later and she having an attck again , typically once she stops throwing up and the hanches have subsided i do rice and chicken breast with a pure pumkin puree for at least three feedings seemsto get her back on track.
Royal Canin worked well for my little guy as well!