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Originally Posted by TatumsMom  Pancreatitis is definitely scary. We almost lost Tatum a couple years ago when a "well meaning"  family member decided to feed her cheesecake at a big family gathering (hosted by us at our house) because "she loved it so much". Ugh. I had spent a good 10 minutes telling everyone that she could NOT have people food and then it got ignored. That was on Saturday evening, she started acting a little sick Sunday morning and she was at the vet first thing Monday morning. Vet said if we would have waited a few more hours, she wouldn't have made it. She was "in the hospital" for 5 days with fluids and everything they could do for her for the pancreatitis. Since then, she got no treats except Cheerios occasionally, no bully sticks, and only Science Diet K (for kidneys). She had some serious damage done to her kidneys and over the last two years, declined in weight slowly (6 lb to probably under 4). She was still acting happy and not uncomfortable so we didn't take any extreme measures until she had a couple seizures about a month ago and passed away quickly. I'm not saying this to scare you. She really did have a happy life after the diagnosis but she was 14 years old and just couldn't keep compensating for the damage done. Just watch the fat content. I'm glad you have a vet now you like. That's always important. |
Thank you for sharing your story. It's always those "well meaning" family members, isn't it?
So sorry for the loss of your sweet girl.
I have no reason to risk anything - he is energetic as ever, thriving in agility, going for long hikes and walks, a very happy active thriving boy at 10. I'm fine feeding the RX foods if they keep working for him as it sounds like they did for your girl.
We have some cans from each to see which one he 1. likes best 2. does the best on.
So far, his favorite palatability wise is the RC Gastro Low Fat canned and kibble. He also loves the SD I/D Stew as well. The Purina E/N is least favorite taste wise. He gets a little boiled chicken and 99% fat free ground turkey. That's it. My vet suggested Cheerios too but he doesn't usually like stuff like that but maybe he will learn to.
He will only ever get 10% fat or less on a dry matter basis, that is our vets suggestion. Our biggest problem now is that he is hungry ALL THE TIME. He acts starving. Like way more starving than usual. I've been feeding 4 small meals a day (1/4 cup of kibble 4x per day) plus probably 1/3 of the can. He is 18lbs so it's probably OK for him. I know it's all a learning curve. I'm going to keep an eye on his weight and see if he gets too heavy or too skinny.
I feel lucky that he didn't require hospitalization and recovered within 3-4 days. I know a lot of them do not.
