[Bluebells]

Since I’ve had Jax, my almost eight month old yorkie pup, I’ve read a lot about pancreatitis, which seems to be one of those diseases that yorkies are particularly prone to suffer. I’ve also read that too much fat in the diet can be one of the causes. Which leads to my question.

Jax, you might recall from my intro, came to me, undernourished and only 26 ounces, at three months of age. At the vet’s recommendation, I kept puppy nutrical on hand in case of an attack of hypoglycemia. Luckily, he never had an attack, but he kept me in a constant state of worry because he was super active and energetic, but he was not a good eater, often going twelve hours or more paying no attention to his food. In particular, he wasn’t and still isn’t a morning eater. There’s food in front of him, but he has no interest.

So when he was so tiny and I was so worried, I got in the habit of giving him a tiny bead of the nutrical to lick off my finger in the morning, if he hadn’t eaten since the night before. I’ve read, subsequently, many people advise against doing that as a preventative, but I did ask my vet, and she saw no problem with doing it.

Well, when he finally got up to three pounds and six months, I stopped worrying so much, but Jax still expected something to lick off my finger in the morning. He’s not at all food motivated, but this he definitely enjoyed. So I substituted a tiny smear of peanut butter, which he still expects every morning.

Which leads back to the subject of pancreatitis. Is this tiny amount of peanut butter, which is obviously a high fat food, dangerous for him? Ie, will it likely lead to pancreatitis? He’s not at all fat, in fact I still worry he’s a bit thin. And he’s very, very energetic. But I’m a worrier, and I haven’t been able to see the vet for a while because of the pandemic, so I haven’t been able to ask.