pancreatitis...my baby is sick

[LoveMyGirlz]

The moisture says 78% / 5.00% crude fat

I just asked for copies over the phone, so I will have them today.

They just said she is barking at other dogs!! YAY!! This means she is feeling better anyway! She was so lethargic yesterday!

Originally Posted by Ellie May

The ZP looks way too high in fat.
The Evangers would need to be converted to dry matter.
I can do it for you if you can give me the moisture %.
The fat % that is recommended depends on the vet.
Usually 10% or under to start or so.

Do you have copies of the blood work that you can post?

[marcerella02]

Like Jodie, I have used Susan Davis for Layla's nutrition. She does not ONLY suggest home cooking- she will do what works best for you.

And i also agree that you should NOT wait and see if it happens again. Dogs die from this- when Layla was brought in for her Spec test there was a golden retriever in with pancreatitis and the vet said he probably wasn't going to make it. It is not something to mess around with. Because the next time could be the last time.

[Ellie May]

It looks like about 23% fat which is way too much...

[chandracz]

Originally Posted by LuvMySissy

Unfortunately, I think there are many of us here with much too much experience with pancreatitis!!!!

When both vomiting and diarrhea are present, it is usually a pretty acute attack. At my vet clinic, a full blood panel is $120, the Spec cPL (which includes the cPL, TLI, folate and cobalamine levels) runs another $200. The only overnight care we've ever had with with their spaying though, and I've not had to have xrays or ultrasound.

The full blood panel is just as important (if not more so) than the Spec cPL, as you need to know the amalayse and lypase levels and immune system markers are also very important. Even in an acute attack, the cPL can still be normal. However, all of these tests are important in making an accurate diagnosis. It seems like from lots of the threads here that most vets automatically go with a pancreatitis diagnosis. However, if immune system markers are off and TLI is either high or low, combined with folate and cobalamine levels, many times there is truly an intestinal disorder of some kind rather than a true pancreatitis. Early detection and diagnosis when dealing with intestinal disorders can mean the difference in a long and healthy life!!!

Unfortuantely, yorkies are also prone to intestinal disorders such as Protein Losing Enteropathy, IBD, and such.

Special diets are almost always in order - low in fat, many times low in protein and also limited ingredients. There are also many great supplements out there to help your baby, such as a probiotic.

Cyndi's Izzy (IzzyPrincess) just had her 2nd hospitalization in 4 months for pancreatitis. This last one was 2 nights and cost close to $1000.

Good luck and feel free to PM me!!!!

What is IBD?

[LuvMySissy]

Originally Posted by chandracz

What is IBD?

Inflammatory Bowel Disease. Where a reaction to something (many times a food not tolerated) keeps the bowels inflammed causing pain, abdominal swelling, possible diarrhea and vomiting. Repeated inflammation can also cause scar tissue which makes it difficult for the bowels to do their normal job well.

[LoveMyGirlz]

How can I figure this out on my own so I can check out other foods? Oh and thank you

Originally Posted by Ellie May

It looks like about 23% fat which is way too much...

[LoveMyGirlz]

I just may have to contact the nutritionist. Do you ONLY use the Preference version of the Honest Kitchen or are the others ok? Do you use raw meats or do you cook yours? I was home cooking for a while...chicken/brown rice and veggies, and they suddenly all stopped eating it! Like they got bored? IDK? They loved loved loved it initially, and then they turned up their noses

Originally Posted by LuvMySissy

Ziwi Peak is a great food, but unfortunately the fat content is too high. I don't know much about Evanger's wet food. We are using The Honest Kitchen Preference (which is the veggie/fruit mixture) That I add cooked Salmon and Talapia to for one meal each day. The other meal is The Honest Kitchen Embark (turkey is the meat source). Sissy has done great on this, but her diagnosis was intestinal disease not pancreatitis.

I do know that Mango (Laurenr) is also using The Honest Kitchen Preference mixed with Salmon for one meal and Primal Venison for the other. Chicken tends to be very high in fat content in comparison to Venison, Turkey, Pheasant and Rabbit, so these are the recommended protein sources.

Home cooking is often recommended as well. If your vet doesn't feel the need for a special diet now, I would personally avoid any "prescription" diet foods sold at the vets and use that money instead to formulate a solid nutrition plan with a consultant.

[LoveMyGirlz]

OH! And treats? Honest Kitchen treats? My girls just love freeze dried liver - is this ok??

[Ellie May]

Originally Posted by LoveMyGirlz

How can I figure this out on my own so I can check out other foods? Oh and thank you

You just divide the fat by the recipricol of the moisture.
So if the moisture is 70% and the fat is 10%, you would do 10 divided 30 and get .33, so 33% fat. Or if the moisture is 78% and the fat is 7%, divide the recipricol of the moisture (100-78), 22, by 7 and get 32% fat.

[Izzy Princess]

Oh poor Truffles...well I must say you have gotten amazing advice and I concur with everyone.

Izzy has pancreatitis and was just in again two weeks ago. She had her first attack in November which was almost life threatening and she was in for 3 days with all the blood work, IVs, pain meds, etc. cost us $1,000 and that was not the food, consults with Dr. Gordan and Susan Davis, etc., etc.

This last bout she was in only 2 days and was $550. We didn't have all the tests done since we knew what it was.

She is now (per Dr. Gordan and Susan Davis) on the W/D Science Diet (yes not the best but we need to calm Izzy's tummy down). The W/D has a fat content of 8.7%. We had her on that first for about 3.5 months and then told to switch her to the I/D which we found out has 14.9% fat and pork. So wham..we think that's the issue. So she is now on the W/D again and doing fine these past two weeks.

It's scary and nothing to mess with...Izzy gets nothing from anyone unless I know what it is. I have cats so if she even tries to get their food she could die on us. So she eats in her crate all the time now while the cats eat their food. It was hard in the beginning but now she runs to her crate to eat.

Keep us posted on Truffles.

[LuvMySissy]

Originally Posted by LoveMyGirlz

I just may have to contact the nutritionist. Do you ONLY use the Preference version of the Honest Kitchen or are the others ok? Do you use raw meats or do you cook yours? I was home cooking for a while...chicken/brown rice and veggies, and they suddenly all stopped eating it! Like they got bored? IDK? They loved loved loved it initially, and then they turned up their noses

We use THK Preference with cooked Salmon & Talapia. Sissy gets only 1/2-1 oz of fish in hers as she needs to be lower protein. That is one meal, the other is Embark prepared just as is - nothing added. We do not use the other formulas as she cannot have chicken (that rules out Force and Thrive and she doesn't care for Verve. We could use Keen if we wanted to). We don't use any other raw as I simply cannot get Sissy to eat any of the medallions or grind formulas. If she would eat them, that would be our 2nd meal with the Preference with fish remaining as our first meal. Acceptable meats for her are rabbit, venison, turkey, pheasant and quail.

Originally Posted by LoveMyGirlz

OH! And treats? Honest Kitchen treats? My girls just love freeze dried liver - is this ok??

Liver is very high in fat content, so my guess would be no.

For treats, we use Farmstand Apple or Carrot Slices by Cloud Star. They are super lowfat and break off into tiny pieces. We also like Fruitables Pumkin & Apple treats, but these are limited as they are a little higher in fat.

[marcerella02]

Originally Posted by LuvMySissy

We use THK Preference with cooked Salmon & Talapia. Sissy gets only 1/2-1 oz of fish in hers as she needs to be lower protein. That is one meal, the other is Embark prepared just as is - nothing added. We do not use the other formulas as she cannot have chicken (that rules out Force and Thrive and she doesn't care for Verve. We could use Keen if we wanted to). We don't use any other raw as I simply cannot get Sissy to eat any of the medallions or grind formulas. If she would eat them, that would be our 2nd meal with the Preference with fish remaining as our first meal. Acceptable meats for her are rabbit, venison, turkey, pheasant and quail.



Liver is very high in fat content, so my guess would be no.

For treats, we use Farmstand Apple or Carrot Slices by Cloud Star. They are super lowfat and break off into tiny pieces. We also like Fruitables Pumkin & Apple treats, but these are limited as they are a little higher in fat.

great treats- we use them too- they come in sweet potato too!

[chestermama]

My girlfriends dog has had problems with pancreatitis, yorkies are more prone and females are more prone to I think, I would look into a low fat food, my friend feeds her dog the solid gold low fat and has done very well with it. No fatty foods, that will trigger it pork, cheese, peanut butter lots of stuff. The whole dog journal recently had some info on pancreatitis, about protein levels and how to figure how how rich a food really is by calories and stuff, very good article. They will send you past issues, november 2008 issue and the dec 2008 as well, I could copy them off and send them to you if you are interested, pm me sandy

[chestermama]

Another thing to say the solid gold I think is only 6% fat and for a decent dog food that is pretty low, I cant remember the name of the food, but solid gold only has one low fat food

[chandracz]

Originally Posted by chestermama

My girlfriends dog has had problems with pancreatitis, yorkies are more prone and females are more prone to I think, I would look into a low fat food, my friend feeds her dog the solid gold low fat and has done very well with it. No fatty foods, that will trigger it pork, cheese, peanut butter lots of stuff. The whole dog journal recently had some info on pancreatitis, about protein levels and how to figure how how rich a food really is by calories and stuff, very good article. They will send you past issues, november 2008 issue and the dec 2008 as well, I could copy them off and send them to you if you are interested, pm me sandy

so pork, cheese, peanut butter etc are bad foods? i'm trying to be proactive and watch what i feed my baby.