Treating pancreatitis
 

Hello,

My Yorkie was just diagnosed with pancreatitis. Does anyone know how I can prevent episodes in the future? What food are you feeding them now? Needless to say, I'm freaked out and scared!

Thanks

Oh I remember that feeling! Layla was diagnosed last October- I was a mess. Basically the food you need to feed HAS To be low fat. I coudlnt' find one that a) didn't contain chicken as Layla is allergic b) I was ok with the ingredients. Before her diagnoses I home cooked so I decided I wanted to keep doing this. I contacted Susan Davis who is a nutritionist that works out of a vet's office in California. Her website is Holistic Veterinarian Pet Nutritionist Holistic Pet Care and I had a phone consult with her. She put Layla on a home cooked diet (basically turkey, bison, some fish- green veggies and potato, sweet potato or pumpkin). From her website I bought the Lipase Enzyme which is (in conjuction with the diet) what I think has made the world of differnce. It is giving her pancrease the enzymes it needs so it doesnt' have to work for them and thus have an episode. I get Layla's multivitamin and calcium supplement at www.animalessential.com . Susan is great- She has worked with MANY other YorkieTalk members- with pancreatitis and other issues. The inital consult is 86 dollars i think- best money I ever spent. So LAyla was diagnosed in October and by Feburary her levels were back down to normal. The vet says Layla is "cured" but there is no cure- Her symptoms are just being managed by diet and supplements.

I know the diagnoses can seem overwhelming- i cried and cried- but once you get a handle on the diet- things will even out and be back to normal. You just have to be diligent on treats and everything your dog eats.

Hope that helps. Feel free to PM me if you have questions. LuvMySissy (Jodie) is also a pancrease expert and i'm sure would be happy to help, as is IzzyPrincess (cyndi).

Bailey had a pancreatic attack a couple weeks ago. An overnight stay at the vets office was a bit much for me to handle - but we got through it.

Since it was her first attack, our vet says that it might possibly be her only? In any event, we stopped with the table scraps and now give her smaller portioned meals more often. Bailey's diet (homemade raw) was already low in fat - so it is just fine.

She absolutely loves Bully Sticks - but I fear that they were part of the problem as she would gobble them up within minutes. Seriously, she'd eat a 1/2 of a 6.5" stick in 15 minutes - and keep going if I didn't take it away from her. I thought we were doing good but...... So, now we give them less often and only allow her to chew a small portion. She misses her bully sticks :(

I've learned a lot these last few weeks. My little garbage gut has her limitations and I must manage that now.

Good luck!

low fat no pork, like ham or even cheese. solid gold has a low fat dog food 6% fat, it is called holiistque blend, my girlfriends dog has been on this food awhile and has done well, certain meds can also upset pancreatitis

I'm a human grade feeder - so for treats we use honey nut cherios (something small but rewardng and quick) and low-fat animal crackers. I also keep dehydrated turkey pieces and boiled chicken on hand.

Francis mom I am so sorry to hear that your baby is sick with this stupid sickness. Izzy and quite a few others here on YT..well their babies have it too and more. Marci has given you great advice. We, too, have talked with Susan Davis our pet nutritionist along with countless vets, forums, etc.

I hope she only has it one time - Izzy has had it plus now she has SIBO and IBD.:( It's all about the diet..trust me and how you tweak it. It takes time and she may or may not have another episode. Keep a food diary that way you have it to show y our vet in case she has one. Then do all the blood work..costly at first but at least you know what to treat. We had tons of tests done just to rule out EPI, Cushings, Addisons, allergies.

Izzy has pancreatitis/SIBO/IBD which we think the IBD/SIBO brought on the pancreatitis.

Knock on wood she is symptom free for 4 months now which is a record!!

Keep us posted on your baby.

So sorry to hear you've entered this world with many of us!!!!!!

A great thing to add to the diet immediately is a quality probiotic. This helps to keep the GI tract in optimal health. A low fat, limited ingredient diet is good to go with so just in case you have continued issues, you know exactly what is going into their body. Meat sources should be as low in fat as possible, so fish, bison, turkey are great options. You also want to make sure the food doesn't contain flax seed as this can be a major trigger. Also be careful adding anything like Grizzly Salmon Oil or using a product such as Missing Link as these are all very high in fat content and can lead to increased problems.

Most importantly, read as much information as you can handle on pancreatitis. Know the symptoms and if any more present, seek vet care immediately. Also, learn to interpret the various blood tests and know what to ask for.

There are many of us here you can PM for additional information as well.

yes steroids can trigger pancreatitis. My dog almost died of this and a plasma transfusion saved his life as he relapsed 5 days after having it and it was more severe the second time due to a vet food given hills i/d which has pork in it - NO HILLS ID FOR PANCREATIC DOGS per internal medicine specialist. He is on purina ha now as it is a hydrolized diet and low in fat 8% -- he has inflammatory bowel disease in small intestines which triggers the pancreatitis and alot of yorkies have sensitive stomachs leading to ibd. A good way to determine if your yorkie is prone to pancreatitis is a 12 hr fast which i believe ALL BLOOD WORK should be done this way like in humans to get accurate figures and see if your yorkie has high triglycerides if they do that means they have naturally a high fat content in their blood which my yorkie that had pancreatitis twice has after 3 years his blood work shows high triglycerides and he cannot tolerate any potato diets as white potato inflames his intestines and thus triggers the pancreas and vomitting occurs.

good idea about removing bully sticks as i did that as well as those things feel real greasy so definitely thing they are fatty

you do not want your dog getting pancreatitis over and over again as this leads to diabetes or epi both are not fun to treat so you must be strict with diet now as once they have it then it is really easy for them to get it again

correct NO FATTY ACID SUPPLEMENTATION AS WHILE RARE IT CAN TRIGGER PANCREATITIS - so no flaxseed oil, omega 3 fish oil supplements, no salmon oil - NOTHING but dog food is what mine gets -- the pancreas has digestive enzymes and even the slightest food can set it off if they had it before like mine vomitted for 15 hrs off and on as i stupidly gave him a teeny piece size of my pinky nail steamed yam and he was a mess and i called the specialty hospital and they said any food can trigger a dog that has pancreatitis it does not necessarily have to be fatty foods as the digestive enzymes can get messed up and the dog can spin out of control which happened to dexter - luckily by withholding food and knowing what to do with him he was ok but it scared me as i always thought it was just fatty foods and this is simply not the case once they have had it so once you get them on a diet and it works stick to it and only treat with that diet too do not falter or you will open yourself up to a possible relapse like I almost had happen with mine.

someone just posted on another thread the cheerios triggered the pancreatitis in their dog so honestly get a food that works and treat with that food - mine do not miss all the treats they think their kibble is a treat and they get just as excited for that so they will do fine and it is not worth the risk quite honestly to possibly have them get sick as once you see a pancreatitis attack you never forget it and everytime your dog vomits it is like a nightmare inside. Also this disease is not cheap to treat if it does get real severe as it cost me 10k over the course of a year to get dexter back on track so if a mild case take heed as the next one can be more severe and more costly and 50% of dogs die from the disease and it can lead to tumors in the pancreas which is another concern for this disease

I will say i do have mixed feelings with supplementing with enzymes as some believe you are messing with the pancreas and you want it to function as it is suppose to function naturally and by doing pancreatic enzymes you are not allowing this to happen and the only time I would supplement with pancreatic enzymes is if it was absolutely necessary in the case of EPI otherwise get a good diet that works and let the body function as it is suppose to naturally.

also i disagree with white potato in diets for dogs with pancreatitis as many dogs have ibd in small intestines as well which tends to trigger the pancreas as does my dog so i would NEVER knowing what i know give a dog with these issues white potato as white potato if you google it is an inflammatory food which inflames the intestines as it is digested backs up the small intestines then sets off the pancreas and the pancreas controls the insulin in the body and why diabetes is a concern in them getting it over and over and diabetics can eat sweet potato but they are told not to eat white potato as they are from different nightshade families in how the body processes them. I saw in three dogs i have when i gave them steamed potato and dexter and demi who is completely healthy both vomitted white potato. DD who has been pilled with white potato for a year no issues after having a reaction to metacam which messed up her intestinal tract thus causing inflammation and colitis now vomits white potato whereas she never did so i have seen it first hand in 3 dogs how white potato gets vomitted right back up when they have any inflammation in that intestinal tract. My dexter was on ivd white fish and white potato diet when he came down with pancreatitis and after a year of analyzing to death with specialists and vet it came down to the white potato diets as he was on ultra zd did great no issues switched him back to a potato diet dd salmon and white potato he was back in the hospital with vomitting attack so he was then diagnosed with ibd in small intestines triggered from white potato in diets thus sending him into pancreatic attacks so for pancreatic dogs i would stick to a protein and grain and steer clear of potato for these dogs. The ultra zd was a chicken and rice diet but he itched like crazy on that diet so why switched to salmon and potato and caused the relapse again