Originally Posted by Britster (Post 3609980)

Thanks so much! He is on TOTW Sierra Mountain for the past 2 months or more which is 25% protein and 15% fat or so. What do you think is a good fat percentage to stay at now that this happened? I will ask the vet tomorrow all of these questions as well.

I am also unsure if it's 'acute' or 'chronic' etc. I've gotta write down all my questions tomorrow for vet. What do you think I should ask?

Originally Posted by 107barney (Post 3610186)

It really depends on the dog. I can only tell you my experience. Barney was on a 15% fat home cooked diet and never had so much as a bellyache for 5 years. I fed him some canned wellness food one night in a pinch - it was about 22% fat and enough to throw him into acute pancreatitis and a 4-day hospitalization. He went back to his regular 15% fat diet with no other issues until again a repeat happened at age 10 - same canned food ironically but at the time I just didn't make the link. Once this second event happened, I consulted with Dr Remillard and she said he is to be on a 3% fat diet for life with no substitutions and no treats. He took a bigger beating the second time, and I don't think it was because he was older, I just think it was worse than the first. I was worried about such low fat, but he has a beautiful shiny coat and aside from a benigh little old-man-liver issue, he is very healthy. I'm sure your Jackson will recover and do just fine for many years like my Barney did.

Originally Posted by capt_noonie (Post 3609995)

Ah brit I'm so sorry to hear the news. You will have to be very careful from now on. I remember you give Jackson steak and hot dog before, you can't do this anymore, its not worth the risk. I give Uni Honest Kitchen Preference, its the lowest fat food I've found. No more dog treats, I give her fruits and veggies she loves just as much.

I would show the aunt the vet bill. Maybe that will help the family realize its not ok to "spoil" him. Even though jax is a bigger yorkie he is still a York and a small dog. Hope he gets better really soon.

Originally Posted by Ellie May (Post 3610007)

This is an acute case. It can become chronic.

Acceptable fat % varies. Your vet will be able to give you some idea. Some dogs can go back on their regular food and some can't. The food that he is put on, if it works, then you do not want to change it at all unless there is a flare up. Changing foods can irritate things.

It may have been a combination of things that set it off. Chocolate is fatty.. But he wouldn't have needed all of that to set off a case. Sometimes it happens without a food trigger and sometimes just one tiny piece of something can send them into a potentially fatal attack. Ellie used to get everything under the sun from the table. One day it was just too much. Dogs just can't process fat as well as people think they can and some get it for other reasons.

You aren't a bad owner by any means. For your next doggie you'll know that most things are best avoided.

Wouldn't worry about treats at all right now. Just dog food (or the other option is a pancreatitis diet balanced by a veterinary nutritionist made by you). One food that works and stick to it. Wouldn't want to be giving treats for months and maybe skip them entirely. Be extremely cautious with canned/wet food and always convert to a dry matter basis if your vet gives you a fat % to stick to. Most foods from the pet store are not great for pancreatitis patients. Ask the vet about chews. Bully sticks probably need to go in the garbage. No pig ears or the like. Way too fatty. And it's adding things in that aren't needing and can trigger a flare up.

Originally Posted by Britster (Post 3610221)

Thank you so much for the advice. I really really appreciate this. I'm just freaking out a *little*. :rolleyes: But Barney sounds like he does really well.

I'm going to ask the vet tomorrow about diet, etc, but I am more and more interested in homecooking now. We'll see, I suppose.

I'll cut out canned food, too. I wonder if I'll be able to at least mix chicken in with his kibble to get him to eat. He's never eaten kibble by itself... *sigh* I suppose if we have to, I'll just have to show him some tough love if kibble is all he can eat.

Not sure what I'm gonna do about treats... he LOVES clicker training and trick training so much, I don't want to... stop. I'm going to have to find some kind of soft small treats I can use.

I use Canz Real Meat treats right now... the venison one I have is this: Crude Protein: not less than 25%, Crude Fat: not less than 20%, crude fiber: not more than 2%, moisture: not more than 20%. Too high? I don't know how to differentiate between treats and kibble and canned guaranteed analysis' etc.

But I shouldn't even be worrying about this right now. Just wanna get him better. Will ask vet questions tomorrow....

Originally Posted by 107barney (Post 3610234)

I know what you mean. Barney loves clicker training and obedience too. We just use white meat chicken or green beans. The canz treats I would say no way at crude fat "not less than" 20%. We can help you convert the #s but for now, I would do nothing at all for a long time. His system really needs to rest. Pancreatitis is VERY painful and best avoided. Hugs.

Originally Posted by Ellie May (Post 3610269)

At first, just one food is best. Over time, you will very likely be able to add in extremely lean meat (after all, that's what people who homecook for their pancreatitis dogs do).

Depends on the vet what he will and won't be allowed to have. Some are more strict than others.

Definitely the Canz are not okay for him anymore.
Don't forget to talk to the vet about rotating food (I know you like to do this) and see if it's okay. My guess is that sticking to one food as long as he does well on it is going to be best.