Originally Posted by Nancy1999 (Post 3610537)

Hey if anyone can fight this you and Jackson can. Jackson was fit and healthy when he got this, and we know healthy organisms fight disease better than unhealthy organisms. Look at all the dogs that are grossly obese, just because people want to give them extra love. This disease is not due to poor diet; otherwise all those dogs who were fed greasy table scraps would get it.

Originally Posted by Ellie May (Post 3610539)

I agree with Nancy.

Really like this post. Sums it up perfectly. His stomach should be no different after he heals a bit. It's a question of whether pancreatic enzymes are breaking down his food properly or trying to break down the pancreas itself. So even if there is no vomiting or diarrhea, there is still a chance that something is going on.

A little bit of "fear" is okay with pancreatitis. It's better than not being worried and so not being strict. Honestly, if the smallest little pea sized piece of a forbidden food is eaten, it can theoretically put him back in the hospital. Very life threatening in some cases... Ellie has had it a couple times and the last one was somewhat hard on her. That is the week that I fed some white meat chicken and then some white potato. Went off a couple hours after the potato. No idea what the trigger was, but she sure as heck doesn't get either one of those things anymore! That's how crazy it can get.

Some have one case and are just fine. They do fine on their regular food as long as owners are careful with treats. Others can't go back to their regular food (vet doesn't want them to or they can't tolerate it). Fifteen % fat isn't high. Might be a little high for some vets' liking. Ellie went back on 18% fat after an episode. She did okay as far as the pancreas went, but when changing whatever ingredient around (forget what I did), it didn't help matters. I'd hesitate to stick with 18% if I was in the same situation again. I'd also hesitate to stick with 15%. But bc this is the first time, the vet may be okay with it.

Rx diets don't work for all and pups can have flare up on them also, but they are usually a good idea. I'd go to rx or possibly homecooked food for pancreatitis before all else. That's JMO.

I regret all the crap that Ellie used to get too. Can't change it now though.

There are canned foods that he can probably have and you can bake treats for them, but they will mostly be rx.

For Ellie's pancreas and intestines (it's different because we are concurrently dealing with intestines and food allergies), the only thing that is working now is HA. Not even homecooked was cutting it. In all honestly, I don't like this food for a few reasons (I do like the lack of animal fat coating it though!), but it works for her and that's good enough for me. Not recommending this food at all, but just shows sometimes only one single foods seems to work. Other times several foods could work.

Originally Posted by AllDogBoots (Post 3610497)

Does a dog develop pancreatitis from the food or does food create an episode due to the underlying issue?

Originally Posted by 107barney (Post 3610549)

Brit,
Last year when Barney had the pancreatitis and I did the consult with Dr. R for his diet, some of the things she told me were --
1. We don't know all the foods that trigger pancreatitis - it is not just fat
2. Pancreatitis can smolder for a very long time
3. Each pancreatitis attack is worse
4. It can become life threatening

I know that the second bout of pancreatitis is probably why my Barney has some liver damage since the liver lives right next door to the pancreas. Barney's blood work did not return to normal for almost a year, and I might have never known that if I was not keeping close tabs on it because he acted just fine. And that was with being VERY strict and taking direction from the vets like it was a directive from God. Just to illustrate, recently I fed him some of Daisy's food which is higher in fat. His triglycerides rocked up to 1360 and his liver enzymes went nuts. Just from food. When a dog is prone, a dog is prone and you don't always know what is going on in their body unless you happen to draw blood during the time it is happening. I was probably starting a fire.

I'm not telling you this to scare you, but the bully sticks and fatty treats have to go. A two year old having an acute pancreatitis attack that landed him in the hospital is serious enough in my mind to conclude he is predisposed. I know he ate some things he shouldn't have, but it is not like he ate a couple of sticks of butter or a turkey leg.

As far as being a failure, I don't see you in that light at all. You took your dog to the vet and he is getting the care he needs.

Originally Posted by Ellie May (Post 3610556)

I think it's the latter. Nobody really knows exactly what causes it, but there are triggers. Good question.

Because diet is very often a major contributor to an episode, it's really best that no dogs are given certain things because we don't know who is predisposed to it.

Brit, I'm quite sure every one of us has regretted something that we did related to our dogs. You're not alone.

Trying to think of E's other triggers. I think fairly lean roast beef was one and possibly a Frosty Paw was another. Never again on those things!

Originally Posted by 107barney (Post 3610572)

Here is an interesting article and they happen to mention Yorkies as being prone
Canine pancreatic disease: What's new in diagnosis and therapy? (Proceedings) - Veterinary Healthcare

Originally Posted by Ellie May (Post 3610578)

The things that Ellie used to get before we knew better, um, I won't even post about!! I told Brit via PM bc I'm too chicken to tell everyone.:hide2:

Those Frosty Paws are bad business IMO!