Diet for dog with Pancreatitis

SwordsRunner

My 10 year old Jacker recently had a bad dose of pancreatitis. Vet has put him on tins of Royal Canin gastrointestinal low fat food. About one tin per day @€;3.50 each, pretty much for the rest of his life.
Money is not the issue as I had been feeding him on fairly expensive and labour intensive home made food: boiled chicken mixed with brown rice, sweet potato and carrots, bagged and frozen etc.
Would I be better off going back to the chicken/rice mix or sticking with the vet prescribed stuff?
Don’t trust stuff in cans but I want what’s best for the dog. He loves the tinned stuff and seems to be in great form.

tk123

Your home made diet sounds absolutely perfect! My guy has mild panc. and he’s raw fed so I just keep it as lean as possible. He had a phase where he was having mild attacks every few months and the vet suggested digestive enzymes even though it wasn’t severe just to take the strain off him digesting his food. All good since giving the enzymes and changing his food slightly by doing diy (so I can see the fat and cut it off) rather than buying raw mixes.

One thing I’ve found is that it can be trial and error so I had changed his food and it took a month or two before he started having attacks etc etc the first sign of him getting sick (he’s sick when he has it but poo is fine) I take him for the anti nausea shot then small meals often for a few days as his tummy settles - I usually feed Rocco sensitive from zooplus when he’s sick just to make things easier as I know he’ll eat it. His go to when he’s sick is eating grass and getting sick non stop so I don’t let him as it just prolongs things - straight to the vet to stop it in its tracks.

I use mercola digestive enzymes https://www.amazon.co.uk/Dr-Mercola-Healthy-Digestive-Enzymes/dp/B005MFL4OE/ref=sr_1_4?keywords=Mercola+pet+enzymes&qid=1561802683&s=gateway&sr=8-4

Latatian

My dog did very well on the royal canin dry gastrointestinal food which is cheaper than the wet. She was shiny and lively and happy on it. She also did well on the red mills engage duck food. But she also had other dietary issues and couldn't eat chicken and a lot of other things.

It might be an idea to work out the fat content and nutritional balance (as far as knowable) on your home made food.

cocker5

Very new to this myself my guy was diagnosed in May .. agree with the above it’s trial and error.

My guy has had a few small attacks since May but thankfully he’s stable at the mo.

I joined a few Facebook pages for dogs with pancreatitis and so far found them really helpful

What I would say is apparently for dogs with pancreatitis we should try and stick to 10% fat or less... this calculator is a great help if feeding dog food

https://www.pawdiet.com/articles/dry-matter-basis-calculator-for-pet-food/

So far when my guy is unwell the only thing that stabilizes him is the RC low fat tinned food. I did try the Rocco sensitive food that works great for most dogs with pancreatitis but Cody had a massive flare up.. according to the Facebook groups it’s because % of fat is close to 30% the RC is 6%

I’m going to try and stabilize him for a few months then move him to home cooked

Best of luck

tk123

Oh this thread has actually reminded me that I wanted to get nature diet senior/light when the Rocco ran out as I prefer the little cartons and I can cut it into cubes for Bailey’s wonky jaw! There goes another amazon voucher from work on the dogs .... again!

For the fat content some vets recommend stating low fat and slowly build it up but as I said OP what your feeding seems fine.

Captain Flaps

Another vote here for the RC dry gastro low fat kibble, my guy with pancreatitis loves it and his weight has stabilised since switching to it. It's pretty great value on zooplus

aonb

OP as long as you remove the skin from the chicken, if your dog is ok on your home cooked, then maybe just run it by your vet first. If you find he is having flare-ups you can revisit. I vary my home cooked with frozen white fish from Tesco - they come in a bag, Tesco brand, and replace the chicken with fish for variety. Google to find other alternatives - duck or turkey can be an option too, and lean minced meat, if cooked first, drained, and rinsed. It might be a good idea to break his days food into a few smaller meals, rather than one large meal. Its a good idea to have a couple of cans of the Royal Canin in the house in case of a flare up.