Daisy has been diagnosed with Pancreatitis today

[MollieMoo]

Daisy has been poorly since Sunday and we have finally got a diagnosis today - Pancreatitis 

I know that she will have to go on a controlled diet, either Hills i/D or the Eukanuba equivalent but I wanted to ask any other people out there whose dogs suffer with this condition, what kind of treats do you give your dogs?  Daisy loves carrots, apples, bananas and pineapple, would I still be able to give her these?

[Poppsie]

Going from my own experience of this the best thing is to give her low fat treats preferably nothing more than 5% fat content pancreatitis is a very painful condition but can be managed quite well I do hope that Daisy is now getting back to her old self x x x

[jessandme]

Our first cocker Lucy developed pancreatitis, she was on the Royal Canin Low Fat Digestif for the rest of her life.  Treats had to be not just low fat but zero fat, if she had any fat at all then she would have another attack - this does vary, some dogs are fine with low fat treats.  But either way, carrots and the other things you listed are absolutely fine.   

[Sheryl]

Kali had pancreatitis once.  I refused to put her on the vet diet as the food she was on was only slightly higher in fat anyway!  I am careful about them getting fatty things but other than that their diet hasn't changed.  She never had it again.

[LinziS]

Sorry to hear your girlie has not been well....hope she makes a speedy and full recovery

[bluegirl]

My old girl was hospitalised once when she was about 8-9 yrs old for pancreatitis. I didn't use prescription foods afterwards but was more aware of what I fed her. She was very ill beforehand like your Daisy but she did make a full recovery and only had the one episode.

[Helen]

Hope she's feeling better 

What's her normal diet? Can you think of anything that could have triggered it? (Jarvis 'nearly' got Pancreatitis after his grandma decided christmas goose was good for him - vet said he was very close to it but he got away with it with just a very poorly stomach  )

I agree with Bluegirl and Sheryl about the prescription foods - I think you can 'manage' her diet if you're careful without them 

[maddycakes]

my last girl got pancreatitis a couple of times, the first time she was on a drip for a couple of days then had the controlled diet from the vets for a few months, I rang burns pet food and they recommended one of their foods for her can't remember which one it was now. Although had to change her food after a while as she was continually hungry on burns but that was also due to being on phenobarbitone for her epilepsy.

The only treats she got after her first bout of pancreatitis was carrots and apple. Her second bout a few years later was due to medication for epilepsy which can cause pancreatitis, i caught that one quickly as i recognised the symptoms.

Big hugs to daisy as it is so painful for them.

[MollieMoo]

Thank you for all your comments, it is really useful to hear what you've experience in this situation and that for some of you it has only been a one time occurance  There are two things that could have quite easily triggered it, one is when she got onto the kitchen table at my mum's house and she nicked about 4 cup cakes with butter icing on them and I gave her a marrowbone from the vets and it had quite a bit of fat on it - ignorance not bliss in this situation .  It is also encouraging that some of you have not continued with the vet precription foods, that is something to think about long term.

Daisy is looking and acting a lot better today although I think I gave her too much Lactlose yesterday and when she went to the toilet this morning it was shooting out like a jet, poor girl, but at least her tummy is emptying and she is looking less bloated so she must be feeling more comfortable. I think she might still have a temperature and she was panting a bit this morning, but she is going back to the vets tomorrow to check her over. She is on anti inflammatories and antibiotics.

It is so worrying when they look so poorly and you don't know what is wrong with them.

[lisalh]

Fred had several bouts of this and I was lucky that my vet was happy for me to try managing it with his diet - it turned out poultry is a 'trigger' for him so we moved to Lamb and Rice food, restricted all his treats and he was on pancrex for months til we got it under control. He has several serious flare ups and at one time I honestly thought we were losing him but "touch wood' he is now off all his meds, eats a regular dog food, enjoys his treats and biscuits (not chicken based and low fat wherever poss) and you would never have known how ill he was. 

I know just how you feel when they are poorly and you just dont know what is best to help them - big hugs to you both and feel free to pm if you ener need to 'vent' xxxxx

[wendyt]

Pleased to hear Daisy is more like herself today.
Chester my old CKCS had a really nasty bout of pancreatitis a couple of years ago. He was at the vets for 3 days as he was really poorly, when he came home he was put onto Hill's I/D and for treats I would get a can of wet I/D cut it up and cook it in the oven until the bits were hard and crispy.
He was on I/D for quite a while, but he started to go off it and wouldn't eat it at all so we were advised by the vet to put him onto another low fat food ( he was on Hills Science Plan Senior Adult Light before he got pancreatitis). He eventually ended up on Chappie dry food (the only one he would eat) with tinned Chappie on top, for treats he had carrots and milky bones. He never had another bout.

[phoenix]

I swore by chappie for several years with the springer, then she was unable to cope with the wholegrain rice ingredient. Now she is fine on Arden Grange Ocean fish and potato. It is £8 for 2.5kg bag in Waitrose and similar price online with Vet UK. It is very easy to digest for sensitive dogs.  I'm not sure, but I would think Fish 4 Dogs and Barking Heads do similar.
What the Vet practice would recommend ,from them, will cost a lot. There is lots of choice and information on the net  .
For treats i prefer to use pieces of chicken. She's fine with supermarket sliced prepack chicken. You could also make liverbread or a tuna variation,chopped in cubes and frozen.

[Ben's mum]

Ben had this when he managed to swipe a half coconut put out for the birds that was full of fat    It was scarey seeing him so unwell.
We have always managed his diet carefully since then as he dosn't seem to tolarate anything that has fat in.
He eats just the same as normal - dry food, apples and raw veg etc and also gets 'leftovers' (I know some people don't give this sort of thing to their dogs), but I stick to the 'slimming world' prionciple for Ben - he never has anything with visable fat on it at all and he is generally fine, and the only time he has small flare ups is if some well meaning person gives him something he shouldn't have, because they think I am too strict with his diet and they don't understand the harm it can do.

[MollieMoo]

I stick to the 'slimming world' prionciple for Ben - he never has anything with visable fat on it at all and he is generally fine, and the only time he has small flare ups is if some well meaning person gives him something he shouldn't have, because they think I am too strict with his diet and they don't understand the harm it can do.

I like this train of thought, and especially with me going to slimming world last year, I understand the priniciple

We have been back to the vets, her temperature has dropped from 39.7 to 39.4 so she is on antibiotics until next friday, she is looking a lot better in herself which is really nice to see  and I've come home with a 5kg bag of Hills i/d to start her off then when it has all died down and she is well I will review her food.  It also might be a good opportunity for her to loose a bit of weight too, not sure if she will agree with that

Thank you for all your other comments as it is interesting to hear other people's stories about their cockers and what they went through

[cfordham2710]

My Skye had this over NY.  It was awful her being in the vets intensive care unit.  She is now on Royal Canin Gastrointestinal LOW FAT/Hills ID and Chappie

She has carrots and veg a lot and fruit as a treat.  She can no longer have chews/bones/rawhide chews etc as they all have fat in them and she has got to remain on a almost No Fat diet for the rest of her life. 

We have just got her a Stag Bar to try although she is not overlly keen on this yet.  We are working on making it look more yummy!!

We are now experts in low fat nosh for dogs!!

Good Luck!!