A friends dog has just had a nasty bout of this (Is still unwell) 1st time. he is 4 years old and has been fed a raw diet all his life. The owner would like to continue this as she preferes it but has asked if I can pick your brians. Low fat moderate fibre seems to be the way to go. He used to get a fair amount of raw minced chicken but she realizes this was possibly very fatty so that is out. Tripe too was a large part of his diet and that also is now off the menu. Would chicken carcass (He is used to them and the vet seems to think they are not a problem wth calcium, as this can be a factor in PC) with all the skin and fat removed still be OK to feed? Also raw white fish, oily fish being a no no! She questioned if pasta/rice would be OK and lots of fresh veg either steamed or raw, and some lean beef.
Any ideas folks?
Aileen

This site is very good for diet advice
http://www.dogaware.com/

I had a bitch on pancreatic enzymes for quite some years before I lost her at 17 years old.

She had vegetables as her "treats" and was never given any food with fat in, I did have her on Hill's ID for years, but soon found that Chappie did the same job.  Not sure that I would have been happy to have her on raw.

I assume that the vet has advised that the new way of thinking appears to be keeping them on enzymes for life?  They did quite a bit of research on it before publishing in the veterinary journal.

I must say that as a  raw feeder I would be quite worried to continue if my dog could not have a pretty full range of meats and fish. My inclination and I haven't done any researchwould be to use a good complete that suits and then add some meat that suits. I agree with Jeansw having had agsd that had a pancreatic problem chappie was the only thing he could tolerate long term.
I presume there are different types of pancreatic problem from epi to more mild problems not sure if that will make a difference. I would do a good deal of reading before deciding most vets are not very knowledgeable on all aspects of raw feeding whether it be barf or raw meaty bones.

Our younger Boxer used to be fed on raw but always had tummy problems and eventually we had him diagnosed with a pancreas problem and he is on meds for life now. I really wanted to keep him on raw but it just didn't agree with him. He is now on Hills ID prescription diet and cannot have anything else. Our older Boxer is fed on complete too as it's easier (a much cheaper one than Hills ID though) but if the younger one even snaffles up a couple the other's biscuits then it upsets his tummy.

My other half gave him a little bit of chicken skin a few months ago and he was off his food for two days and had awful poos!

The only way you will find out is to experiment but this can be very stressful for the dog.

Good luck

Hi

My Cocker was ill with this on and off for over a 12 months until I changed his food to chappie. He has now not had a bout of this since (over 12 months) He has both dried and wet chappie. Also cooked lean chicken, rice, pasta and veg for variation with sometimes a bit of gravy! He is now healthy and bright eyed!

> My other half gave him a little bit of chicken skin a few months ago

Which could have caused an excruciating death. 

As long as your boxer is allowed NO fat in his diet (think religiously fanatical about it) and definitely not any of other dogs biscuits, you will give him a much longer life.  My bitch was allowed once a month ONE low fat dog biscuit (tiny size), and she would never have survived all those years if I hadn't have been so strict about her food.  When the others had treats, she had a bowl of steamed vegetables.

Once you have him on his properly fat free diet, you will be able to give him the odd tinned Chappie meal which he will love as a change from ID.

(Been there, worn the T-shirt!)   :-)

> The only way you will find out is to experiment  

   

A wild and sweeping statement, which I have to totally disagree with - anyone who has no in depth knowledge of pancreatitis would do well to take expert advice rather than "experiment".  It's the dog that will suffer the pain - and pancreatic pain is not mild.

> with sometimes a bit of gravy!

Be careful, gravy has fat in it.  The pancreas will be irritated by it.

I didn't mean experiment as in try lots of differnet things to see how ill your dog gets! What I meant was you have to try different things to see what's right for your dog. I was advised to use Royal Canin prescription food first but that didn't agree with my Boxer. I was then advised to try Chappie which was better, then I found Hills ID which you advised JeanSW and that has been fabulous. I wouldn't want any dog to be in pain but you do have to find the right food for the dog and in our case there had to be a little trial and error in this!

My husband doesn't usually have anything to do with feeding the dogs and my comment re the chicken skin was to evidence how easily a little fat can upset their system! Thank god it didn't have the fatal effect!

Your friend could maybe seek referral to a Homeopathic/Holistic Vet and find out if symptoms can be relieved naturally whilst still allowing the dog to enjoy a Natural Raw Diet...?? Good that her vet is saying that chicken carcass is still ok to feed...many vets try to put new guardians off a RAW diet at the very first puppy visit :( )

(My elderly Great Auntie and my partner's Mum suffer a flare up of pancreaitis every year....following each one of their annual flu jabs....not good )