My dog has pancreatitis. What probiotics can help prevent flare-ups?

Hi there and thank you for using Petco Pet Education Center, formerly Petcoach to address your concern. There are some supplements you can try that have been suggested to help reduce the occurrence of acute pancreatitis. I typically recommend a low fat diet along with omega 3 fish oil (Welactin fish oil for dogs) as well as vitamin E supplementation. Some veterinarians have recommended using digestive powders to help try and reduce the work that the pancreas needs to do to digest food. Pancrezyme is one such digestive enzyme powder that you can try. I hope this helps! Please let me know if you have any other questions or concerns and I would be more than happy to help you further.

Thanks for using Petco Pet Education Center, formerly Petcoach! While you could administer probiotics in theory, I prefer to stay away from anything that is not part of the diet or medications while patients are recovering from pancreatitis. Perhaps wait for Meagan to be recovered from her episode of pancreatitis and then you may start her on probiotics. Good luck!

I have no experience with Protease IFC, and I would recommend discussing it's use with the vet that diagnosed Sofia with pancreatitis. Zylkene and probiotics are fine - if you break open the Zylkene capsule, it can be sprinkled on food and may make it taste better. Personally, I am not a fan of raw diets, but at this point, it is most important to find an easily digestible, low fat food that Sofia is interested in eating. Prescription options like Hill's i/d are available through your vet. Otherwise boiled chicken breast, cooked white rice, plain toast, chicken broth, or fish broth are reasonable options.

Good job on keeping Archie on a low fat diet. That is the best option for long-term management of his pancreatitis. It is definitely possible that he is having flare ups causing the intermittent vomiting and diarrhea. I would have him evaluated by his veterinarian to ensure there isn't another cause though. Some of these dogs can have alterations in their cobalamin and folate levels. Correcting this can alleviate some of their clinical signs. Other animals will need an abdominal ultrasound to ensure the rest of their belly is normal. As far as your other question, the dog will usually flare up within about 24-48hrs of eating a higher fat meal. Good luck with Archie!

Poor Henry-pancreatitis is no fun. I don’t usually recommend adding something like this to the diet for animals who suffer these types of severe/chronic conditions. We never know what may cause a flair up. However, if Henry is using a prescription kibble you could check with your vet to see if a canned formulation is available as well. If so you can cut the canned product into little cubes and bake/dehydrate then in the oven to make your own treats! Another option is that most of the companies that manufacture prescription foods also have a range of treats which are labelled for use with various of their prescription diets. Good luck!

Hi and thanks for visiting Petco Pet Education Center, formerly Petcoach. I would stick with a low fat prescription diet such as Hills I/D or Royal Canin Low fat gastrointestinal. Continue this diet until your one pet is over their pancreatitis episode. Then you can slowly transition them back to a senior diet which is typically lower in calories and higher in protein and carbs. My top brands are Royal Canin, Hill’s Science Diet, Evo or Eukanuba. Best of luck with your fur babies and their new diets. Take care!

Stomach gas usually occurs due to indigestion or food allergy, which could have triggered pancreatitis as well. unfortunately the options are very limited when it comes to food, i usually recommend Royal Canine low fat for pancreatitis but this is not likely to resolve the gas problem. one thing that could help though is a medication called Ulsanic, you should ask your vet about this option.