My skinny senior dog has kidney disease & pancreatitis. How to feed?

Check out this website: www.balanceit.com Click on "create free pet recipe." It will allow you to select the medical conditions your dog has, and his other information to make a balanced customized home cooked diet. I hope that's helpful! Thanks for using PetCoach.

Thank you for submitting your question regarding Aiko. I recommend having a blood value known as SDMA tested as it is more sensitive in detecting kidney disease that BUN and Creatinine. This value can be combined with a first morning urine sample to check the kidney's concentrating ability. With this information, it can be decided if he has kidney disease and if so, which stage. If his kidneys are functioning well, then I would suggest a prescription low fat diet to be fed to him exclusively to help prevent recurrence of pancreatitis. Royal Canin Veterinary Diets LF or Purina ProPlan Veterinary Diets EN would be appropriate choices. I hope this information helps!

Thank you for posting this question. Increasing protein won’t necessarily increase weight , increasing calories in general is the goal. If she will eat more of her food you could increase the amount you are feeding. You could try feeding more times a day. You could also visit www.balanceit.com This website can help you design a home cooked diet safe for kidney disease. This could be given in addition to the commercial food you are feeding. Best of luck and thank you for using Pet Coach.

Poor Quinton! Pancreatitis can become a chronic issue. Switching the diet to the Low Fat food may help. You will also need to make sure he does not eat ANY human food or get into the garbage. Any treats need to be extremely low fat. Some dogs with chronic pancreatitis benefit from daily antioxidants for dogs. Some may need a daily steroid but most don't. Make sure Quinton drinks lots of water daily. Here is a link about pancreatitis: https://www.petcoach.co/article/pancreatitis-inflammation-in-dogs/ If this trend continues, your vet may want to look for an underlying condition such as Cushing's Disease. I hope this helps and that he starts feeling better quickly.

Hello and welcome to Petco Pet Education Center, formerly Petcoach. I am sorry about your little girl. Any food is better than no food, so if you can get any food into her, keep going. Low protein diets are best, so see if you can increase the rice portion, and also try to get some fibre (pumpkin/squash) into her. You can talk to your vet about prescription diets, as these are often designed to be yummy, so trial that out. Best of luck with your little girl, I hope she feels better soon!

Pancreatitis is a very tricky disease and has two diatcint presentations. There is the acute form where they are incredibly sick, non stop vomiting or dirrhoea and require hospitalisation for intensive support. There is the second form which is chronic and requires home care and support. Potentially lifetime changes to food types which are bland and low in fat. Here is an amazing resource to understanding pancreatitis in 5 minutes; https://www.petcoach.co/article/5-minutes-to-understanding-pancreatitis-in-dogs/ Pancreatitis requires a change in food, you can do as your vet prescribed and I recommend 1/3 chicken and 2/3 white rice. Fed Ina umiaks portions to your regular dog food, for at least one week. You can also check out home cooked diets here https://www.petcoach.co/article/how-to-create-a-balanced-homemade-diet-for-your-pet/ A simpler option for you would be hills I/d low fat which can be purchased from your vet or online. I am happy to discuss this further in a private consult or if you would Like to post as many questions as you need on the forum we can continue to support you as much as you need.

Hello again. It really depends on what type of stones are present, such as are they oxylate or struvite? Some stones are harder to manage with diet than others, & of course, it also depends on what is available in your country. Your veterinarian is the best individual to help with this unless you have some laboratory data that indicates what is going on. Hills & Royal Canin Prescription Diets are very popular here. You can definitely add a little plain white rice, but not so much as to dilute the diets, & please do not add any supplements unless directed to do so by your veterinarian. Adding things like calcium can set Cointhee up for more imbalances & more problems. Thanks for using Petco Pet Education Center, formerly Petcoach.