Should my husky eat raw food? What about pancreatitis & best kibble?

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!

Schnauzers as a breed can have trouble with pancreatitis. Some times this is linked to hyperlipidemia (elevated fat in the blood). This disease can be diagnosed typically on a blood panel. If so, a different diet may be recommended for this disease along with medications. Options for diet otherwise would typically be a low fat prescription diet or seeing a nutritionist or holistic vet for diet planning. Home cooked diets can be great, you just need to make sure someone plans a balanced diet and a diet that is targeted for that disease process. Otherwise the diet may not be balanced and could cause issues with nutritional deficiencies. I hope this helps and thank you for using Petco Pet Education Center, formerly 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!

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.

Thank you for asking PetCoach! What I am understanding from your question is the following: Harley sheds a lot. Harley is stinky even after a bath. Harley has a history of pancreatitis (inflammation of the pancreas) you currently feed New Balance Grain free, because of his history of pancreatitis With a history of pancreatitis, a low fat food is generally the best choice. The pancreas secretes digestive enzymes that are needed for proper metabolism. The more fat in the diet, the harder the pancreas has to work to make enzymes that break down the fat. That is why very fatty foods--such as bacon grease or fatty scraps-- can cause severe pancreatitis. Often, dogs that have a history of pancreatitis are put on low fat food diets to help reduce the likelihood of pancreatitis becoming problematic again. Grain free food has not been shown to have any benefit in regards to pancreatitis. As a side note, grain free diets HAVE been shown to have a major correlation with an increase in heart disease. That's a subject for another day though. ;) Your concern about him stinking all the time-- there are a few possible causes. How is his mouth? Is it possible that the odor is due to dental disease? Or possibly ear infections which can also have an odor? Or, he may have a fungal or bacterial infection in his skin that is the cause. Regardless, if there is a persistent odor, its unlikely that diet alone is going to solve the problem. Ideally, take him to your vet for an exam so that they can help you identify the source of the odor and advise you on the best route to help. Having said all of that, regarding the shedding (and what may also help the odor), consider a diet designed for skin health. My favorite one is Science Diet sensitive stomach and skin. My dog with flaky, dry, sometimes itchy skin and excessive shedding has improved a lot on this diet. https://www.petco.com/shop/en/petcostore/product/hills-science-diet-adult-sensitive-stomach-and-skin-chicken-recipe-dry-dog-food However, you can find a number of different brands with formulas designed for skin health. Use the one you are most comfortable with, but I would advise against "grain free." Best of luck! thanks for using PetCoach!

Thanks for using Petco Pet Education Center, formerly Petcoach! First of all, thanks for rescuing! As you have probably noted there are plenty of diets out there. I prefer the Purina Pro Plan diets as well as the Science Diet foods. Any of these would be great for her. Good luck!

Honestly, with pancreatitis a dog needs a super low fat diet and the only ones that fulfill this are prescription diets. I would recommend canned and dry Hill's i/d low fat. If this was his first bout of pancreatitis he may only need to be on this for a short while. If he has had multiple bouts of pancreatitis then he needs the super low fat diet for life. Hope this helps. If you have more questions please feel free to post again. Best wishes!