New and worried

[Mary G]

 Hi, I'm the owner of 3 miniature schnauzers and 1 Hungarian Vizsla. One of my schnauzers has just been diagnosed with diabetes and pancreatitis. I am in shock. We have been feeding them with chicken, fish, mince steak, vegetables, pasta and rice but now this is not feasible for Bentley. He has lost some weight, he's 7.1kgs. The vet has given me Royal Canin - why do they all promote it??? I don't want to keep him on that food once he's stabilised. I would really appreciate some advice about the best dry feed for the poor wee soul.
 

[Dottie]

Hello and welcome to the forum. Regarding the pancreatitis, was this a one off, acute attack and is your Schnauzer now recovered from it or has the vet diagnosed it as chronic?  We have a dedicated thread on this which you might find helpful - link.  I am hopeful that you will find some useful information in it. 

We have a thread on diabetes here. 

Prescription food can be helpful in the short term but as you say, long term is a different matter. For both of these conditions you need to be searching for food containing high quality protein and not too much fat. This criteria is met in the fresh food product Butternut Box and there are a few reviews from people who have found it helpful in stabilizing their dog's pancreatitis. This company has a helpline and may be able to advise further.  With diabetes any dietary change needs to be discussed with the vet. He will need the dry matter figures for protein, fat and carbohydrate and will probably comment on the high protein but do not worry about that because it is highly digestible protein and from what you say about your dog losing weight, he might well do better on it.   

If you want our help in searching for another type of food using the Dog Food Directory, please let us know.

[Mary G]

Good morning Dottie and thanks for the quick response! We worked out ourselves that Bentley had an intolerance to fatty foods - we used to give the 3 dogs sausages on occasion - he was always sick afterwards and the same if we have him fish in oil. He was constantly at the vet with vomiting at that stage but no one suggested we look at his diet - they just gave antibiotics and we paid. I now think he had pancreatitis all along. This last attack happened I think because the mince steak had 12 per cent fat - we buy the 5 per cent for ourselves. We seem to be getting the diabetes stabilised now so I won't see the vet till next Thursday to ask if the pancreatitis is chronic. I will certainly read the threads you have suggested. Expense is a consideration also in buying food since we have 4 dogs!

[Dottie]

I noted that you have four dogs and therefore wondered about expense. From your own experience it sounds like you need a food that is sub 15% dry weight fat. The cold pressed foods fit this criteria and and have the advantage of being easy to digest. The carbohydrate content is usually above average but if you choose one with brown rice it might be helpful as it is a complex carb. You could top this up with good quality, lean protein eg white fish, chicken. Markus Muhle is possibly the most economical at the moment but you might need to obtain it online. Zooplus and Bitiba sell this.

[Mary G]

Thanks again. I will look into that

[Dottie]

Do remember to talk to your vet about any changes to diet as the insulin will need to be adjusted. You can get the carbohydrate, fat, protein percentages and ingredient list from the Dog Food Directory.

[Mary G]

Will do. Thanks again