Is she tested for pancreatitis every time she has one of the episodes? I ask because my dog had chronic pancreatitis but he also had gerd problems. If he misses his pepcid for a day or two his symptoms from gerd are very similar to his pancreatitis.

It can be difficult to figure out the true amount of fat content in dry or wet foods so I suggest using this site to find a good dog food. My vet recommended a diet with no more than 5% fat and after many trials the only non-prescription wet food that worked for my dog was Petsmart's Simply Nourish. He tolerated the Lamb and Duck flavors the best. But, even on that diet he would have minor bouts of pancreatitis.

Early this year he started drinking more water, along with frequent urination, and was recently diagnosed with Cushings (he is now being treated with Trilostane). Since Cushings can cause pancreatitis, the vet & I believe my dogs episodes of pancreatitis will subside......as long as the Trilostane works. In hindsight, my dog's pancreatitis espisodes started a few years ago when we first saw slight signs of Cushings, but lab tests did not warrant starting any treatment then.

I now make a homemade diet for my dog.......high protein with veges and no grains, plus supplements. It's more work for me but seeing how much better my dog looks and feels is worth it.

Thank You for your responses.

No she's not tested for pancreatiitis every time. Only twice. She used to have outbreaks a few times a week. Vet put her on boiled skinless chicken breast boiled only..nothing else. The episodes slowed down to every few months. Then the vet recommended we find a kibble she could tolorate. After many different brands, starting slowly with only offering a few as a snack and doing this for weeks we finially found Wellness toy breed was well tolerated. Very slowly we increased it over many weeks until it became her sole diet. She never gets snacks people or dog snacks except once in awhile I'll boil a breast tenderloin and give her that. I do give her 5mg of Pepsid daily. A friend recommends I try probiotics but I haven't yet. I'm plessed that her sickness is only every few months about 3 instead of the several times a week, but I can often hear very very low moans from her. The vet hasn't heard it because when were there she's a nervous wreck and doubtful she would be thinking of moaning. However it can only be heard if my ear is close to her....it is an indication to me at least that she hurts somewhere. Another thing I think is important is her vomiting is only white foamy stuff. And ONLY starts in the morning when she gets up.

Anyway Thank you for your help. Much appricated.

I have a thought mamaP, you said that she vomits white foamy stuff and only in the morning. Well, what that can be is a sign of an empty stomach which in some dogs causes nausea. This is actually very common and maybe she went too long between meals. My dog started doing this so I give her a few kibble right before bed time and that keeps her from having that nauseated stomach in the morning or during the night. You can ask your vet but this is quite common, I have other pet owner friends that have noticed the same thing and the vet advised they are going too long between meals and to give them a little bit of food before bedtime.

Arkansas, I do give her dinner very late around 10to11 pm. She goes to bed with me around midnight. She sleeps in until noon but that 12 hours. Than she refuses food until 2 pm so its 14 hours between meals. I have tried slowly changing her sleeping schedule, without success. She simply will not go to bed without me. She is always next to me except in the morning when she's sleeping in. Lol. Recently I changed her pepsid from night to early morning. I get up at 5.30 so Igive it than and she goes potty and right back to sleep. I figured that time in the early morning until she finially agrees to eat in the afternoon is when the gut acids are really eating away at her. Another member on HOUZZ actually suggested I try the pepcid in the mornings. Hopefully this change will do the trick.

Thank You.

Is the vet not concerned that she sleeps so much and doesn't have much of an appetite? For and 8 year old dog she should be up, active and hungry by morning.

Did she act differently when she as on the chicken diet? You may want to try a cooked meat (chicken, turkey) along with some veges (green beans, broccoli, carrots, zucchini) and see if her activity and appetite improve.

I just checked the nutrient content of the Wellness on DogFoodAdvisor and it has a high % of carbs and fat. Carbs and fat make the pancreas work harder during digestion......something your little dog doesn't need. I also noticed the diet has tomatoes and peas, two things that my dog couldn't tolerate. The peas gave him lots of gas which can be uncomfortable. You may want to check a canned food with low fat and carbs, or mix up some homemade. For an 8 lb dog it wouldn't be as much prep work as it takes for my 25 lb dog. : ) If you don't want to deal with fresh veges you can buy bags of frozen veges (no onions), and mix it with the meat and add necessary supplements. It's all cooked and I do a 50/50 ratio. The mix can also be pureed if that's what your dog prefers.

I would love to make Little Lils food myself..problem is I don't know what to cook or how much of each or what supplements. But you just explained well. Now if you could give me a list of what veggies..lol...ill try to get started next week probably making a small batch to test.

I know she sleeps a lot but when she up omg she's extremely active. Running and playing rest a few and back at it. when she was on the chicken she played very little and only a few minutes at a time. Thank You Annztoo.

Eta. Another thing she doesn't nap once she's up

If you are really interested it is so worth it. I cooked for my first dog when she came down with kidney failure. Please don't just put things together, get a real recipe. Dogaware.com has loads of information on feeding fresh food to dogs and many articles on various health problems as well. There are lists of books that have acceptable information in them, so many dog food recipes are not very good. Also online is Dr. Strombeck's entire book, Home-Prepared Diets for Dogs and Cats which has a lot of recipes for various ailments.

The great thing about cooking for the dog is you can change the recipe if one doesn't suit. My second dog fed fresh did poorly with pureed veggies but great with a little mushy white rice. When the first dog started getting mushy poop from too much fat it was super easy to skin the chicken for the next meal.

When I started researching diets for pancreatitis I used the sites Kathy added in her post. As she said, you'll have to do a little trial and error to see which veges, grains and fruits your dog prefers. I chose not to feed grains at the moment since my dog recently started Cushings treatment, but at some point I may add some pasta, oatmeal or brown rice back into his diet. I also add GNC Mega MultiVitamins and bone marrow. I personally like the bone marrow but there are other brands of bone meal you can use instead. You also don't have to use several veges at one time.....I use anywhere from 1-3 veges mixed with the meat. Just depends what I have on hand when I make up a batch.

My dog loves all vegetables so I have no problem adding variety to his meat. Remember that some dogs are sensitive to chicken so you may want to try beef, lamb, turkey, salmon or even rabbit.

If you want to feed low fat, it’s important to do the dry matter calculation, as Kathy the first poster said. The percentage of fat on the label can be a little misleading because of the amount of moisture in dog food. There are lower fat kibbles than Wellness Toy. For example, Zignature whitefish (available at Chewy). Here’s a calculator

http://www.k-9kraving.com/resources/calculator.php

Thank you all. I will do the reading and let you know what I decide to do. But I really appreciate all of your help.