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  1. #1
    Puppy Kellsie's mom's Avatar
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    recommendations for low fat food

    Hi everyone,

    Tried to get back on here after a long break (had a lot going on in my crazy life) and tried to log in only to realize I couldn't! I finally figured out the site had crashed! Although sorry to hear that happened, glad it wasn't me. I was getting concerned about why I couldn't log on!

    Glad I re-registered and can post again!

    OK those of you who remember me I have Thunder the naughty black lab who loves to eat socks. I also have Skye his yellow sister. She doesn't eat socks or anything thankfully! But Thunder is my concern. He has had two obstruction surgeries, one in which he almost died.

    I am happy to report we have kept him from eating socks and there have not been any ingestion incidents in over a year. However he is having many stomach issues over the past few months. We took him to an internist at Tufts. She thinks he had some sort of a pancreatic attack and has an extremely sensitive stomach. Recommending we switch him to a low fat food for easy digestion.

    Long story short he has been dry heaving and nothing coming up for over a week. Usually early AM before breakfast and right before dinner. He has had blood work (all normal) an ultrasound and x-rays. No obstructions. The internal medicine doc put him on anti-nausea meds. He is currently on chicken and rice and I have been giving him pumpkin and sweet potatoes.

    He is doing much better. Still wondering what to put him on for food. He is currently eating Wellness Simple ingredient grain free turkey and sweet potato. It has 12% fat. She wants him on something around 3%. I am not finding much. She wanted to do prescription food but I didn't want to drive to Tufts every time I need food, plus it is pricey!

    Thanks! Any help would be greatly appreciated. Until then I plan on cooking for him!

  2. #2
    House Broken ls2erin's Avatar
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    You're going to have a really tough time finding something that low in fat that isn't prescription. I've tried Annamaet lean (~8% fat) and I like the ingredients list a lot. Roxy likes it better than Wellness Simple, although she doesn't really like either one, to be honest. Fromm has a couple lower fat formulas, but Roxy doesn't like those either and they aren't super low fat. I considered trying Canine Caviar special needs, but haven't done it yet. I have tried some prescription foods, like canned I/D and canned Royal Canin low fat and Roxy seemed to like those. I really don't like the ingredients though. It may take some trial and error. Good luck!
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  3. #3
    Senior Dog Labradorks's Avatar
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    Unfortunately it sounds like you're going to have to go with a prescription food. I wonder if you could do raw? Lots of veggies, some carbs, and white meat chicken/turkey/fish??? I'm not a raw person, but there are several here? It would actually be less expensive than prescription food and easier to get. My friend feeds her dog a prescription food and it's like $70 for 15 lbs.

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  5. #4
    Chief Pooper Scooper JenC's Avatar
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    Yeah, but raw meat has fat in it. Unless you are buying choice cuts. And raw feeders aren't feeding petite filets to their dogs. The chicken necks I get have skin and fat on them.

    The dry heaving could be hunger. If I don't feed mine enough, they heave and sometimes vomit spit and bile.

    Fat is energy for dogs. I would be hesitant to remove it almost entirely from the diet. I would probably just stick to what you are feeding, or go for the Annamet. Pro Plan Weight Management is 8% fat too.

  6. #5
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    Quote Originally Posted by JenC View Post
    Yeah, but raw meat has fat in it. Unless you are buying choice cuts. And raw feeders aren't feeding petite filets to their dogs. The chicken necks I get have skin and fat on them.

    The dry heaving could be hunger. If I don't feed mine enough, they heave and sometimes vomit spit and bile.

    Fat is energy for dogs. I would be hesitant to remove it almost entirely from the diet. I would probably just stick to what you are feeding, or go for the Annamet. Pro Plan Weight Management is 8% fat too.
    This.

    I have to feed my two three times a day or else I'll find bile on the floor in the morning (Dan) or witness a deposit of same shortly before dinnertime (Sunnie).

    Why not see if feeding the same amount over three meals might not fix the problem...or give a biscuit or two right before bedtime and also mid-afternoon (I'd offset some food if I went the biscuit route.)

  7. #6
    Puppy Kellsie's mom's Avatar
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    Thanks for the suggestions. I just couldn't do the prescription, I don't like the ingredients, it is full of fillers. Thunder was on script food after his first obstruction surgery and he wouldn't eat it. I tried and tried and finally gave up and went chicken and rice for a few weeks with mashed veggies. Luckily the E-Vet refunded my money because it is highway robbery what they charge for the prescription foods! Then I went back to his regular food. Right now Thunder has a beautiful coat and his skin isn't itching anymore.

    I decided to take a trip to my local Hollistic Pet store today. I love them but food is pricey. They recommended Blue Buffalo Healthy Weight chicken and brown rice. It is 6% fat so that is half of what the Wellness that I am currently feeding him is. To be honest Thunder doesn't love the Wellness so switching isn't going to be a terrible ordeal. They told me that is the lowest fat food they sell. If I want lower I have to buy prescription.

    So going to give it a whirl and see what happens. I always have the Wellness as a back up since I just bought a HUGE bag and don't want it to go to waste.

    I don't want to go raw. I don't think Thunder can handle that. I know it works for many people but I think the chicken necks, bones etc would be too harsh on his system.

    The vet we saw suggested feeding him a meal at lunch time (like several of you suggested) to see if that helps. Funny thing is Thunder NEVER had this issue until about 3 weeks ago. I would think if the empty stomach was an issue for him, it would have been happening his whole life? I just think it is weird all of a sudden this started up.......but stranger things have happened.

    Thanks again for the help.

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  9. #7
    Senior Dog Charlotte K.'s Avatar
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    I think that you are on the right track. Do keep in mind that if he had a pancreatitis attack, it may be absolutely necessary to feed him very low or even nonfat food to rest his system and let him heal.
    This is a link for home cooking for pancreatic disease, from Dr. Strombeck:

    Diet and Pancreatic Diseases

    I agree that raw might be too much for him right now, especially if it is not high pressure pasteurized and if it has bone it it, the way the Instinct chicken does.

    You may need to supplement the new food with a nonfat home cooked diet to bring the total fat content down. Also, be aware that the fat content in wet food is at most half of what it would say if you took out all the water, as one does in kibble. It is like the difference between cream of wheat and a pretzel or hardtack. Three percent in canned food is MUCH less than the 8% in the Blue Buffalo. That is if the food the vet recommended is canned.

    Sending healing thoughts.

  10. #8
    Puppy Kellsie's mom's Avatar
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    They didn't definitely think it was pancreatitis. His pancreas looked fine on the ultrasound and blood work was fine too, therefore she couldn't say for sure. She was just leaning on cautious side recommending the low fat food. She didn't recommend canned/wet food. She recommended a dry low fat prescription kibble which he was on once before and refused to eat. Didn't make much sense to buy it knowing he would not eat it.

    Thanks for the link. I have been doing a lot of reading and it won't hurt to lean on the cautious side right now and read more. He is doing so much better on the meds she gave him and the cooked diet of chicken, rice and sweet potatoes. I feel like he may need something more but the 3 meals are curbing his appetite now.

    Thanks for the healing thoughts and help!

  11. #9
    Chief Pooper Scooper JenC's Avatar
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    Remember our bodies never stay the same. So the dog could have been fine for years, and now he's digesting faster.

  12. #10
    Senior Dog
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    Quote Originally Posted by Kellsie's mom View Post
    Funny thing is Thunder NEVER had this issue until about 3 weeks ago. I would think if the empty stomach was an issue for him, it would have been happening his whole life? I just think it is weird all of a sudden this started up.......but stranger things have happened.

    Thanks again for the help.
    This has developed with age with all of mine who had the issue.

 



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