Are there low fat dental chews suitable for dog with chronic pancreatitis?

My 11 year old collie has chronic pancreatitis. She has flare ups every few months. We have changed her to Chappie as it's low fat and she's doing really well on it but are there any very low fat dental chews that anyone knows about that are suitable for a dog with this condition?
Her teeth are good but she loves a good chomp on something and I can't give her the rawhide chews the others get.

Hi Zoe,

My JRT Eddie has acute pancreatitis too. Horrible disease isn't it? The only thing he has been able to tolerate since his diagnosis are Nylabone flexi chews (he doesn't like the Nylabone dura chews.) Zero fat + zero calories. I'm also using other brands of dental toys and dental rope toys to try and satisfy his desire to chew and assist with dental hygiene. I've really had to change my thinking and move away from the idea of edible dental treats as they all make him vomit. I also need to bite the bullet and start brushing his teeth. Not sure what he's going to make of that I guess the best way to start is slowly, with very short sessions, and try and make it enjoyable for him.

I would never give him (or any other dog) rawhides again. They are very high in fat and and were one of the factors that caused my dog to develop acute pancreatitis. For anyone who needs further info about rawhides - this is one of the best posts I've read:


Eddie's Mom

Ohh, I didn't know Rawhide was fatty?!

Neither did I until a month ago! I only learned this stuff AFTER my dog got REALLY sick

It was explained to me like this:

As humans, we're taught to remove the skin from chicken if we're trying to achieve weight loss. The chicken breast is lean, the skin is full of fat (but VERY tasty - yeah?)

Rawhides are just like that. They're hides, meaning they are the skin of the animal, and like the chicken skin described above, they might be very tasty for our dogs, but they are very fatty.

I fed my dog rawhides for 6 years and although he seemed OK the fat was a huge burden on his pancreas and ultimatelt it couldn't cope. He started spewing bright yellow vomit and whimpering in pain. Luckily I took him to the emergency department where he was hospitalised on IV support for over a week. Dogs can die of pancreatitis within 48 hrs of onset so I'm very grateful that he's still with me. So many others were not that lucky.

It's the most awful thing in the world to know that the food I gave him nearly killed him. If I could go back in time I would NEVER give him those damn rawhides.

My mantra has become: Just because he likes it, doesn't mean he should have it...


Eddie's Mom

I didn't know about this either until I was asking advice from a vet about one of my dogs (a Cavvy) losing a little weight.

For my tiny weeny min pin I now buy the HUGEST rawhide bones - it takes her AGES to even make a tiny start on them!

When I was getting her the smallest ones she was devouring them quite quickly.

Interesting to read about the two types of Nylabone. I tried one she didn't like - can't remember what it was. I will try to get both and have another go.

She LOVES dental sticks. The Pedigree Dentastix ones. But would happily devour more than one a day if given them.

I am a bit bothered that they might be fattening too - seems like a lot of 'fodder' in one of those for a tiny dog. Cutting them in half at the mo.

I never thought of it like us with chicken skin...(ok, guilty of eating it here!)
But thanks for that

Eddie used to LOVE dentasticks (and I used to break them in half too) But - he's not allowed to have them anymore I did try the Pedigree web-site and also tried Google to try to find out what the fat content was in Dentasticks, but couldn't find any info. I suspect they are quite fatty...

Another thing the vet told me re: food labelling... A good quality product should list both the MIN fat content and the MAX fat content. For a dog recovering from pancreatitis it is the MAX fat content percentage that is the important figure...

Buffy, one of my labs suffers from chronic pancreatitis. She has Chappie in morning but she has either skinless chicken breast or white fish fillets, veg and wholegrain brown rice /pasta for dinner. She has suffered from this for about 6 years now and the incidences are few and far between mainly because I am so paranoid about what she eats. TBH she has not had chews of any sort for all of that time because they made her very ill including bleeding ulcers. I give her Plaque Off to help keep her teeth clean I find it works well and I think there are several herbal treatments o the market to help keep teeth clean. I know she would love a chew cos of the look in her eyes when the other dogs get one but it just isn't worth the risk. I also find broccoli stalks quite good for her, they are quite hard and she enjoys having something to chew on.

Thanks for listening. I nearly went mad with grief when my dog was sick and a low-fat diet is the key to keeping him well and preventing any further recurrences of pancreatitis. So, I'm just a little obssessed with canine diet information right now...

Thanks for that Lulusmum! So good to hear from you! It sounds like you're managing Buffy's pancreatitis really well and it's such a relief to find out how others are managing the diet issue. The vets made it very clear to me that diet was the key to preventing recurrences.

Eddie was only diagnosed a month ago so we're still finding our way. Chicken breast poached in water has become a staple and I got a rice cooker as well - it's so convenient! I have different brands of prescription dry food and prescription canned food in the cupboard. He's thriving on the new diet and has lost some much needed weight. He wasn't FAT before, but he certainly wasn't lean either!

Re: chews... Although dogs love to chew, and their teeth are designed to chew, I've realised that over-chewing can trigger serious health problems. With Eddie, too much chewing overstimulates his pancreas and you mentioned bleeding ulcers caused by chews. Increasingly, I'm realising that the best 'treat' I can give him is a new toy, or another walk. It's been such a huge learning curve.

Eddie's Mom