Just with a lovely client there who has a dog with chronic pancreatitis. She recently spent a fortune on a BOARD CERTIFIED VETERINARY NUTRITIONIST in the UK (I won’t say which of the two it was to spare their blushes). This vet recommended a low-fat diet of 20-25% protein (as this was the “ideal” protein content for dogs) and 70% CARBOHYDRATES (from rice)…and if I said different, I had to prove to them why WITH STUDIES.
OK, I’ll play. Again.
First off, we don’t need to get into the ultra-low protein recommendation. Surely 99% of the people on here now see that figure for what it is – someone who went to the Ronald Mc Donald School of Nutrition where someone in a white coat said dogs do BEST on 20% protein diets, and that was enough for this vet to regurgitate these “facts” on the day.
There are ZERO studies that indicate an ultra-low protein diet of 20% is GOOD for dogs. Not one that I’m aware of. This figure was plucked from the sky by AAFCO (5 studies were used, 4 more than 50 years old, all looking only at nitrogen balance, which is nitrogen in versus nitrogen out). 18% is, in fact, the legal MINIMUM you can feed an adult dog (a protein-eating machine) and call your food “complete”. It’s all covered in my book Feeding Dogs or my course “AAFCO & The Complete Myth“.
But FAR more importantly here a high carbohydrate diet is the absolute worst thing you could be feeding now to a dog with chronic pancreatitis.
For the vets in the back row – once again – chronic pancreatitis is a dietary carb thing NOT a dietary fat thing. It is a result of the high-carb diets you have been recommending to your clients.
Here’s why: the more carbs you feed a human or dog the more the body burns them. This means it stops burning fat. This means fat builds in the blood, the very thing the vet was trying to avoid as this is the set-up to a belt of pancreatitis. I have gone through this a number of time already and don’t want to bog down the post with it again…here’s a chunk of my book to explain for anyone looking for more.
The bottom line is, rather paradoxically, it’s carbs that spike blood triglycerides (fat), not dietary fat, which only causes a momentary blip (and which the body happily and quickly dispenses with).
Of course, if your pancreas is on the edge and you feed a high-fat meal, yes in that instance, you can push it over the edge but that’s not fats fault, per se. The fault is with the heavy load on the camel’s back, not that final piece of straw.
This over-paid and apparently quite abrasive veterinary nutritionist has NEVER READ A SINGLE STUDY that indicates high-carb diets benefit dogs with pancreatitis over dogs fed low-carb diets. Not one. But it’s up to me (the detestable non-vet of the gang) to prove them wrong.
This should not be the way it happens, guys. They are being paid a FORUTNE for their advice. It is up to THEM to provide some evidence that what they are saying / doing / selling / injecting is “safe and effective”. That’s why you’re paying them!!!!
If I say in a consult, “higher protein diets are beneficial for dogs with obesity / pancreatitis / kidney disease / cancer”, and the person asks me for the evidence to prove what I’m saying is correct, I happily quote the studies verbatim. I know the authors, the years they were published and can present them in 5 seconds flat! The reason I know them so well is that the findings therein are so important and you find yourself repeating them a few times a week. Any contrary studies I’m largely familiar with have looked into and can discuss the points raised. I don’t get het up if someone asks questions. I welcome them because I am totally confident and comfortable in those discussions.
These days a switcheroo has happened. Now it seems all we get are the “facts. The “facts” require no evidence, no proof and no studies as the “facts” are coming from someone in a white coat. The “facts” are today indisputable (certainly by you, the common pleb). If you want to disagree with the “facts” wellllll buddy you had better come equipped with huge amounts of evidence / proof / studies…you know, all the stuff they didn’t use to make their point in the first place!
By mid-age, 2/3 of healthy cats and dogs suffer pancreatitis as 2/3 are on desperately high carbohydrate diets.
Dogs with chronic pancreatitis should be fed any raw dog food product free of most carbs.
How the hell, with all we know today, with all the evidence pointing one way, is there a vet nutritionist out there saying such utterly incorrect and potentially harmful nonsense?! How many clients do they tell this to each year? And what recourse do we have?
Zero. The client comes out as confused as ever (often feeling terrible guilt as the blame is usually laid at their feet, “did you give him a bit of sausage?!”). Every dog with pancreatitis that is fed that food will stay perpetually at risk of another agonising bout of entirely preventable pancreatitis…and on we go.
Unacceptable. The studies are out TEN YEARS now. For dog sake do your bloody job and read them.
