Schnauzer not eating

[Misty]

Hi all! I've joined this forum because I'm desperate to help my litte mini, Suzy. She's been really ill with pancreatitis and has been to see a specialist who's put her on antibiotics. Her next appointment is on Wednesday to receive more scans. Right now the main concern is that she isn't eating - we've been given her liquid meals from the vet and she has zero interest in eating the prescribed vet food. This obviously isn't sustainable so I'm trying everything I can to find something schnauzer friendly to mix with her food. Does anyone have any suggestions? From the research I've done it seems adding raw food is the best option - like raw egg or mashed green vegetables. But I'd like to have feedback and suggestions from schnauzer owners before I go try anything.

Thank you in advance!

[zeta1454]

So sorry to hear about Suzy and hope that you can get her stabilised and on the road to recovery. Raw feeding generally does improve overall health and, if you choose low fat meat options such as chicken or turkey there should not be an issue with feeding a raw diet to a dog with pancreatitis. All our dogs are raw fed anyway and I would certainly recommend the diet for dogs.
Does Suzy usually have kibble or wet food and did you just want to mix it with raw? Personally I would be reluctant to mix raw and dry food with a dog that was unwell but I do understand wanting to get Suzy to eat something. You could certainly try mixing raw egg with blended raw vegetables or mashed cooked vegetables as long as you are confident in the quality of the eggs but maybe offer separately from regular dry food. If it is just a question of tempting Suzy to have some food and you do not want to try her with raw meat, you could offer cooked chicken mixed with blended vegetables.

There are a few links here that may also be of interest to you:
A blog post from a UK vet on raw feeding and pancreatitis:

https://www.naturesmenu.co.uk/blog/gues ... m-and-diet

A supplementary food for dogs that can help,ease pain and indigestion in dogs with exocrine pancreatic insufficiency:

https://www.dorwest.com/product/tree-ba ... -and-cats/

A prepared low fat raw dog food from one of the specialist raw feeding companies:

https://www.nutriment.co.uk/shop/dog-ra ... uperfoods/

Good luck and I hope other Forum members may be able to offer you some useful advice too.

[Oscar 12345]

Misty, welcome to the forum, I certainly wish it was under better circumstances. I don't have any experience of this other than what I have read but really wish you and Suzy the very best in success in managing this awful condition.

[jacdales]

Hi there sorry to here about Suzy.
Mine are all fed raw I use honeys https://honeysrealdogfood.com/health-advice/ They do a low fat version for dogs prone to pancreatitis. I choose to feed the low fat version hopefully to prevent mine developing it. You can phone them for advise/second opinion even if you choose not to buy the food. I have used the foods mentioned above but decided I liked this one. Have you thought about making or buying bone broth to supplement her food https://www.bellaandduke.com/natural-treats-snacks/ I have fed my dogs B&D raw food and they were absolutely fine. I'm not affiliated to these companies I have just found them to be very good. Hope your wee girl feels better soon.

[Oscar 12345]

Jackie, sorry to interject your post but a cautionary note regarding bone broth. Seems to be a bit controversial wrt helping pancreatitis. I have no clue but would check first with vet if you are considering it.

[jacdales]

Please don't be sorry I thought I'd read somewhere that bone broth was good for a dog that was poorly but I may have misinterpreted what was said in the article. I will ask next time I'm at the vets My team are healthy but I like to feed to prevent problems .

[Oscar 12345]

Jackie, I read something on this ages ago but I am not sure that I am correct now as I have looked again and can only find good stuff about low fat bone broth being given every now and again. I also came across this article for Misty. Down the page you can read someone's story about a low fat diet that they used when their dog had acute pancreatitis and wouldn't touch the prescription diet. Hope it's helpful.

https://www.whole-dog-journal.com/issue ... 093-1.html