Pancreatitis and Low Fiber Diet

I sent this question to Dog Talk’s Official Vet, Dr. Phil:

I just met a woman with aging dog diagnosed with pancreatitis (non acute) and the vet told her to keep it on a LOW FIBER DIET?? I always thought the dietary management was LOW FAT?? Can you clarify this for me so i can pass it along?

Dr Phil Padrid gave me this terrific & detailed explanation:

High dietary fiber is recommended for diabetics because the fiber likely slows the absorption of glucose so it limits any quick rises in blood sugar. Some dogs with pancreatitis develop diabetes (same organ that makes insulin, if grossly inflamed or injured it might limit its ability to produce and release insulin).

For chronic pancreatitis in dogs most recommend what you know, low fat, moderate protein, high carbohydrate, highly digestible food sources, depending on the patient and the case and the expert, may add cobalamin, glutamine etc. Fiber is generally not the key issue in determining diet for most experts, not that it is not important, just that it is not usually the focus of the discussion. The focus is low fat, moderate protein, high carbs and high digestibility.

Fiber is a problem because of digestibility, most dogs with chronic pancreatitis do better on low fiber than high. This is an issue because many commercial diets for intestinal disease are used for dogs with chronic pancreatits, and they have high fiber, and this is felt to be detrimental…

Also, cats are different species of course, low fat diet less helpful (might be harmful), cats don’t make intrinsic factor (involved in vitamin absorption)… so somewhat different dietary recommendations for this species.

Most interestingly, almost all recommendations are based on studies in humans, or experiments that cause acute severe pancreatitis in dogs, or specific experience of specific veterinarians,   almost nothing in the literature that really addresses the question of naturally occurring chronic pancreatitis and results of different dietary strategies, not so different than many other diseases we do our best with.

Talk to you soon
Phil Padrid DVM
Regional Medical Director, VCA