10 Best Dog Foods for Pancreatitis in 2024 – Reviews & Top Picks

If your dog is suffering from pancreatitis, you don’t have a lot of time to look around for the best food to combat this illness. While your pet is sick, the food they eat is essential to their well-being. Your pet will require a low-fat diet. Food with fish oil, Vitamin E, and beta carotene will help speed your pet’s recovery along.

We’ve picked 10 different brands of dog food that people commonly choose when their dog suffers from pancreatitis to review for you. We’ll go over everything we like and don’t like about each brand so you can get a feel for what kind of food you want for your pet. We have also included a buyer’s guide to get a closer look at precisely what your pet needs to recover from and prevent pancreatitis.

Keep reading our detailed reviews of each brand of dog food for pancreatitis, where we compare ingredients, fat content, fish oil, and beta carotene to help you make an educated purchase.

This is the list of ten dog foods for pancreatitis that we have chosen to review for you.

Disclaimer: The foods reviewed here were chosen because they have certain characteristics that might help with some of the causes or consequences of this medical condition. However, they are not a medical treatment or a substitute for medical treatment. Keep in mind that each medical case is different and what works for some pets may not work for others. Your veterinarian is the right person to advise you on the best diet for your pet’s individual case.

 

A Quick Comparison of Our Favorites in 2024

The 10 Best Dog Foods for Pancreatitis

1. Eagle Pack Dry Dog Food – Best Overall

The Eagle Pack Natural Dry Dog Food is the brand we chose as the best dog food for pancreatitis. This brand features healthy and balanced nutrition that dogs can continuously eat to stay healthy and prevent the onset of pancreatitis. Antioxidants and omega fatty acids help boost your dog’s immune system and promote a healthy coat. There is no corn soy or wheat to give your pet digestive troubles, and there are no meat by-products or harmful chemical preservatives.

The only negative aspect of this brand is that a few of our dogs didn’t like it.

All in all, we think this is the best dog food for dogs with pancreatitis.

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2. Solid Gold Blendz Dog Food – Best Value

The Solid Gold Holistique Blendz Dog Food is the brand we chose as the best value because we believe it is the best dog food for pancreatitis for the money. This low-cost brand contains ocean fish, so there is plenty of fish oil to help prevent the onset of pancreatitis. It also includes a healthy dose of probiotics and antioxidants.

The only thing keeping this brand out of the top spot is that it contains some peas, and the fat content is a little bit higher than our top brand. Overall, this is still one of our dogs’ favorite dog foods.

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3. Blue Buffalo Grain Free Dog Food – Premium Choice

Blue Buffalo Freedom Grain-Free Dry Dog Food is our premium choice brand of dog food for pancreatitis. This brand features chicken as its first ingredient, and it contains no meat by-products or harmful chemical preservatives. There is also no corn, wheat, or soy ingredients that might lead to digestive trouble. Omega-3 and Omega-6 fatty acids help with brain and eye development as well as boost the immune system and reduce inflammation.

The downside to this brand is that it is expensive, and some of our dogs didn’t like it.

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4. Royal Canin Gastro Wet Dog Food

The Royal Canin Veterinary Gastro Low Fat Wet Dog Food provides a low-fat alternative to dry dog food. After using this food, it’s hard to dispute that it is helpful when your pet is suffering from pancreatitis, but the ingredients are terrible, and we recommend only feeding it to your pet during an emergency. It does contain fish oil, but the rest of the ingredients comprise mostly corn and meat by-products.

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5. Hill’s Prescription Digestive Dog Food

The Hill’s Prescription Diet I/d Digestive Care Dry Dog Food brand of dog food uses a unique formula for digestive tract health. The nutrients are well balanced and are low in fat. This brand also contains beta carotene, which can help prevent the onset of pancreatitis.

What we didn’t like about this brand is that it contains a lot of corn and also has some chicken by-product meat in the ingredients. In our opinion, the food seemed a little dry, and the kibble a little small. This brand is also quite expensive, especially if you use it long term.

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6. Holistic Select Natural Dry Dog Food

Holistic Select Natural Dry Dog Food is a brand of dog food that only uses high-quality ingredients chosen from the best sources. This food contains no corn, wheat, or soy products, and there are no chemical preservatives that can affect the long term health of your pet, and there are no mysterious meat by-products. It does contain anchovies and sardines that can help prevent the onset of pancreatitis, as well as provide omega-3 and omega-6 fatty acids that promote brain health and a shiny coat.

Unfortunately, if your dog already has pancreatitis, or is prone to it due to weight, this food has far too much fat for use in that situation. It also contains a small number of peas, which can diminish heart health in the long term.

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7. Nulo Grain Free Healthy Dry Dog Food

Nulo Grain Free Healthy Weight Dry Dog Food is a high-quality food that includes several benefits for your pet. There is no corn in the ingredients and no harmful preservatives. It does have cod as its number one ingredient, which means there is plenty of fish oil to combat the onset of pancreatitis and to help your pet recover quickly. The fish oil also provides essential omega-3 and omega-6 fatty acids. Antioxidants in the form of blueberries and several vegetables will help boost your pet’s immune system and can reduce inflammation from bug bites and sore joints.

The things we didn’t like about it are that it contains peas, and it smells pretty bad, especially when your pet is eating it. A couple of our dogs wouldn’t eat this brand.

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8. Solid Gold Holistic Control Dog Food

The Solid Gold Holistic Weight Control Dog Food is a brand that features chicken as its number one ingredient, and it also contains ocean fish. These meats, along with its low-fat content, will help your pet fend of pancreatitis and help to reduce weight as well. Probiotics will help your dog develop a strong digestive system and enhance the gut bacteria.

The downside to this food is that it contains a lot of peas, which can lead to heart health problems with long term use. Several of our dogs did not like this food and would not eat it, which can be common with low fat dog foods.

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9. Wellness Simple Ingredient Dog Food

The Wellness Simple Dry Limited Ingredient Dog Food keeps its ingredients to a minimum to provide your pet with the best nutrition possible without any extras or fillers. It contains salmon as its main ingredient, which delivers plenty of pancreatitis fighting fish oil as well as the omega fatty acids responsible for the brain, eye, and coat health. There’s no corn, wheat, or preservatives in the ingredients.

We loved that the ingredients are limited to the essentials, but feel they stripped too many beneficial vitamins and other nutrients out of the food. The kibble is also extremely hard, and we think some of our dogs had a hard time chewing them. We’re not sure if the hard kibble is the reason that despite the high-quality ingredients, almost none of our dogs would eat it.

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10. Purina EN Gastroenteric Dog Food

The Purina EN Gastroenteric LOW FAT Dog Food is the last dog food for pancreatitis on our list to review. This brand is a low-fat food that contains prebiotic fiber to help promote the growth of good bacteria in your pets digestive tract.

Several of our dogs gave us some difficulty with eating this food, and we didn’t like the high price, especially since it contains meat by-products in its ingredients.

Buyer’s Guide: How to Select the Best Dog Food for Pancreatitis

In this buyer’s guide, we hope to provide some answers to questions you might have, as well as show you some things to look for as you shop around for the best dog food for pancreatitis.

Pancreatitis

Pancreatitis is an inflammation of the pancreas. It’s a serious problem that needs attending to by a veterinarian. You cannot treat this condition on your own, but the food you provide can make a big difference in the amount of time it takes to heal, as well as in preventing it from occurring in the first place.

Causes of Pancreatitis

No one knows the exact cause of pancreatitis in dogs, but we do know that it can come out of nowhere, and many known contributors can increase the chance it occurs as well as make it worse when it does.

• A high-fat diet
• Excess human food in their diet
• Obesity
• A diet that includes things that aren’t food
• Hyperthyroidism
• Too much calcium
• Diabetes
• Blunt trauma
• Genetics

Any of these things can increase the chance your dog will suffer from a bout of pancreatitis at some point in their lifetime. Reducing the amount of fat in their daily diet can keep this problem at bay as well as help prevent your dog from becoming obese. Human table food is one of the most significant contributors of fat in your dog’s diet. Many times, merely eliminating table food can have a profound effect on your pet’s weight, and can significantly reduce the chances of your pet developing pancreatitis.

Signs of Pancreatitis

• Your dog may have a hunched back
• Your dog is continually vomiting
• Your dog appears bloated and might have abdominal pain
• Your dog has diarrhea
• Your dog is experiencing a loss of appetite
• Your dog has become dehydrated
• Your dog seems lethargic and weak
• Your dog has a fever

If you notice that your dog has more than one of these symptoms at once, it’s time to call the vet. Of course, vomiting, diarrhea, and fever are reasons enough to call the vet.

Look For In Safe and Preventative Food

We recommend that you personally look at the ingredients list on every package of food and keep a lookout for the following ingredients to help your pet through a bout of pancreatitis.

• Fish oil
• Vitamin E with selenium
• Vitamin C
• Beta carotene
• Methionine
• No raw food
• No human food

Other Ingredients

Of course, along with the previously mentioned ingredient, you want your food to be a high-quality, low-fat, well-balanced meal for your pet. If you get dog foods with fish oil, you already have the omega-3 and omega-6 fatty acids, but you can still get dog foods that contain antioxidants to help support a healthier immune system. Antioxidants are in blueberries and many vegetables, so look for them in the ingredients.

Prebiotics and probiotics often come n the form of fiber, and this helps to stabilize and maintain healthy bacteria in the gut to promote a healthy digestive tract.

Try to steer clear of harmful chemical preservatives, including BHT and BHA, that are common in dog food. Avoid meat by-products at all costs, and you should never buy food that has a by-product listed as its first ingredient.

Another controversial ingredient is peas, which can lead to heart problems if eaten long-term. Peas are not as bad as meat by-products and the problem stems from the widespread use of grain-fee food, which contains a lot of peas. We recommend avoiding grain-free food unless a vet prescribes it. We recommend avoiding peas if you can, but if it’s not a grain-free food, it probably only contains a small amount and shouldn’t be a big concern.

 

Conclusion

Hopefully, we have cleared up any questions you might have about picking the best dog food for pancreatitis. We recommend Eagle Pack 4169332919 Natural Dry Dog Food, which is our choice for the best overall dog food for pancreatitis. This brand is very low in fat and provides a lot of balanced nutrition and antioxidants that will help give your pet the fuel they need to recover. Another great choice is Solid Gold 11015 Holistique Blendz Dog Food which is our pick for the best value. This low-fat foot also contains fish oil and probiotics at a low cost. No matter which brand you choose we hope that our reviews and buyer’s guide have helped you get there. If you have enjoyed these reviews, please share these dog foods for pancreatitis on Facebook and Twitter.

We hope that this guide helps you find the best dog food for pancreatitis. Good luck!

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Featured Image Credit: Gryllus M, Shutterstock