Recommendations on low-fat foods for pancreatitis in dog?

Question

My 4 year old dog was recently diagnosed with pancreatitis. My vet has made it sound as though this usually happens for a few reasons:

• The dog ate something weird/abnormal and it caused temporary inflammation
• For whatever reason, the dog is more vulnerable to pancreas inflammation and it will likely happen again if not kept on a proper diet

Since my dog hasn't had any changes in diet or gotten into anything, I'm leaning towards the latter being our reality.

I was instructed that the best treatment is a low-fat diet, and was sent home with prescription low-fat i/d food. However, this food is expensive for someone on a low budget, and already providing additional medication to treat the dogs epilepsy.

Does anyone have any suggestions for cost effective, low-fat food diets for dogs? Specifically with tendencies of pancreatitis?

Edits to address comments

Our regular food regimen prior to this was Blue Buffalo: Chicken and Brown Rice, which he has eaten for the majority of his life.

I'm able to buy a 30lbs bag of Blue Buffalo for about $50, and the Hills Prescription food is about $35 for an 8lbs bag.

Answer 1

The only thing comes into my mind when I think about the low-fat food for pancreatitis in a dog is Royal Canin Gastrointestinal Low Fat. You can probably go to their official product site and see for yourself what are people saying about this product and how it is good for their dog in treating some illness especially that pancreatitis.

But I think, it will be probably out of your budget. I assume that your budget is around $50 because of you said you are able to buy the Blue Buffalo for that price.

For whatever reason it is, I do a quick search and find something related to the low-fat dog food product, I mean it is in range of your budget. It might not exactly the same as the Royal Canin ingredient, but it is specifically made for low-fat food. The list of the brand like Wellness Core ($36), Eagle Pack ($37), Natural balance ($50) and so much more in line with your budget range and it is also formulated to meet a low-fat standard. You just need to compare the ingredient that most suitable to your dog condition as suggested by your personal veterinarian.