Pancreatitis in cats.

Based on a review of available literature, it is clear that cats who have pancreatitis do not require a low-fat diet or any special diet for that matter. It is recommended the protein source be easily digestible, the fat in balance with the protein and digestible carbohydrates kept at a minimum. Food should never be denied to a cat suffering from pancreatitis, you run the risk of your feline developing liver issues, like hepatic lipidosis.

Pancreatitis and your cat’s diet. All cats are obligate carnivores and have no nutritional requirement for carbohydrates. Cats were meant to consume small prey animals. The average juvenile mouse has a nutritional profile of 50-58% protein and 22-28% fat and generally contains less than 6% carbs in the form of glycogen. Glycogen is a carbohydrate that is stored in body tissue and is used as an energy source by the body. The nutritional breakdown of your cat’s ideal diet would consist of a little more than 50% of their daily caloric needs coming from fat, a little more than 46% of their caloric needs coming from highly digestible animal protein and less than 3% of their daily caloric needs coming from digestible carbohydrates. All of our Young Again foods fall into this category and are appropriate diets for all cats including cats with pancreatitis. The LID Zero Mature Health formula would be the most digestible diet and our first recommendation for a pancreatic cat, followed by Zero Mature Health. Both of these formulas use hydrolyzed pork which has a digestibility of roughly 97%.

The recommendation that cats with pancreatitis be placed on a low-fat diet is because that is what is required for dogs. You might be surprised at how many times cats are lumped in with dogs when it comes to recommendations for their health.