What to feed cat with pancreatis

Hi, my cat was just diagnosed with pancreatitis. He is now home from the hospital and recovering. When i went to the hospital to pick him up after a 2 day stay, I asked the internal specialist who  took care of him, if i needed to put him on a special diet from now on. The doctor replied for me to feed him what ever he will eat. Just make sure he eats and drinks. My question is, after i got home, all my friends and neighbors are adding there two cents in and tells me he needs to be on a special diet now. If there is anyone out there whose cat has pancreatitis, could you please shed some light on this matter. Right now, i am listening to the doctor, but everyone is confusing me. Help

Welcome to the forum, Jano437 !

The best advice won't come from friends and neighbours........it IS most likely available from experienced caregivers/owners of cats with pancreatitis - they have an online community right here: Feline Pancreatitis Support Group   (they've been doing this since 2007 and their predecessors since 2001 - so, they do know a thing-or-two !)

Thank you so much for the link to the group

There are also a few of us here on TCS that have cats with pancreatitis. My Sebastian has chronic pancreatitis and his first attack was the worst. He was hospitalized for four days and we almost had to insert a feeding tube. He took syringe feedings well, so we didn't, but I did have to syringe-feed him for two weeks and offer him a smorgasbord of various foods to try to get him to eat on his own. If your kitty is not eating or eating very little, then it is important that he eats something and enough of it to help avoid hepatic lipidosis (fatty liver disease), which occurs from not eating and can be fatal. Having that on top of pancreatitis would make things very difficult.

We've experimented with various diets - anywhere from prescription diets to raw diets. I eliminated dry food because it was too hard on his digestive system. For awhile, he did really well with a 70% premium canned and 30% home-cooked rotational diet. His "menu" during that time can be found here: http://www.thecatsite.com/t/274500/best-rotation-to-prevent-food-allergies/60#post_3572252. Now we're working on 100% home-cooked in an effort to eliminate the fillers and certain ingredients in commercial food that he seems to be sensitive to. We already know he's allergic to guar gum, which is in most commercial canned foods. Sebastian is now becoming sensitive to fat in his diet, so low fat is important for him, and this was another reason for us to try 100% home-cooked so that I could focus on lean meats and trim fat as needed.

I don't think there's any one food that will work for all cats, but if I had to make some general guidelines, I would say that it should be a wet diet that is easily digestible, grain-free, low carb, few fillers, and not too high in fat. You may have to do some experimenting as I did to see what your cat tolerates best. But it requires patience as any introduction to new foods should be done very slowly, especially for kitties with GI disease. I typically introduced a new food over 2-4 weeks, depending on what it was.