EPI * Exocrine Pancreatic Insufficiency

Well,  Maisy has been on Tryplase capsules for the last 3-4 weeks. She has one tin of Chappie in the morning mixed with 3 x Tryplase and then half a tin mixed with 1 tryplase for tea. The first week Maisy gained weight but it hasn't  done much since. Weighed her today and she has lost a few ounces. Does anyone have any advise. Not sure if I need to change her food or add to it. I don't know what sort of dry food is ok. Maybe some could be soaked and added to her Chappie ? Chappie maybe isn't high enough in protein to help put the weight back on. It  needs to be something I can get hold of in the UK.

A food that is a possibility to add is Wafcol Salmon and potato has anyone any experience of this food ?

Hello Lucy,

Here is the information that Olesia had in the file on food in the UK that others have used.  I am in the US but I am sure someone from the UK will pop in with their own experiences soon. 

Becky

GrainFreefood in UK

Orijen http://www.orijenpetfoods.co.uk/

BakersComplete with Chicken and Country Vegetable (not completely grain-free but low grain) http://www.bakerscomplete.co.uk/

Many in the UK do home cooked/prepared meals or use:

Hills (hydrolyzed food- grain are processed & broken down to be absorbed by dogs with compromising conditions)

Orijen

James Wellbeloved foods

BurnsPork & Potato

BurnsChicken and Rice

(per Karen & Gemma) "We have just started Gemma on ARDEN GRANGE SENSITIVE. Check out www.vetuk.co.uk its on special offer there this month Its made with white fish and potato and has got no grain in. I dont want to tempt fate by saying Gem is doing good on it at the minute but....."

I soak it for ages in warm water to soften it -which makes it rather smelly but she is eating it so fast she burps soit must taste better than it smells

Cooking our own food is not very realistic....I have five children 11 years and under. So need an easier option if there is one !!!!

Hi Lucy,   the only food I have had experience of since Gunner was diagnosed is prescription food, Hills ZD, this seemed to be the only one he could tolerate although it is not specific to EPI, I am slowy introducing a Royal Canine one at the moment, and watching him carefully  but prior to his diagnosis he was on James Well Beloved puppy,  I know in the adult range they do a vegtable and turkey kibble but you would need to check out the exact contents, they do have a website most of their other kibble has rice in it,  I also have friends who use Burns and swear by it and a friend whose puppy has only settled tummy wise since being on Origen (seems to be pretty new to the UK)   My Mums cocker was on Arden Grange when she came from the breeder but the protein content of the one she was on was really high so she went onto James Wellbeloved and seems to do well on it.    Just as another thought Chappie do a kibble but I think you can only get it online, if you google Chappie Kibble it comes up, it might be worth comparing whats in the kibble compared to the tin espcially if  she seems otherwise ok on chappie. 

so what in the ingredients are we looking for exactly ? what are we avoiding and which is the bit that will put more weight on ?

HI Lucy ~

Ahhh...the answer can be very confusing.

To start with... look for a food that is low in fiber, if possible 4% or less. Try to avoid foods that have a lot of rice, corn, wheat, or barley in it (as the first ingredients)

However, some EPI dogs do okay with foods that have a little grain (this is where it can get confusing)... so this is where trial and error comes in..................... *sigh*

If you can find a dry kibble that is made with potatoes and not grain... that would be a good place to start.

Also... if you can buy a small bag of food....if they sell small sample bags, that would be even better.... It might save you from spending money on some new  food that your Maisy will not like, eat or not do well on................

Food high in protein usually puts the weight on ... the Foods I feed my gal have anywhere between 27% protein up to 42% protein...

As far as fat% goes... i personally do not worry about the fat content with my gal, because once she started taking enzymes,,,, she no longer had a problem with fat content.

However... some EPI dogs do have issues with fat content...... this is something you will have to try with Maisy...by keeping an EPI  log  http://www.epi4dogs.com/downloads.htm and tryng to figure out what works better for her..........

Hope this helped a little bit.............

Now getting some ideas of food to try. Thanks everyone. Would it help my dogs weight to mix a raw egg in her dinner ?

Olesia, thanks for breaking down the food content like you have, I was starting to get my head round it and this has made it even easier, I have been doing a lot of googling foods, as you know I am still not happy with the prescription one Gunner is on, I have looked at Chappie and Bakers but having read the ingrediants I still was a little unsure, but I have now done quite a bit of reading of Orijin, my friend started using this a few weeks ago, it is still not that widely available in the uk, but she is really really pleased with the results of using it and  looking at the ingrediants,  it says 0% grain, but has sweet potatoe!!!,  it seems to my that the UK is far behind the US when it comes to food content for dogs,  I have printed loads of info off about Orijin to speak to my vet about tomorrow, its the first food that Ihave looked at and got excited about!!!!  I have listed the ingredients below and would be interested on your thoughts.  Its the first I have seen listed with Lactobacillus acidophilus in as well, somehting that I have also listed to speak to my vet about as this is a supplement I take and had thought about for Gunner.

INGREDIENTS

Fresh deboned chicken, chicken meal, turkey meal, russet potato, fresh deboned pacific salmon (a natural source of DHA and EPA), herring meal, sweet potato, peas, fresh deboned lake whitefish, fresh deboned northern walleye, chicken fat (naturally preserved with vitamin E and citric acid), chicken liver, salmon meal, fresh deboned turkey, fresh whole eggs, fresh deboned herring, sun-cured alfalfa, salmon oil, chicory root, dehydrated organic kelp, pumpkin, carrots, spinach, turnip greens, apples, cranberries, saskatoon berries, black currants, choline chloride, psyllium, licorice root, angelica root, fenugreek, marigold flowers, sweet fennel, peppermint leaf, chamomile flowers, dandelion, summer savory, rosemary, sea salt, vitamin supplements (vitamin A, vitamin D3, vitamin E, niacin, vitamin C, thiamine mononitrate, riboflavin, vitamin B5, vitamin B6, folic acid, biotin, vitamin B12), mineral supplements (zinc proteinate, iron proteinate, manganese proteinate, copper proteinate, selenium), dried Lactobacillus acidophilus, dried Enterococcus faecium fermentation product.

Thanks again, Hayley &  sleepy head

Yes, I think I am going to go for Orijen as well. Mainly because it has such high protein at 40%. Have looked on the website and there appears to be a stockist 5 miles from me. Can someone still enlighten me on adding egg to the diet ? I see some people use egg white.....is the yolk not any good?

We use raw egg, shell and all, blended in the blender or food processor now and again.  It is supposed to be good protein, but we are on the raw diet, also.  I have heard pros and cons to just the whites vs yolk and whites. I guess you can do what I did is search for it and make up your own mind.  I just did a quick one and there are both out there, for and against.  I haven't had a problem.  I hope this doesn't sound too blunt, but this is something you would either need to try and see how it goes or something to research on your own to decide.  My raw book does say that eggs provide the perfect protein.  The whole egg, including the shell for additional calcium.

HI Lucy ~

Same thing here....... when i give a raw egg, i give the whole thing yolk & white. But like karen said, it's still your decision.

Actually.... if truth be told... my dogs get tons and tons of human food... i just stay away from "toxic" items like chocolate, grapes, etc...

We have a list of toxic food here in the FILES section.

Where do I locate the 'files' section to find the toxic foods please ?

Go to FORUM home page http://www.epi4dogs.com/apps/forums/

Scroll down page (midway) to where it says "Recent Topics"

Across the page it will say "View" and you can select "recent" or "normal"

Select "normal"

Again, scroll down page (midway) and you can select "General Discussion" or 'FILES"

Select "FILES" ... the FILE you want is "Safe & Unsafe foods"

Hope you find it useful

Hi Lucy / Maisy Dont know if will help but  Deesha tolerates Butchers Tripe tinned ,she is on tryplase too but does not get on with grains or fat .Harringtons is a newish dry food that seems to be ok if i only add a small amount each meal ,Tesco sell it .Sympathise with having an EPI dog & kids .We can only eat if i put the dog away ,if my son wants a lolly he has to hide cause the dog will pinch it !

Hi Mac. Yes Maisy constantly scrounges. Not sure if that will ever change. We have to tether her in the house or she would be eating constantly. I don't seem to be able to take my eye off her. She was trying to pinch bird seed today as my daughter filled the feeders up !!

Hi Lucy,

I give hard boiled eggs to my dogs and bake the shells, then crush with a morter and pestal for added calcuim...I "think" as long as you use both the white and the yolk raw, you're okay...That said, I don't feed raw, so....

I give mine eggs at times, although not on a regular schedule necessarily.  I've given poached, scrambled or hard boiled but I've never given raw eggs so I can't offer much help with that.  Bird seed could make interesting poop

Hi Lucy,

I do pretty much what Linda does, except I feed eggs on a regular basis (every 2nd. day).  Megg gets them mostly poached, but I do occasionally scramble them or give a hard boiled one.   I think eggs are very beneficial for our dogs. 

Lynn & girls. 

Can anyone tell me....does the enzyme need to touch every bit of the dinner Maisy eats or does it just need to be mixed within that feed she has. Does it work on the whole contents of her stomach once it is in there or does it need to touch everything first ?