EPI * Exocrine Pancreatic Insufficiency
managing EPI
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| Forum Home > General Discussion > 2 Week update on Tonia's Apollo - with pictures! | ||
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Member Posts: 295 |
I can't believe its been only two weeks since Apollo has started on his enzymes, and only one since starting on the Tylan and MIF B12. He is a different dog. I know he has put on weight - we will be going to the vet in a couple weeks for a weight check, but see pictures below. This is only TWO weeks. In the first picture you can see his spine and hipbones prominently, and the second...well look at the pictures!
He is excited to eat and eats every last bite, licks the bowl clean, and the fork that use to serve it! His poops are solid, formed, and happening only twice a day. He plays in the morning with his toys and chews on his nylabone. He plays "king of the mountain/doggie bed" with his sister Grace. He tried to get her to play this morning and she wasn't interested!! And she is only 9 months old - lol. His coat looks better, his face looks better, his eyes are brighter. He doesn't try to sneak downstairs in the basement to be away from everyone. He is a love - my old doggie has come back to me.
The next obstacle is changing the food. I HATE the Science Diet and know it is full of grain he doesn't need. I am going to try the Wellness Core, will start mixing it in his food today and adding slowly. I hate to change things when they are going so well, but this change can only be good for him. If the Wellness doesn't agree with him, I will try something else - but I hope it will.
I don't want to do a signature yet until I we are set on what we are doing, but here is how his treatment looks now. 6 cups dry kibble daily, fed in 3 smaller meals. 1tsp. enzyme to 1 cup food, mixed with 1/4 water. I make all six cups at once, let sit on the counter with frequent stirring for an hour. Then refridgerate until mealtime. 1/4tsp. Tylan twice daily, given right before meals mixed with 1tbs. yogurt. 1 MIF B12 tablet with morning meal. Poops are solid, formed, light brown - 2x day. No diaharrea since starting the enzymes.
Thank you to all the wonderful people here for your advice, support, and well wishes. I felt overwhelmed and you helped me realize that I could (and will) do anything for my baby boy.
Apollo two weeks ago:  Apollo today:  | |
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-- Tonia and Apollo - GSD diaganosed with EPI August 26, 2010 weighed 73 lbs., weighed 108 1 year prior to diaganosis, currently weighing in at 119 lbs.. TLI ~ 1.1 B12 ~ 248 Folate ~ 21.5 Feeding 3 1/2 cups of Taste of the Wild High Prairie with 1 tsp. enzymes per cup of kibble, spread out over 3 meals per day. 1 MIF B12 once a day, B12 is now in the 900's. Trying hard to get him off Tylan, currently on 1/2 tsp two times per day.
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Member Posts: 295 |
Here are a few more - I know you all (like me) love pictures After a winning round of "King of the Hill (doggie bed)"  Holding his toy:
 Chewing with his sister:  Just being silly:  | |
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-- Tonia and Apollo - GSD diaganosed with EPI August 26, 2010 weighed 73 lbs., weighed 108 1 year prior to diaganosis, currently weighing in at 119 lbs.. TLI ~ 1.1 B12 ~ 248 Folate ~ 21.5 Feeding 3 1/2 cups of Taste of the Wild High Prairie with 1 tsp. enzymes per cup of kibble, spread out over 3 meals per day. 1 MIF B12 once a day, B12 is now in the 900's. Trying hard to get him off Tylan, currently on 1/2 tsp two times per day.
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Member Posts: 3926 |
Tonia - love it!!! He looks wonderful and he is having the life he was meant to have because of you - Kudos girl! I actually laughed out loud at these pics. You can see his "sadness" in the first and now the beautiful playfulness is there for all to see. Just have to say....mannnnn...that is one big mouth! :-) I think he is mouthing..."I love you"... :-) | |
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-- Michele "No matter how little money and how few possessions you own, having a dog makes you rich" - having 2 makes you even richer! :-)Jackie (back in pic) Diagnosed at 9 mos (09/09) - TLI 0.3 and low end of B12. Pancreatin 8x dosing 3/4tsp per cup. Natures Domain, Trinfac-B Intrinsic Factor daily, probiotics and Duralactin in the am. Stable and happy 115 lbs - thanks to all the beautiful souls on this forum, we could not have done it without YOU. Dexter - Diagnosed 11/10 approx 3 yrs of age. We failed fostering and now he has his forever home
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Member Posts: 919 |
Tonia and Apollo! Absolutely Wonderful! Love the pics! He looks like one happy and HEALTHY boy! Keep doing what you are doing! Congrats on the great improvement. It does feel so good when we start to see our furbabies turn around and get back to their old selves. | |
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-- Terry Mom of two EPI Shiloh Shepherds: Pharaoh born Nov. 2007 (dx December 2009) and his older half sister,Taiko born Sept. 2006 (dx June 2010). Pharaoh was 62.4 lbs. when diagnosed in 12/2009 and 10/31/11 his weight was 76.6 and 82.5 lbs on 1/28/12. Received six weeks of B12 shots Jan-Feb 2010 but his B12 on 8/10/2010 was only 232. Taiko's weight was 70.7 lbs. in June 2010 (time of diagnosis) and on 10/31/11 was 80.4 and on 1/28/12 was 84 (2 lbs. over vet's max weight for her). B12 was 211 in June 2010 and 293 on 8/10/10 (after getting weekly shots). Both pups receive B12 shots weekly at home. Both are fed twice a day Costco grain free brand: 2 cups kibble in the morning with 4 crushed tblets and 2 1/2 cups evening with 4 1/2 crushed tablets; plus each meal also get cooked ground turkey (app 1/4 lb. each meal) or half a can of dog food.
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Member Posts: 2473 |
Tonia - these pictures are fantastic. Silly boy Apollo looks so happy. | |
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-- Kathy and Ted 9 yr old GSD rescue ~72 lbs now 109 lbs
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Member Posts: 717 |
fantastic news - and the pictures are great - good to hear what a huge improvement he has made | |
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Member Posts: 24 |
That's an amazing transformation!!! It's so great to see before and after pictures like that. He looks so beautiful and healthy. | |
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-- George's mom
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Member Posts: 2548 |
Tonia, Wonderful news that Apollo is doing so well already! He does look like a very goofy well loved boy! | |
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-- ~Becky~
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Administrator Posts: 1945 |
Well Apollo is a God after all, well done all 'round! Craig | |
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Craig Lulu (aka Miss Lulupants) is a 4 year old 'Red Shepherd' (Australian Red Heeler x Long-hair GSD) who lives in Adelaide, South Australia. Diagnosed with EPI in April 2010. Currently on one Creon 25k per meal;
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Site Owner Posts: 7645 |
Tonia ~
WOW!!! .... these pictures really do tell the story and it is AMAZING the difference in just two weeks... in the changed facial expression, the way he now holds his body... you can see the difference! I swear when people take pictures of their pups when first diagnosed with EPI... that you can see the pain and sadness in their eyes and posture...
Love Apollo's happy attitude too...... you can just see the joy- - Tonia....you are doing a fabulous job! | |
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-- Olesia, owned by Izzy-45lb SWD, Diagnosed at 1.5 years old - TLI results 1.3, Stable almost 7 yrs! Once stable, was able to reduce enzymes to only 1/2 tsp of Enzymes with each meal, but after almost 4 years of stabilization... had to increase the amount of enzymes to 3/4 teaspoon with each meal. Feed various grain-free kibble+real meat, 6x pancreatin enzymes from EnzymeDiane. I give 1 tsp of coconut oil one day and 1 tsp salmon oil next day, and also give canned sardines packed without salt or canned herring for extra omega oils.
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Member Posts: 2160 |
Hi Tonia,
Just love your pics. of Apollo. My goodness, what a gorgeous boy he is. I can see the difference from the first photo. He does look sad, then what an amazing change. He looks wonderful & happy & playing. I think I like the one best of him sitting on his bed. Shows his beautiful face. In fact, I love them all.
Thankyou so much for posting them. | |
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-- Lynn, From Melbourne, Australia. Owned by Tess (Irish Setter), Grace (English Setter) & Megg, my beautiful 'English' EPI Angel - Forever in my heart. .
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Member Posts: 73 |
He is a very handsome boy! I sure hope Mia puts on some weight that fast. He looks so happy!:) | |
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-- Gretchen, owned by Mia, 4 year old GSD, diagnosed 9/9/10 at 60 lbs., now 70.9 lbs!
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Member Posts: 295 |
Thank you everyone! I was so happy to share the pictures as I think Apollo is just the sweetest and most beautiful boy ever. Of course, I think all my doggies, kitties, and babies are gorgeous, LOL.
I really do owe a great debt to all of you here - without your advice and support, I'm not sure I could have been as proactive as I was. Without hearing about the improvements your own doggies made, and how they are happy and healthy today, I felt the future was rather bleak for my boy. He was sad, and hiding, and uninterested in anything. We still have a long way to go, but I know we can do it. | |
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-- Tonia and Apollo - GSD diaganosed with EPI August 26, 2010 weighed 73 lbs., weighed 108 1 year prior to diaganosis, currently weighing in at 119 lbs.. TLI ~ 1.1 B12 ~ 248 Folate ~ 21.5 Feeding 3 1/2 cups of Taste of the Wild High Prairie with 1 tsp. enzymes per cup of kibble, spread out over 3 meals per day. 1 MIF B12 once a day, B12 is now in the 900's. Trying hard to get him off Tylan, currently on 1/2 tsp two times per day.
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Member Posts: 3926 |
Hey Tonia - Most of us here have been exactly where you are right now, and I will forever be in debt to the members here who contributed to my pup's wellness - so I know EXACTLY how you feel. For us - EPI is a daily challenge - good poops one day, bad the next - but you just know the overall wellness of the pup is in tact. Hang in there and keep up the great work!! | |
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-- Michele "No matter how little money and how few possessions you own, having a dog makes you rich" - having 2 makes you even richer! :-)Jackie (back in pic) Diagnosed at 9 mos (09/09) - TLI 0.3 and low end of B12. Pancreatin 8x dosing 3/4tsp per cup. Natures Domain, Trinfac-B Intrinsic Factor daily, probiotics and Duralactin in the am. Stable and happy 115 lbs - thanks to all the beautiful souls on this forum, we could not have done it without YOU. Dexter - Diagnosed 11/10 approx 3 yrs of age. We failed fostering and now he has his forever home
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Member Posts: 1594 |
Hi Tonia. Glad all seems to be coming together now for you guys. He does look better, they all just seem to get that dejected look in the beginning, then they can perk right up. Beautiful pics, love the one on his back with his toy, seems he is happy and smiling. Great job. | |
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Member Posts: 1527 |
Hi Tonia, Thanks so much for sharing those photos. It does my heart good to see and hear how well Apollo is doing. Its one thing to read up on EPI but its another to actually manage it and you are doing a fantastic job. | |
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-- Owned mind, body and soul by a German Shepherd called Bonnie. Forever in my heart 6th September 2007 - 23rd September 2009 x Forever grateful I found this forum x
Bridie (6 year old Lurcher) and Sadie (16 months old German Shepherd, a rescue dog) guided to us by Bonnie's paw
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Member Posts: 295 |
Thanks everyone! | |
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-- Tonia and Apollo - GSD diaganosed with EPI August 26, 2010 weighed 73 lbs., weighed 108 1 year prior to diaganosis, currently weighing in at 119 lbs.. TLI ~ 1.1 B12 ~ 248 Folate ~ 21.5 Feeding 3 1/2 cups of Taste of the Wild High Prairie with 1 tsp. enzymes per cup of kibble, spread out over 3 meals per day. 1 MIF B12 once a day, B12 is now in the 900's. Trying hard to get him off Tylan, currently on 1/2 tsp two times per day.
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Member Posts: 1843 |
Tonia, I am a bit behind, but these pictures are great. What a story they tell. Apollo looks terrific and so happy. You are doing a wonderful job. And we all know how much we appreciate everyone who has helped us through those beginning stages and helps us with the set backs. Our dogs' pictures say it all. Barb | |
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Member Posts: 4186 |
Tonia,
I'm so happy for you and Apollo!!! YIPEE!!! | |
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-- Donna
Owned by Tara, a 8 YO GSD w/EPI and DM dx'd at about a year old. Fed Taste of the Wild Lamb formular kibble and enhance this diet with cooked meat, veggies and fruit, Enzymes: Pancreatin 8x - 1 tsp per cup of food. Suppliments include 1000 mg Wild Salmon oil, Glucosomine/Chondrotin/MSM and Probiotic acidophilus. Stable since 2005 Also owned by sidekicks' Zoey my rescued GSD and Max, a 10 MO PWC rescue - along with Tess (GSD) and Zeke (PWC) with Angel wings
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Member Posts: 87 |
He looks great!!!!! Way to go! So glad to see him doing better! Isn't it just an amazing feeling to see them be the dogs we know they should be! | |
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-- KAISA
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