EPI * Exocrine Pancreatic Insufficiency

Hi all,   Well, Calli Sue is still doing very well.  Poops are great and eating good too.  Her weight is up to nrmal, and it seems her kidneys as doing ok.  No new tests have been ran tho.  And, it seems that we will never know the results of the TLI, etc which Mary paid for and I assume were ran.  I have given up asking.  Calli Sue is maintaining so who really cares, I guess. 

She is having a new problem that I could sure use some help with.  She seems to be scratching and biting her feet and the hair on her sides.  Mary says she is doing this obsessively.  Any ideas?  Here is a list of what she is eating and what she is taking.  I hope maybe someone can figure out what it is.  I think she must be allergic to something in her diet.  

enzymes from Diane

tilan

azodyl

epakitin

canine renal support

Old Roy packet food  (small amount as an enticer)

KD dog food

Any ideas of what might be causing her itching and scratching would be helpful.  

Thanks once again,

oh, one other thing.....does anyone know of a food for kidneys like Hills k/d, but that is NOT made primarily of rice?   I have been searching and searching for a grain free k/d type food which is low in protien and low in phosphrus.   Dont seem to find anything. 

Thanks again

Hi Brenda

What about enviromental allergies these are the most common ones .

Could be grass pollen .............Antihistamine may help but not sure wether this with kidney probs is advisable.

Could be food related .........if Becky comes on she had the sme thing i think with Boss ,.........Gluten related.

Food........if it is working i wouldnt worry about the rice.

Ann

Our last GSD Sadie did wonderful on Hills ID... with rice. As rice is easily digesitable... we just left enzymes  on a few minutes more....:) .

Hi Sue..... i too was thinking environmental allergies... but it could be the food.... if so... maybe it's the "Old Roy" food enticer???? Can she try a different enticer?

WHat you might want to suggest to Mary is something i tried with my gal Lulu (she chewed her feet something horribly) ... Since i couldn't control the environment, i decided to control the biting... every time Lulu came back in the house from being outside in the yard... i would dip all four paws in a bowl of warm water and epsom salt and then  squeeze dry with a towel. This greatly helped reduced her chewing her paws! THe good thing about it is, it won't hurt anything.

Regarding diets for kidney failure/renal issues... etc.... check out this link.. it has some REALLY good information and suggestions on brand foods/prescription foods/homemade foods for this kind of situation.... maybe it will be of some help to you:  http://dogaware.com/health/kidneynonprescription.html

Hello Brenda - As Ann mentioned, when first starting treatment for EPI Boss started doing the foot licking so we tried a hypoallergenic kibble... foot licking continued and we used Olesia's idea of epsom salt foot dips and topicals to try and give him relief...  after about a year we switched to a different kibble as the poop quality had deteriorated...  along with good poop... the foot licking disappeared

Thanks so much, everyone, for your advice.   Today I learned that Calli has always had "grass allergies."   And that she was on medication for allergies before her sever problems.  So, looks like it is the grass.  Not sure what to do about it, because with all her problems, seems allergy meds are out of the question.   Mary says that her skin is incredible oily.  Could this possibly be due to the list of kidney meds that she is taking now?   Oh, and Mary says she keeps trying to eat DIRT.  What causes a dog to eat grass and dirt?  I have seen her on the grass, and she grabs bites of it insanely.   I have never seen grass eating like this before, and Mary says she fights to get at dirt, to eat it.   What do you think?  Anyone seen this "dirt eating" before??/

Brenda

This if from maezi thread.

to her by email from TAMU - eating grass & dirt & licking can be from lacking mineral in diet or pain /stress.

Weird you ask a question and somebody posts the answer re something else on a different thread.

Strrangely when i gave Otto salmon oil he started eating grass stopped the oil and the grass munching stopped i think it indicates struggling to digest something

Ann

Hi, My Ruby was licking and biting her paws as well. After I took her for a walk in a local park.   I kept her off any treated grass with pesticides.  Our back yard is best for her (no pesticides). It took time but her licking and biting of her paws stopped and the hair grew back.   My vet said that sometimes just getting your dog balanced with the right food helps clear up itching problems.  Ruby's problem was with her feet....soo I just assumed it had to be something she had walked on that caused the problem and it was. Praying for your anwer to come.

Hi Brenda..... i was curious about the excessive dirt eating.... and in short, what i found suggests either some mineral is missing from their diet OR there is a gastro upset in the tummy.....

.............got this from a Vet Info page on the internet:

http://www.vetinfo.com/why-do-dogs-eat-dirt.html

Mineral Deficiency

One reason that some dogs eat dirt is because their standard diet lacks in certain minerals. If this is the case, your dog may revert backto his instinctual tendencies to try to obtain the rest of the important vitamins and minerals that he needs in order to survive healthily. If he isn't getting the minerals he needs from food, he may try to get them by eating dirt. Check if your pet eats dirt frequently when he's outside; if he doesn't, this is a potential sign that he may be missing out on certain materials that he needs for his diet.

Check on his dog food label and compare it with a list of important minerals and vitamins that all dogs need. You can find this list online in a variety of different sources. If the food is missing many of those crucial vitamins and minerals, get rid of it and purchase a higher quality and well balanced food for your dog. Generally, this entire problem can be avoided if you purchase a good quality dog food product for your dog at all stages in his life.

Gastric Upset

In other situations, a dog may begin to eat dirt if he has already eaten something that has begun to upset his stomach or his intestinal tract. Eating dirt is an attempt to dilute or to get rid of the offending food item. This may be something as mild as a plant that has caused him a bit of distress, or it could be something very serious, like one of several human foods which are poisonous to dogs. Watch for your dog eating dirt one time only but for a sustained period of time. If he eats a lot of dirt at once, this is also a potential sign that something is the matter with his bowels or his stomach.

Minor Issues

In many other situations, your dog will appear to be eating dirt but may actually be eating some food item that lies in the grass or on the ground. in these situations, the dog will likely not eat very much dirt at one time and it will only be a single occurrence. Keep in mind that your dog can smell food that is buried under the ground significantly better than you can.