Epi4Dogs

Hi my beautiful 3.5 year old german shep. has just been diagnoses with EPI. The information is overwhelming. I live in Canada and wondering what kibble people have had the most success with. He is currently on Orijen 6 fish, but I am noticing some face rubbing so possibly some alergy to it. His stools are perfect and we have only been on the enzymes for a few days Any and all suggestions welcome.

Hi, Debbie, and welcome to you and Storm. I'm not sure if the same foods that are available to me, are available to you, but the one my Tucker does well on is called Sport Dog Elite, for herding dogs. They have a variety. BUT, I wonder if the enzymes are bothering Storm's snout, because this happens to Tucker sometimes. He will cry & scratch his snout, and if I wipe it off I often find a little blood. Soaking a paper towel with water, and wiping down his snout & gums after he eats, is helpful. I have also put aqufor on his snout before a meal, as a barrier.

Tell us a little bit more about your regimen, what kind of enzymes you use, how you prepare them with the his meal, and anything else you are giving. And, if you don't mind sharing the test results, this will give the staff a better picture. Good job on getting those poops fixed up so fast!

Please stay in touch, and ask as many questions as you want!---Pam & Tucker

Hi Debbie,
A warm welcome to you and Storm. It sounds like Storm is responding well. Good poos already! That's a great beginning.

I am guessing that the nose rubbing has to do with the enzymes, not the food. How long has he been on the Orijen fish? Pam gave some good suggestions on keeping the enzymes from bothering him. Wiping his nose and mouth with a wet paper towel after eating will help. You might also want to use a little more water with the enzymes until he gets used to them.

Keeping a log/journal of everything you give Storm each day, the amounts and the resulting poos will help you to see what is working and what needs to be adjusted, and will keep you from feeling overwhelmed. But you are doing a great job already.

Do you know if they tested Storm's B12 level (cobalamin) and Folate? They often do it at the same time they do the TLI test. If you can get those numbers that will give us more information.

Try not to feel too overwhelmed. The beginning stage is the hardest, when you are trying to absorb all the new information while worrying about your pup. It will get easier. We all know how you feel. Besides, you are already seeing good poos, which is amazing. Let us know your questions.

Barb

His TLI 1.7 Cobalamin 142 and Folate 17 He has been on the Orijen 6 fish about 3 months now. He was on pills Viokace but I managed to get him real pancreas yesterday and started him on that last night. His poo this morning was well formed a tiny bit soft but fairly large. I am assuming his system would have to adjust. I am starting at 3 oz per meal
Your Tucker sounds sweet and my husband is ok with Storm being my boyfriend too lol . Where I live I have to order most stuff I was thinking of putting him on slippery elm and my Vet says we will see about B12 injections after a couple of weeks since he is responding so well right now and it was just low by a bit.
I have been printing articles and putting them in a binder with my journal. It is all a bit overwhelming

Hi again, Debbie. I have read on this forum, that real pancreas can be tricky. The hard part is knowing how much enzyme you are actually giving, so check back if you start seeing issues, and somebody who knows about it can help you. Hang in there!---Pam

Hi Debbie! Welcome to our EPI family. Do watch for a possible allergy with the fish food - that happened to my Doc after being diagnosed with EPI and I switched his food to one that included fish and fit the EPI recommendations. However, like Pam said it could also be the enzymes if the powder is not mixed in well. The B12 is quite low - are you supplementing B12? It is critical to properly managing EPI.

As for the raw pancreas - some have used it and been fine but the amount of enzymes vary from one organ to the next so it can be difficult because there is no exact measurement.

Keep us posted.

I will order the B12 right now started raw pancreas on Wed evening and this morning stool was ok but just went for walk and it was pure sloppy runs. So should I stay on raw pancreas or go back to the viokace pills My vet said in her experience people had better luck with raw but each dog is different so still in the experiment stage

This is what many of us use, and I'm not sure I've seen it mentioned in this conversation, NOR am I certain Canada is one of the countries she ships to. I should know this, oh well.

ENZYME-DIANE: GENERIC PANCREATIN (USA known source) (available in the US but can be shipped to certain countries outside of the US)

The product is great, and customer service is stellar. Oh, and it's affordable. ----Pam

Yes, I think the big issue with the raw pancreas is that you can't be sure that the amount your pup is getting is consistent. But if you feel it is working, stay with it. We used Enzyme Diane's pancreatin for many, many years and it worked really well.

I am glad you are getting the B12 supplement. We recommend that the B12 level should be 600 plus because it can drop so fast and it is so important. Storm's level is quite low. But it is an easy fix. If he receives more than he needs, he will just pee out the excess.

Barb

Can anyone tell me if I add green tripe back into his diet if I should reduce the pancreas as tripe has a digestive enzyme too?