Recently Diagnosed
Posted: 22 Jun 2021, 14:38
Hi everyone,
My name is Ali and my 2 year old husky mix, Nova, was just diagnosed with EPI about 2 weeks ago.
For a little bit of background, Nova had a sudden onset of diarrhea in early May and was found to have a large overgrowth of clostridium in her stool. She was put on metronidazole and wet food. Over the course of a week, she seemed to be starting to feel better. As soon as she finished the round of the antibiotic, the diarrhea came back. We had switched her to Hill Science Diet for sensitive stomach and at first were told she was just adjusting to the new food. When there weren't any improvements, she went back on another round of metronidazole. She still had no improvements and was rapidly losing weight. At this point we didn't know what was wrong and her vet was going to order a GI panel. In the mean time, she was put on a high fiber diet with the thought it would improve her stool (now we know that was the exact wrong thing to do). After a few days on this food, she became rapidly worse. She had liquid diarrhea every 15-30 minutes and had to spend two nights at the vet's office. Our sweet girl who had been 47lbs before becoming sick had dropped all the way down to 36lbs. She had virtually no energy and briefly stopped eating. When we got the EPI diagnosis she was immediately put on enzymes and has been on an HA diet until she stabilizes and gains more weight.
Two weeks later and she's doing so much better! The enzymes work very well and she is gaining weight again. Now I'm just hoping for some guidance for caring for dogs with EPI as we begin to figure out her long term needs. Soon our vet is going to be recommending a new diet and said she may need a low fat diet, but I have been reading about the shift to just a low fiber diet (>4%) and that the low fat isn't necessary for every dog. Does anyone have any recommendations for some low fiber foods that are good for dogs with EPI so I can talk through these options with our vet? I am also looking for recommendations for where to buy the enzymes as they're very expensive through our vet. Of course we'll spend the money because it's what she needs, but I just wanted to see what options there are for getting them. In a more long term thought, what kind of treats can dogs with EPI have and what can't they have? I mostly want to have some ideas together to run through with out vet once we're planning out her diet so I can be prepared and can go through all of the options to find what's best for Nova.
Thanks for letting me be a part of this group and I appreciate any guidance anyone can give to us!
My name is Ali and my 2 year old husky mix, Nova, was just diagnosed with EPI about 2 weeks ago.
For a little bit of background, Nova had a sudden onset of diarrhea in early May and was found to have a large overgrowth of clostridium in her stool. She was put on metronidazole and wet food. Over the course of a week, she seemed to be starting to feel better. As soon as she finished the round of the antibiotic, the diarrhea came back. We had switched her to Hill Science Diet for sensitive stomach and at first were told she was just adjusting to the new food. When there weren't any improvements, she went back on another round of metronidazole. She still had no improvements and was rapidly losing weight. At this point we didn't know what was wrong and her vet was going to order a GI panel. In the mean time, she was put on a high fiber diet with the thought it would improve her stool (now we know that was the exact wrong thing to do). After a few days on this food, she became rapidly worse. She had liquid diarrhea every 15-30 minutes and had to spend two nights at the vet's office. Our sweet girl who had been 47lbs before becoming sick had dropped all the way down to 36lbs. She had virtually no energy and briefly stopped eating. When we got the EPI diagnosis she was immediately put on enzymes and has been on an HA diet until she stabilizes and gains more weight.
Two weeks later and she's doing so much better! The enzymes work very well and she is gaining weight again. Now I'm just hoping for some guidance for caring for dogs with EPI as we begin to figure out her long term needs. Soon our vet is going to be recommending a new diet and said she may need a low fat diet, but I have been reading about the shift to just a low fiber diet (>4%) and that the low fat isn't necessary for every dog. Does anyone have any recommendations for some low fiber foods that are good for dogs with EPI so I can talk through these options with our vet? I am also looking for recommendations for where to buy the enzymes as they're very expensive through our vet. Of course we'll spend the money because it's what she needs, but I just wanted to see what options there are for getting them. In a more long term thought, what kind of treats can dogs with EPI have and what can't they have? I mostly want to have some ideas together to run through with out vet once we're planning out her diet so I can be prepared and can go through all of the options to find what's best for Nova.
Thanks for letting me be a part of this group and I appreciate any guidance anyone can give to us!