Introduction

Epi4Dogs Foundation Inc.’s mission is the advancement of science and education relating to EPI (Exocrine Pancreatic Insufficiency), yielding useful insights and positive outcomes in better managing EPI in dogs and cats. Our goals are to support and/or collaborate with veterinary EPI research and researchers, and to promote EPI awareness by educating the general public, pet owners, pet organizations, rescue and shelter organizations, veterinary schools and veterinarians.
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Teila
Member
Posts: 19
Location: Forrest Beach
Country: Australia
Pet name: Ziggy
My name: Teila

Introduction

Post by Teila » 26 Dec 2021, 23:24

G'Day from Far North Queensland! I just wanted to introduce myself and Ziggy. I will try and keep a long story short but my sister is a registered breeder of Rough Coated Collies and unfortunately, a puppy from her last litter has been diagnosed with EPI. Cutting to the chase, we have jumped in feet first to give Ziggy a happy and loving home. Ziggy does not get here until mid-January (we live 1,900 km / 1,180 m apart) and while I have experience with a dog with epilepsy and pancreatitis and a cat with kidney disease, this is my first EPI experience. While cramming as much as I could on EPI before Ziggy arrives, I came across this awesome mine of information, where I have been exploring for hours and decided to introduce myself because I know it will be my first go-to for information/support and I thank the creator, admins and members for an awesome resource!
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Warm Regards
Teila & Ziggy

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Jean
Forum Director
Posts: 1707
Location: South Liverpool
Country: United Kingdom - England
Pet name: Kara, lost 10th May 2019
My name: Jean

Re: Introduction

Post by Jean » 27 Dec 2021, 05:54

Welcome from Scouse land Liverpool UK

Ziggy is adorable and I would have had him/her in a heartbeat, this breed is one unfortunatly prone to EPI

that is one enormous distance to travel but it will be nice to catch up with your family, and maybe visit for a few days, I assume you will drive, how long will this take, I cant imagine driving that far.

Your comments are so welcome, and I thank you as Forum Director, and on behalf of everyone, Olesia is the founder and is amazing, I started with my Kara in 2010 totally bewildered as there was nothing over here, but my vets were, and still are amazing , and then found this website and forum , and made so many very close friends, and learned to breathe again

EPI is totally manageable, and we had Kara for 10 years and it became normal , we looked after my Nephew's Border Collie for 4 months this year, and it was weird to just feed him anything

Anyway what have you decided on your regime ? what food, enzymes, antibiotcs, any B12 supplement is Ziggy on now, and how old ?

you are going to have such fun with this beauty, we will love to see him/her grow

Jeanx
My name is Jean we live in Liverpool in Uk

I am the Forum Director which I am very proud of

My Kara born 21 July 2009 diagnosed with EPI by cTLI test August 2010 TLI = <1...folate 14 Cobalamin 408, shot down to 94, b12 injections every other day

Lowest weight 39 pounds

We used Panzym enzymes, Tylan and Chemeyes b12 capsules

Sadly, on 10th May 2019, we lost her to DM


Jeanx

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jilbert57
Staff
Posts: 2089
Country: United States
State: Washington

Re: Introduction

Post by jilbert57 » 27 Dec 2021, 08:22

Welcome Teila your Ziggy is gorgeous. You are going to be way ahead of the curve by reading up on Epi, and your little one will thank you.
I had a JRT with health issues amongst them chronic pancreatitis that brought me to this site in 2012. Everyone helped me get Mickey situated with enzymes and Tylan.
Please feel free to ask questions and post pictures.

Jill
My name is Jill and we live on the Hood Canal in Washington State. We currently have 2 Jack russells, TJ is 8 and Sadie is 2.

Mickey and his pancreatitis brought me to Epi4dogs.com site in 2012 to help manage it.
He lived from 6/99 - 8/2014

Mickey, Jack Russell. Chronic Pancreatitis. Dianes enzymes, 1/8t 3x/day with meals.

Tuckaboo Pam
Member
Posts: 1345
Country: United States
State: Florida
Pet name: Tucker
My name: Pam H.

Re: Introduction

Post by Tuckaboo Pam » 27 Dec 2021, 12:00

Uh-Oh, the reply gremlin has once again eaten a lengthy post I made for you. So sorry!

Tucker & I welcome you & Ziggy, and we offer support & best wishes for your journey through dogs & EPI.

You will be OK, we (the group) will hold your hand if you need it. We encourage keeping a journal, starting with what your sister is doing now, and we promise you can do this! Ask every single question you think of.

The Managing EPI section is wonderful.

Hope the gremlin isn't still hungry!---Pam & Tucker
Tucker was a shepherd/lab mix--- TLI 1.3, Folate 9.7, Cobalamin 666, Lipase 38. Took Diane's Enzymes 4 teaspoons/day, Wonderlabs B12 one capsule per day, and Tylan 1/16 teaspoon/ morning (to hold SID at bay). Taste of the Wild High Prairie, 1 1/2 cups/day, with a total of 4 cups of Fresh Pet. Stopped eating everything in sight, and went from 60 to 85 pounds! Tucker was my boyfriend, and my husband was OK with that. Tucker succumbed to hemangiosarcoma, but we cherished every day we had with that wonderful, beautiful boy. I will always, always miss my sweet big boy.

User avatar
Teila
Member
Posts: 19
Location: Forrest Beach
Country: Australia
Pet name: Ziggy
My name: Teila

Re: Introduction

Post by Teila » 27 Dec 2021, 19:44

Thank you for the lovely welcome and your replies! Apologies for the long post!

Yes, it was definitely not a difficult decision for us to make, basically a no-brainer. He is not even here yet and we love him to bits and are very excited! My sister sent me all his baby photos from Day 1 and I can't stop looking at them; plus a video of him playing with his sister.

We were both quite surprised to hear that rough coated collies are prone to EPI. My sister, a vet nurse, has been breeding and showing for near on 40 years and has not encountered EPI in this time. She is, however, very selective about breeding and does not have multiple litters.

Getting him here was going to be tricky, especially with COVID and flights being cancelled at the last minute. Unfortunately, I will not be able to go and get him, it is just too far. As we both live 'rural', even to fly him here would mean '?1 hour or so car trip - medium sized plane - then transfer to large plane - then transfer to another medium sized plane (plus who knows how much wait-time between flight transfers etc) - then another 1.5 hour car trip' all with the possibility of last minute flight cancellations and a puppy stuck mid-way; just too much for a baby and of course, there are his special dietary needs and medication.

Fortunately, as it happens, there is a lady who travels the country to various dog shows and also does pet transport; she just happens to be at a show 1.5 hours down the road from us mid-January. She will be able to pick Ziggy up from my sister and we just have to drive the 1.5 hours to collect him. Being a 'dog' person, she has an appropriately decked out dog transport, air conditioned van and more importantly, understands his dietary/medication needs and will take good care of him. Ziggy has already done quite a bit of travelling to various vets and apparently travels well.

The history, as I understand it, is that Ziggy was 'failing to thrive'. He apparently did not have diarrhoea but did have the pale, foul smelling poops; while I believe not constantly hungry as such, he was not gaining weight and falling well behind his siblings. As mentioned, he ended up at 3 different vet surgeries and had multiple courses of antibiotics and various tests before finally being diagnosed with EPI at the third surgery. (Sorry, I do not at this stage know his levels).

The good news is that after diagnosis and commencement of medication, he turned the corner and gained 600 grams in a week.

Ziggy is currently 11 weeks old, so going to be around 14 weeks when he arrives.

Currently, as it is working for him, my sister is feeding him Advance Puppy Food (wet) and he takes a tablet 5 mins before each meal (3x times a day). He does not seem particularly keen on dry food and did vomit after eating it but that was before diagnosis so, therefore, probably high in fibre.

Yes, we are going to have a great time with Ziggy! We live in a coastal village so he will get to play on the beach and as we have an adorable 10-year-old border collie, he will have a big sister to show him the ropes and how to play 'stick in water'. I work from home, so he will basically never be alone and loved so much!

With regard to my plan - and please do not hesitate to chime in here if I am heading in the wrong direction:

Most importantly - low fibre, nothing over 4%. No peas! With regard fat, not panicking about that but, of course, in moderation (as mentioned on my introduction, I have had a dog with pancreatitis, so familiar with the issues of too much fat). We also have 3x rescue cats and out of curiosity, I looked at the fibre content of their food, 14%. I also took a look at the fibre content of Jessie's (border collie) food and fibre was not even mentioned!

My sister is sending him with a supply of the Advance Puppy Food and remaining tablet medication (1 tablet 5 minutes before meals - Sorry, I forgot the name, but all information will be coming with Ziggy); so, the plan is to continue him on that as we go through the trial and error phase. Any tips on alternatives to tinned food would be greatly appreciated.

I will be keeping a journal of what I feed him and his reaction to it.

I have written to the 3 leading specialist pet food manufacturers (Hills Prescription, Advance and Royal Canin) requesting samples of both their wet and dry EPI-appropriate food so that we can see what works for him, while still researching possible alternatives.

We do have a vet surgery 20 mins down the road who know us well from our 3 rescue cats and also as we foster kittens and puppies from time-to-time so they do not have to spend time in the local council impound while their owner is found or they are adopted. I plan to pop in and visit them before Ziggy arrives, give them the heads up etc that Ziggy is going to be part of the family.

As we are rural and have a pretty good relationship with our local butcher, I may go down the path of trialling 'fresh' pancreas.

Check poops! Do a happy dance if they are formed and a nice brown colour! LOL

Note to self: Grain free does not necessarily mean low in fibre!

With regard to the B12, as a newbie to EPI, I am only just learning about that; something I will also take up with the vet.

Sorry, some details are a little sketchy as this is all totally new to us and thank you, yes, questions will be asked!

Something I did think of is flea and tick medication; I plan to ask the vet this question also but feel sure you will also have experience in this regard. We have paralysis ticks in our area and treat Jessie with a chewable once-a-month flea and tick preventer and chatting to my sister, we wonder if this is possibly not going to be effective with Ziggy (as in maybe go right through him or just not work) and we should investigate the skin-based pipettes, keeping in mind that we have to be careful with those as well as rough coated collies have been known to have bad reactions.

Thank you again, so nice to meet you and I have a feeling Ziggy and I will enjoy and benefit from being a part of the epi4dogs family! I would love to share his progress with you .. happy snaps from the beach etc.
Warm Regards
Teila & Ziggy

Tuckaboo Pam
Member
Posts: 1345
Country: United States
State: Florida
Pet name: Tucker
My name: Pam H.

Re: Introduction

Post by Tuckaboo Pam » 27 Dec 2021, 20:01

Teila, You must be crazy excited, waiting for Ziggy!

if you are able to order Sport Dog Elite, herding dogs formula, many of our dogs do well on it. Of course, Ziggy will need to grow up first. They do have a cubby version, but I believe it contains grains. It is high quality kibble.

I make turkey wing bone broth for my dogs, so Tucker's kibble is very moist when he eats it. Take Care---P
Tucker was a shepherd/lab mix--- TLI 1.3, Folate 9.7, Cobalamin 666, Lipase 38. Took Diane's Enzymes 4 teaspoons/day, Wonderlabs B12 one capsule per day, and Tylan 1/16 teaspoon/ morning (to hold SID at bay). Taste of the Wild High Prairie, 1 1/2 cups/day, with a total of 4 cups of Fresh Pet. Stopped eating everything in sight, and went from 60 to 85 pounds! Tucker was my boyfriend, and my husband was OK with that. Tucker succumbed to hemangiosarcoma, but we cherished every day we had with that wonderful, beautiful boy. I will always, always miss my sweet big boy.

User avatar
Teila
Member
Posts: 19
Location: Forrest Beach
Country: Australia
Pet name: Ziggy
My name: Teila

Re: Introduction

Post by Teila » 27 Dec 2021, 22:52

Thank you Pam!

I was just in our local supermarket and while there, checked out the on-the-shelf dog food; again, quite a few of them do not even mention fibre content, just fat etc. However, Optimum have a Grain Free Puppy kibble which is only 3% fibre and $19 a bag .. that could be worth a try.

Anyways, thank you again everyone; as I have spent many hours in front of the screen researching, preparing and downloading and saving pictures of our very special little man, I had best get something accomplished during the holiday season!

I will definitely keep in touch! More piccies etc!
Warm Regards
Teila & Ziggy

User avatar
Jean
Forum Director
Posts: 1707
Location: South Liverpool
Country: United Kingdom - England
Pet name: Kara, lost 10th May 2019
My name: Jean

Re: Introduction

Post by Jean » 28 Dec 2021, 04:49

Good morning again from one miserable day in Liverpool

Are you in your Summer over there ?

Our chief admin Guru is form Adelaide, and have a look at his quick guide to EPI for Australia

https://epi4dogs.com/epi-quick-guides-outside-usa/

just scroll down

This might be useful info for your vet, and yourself

https://www.petmd.com/dog/wellness/evr_ ... py_for_epi

It is essential for EPI dogs digestion

EPI was relatively unknown and dogs were being PTS all over the place as vets had no idea , in the mid 80's it was referred to as Shepherd Tummy ! my cat had it and fortunately for her, my Vet at the time's son had just qualified from vet school, and when we took a sample of poo he knew what it was, and tested her with would you believe,

Jean xray film

Just found this explanation

http://www.aun.edu.eg/developmentvet/cl ... is/1_2.htm

She was 12 at the time and lived to 20

Right from the word go German Shepherds and Rough Coated Collies were right at the forefront of those breeds susceptible, but we have breeds of every sort A-Z ish on our group, and from every age, Ziggy might be the youngest, can you ask your Sister for the test results

That is maddening that the foods do not list the value of Fibre in the food, couldnt find the grain free puppy you mention, but you dont need prescription food unless there is another condition lurking

the mantra is

Food in Enzyme in

the majority of people we have on our pages from Australia use Creon as their enzyme, any plant based enzyme are not suitable as they are not strong enough, Enzyplex is one of these unfortunately

I wish you luck

J
My name is Jean we live in Liverpool in Uk

I am the Forum Director which I am very proud of

My Kara born 21 July 2009 diagnosed with EPI by cTLI test August 2010 TLI = <1...folate 14 Cobalamin 408, shot down to 94, b12 injections every other day

Lowest weight 39 pounds

We used Panzym enzymes, Tylan and Chemeyes b12 capsules

Sadly, on 10th May 2019, we lost her to DM


Jeanx

Tuckaboo Pam
Member
Posts: 1345
Country: United States
State: Florida
Pet name: Tucker
My name: Pam H.

Re: Introduction

Post by Tuckaboo Pam » 28 Dec 2021, 07:23

JEAN!!!

I'm sorry to hijack your post, Teila, but

JEAN---Did you get my email about DM?

Again, super sorry about this---Pam
Tucker was a shepherd/lab mix--- TLI 1.3, Folate 9.7, Cobalamin 666, Lipase 38. Took Diane's Enzymes 4 teaspoons/day, Wonderlabs B12 one capsule per day, and Tylan 1/16 teaspoon/ morning (to hold SID at bay). Taste of the Wild High Prairie, 1 1/2 cups/day, with a total of 4 cups of Fresh Pet. Stopped eating everything in sight, and went from 60 to 85 pounds! Tucker was my boyfriend, and my husband was OK with that. Tucker succumbed to hemangiosarcoma, but we cherished every day we had with that wonderful, beautiful boy. I will always, always miss my sweet big boy.

User avatar
Jean
Forum Director
Posts: 1707
Location: South Liverpool
Country: United Kingdom - England
Pet name: Kara, lost 10th May 2019
My name: Jean

Re: Introduction

Post by Jean » 28 Dec 2021, 09:06

no Pam I didnt

send it to me again

derek.smith49@sky.com

I have checked all of my email addresses
My name is Jean we live in Liverpool in Uk

I am the Forum Director which I am very proud of

My Kara born 21 July 2009 diagnosed with EPI by cTLI test August 2010 TLI = <1...folate 14 Cobalamin 408, shot down to 94, b12 injections every other day

Lowest weight 39 pounds

We used Panzym enzymes, Tylan and Chemeyes b12 capsules

Sadly, on 10th May 2019, we lost her to DM


Jeanx

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