EPI Dog allergies getting worse?

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.
mkazin
Member
Posts: 48
Location: Los Angeles
Country: United States
State: California
Pet name: Scottie
My name: Maia

EPI Dog allergies getting worse?

Post by mkazin » 07 Jan 2022, 01:13

Hello!!

Thank you all for all your help with Scottie. She's doing great, is at a super healthy weight, lots of energy, poops are a little soft but mostly normal and well formed. We're so happy.

I posted a while ago about her allergies-- we found out she's allergic to...... almost everything. We have her on the most intense allergy diet (hydrolized protein only, no treats except for her special hydrolized protein treats, no toppers, etc.) We also go get her an allergy shot (cytopoint injection) at the vet once a month where they also express her anal glands. Over the last few months, I've noticed that she's showing allergy signs way earlier than she used to. We'll get her allergy shot, and as soon as a week of 10 days later she'll start licking at her anus a lot, chewing her paws, etc. Has anyone else had experience with this? The vet said it could come down to the season, but it's been two seasons now and it doesn't seem to have changed. Granted, we're in southern california, so seasons don't mean a whole lot here. We can get her injections more often, but they're quite expensive and I want to make sure there's not something else going on that's making her flare up more quickly than she used to. Thanks all!!!!

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

Re: EPI Dog allergies getting worse?

Post by Tuckaboo Pam » 07 Jan 2022, 06:13

Good morning, Maia---Glad to hear Scottie's EPI is getting under control!

Here in N FLA, we have a similar situation with seasons. Here's my experience---
My dogs would get "invisible stuff" on their paws, then scratch their ears & end up with ear infections. Among other things (pulling offending plants, but there really are too many), my vet had me start washing their paws after they were outside, and that really helped. Additionally, I started them on probiotics, to boost their immune system.

As for the gland issue, the advice I got here on the forum, was feeding canned pumpkin. Two of my dogs, including EPI Tucker (in both of these scenarios), have this issue, and pumpkin seems to have helped tremendously with the bum licking. We are encouraged to feed low fiber food to our EPI'ers, and pumpkin is high fiber, but it is good fiber, and is therefore ok.

I add a couple tablespoons to one meal a day, and add a pinch more enzymes to that meal, and the licking has stopped. I also got some Preparation H wipes, to give a little relief while the healing is taking place.

Hope this helps!---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.

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Olesia711
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Re: EPI Dog allergies getting worse?

Post by Olesia711 » 07 Jan 2022, 11:10

those are great suggestions Pam... Thanks!

Maia..... i too am glad to hear that Scottie is doing so much better.... but allergies... UGH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

My non-EPI dog had what i thought was seasonal environmental allergies. In the end when i tested her and she had severe storage mite allergies... it was awful. What they did was first put her on antigens......sub-cutaneous injections and then we switched to sublingual (under the tongue) Allercept drops made by HESKA. OMG.. the first month on this she had the worst allergic reaction and then she got better and better. It worked great for about 4 years...... and then it didn't. So then we tried Apoquel... and that worked for about 3-4 years.... after a bit we had to double the dose..... and then the vet had us switch to Cytopoint.... and that worked for about a year and then it didn't. Finally the only thing that worked was Prednisone.... but Prednisone has many, MANY bad side effects.... but at this point, my dog, Lulu was 13 years old and fading fast and the vet and i decided to just keep her comfortable.....so she stayed on the Prednisone for a little over a year before she passed away.

If your dog's allergies are confirmed environmental allergies like grasses or storage mites, antigen treatment does work... but if it is food allergies, the antigens don't really work well. The suggestion that Pam gave you with the fiber is an excellent suggestion..... i hope you try it and that it helps Scottie!
Olesia, was owned by Izzy, a 35lb Spanish Water Dog (SWD), Diagnosed at 1.5 years old - TLI results 1.. Izzy passed away on February 13, 2020 at 15 years old. She lived with EPI for 13+1/2 years. It was because of Izzy that Epi4Dogs was started... she was the inspiration. May her legacy of helping others with EPI continue for as long as needed.........

mkazin
Member
Posts: 48
Location: Los Angeles
Country: United States
State: California
Pet name: Scottie
My name: Maia

Re: EPI Dog allergies getting worse?

Post by mkazin » 07 Jan 2022, 11:56

Thank you both so much! We were hesitant to try pumpkin because of her severe food allergies — worried anything but her food will trigger it even worse. But it does sound like pumpkin is one of the least reactive foods there are so we might try it and see!! We haven’t actually had her tested for environmental allergies— we figured out she had food allergies through the elimination diet. But when she started chewing at her paws and having glassy eyes, I think the vet figured she probably had environmental allergies too so we get the cytopoint. Thanks again :)

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Olesia711
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Re: EPI Dog allergies getting worse?

Post by Olesia711 » 07 Jan 2022, 12:06

that's what my Lulu did... (non-EPI dog)... she did not have any food allergies.. but she did chew at her paws something awful... sometimes to the point where they would bleed. I used to put little booties on her every time she went outside....... until they figured out it was storage mite allergies.

My vet told me that the allergy tests for dogs were not very accurate UNLESS the test results came back thru the roof.
Well, with the blood tests we did, supposedly anything over 100 indicated a sensitivity and the higher the number the greater the sensitivity and or allergy.
When my Lulu's test results came back the storage mite number was in the 4,000 !!!!! The vet looked at me and said OMG... she really does have an allergy and it is severe. BUT i am so glad i had her tested, because for years i just "assumed" it was something outdoors (since it was most prevalent in spring in fall, i assumed mold).... but once i found out it was storage mites.... not only did we get her on the right meds... but i was better able to help control it by doing things in the home and with her food to better manage her reaction to storage mites......

Allergies are SO difficult to effectively manage.....
Olesia, was owned by Izzy, a 35lb Spanish Water Dog (SWD), Diagnosed at 1.5 years old - TLI results 1.. Izzy passed away on February 13, 2020 at 15 years old. She lived with EPI for 13+1/2 years. It was because of Izzy that Epi4Dogs was started... she was the inspiration. May her legacy of helping others with EPI continue for as long as needed.........

mkazin
Member
Posts: 48
Location: Los Angeles
Country: United States
State: California
Pet name: Scottie
My name: Maia

Re: EPI Dog allergies getting worse?

Post by mkazin » 07 Jan 2022, 13:53

Yes, we have special shampoo, only feed her very specific food, cytopoint once a month.... so hard to manage! But so appreciate all of your input. I wiped down her paws today when we got back from our monring walk, so I'll see if that seems to make a difference. Maybe at some point we'll have her anal glands removed as every time they express them they say they're super full. Must be very uncomfortable for her.

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

Re: EPI Dog allergies getting worse?

Post by Tuckaboo Pam » 08 Jan 2022, 10:33

Pumpkin helps clean out the glands. I think it pushes against the glands on the way out, or something like that. Pleasant thought! Be sure you buy just canned pumpkin, not pumpkin pie filling. They are right next to each other on the shelf. Hopefully, she won't be allergic to it. ---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.

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Olesia711
Founder & Research Director
Posts: 3858
Location: North Carolina
Country: United States
State: North Carolina
Pet name: Izzy
My name: olesia

Re: EPI Dog allergies getting worse?

Post by Olesia711 » 08 Jan 2022, 11:24

for wiping down feet.... there were two different things i used that both worked great.

One vet told me to just mix soda baking in a bowl of warm water and dip the paws in that when my dog came inside... and it worked... baking soda is a nice natural way of cleaning bacteria.

And when i didn't do the baking soda wash, what i did was pour a cap full of Povidine iodine in a small bowl of warm water and i would dip Lulu's paws in this solution and then pat dry... this too cleaned all bacteria and any kind of pollutant lingering on her paws,. And helped with any raw spots she chewed open.
Olesia, was owned by Izzy, a 35lb Spanish Water Dog (SWD), Diagnosed at 1.5 years old - TLI results 1.. Izzy passed away on February 13, 2020 at 15 years old. She lived with EPI for 13+1/2 years. It was because of Izzy that Epi4Dogs was started... she was the inspiration. May her legacy of helping others with EPI continue for as long as needed.........

mkazin
Member
Posts: 48
Location: Los Angeles
Country: United States
State: California
Pet name: Scottie
My name: Maia

Re: EPI Dog allergies getting worse?

Post by mkazin » 08 Jan 2022, 12:02

Thank you!! I will try to baking soda today appreciate it!

mkazin
Member
Posts: 48
Location: Los Angeles
Country: United States
State: California
Pet name: Scottie
My name: Maia

Re: EPI Dog allergies getting worse?

Post by mkazin » 08 Jan 2022, 12:03

And thank you Pam. I think we will try the pumpkin and hope she’s not allergic because it will probably be much more comfortable for her.

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