Epi4Dogs

So here's a new dilemma to go with some of our ongoing ones. We've been on canned hydrolyzed protein since Hana was diagnosed with MegaE which was followed up by EPI diagnosis. I just checked and our food supply is down to 1 day left and apparently Chewy cancelled the last order since they don't have any in stock. And nobody local has it in stock either. So it looks like we're going to have to find a different food alternative. I think with the MegaE we want to stay with wet. But I don't have any idea what brands or kinds to even look for. Anybody have any suggestions on the best way to switch foods and what kind to switch to?

This should be fun.....

Geez..... now this is scary! Especially with a Mega E dog.....

Based on dealing with EPI dogs that need to be on hydrolyzed food because of IBD with EPI..... maybe what you can do is look at other hydrolyzed brands other than what you were using. Here are some of the companies that i am aware of that produce hydrolyzed brands of dog food... I am not sure which one you are currently using... but maybe one of the others will work?

Royal Canine: https://www.amazon.com/Royal-Canin-Cani ... 3906&psc=1
Hills : https://www.hillspet.com/dog-food/pd-zd-canine-canned
Blue Buffalo: https://www.chewy.com/blue-buffalo-natu ... gJkAvD_BwE

what about blending kibble and adding water to make it wet

I feel for you with MEGA E

we have had a few dogs over the years with it , how do you feed ? do you have a chair or feed on the stairs

Olesia has given you alternatives which might work

Jx

Thanks for the tips!

We normally get purina hydrolyzed from chewy which local stores don't carry. Our backup has been the Royal Canin which is available locally but apparently nobody in Colorado has on the shelf right now. I didn't know about the other two mentioned but Petsmart did have the Hill version in stock so we're going that route first. And when I was looking for the canned I saw the Purina HA in kibble so maybe if the canned stuff doesn't work I'll try the blended kibble.

We have a few cans of the Purina left so I'm trying to go 50% purina and 50% hill for a few meals. I guess we see how it goes....

The food gets mixed up and formed into a meatball which we then feed Hana on the steps. We think her MegaE may be either gone or going away so we havent used the chair in a while.

I hope you will be able to find some of the other brands.... Paws and fingers crossed for you. Please keep us posted!

I work in the pet supply industry so maybe I can be useful here...? Stay away from Royal Canin, Champion, Merrick and Natural Balance right now as they're all over the map. Royal Canin has had supply problems for months now. Champion may begin to be back in stock at the end of the month. Natural Balance comes in fits and starts. Merrick is...I don't know what to say about that. Purina, Petcurean, and Performatrin have been very reliable up to this point, and Hill's dry food seems to be holding its own, but not so much the wet. Stella and Chewy's seems to be having issues right now.
I hope that helps. We don't get a lot of updates, and Royal Canin has been especially silent. Weruva has been the best about communicating; they're difficulties come from a lack of shipping containers. They seem to be bouncing back, as is Tiki.

thanks for the update.... that is helpful.... but with the new covid restrictions on truckers going to and from Canada and the USA ... i suspect the dog food supply chain will get even worse..............................

Thanks for all of the info everybody. It looks like Chewy keeps delaying when they are going to get the HA in stock so we keep scrambling. What seems to be working right now is the Hills z/d which is currently available locally. We've been using about 1/3 of the Purina to 2/3 of the Hill and Hana seems be to doing good. But today we run out of the last of the Purina. With that combination she probably has had some of her best poo in a while. So I guess that's all good!

The tricky part is the Hills is kind of a soupy mess and by the time we put the enzymes in and let it sit for 20 minutes, the meatballs we make are pretty sloppy.

I was able to finally track down the vet the other day and she ended up writing a new prescription for the dry form of the Purina Hydorlyzed protein but I can't seem to get in touch with her to find out how she wants us to give it to her. She has been saying that she thinks the MegaE may be under control and has potentially resolved itself. I have a call in to her to clarify but figured I'd check with this group and get some opinions.

I know the kibble can get blended but that just seems like its going to be even more of a soupy mess and I don't know we'd get that into a meatball. I was thinking about what if we maybe mix the Hills wet food with the purina dry kibble at maybe a 50/50 ratio and just see if Hana can eat it out of a bowl without them being formed into meatballs. Maybe until we are certain about the MegaE we still feed her on the steps and hold her vertical for a bit after and see what happens? I'm guessing that I would probably need to play around with the enzyme amount to get that dialed in. Anybody have any experience mixing wet and dry food with these EPI creatures?

I used to have to syringe-feed Montgomery as he stubbornly refused to eat for four months at a time. At the time, I would soak his kibble in boiling water. There was a sweet spot where it was almost an oatmeal consistency and if we had wanted to make meatballs out of it, we could have. I'd measure out a portion, put it in a particular dish and just eyeball it when I added water. You have to play with it to get it just right.

I used to mix wet and dry food all the time with my EPI gal.... and never had an issue. My Izzy lived until she was 15 years old started with EPI at 1+1/2 year old and in her 8th year of EPI developed Diabetes and then lived with EPI + Diabetes for another 7 years...........