Epi4Dogs

Tank

Tank went for a weighin today and he is still same weight. I captured a fresh stool sample. He is still thiin on hips but seems to have more muscle mass vet says he is still too lean and needs to buff up a bit more. May look into changing food diet withou peas and less then 4% fiber, current food has 5%. Poops look good pic included

WOW - that a good looking poop!!! Glad to hear it sounds like things are headed in the right direction. I agree with looking for a food with lower fiber than 5% and hopefully less peas. Just watch your ingredients so you don't end up with a food sensitivity - when we were first dx and I changed foods the new food had white fish (most do) and my boy had horrible skin and ear infections for a few months until I figured it out with the help of the NutriScan Food Sensitivity Test. Keep a detailed journal - it will help you immensely.

Doing the happy poop dance for you!! By the way - are you supplementing B12 and feeding 150% of the food for the weight your dog should be?

Nice poop picture!

well that poop picture shows something is working

we recommend that you feed 150% of the food guide for the weight Tank SHOULD be, over several meals, if you can fit it in to your schedule

and keep a journal

I wonder, could you tell us the results of any blood test you have had done

dont fret, Kara too a long time to fill out, it will happen

jean

Tanks story so far is

Oct/17 tanks vet visit for shots he was a healthy 93 lbs and happy as can be. His life was very different he got lots of treats ate kibble straight up from the bag. in march/18 we started to notice he was eating his poop and also eating his food very fast. his poop looked like poop only slushy, we change food because we also noticed scratching he seemed to be itchy we got his revelution started thinking fleas. over next month into late april things got worse poop more runny and grey, called vet who advised to increase feeding to 3 times a day. we also noticed he was getting thinner so end of may we took him to vet, she said it was a GI infection gave us antibiotic tannk weighed 78lbs , i also wanted bloodwork done, vet said not needed i said run it anyway. I get a call from the vet, i remember that day well, she said something strange came back in his blood and wanted to run special test called tli. She also warned me that it may be nothing but also could have something wrong with pancreas.

We fasted tank that night and brought him for his test june 7. Test results came in june 8th b12 181 folate 22 tli <1.0,
She sent us home with rxzyme 1 scoop per cup food, progut plus 4 scoops per feeding and gave him a b12 shot,

Poops got better but he continued to get worse started being sick in his crate and pooping in it. brought him back to vet was 73lbs, back on antibiotics and weekly weighins the next week he was back up to 78lbs, weekly injections continued, we added fresh pancreas that helped get poops looking better.

He maintain 78 lbs so we continued the b12 and after 6 weeks and waiting 3.5 week ran another tli results returned aug 15 b12 423 folate 12 tli<1.0 , Vet called and wanted to put him on very expensive 0 meat diet and pankaide at 116 plus tax she said i would need 2 bottles per month food was 118 per 8kg bag. beyond our means now to care for him

We were on the way to put him down as i did not want let him suffer, we pulled up to the vets and i got a call from a supplier who can get me as much fresh pancreas as i needed cheap.

We kept him and and started giving him fresh pancreas. vet said to let the mix sit for 6 hours and she suspected his acid was so strong it was destroying the enzymes before they reach the intestines.

So we made more changes
Acana Lamb
Breakfast 2 cups blended to powder, 4 ounces fresh beef pancreas liquified fortiflana probiotic
lunch 6 hours later 1 cup with 2 ounce fresh pancreas prepared same as breakfast
supper 2 cups 4 ounces pancreas prepared same as breakfast

we have to wet the powder till it resembled concrete then mix in the pink pancreas milkshake let it sit for 6 hours at room temp. add probiotics before we feed it to him.

He actually eats this slop he must love it he crys for it,

I just hope the blender does not break down. that kibble is hard

WOW, WOW WOW

Those figures are not good

I am hugely disappointed in your vets disinterest, or lack of knowledge in taking so long, and you having to insist on him being tested

https://www.pureformulas.com/rx-zyme-fo ... amins.html

rx-zyme is a supplement not an enzyme replacement

again I am disappointed

why on earth would you want to put a dog on a no meat diet, and the cost issue makes me very angry for you

i would love to know why he was producing acid to such a level, the acids will break down the enzymes, and had they been the right ones, he would have done better

have you changed vets ?

i would have no confidence in that vet whatever, but that is a personal opinion

we tried pancreas, and Kara gave me one withering look as she walked away tail aloft, no way, Jose

have you considered Enzyme Diane, she does discounted enzymes

https://enzymediane.com/

this is a Youtube for pancreas

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0nu_NPZ4xg4

i have no ideas why you should have to wait 6 hours before feeding

now what about antibiotics to rid of the bad bugs in the gut

finally, I am proud of you for standing your ground,

and we welcome you and Tank

what is your name

keep a journal

and let us know what happens

jx

In response to the vet. This is her 1st case of epi, and she did say i did a lot of research on it and probably knew more about it then her.

I agree rxzyme was not working for tank that why we got him on fresh pancreas which she said was awesome, trouble was in the beginning i did not have alot of supply and was only able to give him reduced amounts each meal and add 2 scoops of the zymme but he was not getting better and when the second test came back less then 1 for tli she wanted to put him on pankaide and change food(i do think this was a weight increase formula easy to digest), at the time i knew i could not afford to keep tank. cost would be more a month then a mortgage payment.

I was so close to putting him down when my supplier called and advised he could get me as much as i needed and then some every month. I got his call in the parking lot of the vet just on the way into to have him put down.

I told the vet this and she said it would be better to give it another shot as he is not suffering now and getting some benefit from what he is eating now.

I doubled the fresh pancreas morning from 2 ounces to 4 lunch from 1 ounce to 2 and supper from 2 to 4. with no zymme

She said research said i guess from her sources to mix and let stand 6 hours to allow food to part digest before feeding. I thought big kibble hard to break down so i started grinding it the first day when i increased the pancreas added to food, i also read that liquifying the pancreas will even out enzymes and not every peice has the same amount of enzymes

So now he is more stable not loosing not gaining a little on the lean side she said its working, we are still working out the food for now will leave him on lamb from acana but am looking into changing from 5% fibre to 4%.

He did not do will on fish pork or chicken. He was on grasslands acana but we changed that 2 bags ago to single source protien lamb, he also does well on beef but the fiber in ranchland is 7% so we dont want to increase fiber we want to decrease it. So when we find the right one we will change, just got our free big bad of acana so now we have 4 weeks to find a different food and transition him onto it.

My vet is still working with me knows the cost and budget that i have , but keeps suggesting i go completly raw die since he is more stable.

Thanks for the video, this is exactly how we do it, but we weigh the portion for each meal and freeze it, going to try sissors to cut it up looks much easier. there is some waste fat and other gross parts but after you cut a few pounds you kind of get use to the smell.

the slop looks gross but he absolutly loves the stuff. gobbles it down

it also slows him down alot cause it so sticky

i am going to get a better backup bottle from epi4dogs website for backup, but from what my supplies tell me i can get as much fresh as i require. he needs about 20 lbs a month with current feeding.

i also give tank mothly b12 shots at home, i have a bottle with 30 doses and needles to give him,

I love Tank very much, he is the smartest loyal friend i ever had. I took him to puppy school level 1 and 2 he listens and watches me on command,

he loves to come everywhere with me, he is even able to see when my youngest son 8 is upset. he takes upon himself to lie next to him put his head on his lap and comfort him.

he is truley the most remarkable dog i ever knew.

Picked up some slippery elm powder today not expensive 100g for about 8 dollars, asked if anything else in it, you never know, he said it was pure not cut with anything, think i will start at 1/4 teaspoon and see what happens. Maybe it helps reduce the acid in his stomach allowing more zymes to reach intestine.