Home cooking

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.
ed33935

Home cooking

Post by ed33935 » 30 Nov 2018, 10:25

Hello all

Could you give me an idea of home cooking ideas for our EPI dogs? I know not all of you do, but those that do, I wonder about what type of food do you serve? How do you determine portion size? How are you adding the enzymes? Our vet suggested boiled chicken, rice, scrambled egg, sweet potato.

Thanks in advance

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Kodis Mom
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Posts: 62
Location: Custer, WA.
Country: United States
State: Washington

Re: Home cooking

Post by Kodis Mom » 30 Nov 2018, 10:54

https://epi4dogs.com/diet-raw-home-prepared-recipe. Morning, have you had a look at this ? It's under the food tab. I feed kibble, and add cook meat on occasion.
Kodi
B. 8/19/2010 Diagnosed at 11 months.
Kodi is now on Natures Logic turkey and/or pork kibble, 2 cups with 2 teaspoons of enzymes, 1/8 teaspoon of ground coriander, 1/16 teaspoon of cinnamon and ground fennel seed (for tummy upsets) twice a day, plus one one B12 capsule from Wonderlabs. She has been very stable and on occasion needs a dose ofTylan.
She is our second GSD with EPI. It was not so scary this time ! And thank goodness for epi4dogs.com ! 💝 Kodi passed on August 25, 2023 just after her 13th birthday.💝 Forever grateful to Olesia and epi4dogs. She live a long and adventurous life with EPI.

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Devika
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Re: Home cooking

Post by Devika » 30 Nov 2018, 10:56

Hello from India!

I just wrote a long reply and it has disappeared. :(

Rice is usually not recommended for EPI dogs.

I home cook for my Mahi - 100 gms light lentils, 100 gm' each of carrots, beetroot and bottle gourd, 100 gms tapioca. All boiled together and divided equally into three meals. Two eggs. Supplemented with grain free dog food. Chicken never suited her but every EPI dog is different.

I'm sure you will have more responses from American members with suggestions you can source easily.

Cheers

Devika
Mahi, the Indian EPI dog, was symptomatically diagnosed with EPI in 2009, when she was 1 and a half years old. We come from a small town in India where no one had ever heard of EPI - many thanks to the angels at EPI4dogs for working with me and encouraging me to find EPI resources here in India.

Combination of grain-free dog food and home cooked diet, root vegetables, lauki (bottle gourd) carrots, beetroot, sabudana(tapioca) eggs - boiled and mashed - divided into three equal meals. One Creon 25k tablet given 20 mins before every meal. Tylan twice a day. Bi monthly B12 injections.

Down to 19 kgs at her lowest, now a bright, active 10 year old EPI survivor weighs 30 kgs.

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Stacie & Dizzy
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Country: United States
State: Arkansas

Re: Home cooking

Post by Stacie & Dizzy » 30 Nov 2018, 13:39

Sorry I do not have any recommendations for home cooking. Hopefully in the above suggestions you can find something that works for your pup.
My name is Stacie and my girl's name is Dizzy. German Shepherd, Age 10-diagnosed 12/24/2011 at 55 pounds, current weight is 93 pounds.
Feeding Taste of the Wild 4 cups a day with Enzyme Diane 1tsp per cup. Wonderlabs b12 once daily.
Dizzy has Pannus, given Cyclosporine drops in each eye twice daily. Pepcid once daily. Apoquel for allergies once daily.

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Patsy
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Re: Home cooking

Post by Patsy » 30 Nov 2018, 15:49

This maybe useful to people, but I would stress that if your pet has urinary or kidney issues,seek your vet’s advice. A lower meat protein diet may be better. Or liver disease.
I have two small dogs, one about 10 lbs the other about 14 . Not epi, but recipe the same. I used to do raw and minced food for tiny or toothless mouths. I made a large potful and bagged it into portions for the freezer. Ingredients were various.. minced beef/boned chicken thighs/turkey/white fish plus 20% organ meat(liver or kidney).Then a choice of cooked sweet potato, broccoli, carrots, green beans. Egg is fine for most. A dash of salmon or coconut oil,and then the tricky bit of knowing how much powdered bone or ground eggshell . You can buy mineral supplement instead., as the balance of phosphorous and Calcium and salt is very very important, especially in a dog with possible kidney trouble.
It was a lot of work!and when I found a commercial wet food with the same ingredients, I happily bought into it. If your dog still has urinary trouble,I would check with your vet. You may needs low protein diet.
As for portion size, add a bit of water and guess the the same size as you use with canned food.
Springer spaniel Marti had Epi, PLE , MMM just to confuse me. She lived till 12yrs, chubby and happy despite eight years of epi.
Capsule enzymes suited her best. B12 supplements made her into a new dog!
After a cocker with PLN kidney disease, I now have two healthy rescues, a lively, suicidal , small ginger terrier, adopted with pneumonia, and gum disease needing nearly all his teeth out, and a fluffy grey toy poodle/terrier from Greece.

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Patsy
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Country: United Kingdom - England

Re: Home cooking

Post by Patsy » 30 Nov 2018, 17:55

Correction.... 10% bone.

Lots of info on the drop down menu under Feeding. It took me weeks to work he new website things out, but everything is found by clicking on the three horizontal lines on the Home page,hidden in the three tiny horizontal lines on the top right on the orange bit! Then scroll for a long time, and read in bed!
Springer spaniel Marti had Epi, PLE , MMM just to confuse me. She lived till 12yrs, chubby and happy despite eight years of epi.
Capsule enzymes suited her best. B12 supplements made her into a new dog!
After a cocker with PLN kidney disease, I now have two healthy rescues, a lively, suicidal , small ginger terrier, adopted with pneumonia, and gum disease needing nearly all his teeth out, and a fluffy grey toy poodle/terrier from Greece.

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Olesia711
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Posts: 3857
Location: North Carolina
Country: United States
State: North Carolina
Pet name: Izzy
My name: olesia

Re: Home cooking

Post by Olesia711 » 30 Nov 2018, 19:16

Devika.... so sorry your long post disappeared :( ... that is very frustrating when that happens ....

Patsy... i LOVE your last comment... to read in bed... hahahahaha..... lots of info and that really is a good suggestion!

Regarding Home Cooking.... definitely check out the Diet Tab and look in the home prepared section.
I do home prepared, but, as Patsy mentioned, always be cognizant of what food items may not be appropriate "if" your dog has another health condition in addition to EPI.

WHen i did 100% home prepared...i personally did "approximately" the following daily:

50% baked, skinned and de-fatted chicken breast
30% microwaved sweet potatoes, skinned, mashed and cooled.
10% cottage cheese
5% cooked kale
5% chicken livers/heart/ kidney (as organ meat)
1/3 raw egg (i have 3 dogs so i split 1 raw egg between the 3 of them
1/2 tsp Bone Meal
1 VetriScience Canine Multi Vitamin
1 EFAs
(and 3 days a week i also give Pet Factor B12, Vit E)

Before my gal was a diabetic... i used to swap out all kind of meat... sometimes i would use chuck roast or some sort of whole beef piece of meat that was not too expensive-i never used hamburger and was also told by a vet to never use raw hamburger but rather if using always cook it, sometimes i used lean pork loin, and once in a great while, i'd give cooked fish or tuna.

I'd calculate how many estimated calories my dog was recommended via kibble packages... and then i would use that as a guideline as to how many calories my dog needed via the percentages i was feeding with my home-prepared ingredients. i gave bone meal to cover the necessary bone requirement, but real bones or egg shells are also excellent.

A good plan is to work up a menu for your dog with the ratios....and then show it to your vet to see if they they it is a good plan for your individual dog.
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.........

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jilbert57
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State: Washington

Re: Home cooking

Post by jilbert57 » 30 Nov 2018, 23:55

Hi. Neither of mine are EPI but I buy pork loin on sale, cube 3lbs up, 1 large sweet potato, cubed squash and fresh spinach. Add about 1c water. Cook on high for 4 hrs. Then I add 1/4 c on top of their kibble with 1/2 t Upco bonemeal. They love it. The little guy has issues so no vitamin. I feed strictly kibble at breakfast.
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.

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

Re: Home cooking

Post by Jean » 01 Dec 2018, 04:00

Never really home cooked for my dogs, but I do mashed potato and scrambled eggs as a late night snack


Jean
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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Madelon
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Location: Nashville, TN
Country: United States
State: Tennessee
Pet name: Doc

Re: Home cooking

Post by Madelon » 01 Dec 2018, 08:43

I do not home cook but was also going to suggest looking at the information on it under the diet tab. There is a chart and it also explains how much to feed. The one thing I would suggest is to be sure you keep a DETAILED log of exactly what and how much of what you are feeding - just in case you run into food sensitivities.

Jill - your dogs eat better than I do LOL
Madelon, owned by DOC. DOC dx EPI 5/2015 = TLI < .4, B12 406; Folate >24. DOC taught me so much and together we battled and overcame EPI, food sensitivies, environmental allergies but we lost the cancer battle. DOC was dx with hemangiosarcoma 5/2022 and crossed the rainbow bridge July 24, 2022. He is and always will be the love of my life, my soulmate, my heart dog.

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