Need help and advice. At a loss for my poor dog luna

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.
Ashley1106
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Posts: 13
Country: United States
State: New York

Need help and advice. At a loss for my poor dog luna

Post by Ashley1106 » 05 Jan 2019, 21:59

My dog Luna was diagnosed with epi when she was around 1 years old. We have been managing her condition with enzyme Diane enzymes for the past year and a half as well as giving b12 injections due to low b12. Well she is now 2 and a half and was acting off so I brought her to the vet. They now diagnosed her with hemolytic anemia. We ended up being able to get that condition under control but now it seems as if her EpI is not. She is rapidly loosing weight despite giving the enzymes and b12. We were giving 2 cups of food twice a day with 1 tsp per cup of food. We have been giving her Purina pro plan since she was born and even after diagnosed and she seemed ok on it. We increased her food to 3 cups twice a day due to the rapid weight loss and increased the enzymes as well. The vet put her on metronidazole for possible Sibo and it didn’t help. Then they gave us pro-pectin which they said was almost like a probiotic and coated the stomach and that should help. Well nope nothings helping she’s having pudding like stools for weeks on end and loosing weight and a different girl. The vet is giving us no more options besides doing an ultrasound of her abdomen to possibly see what’s going on and we cannot afford to do it Bc it’s going to be upwards of $700. I don’t know what to do. I have no other options for her and I’m just watching her melt away and it’s killing me. If anyone has any advice or suggestions please share !!

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Kodis Mom
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Location: Custer, WA.
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Re: Need help and advice. At a loss for my poor dog luna

Post by Kodis Mom » 05 Jan 2019, 23:03

Hi. Can you answer some questions please. How long was Luna on Metro ? Have you tried Tylan ? What are the stools like, runny,watery, cow pies ? What kind of B12 ? Sorry about the questions.
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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Jean
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Location: South Liverpool
Country: United Kingdom - England
Pet name: Kara, lost 10th May 2019
My name: Jean

Re: Need help and advice. At a loss for my poor dog luna

Post by Jean » 06 Jan 2019, 04:46

Hi there and welcome, although I know you dont want to be here

i would be interested in what the vets gave for the hemolytic anemia, I came across this a while ago which a friends dog, who was treated with steroids, but its a long time ago

is it this one.....Autoimmune hemolytic anemia

having looked it up, it causes weight loss etc., what do you mean by acting off ? and is she still on medication ?

Pro Pectalin is an anti diarreah medication which has inbuilt gut meds

I sympathise about costs, is there no way you can make a payment plan with the vets, at least it would sort that out, what about blood tests ?

this is only my thoughts, what about changing her food to a grain free brand, maybe she is becoming intolerant of Pro Plan, which one is she eating ?

I am assuming this is the composition

Chicken (20%), Wheat, Dehydrated poultry protein, Maize, Rice (9%), Animal fat, Dried beet pulp, Digest, Soya meal, Maize gluten meal, Wheat gluten meal, Minerals, Dried egg, Fish oil.

my girl was fine with chicken for over a year , now she cannot tolerate chicken, rice, or grain, this food has it all, she cant even tolerate chicken fat which most dog foods have it in them, so, we had to change from the grain free food we fed at the time , she was like your Luna, and was shedding her bowel too, which was a result of SIBO/SID, do you ever have times when her stools are normalish ?

and if you could answer the questions that would help

Trust me, I know how this hurts, Kara was very ill during the shedding bowel thing, but came round after food change

I would try that first, as its not the most expensive thing to try, and it was my vets suggestion before we went to allergy testing which is also expensive

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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Devika
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Re: Need help and advice. At a loss for my poor dog luna

Post by Devika » 06 Jan 2019, 05:51

I'm sorry you're having to go through so much pain with Luna - it is so frustrating when one is not getting answers and watching their dog suffer - we all have Luna in our thoughts and prayers.

I would also suggest a diet change - my dog cannot digest rice at all and is not good with chicken either. Have you tried a home cooked diet? I don't use powder enzymes so cannot comment on those but I'm sure someone will weigh in.

I know others will chime in too - keep faith - I'm sure something will work out soon.

Hugs to you and Luna

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.

Ashley1106
Member
Posts: 13
Country: United States
State: New York

Re: Need help and advice. At a loss for my poor dog luna

Post by Ashley1106 » 06 Jan 2019, 07:12

Luna was on metronidazole for 10 days. They did not give us tylan. She said there was one more med to try but then said she couldn’t give it Bc it interacted with her meds for the hemolytic anemia and I’m wondering if that one was it. I will def ask. She is on b12 injections 1.5 ml once a week. And she’s having cow pies. She was alternating between the occasional somewhat formed to straight cow pies

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

Re: Need help and advice. At a loss for my poor dog luna

Post by Jean » 06 Jan 2019, 07:13

One of our team thought this was worth thinking about

http://www.pethealthnetwork.com/dog-hea ... y-ple-dogs
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

Ashley1106
Member
Posts: 13
Country: United States
State: New York

Re: Need help and advice. At a loss for my poor dog luna

Post by Ashley1106 » 06 Jan 2019, 07:15

She was on prednisone and it wasn’t working so they added A med called imuran and that worked. Now we’re trying to taper prednisone.
Jean wrote: 06 Jan 2019, 04:46 Hi there and welcome, although I know you dont want to be here

i would be interested in what the vets gave for the hemolytic anemia, I came across this a while ago which a friends dog, who was treated with steroids, but its a long time ago

is it this one.....Autoimmune hemolytic anemia

having looked it up, it causes weight loss etc., what do you mean by acting off ? and is she still on medication ?

Pro Pectalin is an anti diarreah medication which has inbuilt gut meds

I sympathise about costs, is there no way you can make a payment plan with the vets, at least it would sort that out, what about blood tests ?

this is only my thoughts, what about changing her food to a grain free brand, maybe she is becoming intolerant of Pro Plan, which one is she eating ?

I am assuming this is the composition

Chicken (20%), Wheat, Dehydrated poultry protein, Maize, Rice (9%), Animal fat, Dried beet pulp, Digest, Soya meal, Maize gluten meal, Wheat gluten meal, Minerals, Dried egg, Fish oil.

my girl was fine with chicken for over a year , now she cannot tolerate chicken, rice, or grain, this food has it all, she cant even tolerate chicken fat which most dog foods have it in them, so, we had to change from the grain free food we fed at the time , she was like your Luna, and was shedding her bowel too, which was a result of SIBO/SID, do you ever have times when her stools are normalish ?

and if you could answer the questions that would help

Trust me, I know how this hurts, Kara was very ill during the shedding bowel thing, but came round after food change

I would try that first, as its not the most expensive thing to try, and it was my vets suggestion before we went to allergy testing which is also expensive

Jeanx

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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: Need help and advice. At a loss for my poor dog luna

Post by Jean » 06 Jan 2019, 08:42

is she still on both drugs ?

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

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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: Need help and advice. At a loss for my poor dog luna

Post by Olesia711 » 06 Jan 2019, 08:49

Hi,

I am so so SO sorry to hear about Luna.

My Izzy, diagnosed at 1+1/2 yr with EPI, was also diagnosed with IMHA (Immune mediated hemolytic anemia) at age 7.
She is now 13+12 and doing well.

I will gladly help you, but i need more information.

First....how long ago was the IMHA detected and exactly what was the treatment..... what is still being done for Luna regarding the IMHA if anything.
Also... how low did her hematocrit go? What is the level now... or when they said she was stable?

Next... the weight loss..... and the fact that she can't handle the food that she used to be able to.. my gal also lost a ton of weight after the IMHA......

Has your vet tested for :
1. Diabetes
2. Low Thyroid

Looking forward to hearing from you.... i'd like to get a more detailed picture of what is going on. so that hopefully, as a parent of and EPI + IMHA survivor, i might be able to help....
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.........

Ashley1106
Member
Posts: 13
Country: United States
State: New York

Re: Need help and advice. At a loss for my poor dog luna

Post by Ashley1106 » 06 Jan 2019, 08:58

Yea
Jean wrote: 06 Jan 2019, 08:42 is she still on both drugs ?

J

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