Need some advice
Posted: 13 Feb 2019, 10:44
I was hoping to get some advice from all of you. Our corgi was tested at the end of December and her TLI was 3 and B12 was 178. She has been on enzymes and Pet Factors B12 for about 5 weeks now. Her poops have been very consistently good but she hasn't gained any weight at all. We are feeding her 4 times/day and the recommended 150% of what she should get at her normal weight of 25 lbs. (she weighs 15.4 lbs now).
Because she hasn't put on even an ounce of weight, I feel like I want her B12 tested to see how much it has come up, if it has, and if it hasn't come up, what we can do to get it higher. The cost for just a B12 lab is $125 and it is $360.00 for a whole gastro panel that would include rechecking her TLI. Do these prices sound reasonable? Should I just get the B12 checked or do the whole panel to get another check of her TLI as long as blood will be drawn? I read that if your dog's TLI is just over the 2.5 diagnostic limit, you should get it checked again 30 days later. Are there any other values on the complete gastro that might help to recheck at this point? If not, I would just have the B12 checked to keep the cost down.
I also wanted to ask if the IDEXX lab is as good as the Texas A & M for the gastro panel. My vet only has an account with IDEXX so her blood would be sent there. Her first gastro panel back at the end of Dec. was analyzed at Texas A & M.
Another thing I wanted to ask is does EPI cause their fur to shed more. I was brushing Pearl the other day and it seemed like so much fur was coming off of her. Of course she just might be in the time of year when she is shedding her undercoat but I wanted to ask all of you if you notice your EPI dog losing fur. She has had a handful of tee tee accidents in the house the past week, which is not normal for her. We took her to the vet the other day and had her tested for UTI. It came up negative and her urine has the right PH. I wondered if accidents could be a side effect of low B12. She does seem less energetic than she was about 4 weeks ago after she got a B12 shot. Before we got the pet factors capsules, I took her to get a B12 shot. It seemed to me like it really helped her but I went to the capsules as so many have good luck with them. Now I am wondering if she would do better with the shots. Having the B12 checked might shed some light on that....
She is constantly licking her paws, too. I don't know about any allergies but she also has never been tested for allergies. I asked the vet about checking for allergies and he didn't think it was necessary. Do dogs with EPI tend to have more allergy problems?
Thank you all so much!
Linda
Because she hasn't put on even an ounce of weight, I feel like I want her B12 tested to see how much it has come up, if it has, and if it hasn't come up, what we can do to get it higher. The cost for just a B12 lab is $125 and it is $360.00 for a whole gastro panel that would include rechecking her TLI. Do these prices sound reasonable? Should I just get the B12 checked or do the whole panel to get another check of her TLI as long as blood will be drawn? I read that if your dog's TLI is just over the 2.5 diagnostic limit, you should get it checked again 30 days later. Are there any other values on the complete gastro that might help to recheck at this point? If not, I would just have the B12 checked to keep the cost down.
I also wanted to ask if the IDEXX lab is as good as the Texas A & M for the gastro panel. My vet only has an account with IDEXX so her blood would be sent there. Her first gastro panel back at the end of Dec. was analyzed at Texas A & M.
Another thing I wanted to ask is does EPI cause their fur to shed more. I was brushing Pearl the other day and it seemed like so much fur was coming off of her. Of course she just might be in the time of year when she is shedding her undercoat but I wanted to ask all of you if you notice your EPI dog losing fur. She has had a handful of tee tee accidents in the house the past week, which is not normal for her. We took her to the vet the other day and had her tested for UTI. It came up negative and her urine has the right PH. I wondered if accidents could be a side effect of low B12. She does seem less energetic than she was about 4 weeks ago after she got a B12 shot. Before we got the pet factors capsules, I took her to get a B12 shot. It seemed to me like it really helped her but I went to the capsules as so many have good luck with them. Now I am wondering if she would do better with the shots. Having the B12 checked might shed some light on that....
She is constantly licking her paws, too. I don't know about any allergies but she also has never been tested for allergies. I asked the vet about checking for allergies and he didn't think it was necessary. Do dogs with EPI tend to have more allergy problems?
Thank you all so much!
Linda