Sassy says HI and Thank You!!!

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

Re: Sassy says HI and Thank You!!!

Post by Madelon » 17 Apr 2019, 21:40

Hi there. Your math sounds about right. I buy a kilogram (basically two of the 500 gram bags) at a time and when I was feeding 6 cups a day it was lasting less than 2 months. I've switched food and have been able to reduce to 4 cups a day I think I'm getting right at 2 months out of the enzymes. I use 1tsp per cup of kibble.
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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Riley's Mom
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Re: Sassy says HI and Thank You!!!

Post by Riley's Mom » 17 Apr 2019, 22:27

And don't forget, once she gains her weight back, you can cut the food back to normal amounts, not 150%, so that will reduce the amount of enzymes you use.
Elisabeth

Riley is a 10 year old Labradoodle. She was diagnosed with EPI in 2014.
She currently eats Taste of the Wild, I cup in the morning, 2 cups in the evening, each meal with 1 Wonderlabs B12 sprinkled over her dinner. Enzymes are EnzymeDiane, 1 tsp per cup of food, mixed in home made bone broth. No other supplements or meds at this time.
Riley currently weighs about 44 pounds, which is pretty heavy for her.

RichardB
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Posts: 55
Location: San Francisco Bay Area
Country: United States
State: California
Pet name: Sassy
My name: Richard

Re: Sassy says HI and Thank You!!!

Post by RichardB » 17 Apr 2019, 22:34

Have you ever run into a time where you couldn't get enzyme from Diane? I just finished my first bag of 500G. I had another one ready and just received my first Kilo, because it wasn't available before now. I'm thinking I'd like to stock up on about a 6 month supply at least, so about 3 or 4 Kilos. Does that sound about right for what the rest of you do? Her life depends on it and I want to make sure I'm doing my part to insure she gets what she needs.

Thanks,
Richard and Sassy

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Riley's Mom
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Posts: 203
Country: United States
State: Virginia

Re: Sassy says HI and Thank You!!!

Post by Riley's Mom » 17 Apr 2019, 22:42

Personally I don't order that far in advance, she typically does not have a problem getting enzymes in. She did just have a spell where her supplier had some difficulties with getting 6x, but she always had 8x available. So I don't worry too much about that.
I order again when I have about 2 weeks worth left. Give or take.....But I would say whatever your comfort level is, that's how much you should keep on hand.
Elisabeth

Riley is a 10 year old Labradoodle. She was diagnosed with EPI in 2014.
She currently eats Taste of the Wild, I cup in the morning, 2 cups in the evening, each meal with 1 Wonderlabs B12 sprinkled over her dinner. Enzymes are EnzymeDiane, 1 tsp per cup of food, mixed in home made bone broth. No other supplements or meds at this time.
Riley currently weighs about 44 pounds, which is pretty heavy for her.

RichardB
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Posts: 55
Location: San Francisco Bay Area
Country: United States
State: California
Pet name: Sassy
My name: Richard

Re: Sassy says HI and Thank You!!!

Post by RichardB » 17 Apr 2019, 22:44

Hi Elisabeth,
Yeah, I'm looking forward to when I can cut her back to 4 cups a day! Thought she was cutting herself back over the past couple days and then she ate everything today. Her brother who weighs more than her is eating less than 4 cups a day, but he's been having a harder time adjusting to being fed 3 times a day now as opposed to when they were free fed just 3 weeks ago. Poor guy is really going to struggle when I try to slowly cut them down to 2 feedings a day. We'll see how that works, we all have to adjust. I do have them both on the same salmon and sweet potato now, which is nice. At first he didn't want it. I gave him a choice and in the end he chose what his sister was eating. Doesn't surprise me, since he always tries to take what she has.
What an adventure!!!

Richard and Sassy

RichardB
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Posts: 55
Location: San Francisco Bay Area
Country: United States
State: California
Pet name: Sassy
My name: Richard

Re: Sassy says HI and Thank You!!!

Post by RichardB » 17 Apr 2019, 22:47

Elisabeth, I read where it's supposed to keep for up to 2 years. So I thought a 6 month supply of 3 or 4 Kilos would give me peace of mind. Thanks for your input.

Richard and Sassy

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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: Sassy says HI and Thank You!!!

Post by Jean » 18 Apr 2019, 06:24

we fed Kara 5 meals a day for probably 3-4 months

she had lost a huge ammount of weight. but, as soon as they get within the correct weight range, start cutting down slowly

.in the nearly 9 years we have been here, I have rarely seen Dianes enzymes being an issue , but, you have to feel comfortable

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

RichardB
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Posts: 55
Location: San Francisco Bay Area
Country: United States
State: California
Pet name: Sassy
My name: Richard

Re: Sassy says HI and Thank You!!!

Post by RichardB » 18 Apr 2019, 11:09

Thanks All,

I'm going to say Sassy lost about 6 lbs over about a month. That would have been about 10% of her normal weight then of 61 lbs. So it wasn't as bad as many I have read about here. Maybe because she was free fed? I noticed her being skinny more the last 2 weeks, but then again I was in NJ taking care of my Mom for 10 days in the middle of it. The biggy was the cow pies which had been going on for about 4 weeks prior to the first enzyme treatment.
She is spunky and loving today, the most ever! I think she's close to her normal weight, but she was always on the skinny side, so what should her real "normal" be? For a German Shepherd she still isn't full grown at 15 months. Some say 2 years for them until full grown. So how much did EPI effect her and for how long? Was she skinny before because of it? Should her real "normal" be some number higher than her highest weight?
I'll continue to feed her the 6 cups a day, 2 cups a feeding, and watch how she fills in and responds. It's only been 3 weeks so far since we started enzymes. She could actually use a few more pounds to fill in. She has been fixed, while her brother has not. He's filled in nicely and is kind of a gauge of where she should be. These are not big German Shepherds, he's only 68 lbs on my scale now, She was 61 lbs about 2 months ago for her high. Just weighed her and she weighed almost 64 lbs on my scale, so she probably is about where she should be. With that new info I'll start to reduce her food maybe next week. Will continue to watch her and decide when.
Her poops are not at the 2 or 3 they were about a week ago. Would feel a lot better if they were. She just finished her breakfast, 2 cups in about 3 minutes, while her brother still hasn't decided when or if he'll eat his. I feed him about 1 1/3 cups each feeding 3 times a day, and he never seems really hungry, more like he could take it or leave it.
Will go pick up poops soon and see how they look.

Have a great day All,
Richard and Sassy

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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: Sassy says HI and Thank You!!!

Post by Jean » 18 Apr 2019, 11:32

forgive me for asking this, but re you up to date with worming

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

RichardB
Member
Posts: 55
Location: San Francisco Bay Area
Country: United States
State: California
Pet name: Sassy
My name: Richard

Re: Sassy says HI and Thank You!!!

Post by RichardB » 18 Apr 2019, 22:52

Oh yeah Jean, we gave her a deworming treatment before anything else while I was away in NJ. I had read that it might be causing her cow pies so I thought it was worth a try. Then the vet put her on an antibiotic for 7 days prior to being tested for EPI. I still might need to have her treated for SID, we'll see. I'm also considering cutting back on the enzyme a little to see if that helps. We're doing OK now, just need to fine tune her! She had a good day today and has gained back most of her weight if not all of it plus some. A little hard to tell because she's always been on the skinny side. The good news is: she's gained weight and her poops are getting there. We'll see how things go from here.

Thanks for your help and concern,
Richard and Sassy

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