Epi4Dogs

Just had my 2 yr old female shepherd tested for EPI. For the past yr and a half her symptoms have been:
Dog waste ranging from cow patty to black coffee
Eating waste
Excessive hunger (I feed her 2 cups each twice daily)
Bouts of excessive thirst
Walking skeleton
etc...
I have been able to at least get her to maintain her current weight by only letting her eat Science Diet I/D and using Bio Case enzymes.
Anyway, her results came back not EPI. I was certain she had it. Now I'm at a loss at what to do or test for.
Her results where:
Spec cPL 97
(TLI)a. 16.4
Cobalamin 533
Folate 19.3
Anyone have any suggestions? The Vet believed the only other thing it may be is some sort of dog IBS.

firstly, welcome

was the blood test 12 hours fasted ?

Yes, actually it was about 14 1/2 hrs fasting

Hello
I am posting the TLI results from the Lab and how to interpret it could be your dog has pancreatitis but that is a another test the folate is high that may suggest some form of gut in balance we use Tylan .
https://www.cvm.tamu.edu/gilab/service/assays/tli
I think i would discuss with your vet.Hope this helps.

Hi and welcome to our EPI family. I would definitely talk to your vet about SID/SIBO (small intestinal dysbiosis - formerly called small intestinal bacterial overgrowth) - it is very common in GSD. Here is a link to our page on managing SID https://epi4dogs.com/sidsibo-management/. I would also talk to your vet about possibly supplementing B12. There is recent research that dogs with chronic gut issues benefit from B12 supplementing - here is a link https://epi4dogs.com/b12-researchpublications/. Lastly, yes it could also be IBD - which basically means your dog has food sensitivities and will need to do a food elimination trial to see what proteins/ingredients your dog is sensitive to or use a prescription hydrolyzed food. Here is a link to some information on IBD https://epi4dogs.com/ibd-allergies-food-intolerance/

Also, just to keep in the back of your mind. My GSD was first tested for EPI at 3months old - his TLI was 16 and B12 was over 800 - he did great for 10months gaining weight and growing. He then slowly started to lose weight - he was tested for EPI again at 13mos old and his TLI was less than .4. SO, there is a slight chance your dog could be headed towards EPI but the pancreas is still functioning enough to not register as EPI and if other things are ruled out and the symptoms continue I would recommend testing again.

Keep us posted on what you and the vet decide to do. Whether or not your dog has EPI, you are welcome here.