EPI UPSET AFTER CASTRATION

[nai26]

Good Afternoon All,
I have a 13 month old Chowski (Chow Chow x Siberian Husky) who was diagnosed with EPI at 8 months old after being so super poorly.
Anyway our boy has been stable and slowly popping on lost weight and is thriving.
On Wednesday he went it to be castrated and is not doing well... We had out post op check today.
Basically he didn’t eat a thing for the first 36 hours so vets advice was chicken & rice, however we opted for white fish as Oakley doesn’t get on with chicken & his poops were soft and almost uncontrollable as they were in the house which is unlike him. Today he has now been sick & has blood in his diarrhoea.
I have called the out if ours vet who asked if he had been on any pain medication to which i said yes since Thursday morning, he was given 3 day’s worth she explained the first vet I spoke too should have told us to stop when I called the first time as that can cause sickness & diarrhoea. So i’m not very happy to say the least. She also said to continue on the fish and rice. My concern was it was completely undigested - whole bits of rice.
Oakley has enzymes sprinkled on top of his food every meal time, this all brings back terrible memories from a few months ago!
Vet has said that all these things can be after affects of the stress, anaesthetic & pain meds. I just wanted to know if anyone had experienced anything similar with an EPI patient or any tips to get him back up & running smoothly or should I be concerned?
I do not have as much faith as I should in the vets as it took a month after my fighting with a particular vet to get a diagnosis for him as they told me I was overeacting! Thanks from a stressed sad mummy x

[Jean]

I am goingt to send you my telephone number

please ring me

0151 726 1468

I am in Liverpool

it will have to be tomorrow but feel free

Jean

[jilbert57]

I see Jean has posted. You will be in good hands.

[nai26]

Thank you so much Jean for your kindness.
I would be eternally grateful if you’re sure that’s okay? Please do let me know when would be suitable for you. It is deeply appreciated. Oak’s has had more & more bouts this evening even though he hasn’t eaten since this morning. Vet advised to with hold food & try & off a couple tablespoons of rice & fish but absolutely no interest.
Thank you again.

[Jean]

Any time after 10 am

[Patsy]

Hi , I hope you spoke to Jean. She’s been through everything except the male castration with Kara!
My newest dog had no problems with the castration op, painkillers were not needed, and he was hungry immediately. I’m not a fan of chicken and rice, even with a normal dog, especially if they are not used to it. I wouldn’t give it to an epi one. I gave my boy scrambled eggs and sweet potato then straight back to his normal food.
How have you tried to give your enzymes? Presumably the poor lad can’t face enzymed food anyway. It’s possible he’s getting the balance of gut bacteria messed up, and excess acid too.
It’s possible that he may have a sore throat/windpipe from the breathing tube, though the operation is very quick. His wound may be sore or he’s a bit of a baby!
For blood in the poop, I would wait it out a day . Then check with the good vet on Monday. Ask if you can use a mucilage preparation to soothe it(we all use Slippery elm, but vets have to use a medical version). I feel it is very important to keep in step with the vet you respect, and question everything, making sure they understand the epi protocol. Refer them to this website, it’s not a quack set-up.
It would be very helpful if you could list your drugs and food type for us . As UK members, we can suggest what we have found what works. Also our enzymes are different from our North American friends, no soaking, and a choice of capsules.
I really hope he picks up, I know how ghastly the diarrhoea is. I bought my own carpet washing machine. Do keep posting on progress or problems.

[Olesia711]

everyone has given you some really good advice & suggestions.... which i have nothing to add to..... BUT.... i did want to share with you our experience... although we have a female so she was spayed... and we did not have loose stools/blood in the stools etc... BUT what i did want to share with you is that we held off spaying until my gal was stable with her EPI. Spay went fine.... BUT after we brought her home she wouldn't eat.... for FIVE days!!!! i was frantic! Turns out, part was just her response to having something done/stress, etc... but then i exacerbated things by getting upset cause she was not eating well- -my EPI dog Izzy sensed my anxiousness.... and that made it even worse!

We finally got her to eat because my vet brought this to my attention and then he told me to laugh or sing or whatever....and just make a happy event when it came to meal time... so that she wouldn't sense my anxiousness.... and sure enough... by laughing and smiling at her when feeding her, she started eating.

I know there is more going on with your pup.... but i just wanted to share this too in case this might also be part of the mix......

Glad you are getting help for the more specifics that you are dealing with from other members

Good Luck!

[Madelon]

Thank you Jean for offering your support and personally reaching out! My boy was neutered about 8 mos after diagnosis - he was stable and had gained all his weight back. He did have some off poops for I think 2 days - my vet advised to slowly reintroduce food so I did not withhold it but reduced the amount - he is a complete food junkie so he ate right away. He has been under anesthesia 3x since diagnosis and every time is scary - he does not seem himself and has off poops but after about 2 days he's perfectly fine. Keep us posted on how things go.

[Jean]

sometimes people like me need personal reassurance, and Patsy, thats a fact you made me laugh

[nai26]

Thank you so much everyone. I will be calling Jean shortly.
Oakley seem’s much brighter this morning & was only down in the garden about 4.15am with a small bloody diarrhoea stool. He’s had a small portion of white fish & rice (2 tablespoons at 8am) and it’s not come up or out so far! I have no doubt I worry myself silly but after seeing him so young & so poorly - my heart was broken!
He was due to be castrated in April but fell poorly so it obviously did not go ahead & that’s when we went on the EPI rollercoaster, so we have waited till his weight was stable, poops & him in himself!
After he had his diagnosis we did a lot of trial & error with foods and found Royal Canin Vet Diet - Hypoallergenic to be the best for him & it stabilised his weight also. We tried incorporating the wet version to make it more yummy & it sent his EPI crazy so just on his biccies!
He’s also on pro-enzorb enzymes and has been doing absolutely fine. When well & on biccies he has half a tablet sprinkled on his meals & he is fed 3 x a day.
When he was diagnosed after the first meal with enzymes he was a completely different dog & a solid poo - I felt like I had won the world!!
I’d prefer him to be on his regular food as know he does well on that just don’t want to further upset his stomach if I switch him back to it.
I do not see the vet that we did not get on with anymore & did end up with a wonderful vet that listened to what I was saying as his mummy. That was after out 6th visit in 7 days as I knew he wasn’t well.
I know am I a complete worrier - Our dear Alaskan Malamute passed away last year at nearly 12 and was rescued at 4 with lots of health concerns and had a lifetime of management but lived a wonderful life! But that did not stop me panicking every time she was under the weather!
Thank you all, what a wonderful community you are!