Epi4Dogs

Good morning!

I haven't posted anything in a while because we have been on a very good path in managing Fi's EPI. We just moved into our new home with a big fenced in backyard, and we quickly discovered that Fi is back to her old habits of eating her own poop. She doesn't want it until it is a couple days old, rather than trying to eat it fresh like when we first discovered she had EPI and she wasn't getting any nutrients. I am trying to figure out if it is just because she has access to it (not leashed in the backyard, moved from an apartment where she was always leashed outside), or if it is a sign of something else.

Two days ago, her poop degraded to liquid diarrhea for about 24 hours, and it has been gradually returning to normal (still a bit of soft-serve as of today). I am not sure if this is a reaction to the poop-eating, or if it is another symptom. I think she may have SID now because of the yellow color and consistency of her current poop, probably caused by the poop-eating.

She is on Pancreatin 6x 1tsp per 1 cup of food, her poops have been perfect in color and firmness up until two-three days ago, Sport Dog Elite Buffalo and Sweet Potato for food, gets Wonderlands B12 with each meal (her B12 was over 1000 last time we got it checked, so no issues there), and is getting 1/2tsp of Slippery Elm Bark Powder with each meal as well to combat the SID. The only thing that has changed in her diet recently was a switch from coconut oil to fish oil, so that could also be causing the soft poops. I stopped the fish oil yesterday morning and her poops have started to firm up since then, but the diarrhea didn't start until about 2-3 days after we started adding the fish oil.

I am just so confused! Any thoughts??

Hello! Congratulations on your new home......although nothing is ever quite perfect, is it? LOL

It sounds like you may have answered part of your own question as far as the bad poos. The diarrhea started after you had given her fish oil for a couple of days and it subsided when you stopped. I would continue on that path for a few more days and see if her poos continue to improve without the fish oil. That way you won't be changing anything else and you can tell if that was the culprit.

If the poos don't continue to improve because SID was brewing anyway, you may have to do a round of antibiotics. Have you used tylan before? We usually recommend a 45 day protocol of tylan as it usually works well for EPI dogs and doesn't have as many side effects as other antis. However, you can talk it over with your vet. There are others you can use.

It is possible that she started to feel the effects of SID brewing after you moved into your new house and she started to eat poop again. Then the fish oil kind of complicated it.

Let us know how it goes.

Hang in there.

Barb

Going by your timeline... it does sound like the fish oil could have been the main problem for the liquid stools. Although SID can display with liquid stools, my understanding is that when you see liquid poo, it is often a result of a diet sensitivity. SO.... it kind of fits that Fi might be sensitive to fish oil just going by the timeline. And.... there may also be a little stress involved because of the move and this in itself can trigger SID to get out of good control. The few day old poop eating (to me) does not sound like a nutrition deficiency .. but rather a naughty habit possibly brewing....maybe try putting a little crushed pineapple in the food. Supposedly this helps deter some dogs from eating their poo... although i am not sure if it will still work on a couple of day old poo.... but might be worth trying.

Like Barb mentioned, Fi might need a course of Tylan to get things back in order since you are already giving Slippery ELm....but in this case since it was all of a sudden (not slowly building up and since it also appears to be fixing itself)... if you do decide to give Tylan.... this might be a situation where you only need a short course of it like 5 to10 days....... but... what you might want to try first, jsut for a few days (maybe 3 to 5 days) is slightly increase the enzymes with each meal and see if that helps at all before resorting to an antibiotic... it jsut may help things go i the right direction to where you dont have to use an antibiotic. At least it won't hurt anything to try, even if it doesn't work........

Maybe a little stressed from the move also?

Jill

hi

been there many times

eating old poo will likely cause liquid poops as it hasnt enzymes to digest it

Kara couldn't tolerate anything with fish, or fish oil , white fish just went straight through her

they are an enigma, every day a revelation, she must love the freedom , but again, this is all a new learning curve for her, and anything new brings its stresses

I would give a course of Tylan, and keep a written record of everything

good luck

jx

Congratulations on your first home! Stress can definitely cause SID but since you recently added fish that would be my first suspect. Sounds like you've figured things out already - how's it going?

A thought can you add pineapple to her food , people say it works to help stopping them eating poo

Thank you for all of the responses!

Her poops have firmed up back to normal over the weekend, I think it was the fish oil. Unfortunately, the fish oil seemed to work so much better for her allergies than the coconut oil does, so I am going to try to gradually add it in maybe once a day instead of the twice a day I started with. Yay no antibiotics necessary!

She is still eating her poop in the backyard though, I'm thinking it's behavioral at this point since she doesn't have symptoms of anything else. I can try the pineapple on her food, I was also thinking about sprinkling a sour powder on her poop every time she goes, that way it'll be sour if she tries to eat it later.

Thoughts?

-Eleanor

having had three shepherds whose favourite foods were horse muck, I doubt anything on it will work, and it might be detrimental to spray anything on the poo

the only thing I did was to watch Kara like a hawk, and pick it up straight away, you can usually learn to recognise the pooing position of the tail, and move in

jx

Our EPI Corgi, Mikko, is a poop eater. With winter finally in retreat we’ve cleaned up the yard and are picking up the dog’s poo immediately every time we take them out. I would say that since the enzyme treatment he is better but I swear these corgis would eat their weight in food everyday if you let them.

Our best defense is to eliminate the availability. I walk them on short lease until they do their business now making it easier to find and pickup. They can roam on long lead after.