EPI and Secondary Issues

[Molly]

We rescued an 11 month old GSD about 5 weeks ago and he’s spent about as much time in the ICU as he has at our home. Luckily (from what I’ve read), we caught his EPI with only one bout of SIBO and one return hospital stay. Within 48 hours of starting the enzymes he was on the right track. However, within those 48 hours after leaving the ICU and coming home he developed an abscess on his hip and a swollen/painful foot that eventually turned into what looked like an infected hot spot. The skin looked like it was dying and he was peeling it off. The abscess ended up rupturing on its own 2 days later and wasn’t infected or anything. During this time he started developing scabby spots on the tops of his ears. The vet saw him in follow up and said he thought it was related to him wearing the cone for so long. He was switched to a comfy cone. However, now both tips of his ears have fallen off. There’s a small piece left on one ear that I think will fall off soon. Our vet is stumped and is referring us to dermatology. Has anyone else experience anything like this with their EPI GSD or other dog?

[Olesia711]

First of all, thank you so much for rescuing this pup and getting his EPI under good manageable control.... but OMG... this skin thing.... where tips of his ears are falling off... that is awful and so bizarre. And so sorry, but "no", i have not heard of this. However, it sounds like this could be some sort flesh eating disease.... so i looked it up and althou rare, i guess it can happen:
https://www.wormsandgermsblog.com/2012/ ... -in-a-dog/

I also found this which gave a variety of possibilities:
https://www.dvm360.com/view/ear-edge-de ... nd-scabies

The other thing is to please let your vet know, just in case he/she hasn't dealt with EPI, is that with some of these EPI dogs their immune systems are compromised and then they may develop all kinds of other health conditions.... for example, my EPI ga, who was diagnosed with EPI at 1+1/2 yr old.... went on to develop, central brain vestibular disease, IMHA (Immune Mediated Hemolytic Anemia), Diabetes, Low Thyroid... and she lived until 15 years old and was an extremely active and happy dog, once we got a handle on each of these conditions (that happened one at a time!) one would never know she was sick... nothing slowed her down..... BUT..... it was almost like once she had one immune condition it seemed like she was susceptible to getting other conditions.

I wish i had a better answer for you, but don't. Please keep us posted.

[Barb]

I am so sorry you and your new pup are going through all this. Bringing a new member into your family is pretty monumental under normal circumstances, but having all these issues at once can really be stressful. You are very generous.

I have not personally had any experience with the skin issue at all, but I seem to recall an episode of one of the animal rescue shows on TV, where they found a dog who was infested with fleas and both his ears were half eaten away from fleas and infection. It was so sad.....but it did have a happy ending. Once they got the fleas under control and all the other issues taken care of, someone adopted him and he was fine. I hope you and your vet can find out what is going on with your poor pup. Please keep us posted.

Barb

And congratulations on getting the EPI managed!

[Jean]

one of my friends dog had something similar

the vet took scrapings to clear the possibilty of scabies, I would ask the vet to do this and get it lab tested, poor love

this is interesting

https://www.petmd.com/dog/emergency/acc ... uries-pets

unfortunately you cant treat unless you know the root cause

good luck

Jean

[Molly]

Thank you, everyone, for your responses, suggestions, and wishes of good luck. I spoke with our vet yesterday about my hesitation with going to derm and putting Connor through even more exams, testing, and just time. He also has, according to my vet, the worst hip dysplasia he’s ever seen. He said if he only looked at the x-Ray he would think the dog dislocated his hip. We really just want Connor to enjoy his life and run and play while he still can. Because he has EPI which is essentially an autoimmune disorder, he is worried about him having another autoimmune disorder which is causing all these strange skin reactions. I told him that if the affected paw was a paw other than the one the IV was in, then I would be more concerned. The abscess on the hip healed quickly and we haven’t seen anything else. The ear tips are concerned, but he’s been in a cone for almost 3 weeks. We started him on an antihistamine and a light steroid to help with his itchiness for the paw and ears. I told him I’ll set up an appointment with the dermatologist, but if everything heals and nothing new pops up, then I likely will not go to the appointment. We’re very conservative with medications as a family and I don’t want to keep putting him on meds if they aren’t actually helping anything.

[Jean]

what about giving him a bath with something like baby shampoo, and bathing his ears, which I am sure you already have

hip Dysplasia is something you need to work around, but I am sure you can

the autoimmune issue is constant with EPI my Kara had some much wrong with her because of it, but she enjoyed life, one of my Shepherds had an allergy to grass seeds, so was on anti histamines for life

certainly he should have someone to give you some ideas, antests for what the skin issue is

Jean

[Molly]

We did bathe him about a week after he was released. He was so sick and so immobile that he was just peeing where he was laying in the ICU. It was heartbreaking to hear he was that sick. The tech did dry shampoo on him before he came home because we had to keep him out of water for his paw. I clean his ears with warm water and then put Vaseline on them.

We have an appointment with a dermatologist on July 15th. I was hoping that everything was going to subside before having to go, but I think the smart thing is to go. His ears are healing and his paw probably has 20% more to go. Even if this is just the worst case of allergies ever, I still want to know. The pollen is terrible this year. Plus, I’ve been reading about all the underlying issues that accompany EPI. When all of this started and I was reading horror stories about EPI and figuring it out and our transition went smoothly, I figured the other shoe had to drop at some point! Either way, we will figure it out and he’ll be comfortable. Even if his ears fall off and he looks like a harbor seal instead of a GSD!

[Barb]

He is so lucky to be with you! You are an inspiration. Please keep us updated. Fingers crossed he keeps improving.

Barb

[Molly]

Thank you so much for saying that. It means a lot. I will absolutely post an update when we get some answers. Maybe it will help someone else. Thanks!

[Olesia711]

I second what Barb said, you are his human earth angel... and he is very lucky to have you be his care-giver and companion.
Please do keep us posted with how he is doing and how his appt with the dermatologist goes!