Newly diagnosed with EPI, 15 week puppy
Posted: 29 Jun 2020, 16:09
Hi. My name is Kelly and I'm mom to Wade. Wade is a 15 week old Red Lab full breed puppy.
Our journey began at 9 weeks of age when we had our first sign of diarrhea. It has been an uphill battle ever since. With multiple phones calls to the vet and 2 ER visits because he always seems like he gets worse on the weekends. LOL. We've had 4 stool samples, that all came back negative. On 5/24 he was diagnosed with having Campylobacter overgrowth and was put on Metronidazole, Clindamycin and Proviable. We finished out these meds and didn't see much improvement, actually he was looking like skin and bones. On 6/20, he had another ER visit where they drew blood on him for the Texas GI panel. While we waited for results, he was put on a diet of chicken/rice/pumpkin and was taking Albon (as we thought he might have cocidia as two of his liter mates had that), back on another round of metronidazole and the probiotic. Mid-week, I finally saw a huge improvement of him activity wise. I felt like he was more alert, followed me all over the house, longer bursts of energy, etc. As it turned out on 6/26 when he was weighed he had actually gained 1 1/2 lbs. that week on that diet. However, on Friday 6/26, the Vet called us that the lab work results were consistent with EPI and also evidence of dysbiosis. His B12 level is normal with a Cobalamin Fasting 651mg/L. Wade was prescribed the Pancreazyme Powder (expensive, yikes) and Omeprazole and we were told to finish out the bottle of metronidazole until it's gone (I believe we have just a couple days left on that).
So many questions! LOL...
Food: The vet had prescribed us Hill Science Diet Gastro Biome dog food. We started that this weekend. After reading through some of this website, I see that he needs a low fiber, higher fat diet. This dog food does not fit that. We are thinking of trying the Hills Science Diet large breed puppy lamb/rice. Or the Royal Canine lab food as that fits under the 4% fiber recommendations and also has kibble designed for the lab who just swallows their food!
Feeding: Right now the vet has us giving him 1 cup of food, twice a day. I read here (love this site by the way), that we should be giving 4 small meals. I asked the vet and she agreed but I'm waiting to find out what the food/ratio of powder is? I have no idea.... We have been mixing the enzyme with room temperature water, but the vet said we could get canned dog food and mix the powder into that and then mix his kibble in. That way he eats all of it??
Acid reflux: It was described to us that the Omeprazole was being given is a proton pump inhibitor and that would decrease the acidity in his stomach and promote a good initial response to the treatment. Any recommendations on this? I would love to get Wade on as much natural stuff and away from antibiotics as possible if we can.
Treats: What does EPI mean for getting fed treats? We feel as though getting a treat especially during the training stages of being a puppy is huge (even if it's his own dog food) but can our dogs have them?
Any advice for new parents? I am so thankful that my google search found you all. I believe in the power of parents so much. My son was born with a cleft lip and palate and during my google search I was able to connect to a network of people that I've become amazing friends with and it's so nice to help out families in need. So I'm not new to the time and effort but just not used to it with my 4 legged kids!
Our journey began at 9 weeks of age when we had our first sign of diarrhea. It has been an uphill battle ever since. With multiple phones calls to the vet and 2 ER visits because he always seems like he gets worse on the weekends. LOL. We've had 4 stool samples, that all came back negative. On 5/24 he was diagnosed with having Campylobacter overgrowth and was put on Metronidazole, Clindamycin and Proviable. We finished out these meds and didn't see much improvement, actually he was looking like skin and bones. On 6/20, he had another ER visit where they drew blood on him for the Texas GI panel. While we waited for results, he was put on a diet of chicken/rice/pumpkin and was taking Albon (as we thought he might have cocidia as two of his liter mates had that), back on another round of metronidazole and the probiotic. Mid-week, I finally saw a huge improvement of him activity wise. I felt like he was more alert, followed me all over the house, longer bursts of energy, etc. As it turned out on 6/26 when he was weighed he had actually gained 1 1/2 lbs. that week on that diet. However, on Friday 6/26, the Vet called us that the lab work results were consistent with EPI and also evidence of dysbiosis. His B12 level is normal with a Cobalamin Fasting 651mg/L. Wade was prescribed the Pancreazyme Powder (expensive, yikes) and Omeprazole and we were told to finish out the bottle of metronidazole until it's gone (I believe we have just a couple days left on that).
So many questions! LOL...
Food: The vet had prescribed us Hill Science Diet Gastro Biome dog food. We started that this weekend. After reading through some of this website, I see that he needs a low fiber, higher fat diet. This dog food does not fit that. We are thinking of trying the Hills Science Diet large breed puppy lamb/rice. Or the Royal Canine lab food as that fits under the 4% fiber recommendations and also has kibble designed for the lab who just swallows their food!
Feeding: Right now the vet has us giving him 1 cup of food, twice a day. I read here (love this site by the way), that we should be giving 4 small meals. I asked the vet and she agreed but I'm waiting to find out what the food/ratio of powder is? I have no idea.... We have been mixing the enzyme with room temperature water, but the vet said we could get canned dog food and mix the powder into that and then mix his kibble in. That way he eats all of it??
Acid reflux: It was described to us that the Omeprazole was being given is a proton pump inhibitor and that would decrease the acidity in his stomach and promote a good initial response to the treatment. Any recommendations on this? I would love to get Wade on as much natural stuff and away from antibiotics as possible if we can.
Treats: What does EPI mean for getting fed treats? We feel as though getting a treat especially during the training stages of being a puppy is huge (even if it's his own dog food) but can our dogs have them?
Any advice for new parents? I am so thankful that my google search found you all. I believe in the power of parents so much. My son was born with a cleft lip and palate and during my google search I was able to connect to a network of people that I've become amazing friends with and it's so nice to help out families in need. So I'm not new to the time and effort but just not used to it with my 4 legged kids!