New Member First Post

[jilbert57]

The Wonderlabs product has 1300mg SE bark per scoop. So yours is 400mg SE bark per capsule?
This is for reference.

https://www.wonderlabs.com/itemleft.php?itemnum=K97024

Jill

[zuzupetals]

Hello Jill that is correct, so based on the 1300mg per scoop, Bailey would need approx. 3.25 tablets based on my math. I will give her more today and see if that changes things. I am giving her less than a 1/3rd of what is suggested. over the week-end she was going to the bathroom every couple of hours. The last couple of days it's only been once or twice a day. Still mush though. sorry did not mean to put anyone off their breakfast [0:

[Olesia711]

ahhh... that is good news that her bathroom frequency has greatly subsided.... that means the SLippery Elm is working

The continued "mushy" poo may be that the food she is on is not that agreeable with her...... or .....it could be something else.... or........ it could be that she is just not digesting any food as effectively as she did because as they (and us too!) age, things sometimes just don't work as efficiently as they used to..... now that it appear that the Slippery Elm is helping (less frequency) wait maybe 1 more day and then try adding some plant enzymes to her meals and give the plant enzymes (in addition to the slippery elm) a few days ... watch the poos and see if the plant enzymes help firm up the poo issue. That will better help you determine what might be going on / what she needs.

Regard looking for tumors, sadly that does happen sometimes....and i am sure your vet just want to check... but maybe try the plant enzymes to see if this is all she needs to do better... but if it doesn't help at all, then proceed with the vet's suggestion.....

[zuzupetals]

Hello, she is strictly on the rice/boiled chicken & tinned gastro food from the vet. That for a very brief time seemed to help but then she was back to her "new normal". I believe it was your advise to give Bailey Porcine Pancreatin x 4, if I cannot find that then look for a plant enzyme?? How much do I give her? So the suggestions are to give her a B12 supplement, Slippery Elm and Porcine Pancreatin x 4 if possible. I am guessing whatever the qty is I should give her should be split up with her meals. She has not been to the bathroom(poop) all day today. I gave her 2 x 400mg of slippery elm around mid-day. Less than the recommended dosage but I am so nervous of it making her worse. She has had 2 mid size meals and I will feed her again later this evening. For treats we have been giving her just chicken. I think I should change her diet I just don't know what too. She was on Presidents Choice Large Breed kibble before all of this started and we were just in the process of switching her to Wellness Grain Free as we thought she could benefit from a "better" food but then her stomach kicked in and she hasn't tried any. And from this forum I understand too much Fiber isn't good either. Funny here is our girl Bailey on fresh chicken and I'm on beans on toast...lol (its an English thing)

Once again the support from the group is awesome.

[Olesia711]

Hi again,

"I believe it was your advise to give Bailey Porcine Pancreatin x 4, if I cannot find that then look for a plant enzyme?? How much do I give her?" yes, it was me ... as i am thinking it might help her gut work better. Once you get with plant enzymes or pancreatin 4x...(i think plant enzymes might be best to work with in this case)..... . let us know what the recommendations are on the plant enzymes (usually they are according to weight) and then we can help guide you with how much to give. My guess is that in this case trying gentle enzymes to "help" with gut issues would be to start with 1/2 the recommended dose and see how things go first for a few days / watch the poo and then assess if you think a full dose might be more helpful.

SInce she has not gone to the bathroom yet today.... i would stick with just the 2 (400mg) capsules of Slippery Elm for now... Kudos to you, cause you are doing everything right!!! Starting slow with things, trying thing one at a time and taking your time deciding next move. !!!

Love that you give just "chicken" for treats... that's what i do !!!!! My thought for our household is that more "real" stuff that i can give my dog, all the better .

Too much fiber is not good for an EPI dog, however....according to Bailey, his test results showed that he does not have EPI as his TLI was 27...... so in his case, fiber or grain is probably a good thing, however... just generally speaking, when you look at the food ingredients on whatever you feed Bailey, check the peas/legumes ingredients... try to give foods that are over loaded with peas/legumes.... it's a cheap protein, but hard for dogs to digest.... so, if you can if you see peas, etc as the 2nd or 3rd ingredient,... try to consider a different food.

Regarding changing the diet.......if you want.... maybe before you "try" another commercial food, but if you are willing....... try feeding just homemade chicken and rice... for just a couple of days and watch Bailey's poo... see if it normalizes the poo or gets mushier... sometimes this is what some of us do, we start out with just 2 ingredients,... if all goes well, then we add other ingredients one at a time ... all the while watching the poo... sometimes this can give you an idea of what agrees with your dog's digestive system... of course if you decide to do home feeding long term, then you need to add bone meal, and quality doggie vitamins, etc.....

Another thing i was going to ask you... that vet tinned gastro food you mentioned.... what are the ingredients in it... i am curious if it has prebiotics in it or not.......

[zuzupetals]

Hi again..... so Bailey had a bad evening and day, she finally went poop and it was mush. Then continued with diahreaa for a few more times and then had to go through the night. So not good. Today she still has diahreaa. Not manage to give here any slippery elm today as she has not eaten, had a few pcs of fresh chicken but that's it. To add to my woes, she started limping yesterday, I thought it was maybe because she was stiff, but no, just as bad today, I have felt all through her paws and rubbed her legs I cannot find anything that maybe causing her any pain. She did pull away from me when I was feeling her feet, but we have always joked that she has ticklish feet, so not sure.

I called the health food store re the porcine pancreatin x 4 and they don't carry it. I looked on their web site for plant enzymes. The link is below. I don't even know where to start.
https://www.healthyplanetcanada.com. I have attached, or I think I have, a copy of the ingredient label on the gastro food the vet is saying to give her. Based on her weight she's supposed to eat approx. 4 cans a day and it about $6-7 a can.
I am hoping she will want to eat later and I will give her another 2 capsules of slippery elm. I will continue with it, maybe it's going to take a few days to kick in... I really do hope so.

[Tuckaboo Pam]

Hi Tig, it's Pam, in Florida. My Tucker was diagnosed with EPI, but more casually than most others on this site, just by my vet & followed with a stool test. He has responded well to treatment, but better since I got the help of this forum, with all its knowledgeable people. I'm saying this so you keep it in mind, that I am not a researcher, nor am I an expert. I am just someone who has had one experience. Tucker did not do well on slippery elm, but my vet had prescribed Tylan for him so we went back to that & he straightened right out(I may have made mistakes in his dosing of SE, I have no idea).

I have a houseful of dogs, and my maltipoo had recurrent bouts of diahrrea & slime-covered stool. The vet diagnosed her with IBD or S, I don't know which, but he treated her with metronidazole, and she cleared up after a couple of days then took a course for a week, only to return to stretching with her bum up, like downward dog, just miserable, followed by the squirts. On a whim, I started giving her a smidgen of Tucker's tylan, covered with a spoonful of cottage cheese, and 1/4 capsule Wonderlabs B12. Changing her food to Crave, grain-free, was a move that encouraged her to eat her meals. At the very least, she eats the cottage cheese & gets most of her meds. She's doing well now, and I have found a bird supply source for the Tylan, which is cheaper, but I can't remember if I was able to buy this because I originally had a prescription. I don't know anything about numbers, but you are in good hands with all of these women who know their stuff. I just wanted to share what helped my non-epi dog, who was always sick before. I feel sorry for all that you are going through. I trust that if I've included anything that is incorrect here, someone on staff will correct me, or feel free to delete my post.

[zuzupetals]

Hello Pam, nice to "meet" you and thanks for sharing. I have to agree this forum is so good, everyone has been so helpful. Bailey was put on a 7 day course of metronidazole when she first started with her diahreaa, it seemed to help but then about a week after the course finished the diahreaa was back. Vet gave her another 7 day course, same thing happend. 2 rounds of blood work, one just to check all her levels were where they should be and the second one for the EPI test have all come back Ok, except the B12, which the vet said nothing about but through this group I have discovered her levels are low so I have to start giving her that. She is now on the Slippery Elm, first couple of days I only gave her one capsule, 400mg, the last few days I have bumped it to 2 caps a day. However at this point no improvement. I looked up Tylan and it seems that it is also an antibiotic, is that correct? Maybe I can ask my vet to try a course of that for Bailey as the metronidazole didn't work. As of this morning at 1am poor Bailey still has the runs and needed to go out again at 5am so we will see what happens over the week-end. Have another call with the vet scheduled for Monday.

Thanks again to everyone for their continued input and support.

[Tuckaboo Pam]

Hey Tig. Yep, it's an antibiotic, but as I have learned here, it somehow doesn't kill off the bad bacteria in the doggy's gut. I wasn't sure if you had a vet who was open to suggestions, but if you do, and if the slippery elm isn't working, maybe ask for it. Like I said, I tried slippery elm, without success, but who knows whether I gave the right dose? Also, maybe wait for confirmation from staff, because like I said, I'm just a civilian! I've resolved that EPI Tucker is on 1/5 tsp tylan per day, for life. Ruthie the maltipoo, 10 lbs., is on much less, of course, but tylan plus B12 has cleared her up.

It's a very different scenario to have a 10 pound dog barfing & having the runs, to a hundred pound pup doing the same. Tylan from the vet can be pricey, but if you find you want to try it, and if it works, there are better sources later on.

[Jean]

if I havent welcomed you, welcome from the UK


Tylan is a drug that is widely used throughout the world, and found to be preferable to Metro which has neurological side effects

https://vcahospitals.com/know-your-pet/metronidazole

the only antidote is Valium

this is one outlet that one member found to be more reasonable

https://www.chewy.com/s?query=tylan&nav-submit-button=

this is the dosing chart

https://epi4dogs.com/antibiotics/

good luck


Jxx