Muscle wastage

[Little Hope'smum]

My little Hope has been treated for epi for the past 5 years. We adopted her from the animal shelter 5 years ago. Current age could be 11 years plus...
I have noticed muscle wastage in her back legs and I feel like she has lost weight.
We saw the vet today (new vet, previous vet has retired), as I am concerned about this and she is a cavalier and I suspected she has a heart murmur which the vet confirmed and she is now starting heart meds.
I spoke to the vet about her epi and if we should increase her creon (Currently on 10,000 twice day) and if we should start a course of b12.
The vet said no to both she said that she would be making her own b12 but I know that dogs with epi can't do that.
Vet wants to do bloods and xray as she thinks Hope could have a tumour and this could be causing her muscle wastage.

We will be doing bloods and X-rays on Monday (Currently Friday afternoon here).

I still think that this could be because of b12 or needing more creon.
Any advice would be welcome.

Wish my vet didn't retire he really listened to me..

[jilbert57]

Good morning Cathy,
I am sorry Little Hope is losing muscle.

"Muscle wastage usually comes on slowly due to age but can also occur quickly due to illnesses. Muscle atrophy can occur for a number of reasons including age, disuse of the muscles, obesity, lack of nourishment, illnesses such as diabetes and cancer and also may occur following fractures or surgery."

There are some exercises you can look up online and do with your dog to help the wastage.

I would supplement the B12 daily with the Wonderlabs:
https://www.wonderlabs.com/itemleft.php?itemnum=K9688

Is Hope on Vetmedin(pimobendin)?

Jill

[Olesia711]

Hi Cathy,

So sorry to hear that Hope is having heart issues.... my understanding is that that is pretty common with aging Cavaliers. My neighbor has Cavaliers and they are just the sweetest little pups!

It is very possible that the muscle wasting is related to B12 deficiency and you are correct, with EPI, she has a problem with her B12, especially as they age, things get worse. However, as Jill pointed out it could also be from other health concerns.

Regarding increasing the CREON, if her poos are normal, then there is no need to increase the CREON... but if the poos are getting sloppy, is there slime on the poo or are the poos yellowish.....then yes, increase the CREON... Are you hearing any tummy noises? Is Hope farting a lot, having acid reflux??? IN other words is SID (small intestinal dysbiosis getting out of control because more enzymes might be needed... then yes, try increasing the CREON... but if none of the above appears to be happening, just the muscle wasting, then i would not increase the CREON at this time.