EPI 2 years and his skin becomes particularly fragile

[shirleyfang]

Does someone's dog skin become particularly fragile after detecting EPI?

My German Shepherd Caesar, after the diagnosis of EPI, the skin became worse and worse.

He often gnaws his claws, tail and buttocks, causing inflammation, swelling and ulceration in these parts.

PS:He has been treated with pancreatic enzymes for two years and his weight is stable.

Any help would be appreciated.

[Olesia711]

ahhh... poor thing... it sounds like allergies!

Has all this started immediately after he started on the enzymes? Although rare, some dogs actually do have a sensitivity or are truly allergic to pork... but more often than not, it displays with gastro issues, inflamed ears, etc. if this is the case, we suggest trying beef enzymes or you can try CREON which is a human drug for EPI, and although the enzymes are pig derived, the are enteric coated and because of this much less enzymes are needed and for reasons beyond my understanding, EPI dogs with pork allergies usually don't seem to have an allergic reaction when using CREON to treat their EPI.

However..... to me my first thought is that this doesn't sound like a pork allergy but rather some kind of environmental allergy. And now, full disclosure on my part, i currently have a dog that has severe allergies... she has been on Apoquel for 5 years, and just started Cytopoint injections.... and now they just put her on prednisone (steroid) because she has such an angry rash on her private parts, her belly that has crusted over, and she even had to have surgery on two of her feet to remove cyst-like infections from allergies..... IMHO allergies are the worst!!!!!!!!!!!!

Reason why i am telling you all of this though is because before i was able to start her on the prednisone (we had to purge her body of the Rimadyl she was on first) ... the vet had me start wiping her feet and under belly with a solution called Chlorhexidine that you can buy a gallon online for $18....
https://www.chewy.com/durvet-chlorhexid ... wcEALw_wcB

and i have to say this helped tremendously to clear up the skin rash/crust etc from the reaction to the allergy. My dog also has folds of skin underneath/belly area... and the vet gave me a powder called "PreDef powder" that i puffed on her belly once the Chlorhexidine dried.... i saw dramatic improvement on her belly within 1 day.... and i only had to "treat" her (wipe down with the Chlorhexidine) every time she came back inside from being outside
walking on the grass/dirt/leaves, etc. THis product is an antiseptic made for dogs, cats, horses, and made to kill bacteria, fungus, etc. Might be something you can ask you vet if you can try....and if this helps, then you will know the allergic reactions are not from the enzymes.........

[shirleyfang]

My pet doctor also mentioned possible allergies, especially environmental allergies.

I've already made an appointment with a dermatologist to have an in-depth examination on Friday.

[Madelon]

Oh the allergies! I've been through the ringer as well as some of our other EPI members with allergies. My boy has both food sensitivities and environmental allergies. I personally am a big proponent of testing so that you know what you're dealing with. If you changed food and then noticed it, it could be food sensitivities for which I highly recommend the NutriScan Food Sensitivity test although I'm not sure if they ship to China - it's a saliva test done in the home. If not, I would do the blood test from the vet - I actually did both because I'm that mom - LOL. Then I would also do the blood environmental test. I was able to manage my boy's skin issues for several years using Duoxo chlorhexadine shampoo baths, chlorhexadine 4% spray and Zyrtec - however recently things got out of control - chalk it up to 2020 - I ended up getting the cytopoint shot (a bit expensive but in my opinion worth it). Bottom line is you need to try to figure out what is the cause of the allergies/skin issues so that you can hopefully manage them inexpensively. Please keep us posted - allergies are WAY worse than EPI in my opinion.

[shirleyfang]

Thank you very much for your advice.

If the pet doctor can't give a definite diagnosis, I will test for allergens.

[shirleyfang]

NEW!!

After the pet doctor examined, he thought it was an immune system problem, a deep infection inside the body.

Caesar was given cyclosporine, doxycycline and MACROLONE.

I don't know if these drugs work, I can only try them for two weeks.

[Olesia711]

Hi... thanks for the update !!!!

WOW..... your vet sounds like he/she is really tackling this... i personally can vouch for Cyclosporine.... expensive but VERY effective... and the Macrolone is a steroid..... be sure to ask your vet if you need to slowly with draw your dog from this and not stop altogether cold-turkey.... and the doxy is also a very good effective drug when used for the right health concern.

I am sorry to hear that all this could be an immune system issue.... UGH.... but hopefully ALL that your vet is doing will dramatically improve things.

Please keep us posted!

[Madelon]

Glad you've got a treatment plan. Please keep us posted on how things go.