Food suggestions not the list

Epi4Dogs Foundation Inc.’s mission is the advancement of science and education relating to EPI (Exocrine Pancreatic Insufficiency), yielding useful insights and positive outcomes in better managing EPI in dogs and cats. Our goals are to support and/or collaborate with veterinary EPI research and researchers, and to promote EPI awareness by educating the general public, pet owners, pet organizations, rescue and shelter organizations, veterinary schools and veterinarians.
Tuckaboo Pam
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Pet name: Tucker
My name: Pam H.

Re: Food suggestions not the list

Post by Tuckaboo Pam » 05 Jan 2021, 13:18

We have just switched to Taste of the Wild Pacific Stream, from SDE Buf & SP (it's cheaper). I have also started slowly adding slippery elm & proviable, while weaning off tylan, and the poo is pretty good. Better, anyway. ---Pam
Tucker was a shepherd/lab mix--- TLI 1.3, Folate 9.7, Cobalamin 666, Lipase 38. Took Diane's Enzymes 4 teaspoons/day, Wonderlabs B12 one capsule per day, and Tylan 1/16 teaspoon/ morning (to hold SID at bay). Taste of the Wild High Prairie, 1 1/2 cups/day, with a total of 4 cups of Fresh Pet. Stopped eating everything in sight, and went from 60 to 85 pounds! Tucker was my boyfriend, and my husband was OK with that. Tucker succumbed to hemangiosarcoma, but we cherished every day we had with that wonderful, beautiful boy. I will always, always miss my sweet big boy.

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jilbert57
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Re: Food suggestions not the list

Post by jilbert57 » 05 Jan 2021, 13:30

Let us know how the little tweak up in enzymes goes after a few days.

Jill
My name is Jill and we live on the Hood Canal in Washington State. We currently have 2 Jack russells, TJ is 8 and Sadie is 2.

Mickey and his pancreatitis brought me to Epi4dogs.com site in 2012 to help manage it.
He lived from 6/99 - 8/2014

Mickey, Jack Russell. Chronic Pancreatitis. Dianes enzymes, 1/8t 3x/day with meals.

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Olesia711
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Re: Food suggestions not the list

Post by Olesia711 » 05 Jan 2021, 14:26

finding the right diet can make you fell like you are losing your mind.... but in general what i noticed over the years on the forum (although this is not 100% fool proof) is

1. that too much fiber (fiber content) can cause issues,
2. but sometimes just a tin bit of fiber is helpful (prebiotics) but then i noticed...
3. sometimes its what we don't think of...is the damn carbs in the food... which has fiber components too...
4. so in short what i noticed is that many of our EPI dogs simply do better with higher protein based foods..... but then (there AWAYS is an exception) some dogs just cannot handle excessive amounts of protein...

it really is trial an error / process of elimination..... but maybe this "generalization" might be a helpful guideline to use...
Olesia, was owned by Izzy, a 35lb Spanish Water Dog (SWD), Diagnosed at 1.5 years old - TLI results 1.. Izzy passed away on February 13, 2020 at 15 years old. She lived with EPI for 13+1/2 years. It was because of Izzy that Epi4Dogs was started... she was the inspiration. May her legacy of helping others with EPI continue for as long as needed.........

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Kohlesmomma
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Location: charleston sc
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State: South Carolina
Pet name: Kohle
My name: Kellie

Re: Food suggestions not the list

Post by Kohlesmomma » 05 Jan 2021, 17:52

Thank you Pam and everyone. You know , I thought about the fact that the protein is so high in the food he is currently on and was toying with trying the totw pacific stream as well. First I'm gonna try the increase on the enzyme and see then go from there. Just adjustments to that always cause kohle to pee alot more than normal, but whatever I need to do....
Olesia, and Jill, and Madeline...and Gunny's mom and Pam ( Pam, thanks to you for the past suggestion with Tylan powder...saved me some headache!! Much appreciated )..everyone Thank you!

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Olesia711
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Re: Food suggestions not the list

Post by Olesia711 » 05 Jan 2021, 20:32

when it comes to finding the right diet for an EPI dog.... the possibilities are endless...............*sigh*...............

Good luck and please keep us posted!
Olesia, was owned by Izzy, a 35lb Spanish Water Dog (SWD), Diagnosed at 1.5 years old - TLI results 1.. Izzy passed away on February 13, 2020 at 15 years old. She lived with EPI for 13+1/2 years. It was because of Izzy that Epi4Dogs was started... she was the inspiration. May her legacy of helping others with EPI continue for as long as needed.........

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Madelon
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Location: Nashville, TN
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State: Tennessee
Pet name: Doc

Re: Food suggestions not the list

Post by Madelon » 05 Jan 2021, 21:06

Hi Jen, FaceBook is a wonderful place to read how others are treating their EPI dogs, and we certainly encourage folks to visit and read as many EPI experiences as possible not only on Epi4Dogs but on all the other FB pages too. But please understand that Epi4Dogs cannot and will not be as prolific as EPI FB pages because the Epi4Dogs forum platform is set up differently. FB allows for multitudes of short quick answers. The forum allows for more in-depth explanations. We not only share personal experiences, but much of our recommendations are directly from proven EPI veterinarian research that Epi4Dogs has collaborated on. In addition to collaborating on multiple EPI research projects, Epi4Dogs has also given seminars to teach vets about EPI, and information on Epi4Dogs has been used as teaching modules for vets schools and vet conferences. Many times we give “suggestions” based on current research that has yet to been published yet. Epi4Dogs has been published multiple times in veterinarian publications and our registry is the only existing EPI recorded registry worldwide tapped by vets, researchers and vet students themselves to learn the latest science with EPI. This is something that FB is simply not set up to do. We greatly appreciate all the other FB Pages on EPI as the more people talk about EPI the more awareness EPI is given, the more dogs are helped...so we hope to work together with all the other EPI FaceBook pages. I hope this explains why Epi4Dogs Forum may not have as much activity as a FB page, but that it’s focus is rather more encompassing. We work directly with vets and researchers, we are the only EPI platform that spearheads EPI research, we facilitate EPI education, and we are also a nonprofit organization that helps individuals in need.
Madelon, owned by DOC. DOC dx EPI 5/2015 = TLI < .4, B12 406; Folate >24. DOC taught me so much and together we battled and overcame EPI, food sensitivies, environmental allergies but we lost the cancer battle. DOC was dx with hemangiosarcoma 5/2022 and crossed the rainbow bridge July 24, 2022. He is and always will be the love of my life, my soulmate, my heart dog.

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Willow&Jen
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Location: Lincoln
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Pet name: Willow
My name: Jennifer

Re: Food suggestions not the list

Post by Willow&Jen » 05 Jan 2021, 22:08

Oh goodness I hope I didn’t sound like I was promoting or comparing the FB page! I know the difference. Just, having recently searched this forum for food suggestions myself, I know most here are feeding Sport Dog.
Willow is an Australian Shepherd born 11/2018 and diagnosed with EPI 10/9/2020. She weighs ~42 lb.

10/7/20 Non fasting test results: Cobalamin 593 ng/L, reference 251-908 ; Folate 15 μg/L ; reference 7.7-24.4; Pancreatic Lipase Immunoreactivity 80 μg/L;
'TLI 1.1 μg/L ; reference 5.7-45.2 ;

11/18/20 Fasting test results: Cobalamin: 512 ng/L ; Folate 14.3 μg/L ; Pancreatic Lipase Immunoreactivity: <30 μg/L ; TLI: <1.0 μg/L

9/16/21 Cobalamin only retest 673 ng/L

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Olesia711
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Re: Food suggestions not the list

Post by Olesia711 » 05 Jan 2021, 23:55

i suspect the reason why many of us feed Sport Food is probably because in addition to it being low in fiber content (no grain) it is probably one of the few foods that does not have peas in it.... and OMG.... seems like all the "grain free" foods today are over stuffed with peas. :(

We noticed years ago that formulas changed and some of our favorite dog foods now had peas in it instead of sweet potato and our dogs started farting, having loose stools, grumbling tummies, etc.... and in short SID started becoming an issue again when previously many of us thought we had it under good control.

WELL... a few years after our members started noticing this.... there was some EPI research done in Germany and out of all the carbs they tested (on EPI mini-pigs) peas were the worst thing to give an EPI patient... it actually encourages more bad SID ......exactly what we noticed was happening to our dogs.

SO... the hunt was on for commercial food without peas. Talk about trying to find a needle in the haystack. SPort is one company that does not use any peas in some of their products. THere now are other companies that also have commercial dog food without any peas in it and are still low fiber content food... but Sport is one that many of us are familiar with.
Olesia, was owned by Izzy, a 35lb Spanish Water Dog (SWD), Diagnosed at 1.5 years old - TLI results 1.. Izzy passed away on February 13, 2020 at 15 years old. She lived with EPI for 13+1/2 years. It was because of Izzy that Epi4Dogs was started... she was the inspiration. May her legacy of helping others with EPI continue for as long as needed.........

Ruby
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Country: United States
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Re: Food suggestions not the list

Post by Ruby » 08 Jan 2021, 21:35

I have used Earthborn dog food worked well.

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Olesia711
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Posts: 3857
Location: North Carolina
Country: United States
State: North Carolina
Pet name: Izzy
My name: olesia

Re: Food suggestions not the list

Post by Olesia711 » 08 Jan 2021, 23:12

Good suggestion.... Years ago we used Earthborn "Primative" and that worked well for us too..... that was before my Izzy developed Diabetes too and then i had to feed the same stuff day in and day out.... i felt so bad for Izzy then cause prior to Diabetes... we did all kinds of foods... lots of variety and she did great .. most of the time....of course there were a few bombs... but i learned what did and didn't agree with her over the years.............
Olesia, was owned by Izzy, a 35lb Spanish Water Dog (SWD), Diagnosed at 1.5 years old - TLI results 1.. Izzy passed away on February 13, 2020 at 15 years old. She lived with EPI for 13+1/2 years. It was because of Izzy that Epi4Dogs was started... she was the inspiration. May her legacy of helping others with EPI continue for as long as needed.........

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