Yorkie Just Diagnosed

[DollysMoMo]

Hi, I'm very grateful to have found this forum.
Our one year old yorkie (11 pounds) has been sick for 4 months. We went to three different vets trying to find out what was wrong with her. After months of visits and research of my own, I asked our vet if it could be EPI. I was informed we could test but, it's a very rare disease and not common in puppies. I'm happy to say I went with my gut and had her tested. She was prescribed Pancreved, Nutramax Cobalequin and put on royal canin digestive care wet food. Our vet told us to give her 1 teaspoon of Pancreved in her food three times per day.
Question: Does that seem like a lot of Pancreved for an 11 lb dog? Will we be able to reduce once she's feeling better?

We also found out she has a heart murmur. Vet A said level 1-Vet B said level 3-Vet C said level 5. Vet C did an xray and told us her heart was a bit enlarged. She's scheduled for an echocardiogram on 3/1.
Question: Has anyone else experienced any heart conditions with their EPI dog?

This has been a terrible roller coaster. Thank you in advance for any input on the above.
Ro-Dolly's MOMO

[Olesia711]

Hi RO-Dolly's momo...... so sorry your little sweetie is going through all of this. to first answer your questions:

"She was prescribed Pancreved, Nutramax Cobalequin and put on royal canin digestive care wet food. Our vet told us to give her 1 teaspoon of Pancreved in her food three times per day."

how much canin digestive care wet food are you giving her per meal? If you are feeding her 1 cup of wet food.... then start with 3/4 tsp of Pancreved Enzymes mixed in with the food[/color]. If you are feeding her 1/2 can of wet food per meal, then include just under 1/2 tsp of enzymes per meal. Does this help? It is only too much/too little if the ratio is grossly wrong.

Will we be able to reduce once she's feeling better?
Once she is stable (this means normal poos normal frequency for about a month) then... yes... you can "try" reducing the amount of enzymes needed to maintain the EPI condition. usually we start with lessening the enzymes by 1/8 of a tsp at a time... wait /watch for a few days, if all appears fine, then further reduce by another 1/8 tsp. You do this until the poos start getting sloppy cuz you reduced too much in which case go back to the lowest dose that works.

Yes, me... one vet told us that my Izzy had a heart murmur... but (we moved) and all the vets afterwards said she didn't have a heart murmur. (we never had to do anything)
HOWEVER.... if 3 different vets said your little one has a heart murmur..... and they did an xray..... i would definitely follow their advice.
If you are asking if a heart murmur is part of the EPI condition, my understanding is that no it is not.

[Montgomery]

I had a foster kitten named Malcolm with a grade four heart murmur. He sounded like a washing machine when I held him to my ear. The veterinarian wasn't optomistic. However, he was adopted to an experienced and mindful person and he is a happy, healthy senior. Don't let it get you down too much.

[Eddiespaghetti]

One of my dogs has congested heart failure, with a Grade 3 murmur. The murmur itself isn't something to be concerned about. It is more of a symptom than a diagnosis. It can easily just be the sound their heart makes. That being said, the teeny tiny baby that has CHF (8 pound chi) is doing the best out of all three. Still going strong 2 years after diagnosis.
Olesia has you covered on the enzymes, so i don't really need to touch on that.

[DollysMoMo]

Hi RO-Dolly's momo...... so sorry your little sweetie is going through all of this. to first answer your questions:

"She was prescribed Pancreved, Nutramax Cobalequin and put on royal canin digestive care wet food. Our vet told us to give her 1 teaspoon of Pancreved in her food three times per day."

how much canin digestive care wet food are you giving her per meal? If you are feeding her 1 cup of wet food.... then start with 3/4 tsp of Pancreved Enzymes mixed in with the food[/color]. If you are feeding her 1/2 can of wet food per meal, then include just under 1/2 tsp of enzymes per meal. Does this help? It is only too much/too little if the ratio is grossly wrong.

We were advised to give her one full can three times per day along with 1 teaspoon of Pancreved withe each meal. We started Dolly on her meds and new food Thursday evening. She's been having solid tootsie rolls until tonight, she's back to soft serve. Our vet mentioned she may still have soft serve. Praying for our girl. Thank you for all you input. It means to world to us finding this site.

Will we be able to reduce once she's feeling better?
Once she is stable (this means normal poos normal frequency for about a month) then... yes... you can "try" reducing the amount of enzymes needed to maintain the EPI condition. usually we start with lessening the enzymes by 1/8 of a tsp at a time... wait /watch for a few days, if all appears fine, then further reduce by another 1/8 tsp. You do this until the poos start getting sloppy cuz you reduced too much in which case go back to the lowest dose that works.

Yes, me... one vet told us that my Izzy had a heart murmur... but (we moved) and all the vets afterwards said she didn't have a heart murmur. (we never had to do anything)
HOWEVER.... if 3 different vets said your little one has a heart murmur..... and they did an xray..... i would definitely follow their advice.
If you are asking if a heart murmur is part of the EPI condition, my understanding is that no it is not.

[Olesia711]

glad you are seeing some solid poos...... i actually made a mistake and said 1/2 can = just under 1/2 tsp.... that was supposed to be 1/2 cup food = just under 1/2 tsp of enzymes.

you may see 2 steps forward, 1 step backward with this... but as long as you are seeing more good poos than bad poos and the good poos are increasing in frequency, then you are doing good.

If the opposite happens.... then you will need to tweak something.................

Sending lots of get well quick wishes and please keep us posted.

[Eddiespaghetti]

Are we talking about the 3 ounce cans, or the 13 ounce cans? I am super confused. If it is the little tins, you should be giving something like 4.5, but increase by 50 percent, we are looking at 7 cans. If it's the 13 ounce ones, holy hell that is a lot of food for such a teeny tiny bean.
That being said, a 3 ounce tin is roughly 1/3rd cup. Depending on how big everything is in it. Since it has grains in it, and we have no idea which pup has an issue with that. I would venture a guess that you can probably give 1/2teaspoon with each tin.

[betterwound]

dordle
I had a foster kitten named Malcolm with a grade four heart murmur. He sounded like a washing machine when I held him to my ear. The veterinarian wasn't optomistic. However, he was adopted to an experienced and mindful person and he is a happy, healthy senior. Don't let it get you down too much.

I also had a cat like you, but unfortunately it passed away even though I really tried everything
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