Richie update and Tylan journey

[GabandSam]

Hi EPI friends!

First off, thanks everyone who has responded to previous posts, posted themselves, and given advice. This has been our saving grace navigating Richie boys diagnosis. He has gone from 8.5lbs to his normal range of 11.5-12lb. YAY!

Update:
Poo has normalized for about 80% of the time. There are occasional “bad poos.”

enzymes and slippery elm with every meal 2x a day. He was having pretty severe acid reflux even with the slippery elm so we just started to test out omeprazole. We will see how it goes... We had him on tylan for approximately 45 days with great success. We wanted to test and see if tylan was necessary or not. We’ve slowly exited that from the regime and will see if he can manage without constant tylan.

Thoughts or suggestions with the current plan?

[Tuckaboo Pam]

Hi Gabi---

We. too, are eternally grateful to EPI4, and we've also had some issues recently. I'll just tell you what we've come up with, in case any of it makes sense to you. Tucker did another 45 day therapeutic round of tylan because of bad poos, and as we slowly weaned him off it, we slowly added proviable & slippery elm. He is currently taking one capsule of proviable & about 1/4 teaspoon slippery elm with each meal. Right now he is getting just a smidgen of tylan every day, and I hesitate to take that away because his poo is so perfect I can't tell it from my other dog's, when I find it in the yard.

Are you giving B12? I believe that is a pretty important component of the EPI cocktail, and I couldn't tell from your post whether or not Richie was taking it. We use Wonderlabs Pet Factor.

I hope you can get him back to where he needs to be, soon. It's so nice when our friends are happy & healthy!

---Pam

[Olesia711]

Hi Gabi and/or Sam.

Richie is a real cutie!

YOur plan sounds pretty good... keep a REAL close eye on those poos since you have slowly weaned him off the TYlan.... to make sure all is well... AND.... try slowly introducing a good pre+probiotic to his regimen.....

Typically If you don't try a pre+probiotic in the beginning before Tylan.... then once on Tylan, We often suggest introducing a pre+probiotic about halfway thru the TYlan regimen.... but since you have already and slowly withdrawn from the Tylan....watch the poos closely and it still might be a good idea to talk to your vet, get a pre+probiotic product (currently we are suggesting Proviable) and introduce the Proviable to Richie.... BUT start very slow.. we suggest giving less than half to begin with and work up to a full dose over the course of a week or two with any probiotic.

Pam brought up another good consideration with EPI dogs...... how is his B12? Was it tested and if it was not in the upper mid range, then he needs B12 supplementation. Please go to our B12 tab for an overview on B12 and EPI pets.

[Jean]

Good afternoon from the UK

HE IS SO GORGEOUS

b12 is essential to an EPI dogs digestion

https://www.petmd.com/dog/wellness/evr_ ... py_for_epi

we were never able to wean Kara off Tylan and it was such a small amount at the end but......

and keep a journal

Good luck

Jean

[Madelon]

Hi! Richie is an absolute doll. And a big CONGRATULATIONS on the weight gain and doing such a great job managing the EPI. I think your current protocol and plan is spot on! Keep us posted on how things go.

As a side note - my boy had a BAD flare up of SID in the summer of 2019 and had to go on Tylan (he had not been on it since he was originally diagnosed in 2015) - every time I tried to take him off of the Tylan the poo went south so he's been on a maintenance dose of 1/8tsp twice a day ever since - I've recently been able to get him down to 1/8tsp once a day and am hoping to go to once a day every other day soon. I tried introducing the non-prescription proviable (I believe Olesia has said the recommended one is the prescription one from the vet) however the poop went south. He has been on 1/2tsp slippery elm twice a day for about 3yrs.

[Olesia711]

sometimes, some of these dogs just have to stay on a "maintenance" dose of Tylan forever.... although no one like to do antibiotics forever... sometimes it's what has to be................

do keep us posted!

[Barb]

Hi Gabi,

I am jumping on the B12 Bandwagon in case Richie hasn't been receiving supplements. He is already gaining weight Yay! but you want to make sure his B12 is in the upper range (600+ ) because it can slip easily in these pups. Congratulations on the weight gain. Love that cute face!

Barb

[Kohlesmomma]

Hey there, so happy for you and your beautiful pup- this forum is so wonderful. My dog has had slips with this epi mess here and there and whenever I have needed support- The folks on here have always helped and I can't thank them enough. I remember when I first started this crazy epi journey with my dog, up all hours of the night, running to vets, cleaning up carpets...etc...thank for this forum I was at a loss and was almost at a euthanasia point with my dog. This forum really saved his life. He has had epi treatment over a year now and is doing well over-all.
I am glad you are finally seeing food results! Well done you!
Kellie and Kohle

[GabandSam]

WOW! Thank you everyone for the insight.

We think he may need Tylan as a maintenance for life. After weening him off, his poos have not been nearly has consistent. We had a pre/probitoc but it was not the recommended brand. Thus far, everything recommended from the site has worked best. We will make that switch.

We administered b12 shots once a week through December. His levels were not below average but they were borderline prior to the shots. (I cannot remember the specific number). I appreciate your insights, and we will add in regular b12 supplementation.

In other news.... Richie is a mouser at heart.... last week he caught and ate a field mouse.... which really pushed our progress back. This was the first scary thing to happen post diagnosis. He had a few iffy poos, but his back to his "normal." The little guy cannot control his instincts!

Thanks again for everyones insights. Richie is doing A MILLION TIMES BETTER since diagnosis and a lot of his improvement is thanks to you guys!

-Gabi

[Olesia711]

Ahhh..... so he likes to chase little things, eh?!!! Sounds about right though ..... poos were off for a few days and then back to normal. ANytime they are a wee bit naughty and ingest something they shouldn't .... give them a little bit of something with enzymes right then and there to compensate for the unsupervised snack.... sometimes that helps avoid those temporary iffy poos.

Also.... you mentioned that he "might" be a Tylan lifer ..... and he very well might be..... BUT................................. before you go down the TYlan for life path, what you might want to try (please don't cringe.....) is yet one more 45 day course of Tylan.... and again, at the end, do the slow weekly withdrawal bit (1/2 dose 2xs a day for a week, then 1/2 dose 1 time a day, then alternate 1/2 dose every other day and then stop) sometimes with "some" dogs... when this Tylan regime was done twice THEN it seemed to work. MIght be worth trying one more time before you succumb to Tylan for life. But if Richie has to be on Tylan for life, that's fine too. Just thought i would mentioned this.........