Epi4Dogs

Hi everyone!
I'm Alex and the sweet, little girl in my profile pic is Katara!
She was diagnosed with EPI about 4 months ago by the animal rescue took her in after her previous owner passed away. They helped get her back to a safe weight and stabilized the disease and now she's come home with me. I've only had her for a few weeks, but I love her to the moon and back. I want to learn as much as possible on EPI and how to take care of her because she deserves a good retirement after everything she's been through.

I'd love tips and tricks from everyone here on how to keep her as happy as can be! If you ever see something concerning in my posts or routines about her treatment, let me know.

At the moment, our routine is 3 feedings a day of royal canin gi kibble with a bit of wet food, some water, and 1/4 tsp of Pankaid enzymes. She also gets b12 shots once a month, and I'm having a vet check her levels to confirm they're in a good region now that she's been stable for multiple months. I do sometimes slip her a treat or some peanut butter which I know isn't advised, but her poops so far are 2-3s with the occasional 4. I think that's acceptable given how happy the treats make her.

Anyway, I'm very glad to join you and hope to see you around the forum!

Good morning, Alex, and welcome from Pam & Tucker in Florida!

Katara is adorable.

How awesome of you, to adopt a doggie with a lifelong, but very manageable, condition. We may be able to help you save money taking care of her, by recommending products available over the counter. For starters, you can look into https://enzymediane.com/ and save quite a bit on enzymes. Many of us use her product. No strings, she's just a really nice person who likes helping families of EPI pups. She had one, herself.

It sounds like things are in good order, so until something changes, I would say stick with the program you have in place. If you are not doing this already, you can start keeping a journal of what you feed, do, and administer, and record the results. This can really help if anything changes in her poo. It is all about the poo.

If you can, please post the test results from the vet. Do you think the rescue would be able to provide those?

I sneak a few treats each day to my Tucker, too, for the same reason, and while it isn't advised, he seems to not be affected.

So, ask all the questions you have, no one will get tired of them, peruse the site which is chock full of valuable information, and check out the signatures at the bottom of some posts. There you will see exactly what is working for some other members. It is nice to have you here!

---Pam

Hi Alex and welcome to you and Katara. She is so cute! Do you know her approximate age? How much does she weigh?
I agree with am. If nothing is upset stay the course.
You can do oral B12 supplementation at home for another cost save if you choose. Most folks use Wonderlabs, just add the cap to the food after incubation and feed. Here is B12 info that includes Wonderlabs B12 you can order.

https://epi4dogs.com/b12-in-brief-2/

Jill

Thanks! Katara is 9 years old and 12 lbs. When she was rescued, the poor girl was only 7 lbs. The last test she had TLI of 2.4, Cobalamin 228, Folate 37, and Lipase 43.
Here's hoping that the last 3 are a lot better this time around lol

I saw people talking about enzymediane and was looking into it last night. The cost difference between a prescription and her enzymes is huge. Definitely going to make that change, thanks for the tip!

For the b12, I've heard the pills are harder to absorb. If I switched to pills, how would I make sure she's on track and doing well without too many extra blood tests?

Good question on the B12. Here is the link to research on oral B12 supplementation:

https://epi4dogs.com/b12-researchpublications/

You have a great start with the shots. There are symptoms of low B12 you watch for just like you do for SID, or needing to tweak enzyme dose. But any excess B12 will be excreted in the urine. Once the B12 is up around 600, with daily supplementation you should not need tests every month.

Jill

Hi Alex,

Welcome to our EPI family!

Wonderlabs B12 and Enzyme Diane enzymes are HUGE savings, but since you live in Canada... be sure to factor in postage costs for out of USA mailing. Enzyme Diane has a LOT of Canadian clients and she is great to talk to. Maybe call her on the phone: 1-440-479-5526 and ask her about shipping costs to Canada. https://enzymediane.com/contact-us/

Wonderlabs is also a great company and you can call them directly ( Phone: 800.992.1672 ) to and ask about shipments to Canada. I know they too have a lot of Canadian EPI candidates. https://www.wonderlabs.com/contact.php

Regarding the B12 pills in some cases these pills actually work better than the shots. But with some dogs, they simply respond better to the shots. THe Wonderlabs B12 pills include Folate and Intrinsic Factor that transport the B12 from the Digestive system (when pills are taken) to the blood stream. This might be why these particular pills work and usually work very well. Or, it could be that these pills are made with Methylcobalamin B12 vs. Cyanocobalamin B12... we honestly don't know why they work so well, but they usually do. HOwever, if your little sweetie is doing well on the shots, no need to change unless you just want to try the pills. To retest, you stop the pills 1 week prior to drawing blood for the B12 test. WIth the B12 shots, you have to wait 1 month after the last shot prior to drawing blood for the B12 retest.

Overall, if Katara is doing well, no need to change anything.... but... about those treats...... what you can do is try to time giving the treats within an hour of an enzymed meal... that might help... or..... only give all protein treats.... no carb, no grain,..... like dehydrated liver pieces,, or little pieces of real chicken meat (white meat).... EPI dogs in general tend to better tolerate protein vs. carb/grain...... so if you are going to cheat, go with a protein..... and see if this helps improves those sometimes not so great stools.

Also...shortly i will email you a welcome letter and packet which will include some tips for you

Thank you for adopting a senior pet! It always makes me so happy to see a senior cat or dog find their forever home. She's beautiful!

Oh absolutely the same! When talking with different rescues, I specifically asked for older or special needs dogs.
I know they often don't get adopted, but they can be so loving. Breaks my heart that they get left behind.

I grew up with dogs, so I'm used to having a senior that needs a bit of extra help (and extra naps) around the house. Figured it would be a perfect fit

welcome from the UK

And thanks for the adoption

feeding prescription food is not necessary unless there is another condition, we recommend grain and rice free , around 4% fibre or less preferably

However, like everything else, what works for one dog works for that dog

Quite a few of our dogs cannot tolerate chicken in dog food, mine included,

as to b12 injections, the vets can teach you to give these at home

b12 is essential for digestion in an EPI dog

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

please let us know and ask anything


Jeanx

Test results are in. I'm concerned about her folate numbers since they're really high. That's an indicator of SID/SIBO. I read through the research here on it already. She seems fine, good poops and happy, but the numbers don't lie. Should I start adding prebiotics to her diet?

TLI 2.5
Folate 54
Cobalamin 531
Lipase 29