Epi4Dogs

Hey! I hope this is okay to post here. Johnny has been doing really well ever since stabilizing, but up until the past 3.5-4 months he was still having periodic flares of SID and his poop was good, but not great - mushy and often very yellow in color. We've made some changes to our EPI protocol and it's been like magic - perfect poop for months now, no gas, no stinky poop, he has so much energy and he's able to eat lots of treats throughout the day (he's my service dog and this has been really important to me, I hate not being able to reward him for working throughout the day).

I figured I would post what has worked for us on the off chance it might help someone else! Johnny just needed a little extra and maybe some of this could help other EPI dogs too.

***Powdered clay supplement - this has been the biggest help by far! I saw immediate results when I started adding this to every meal, after observing that eating clay and dirt at our local park always made Johnny's poops much better. I think he will probably be on this for life now. Here are the two we have tried if anyone wants a better idea what I am talking about!

[url]https://www.amazon.com/Rx-Vitamins-Pets ... sr=8-2/url]
[url]https://www.amazon.com/Bentonite-Detoxi ... sr=8-6/url]

***Goat's milk! Like the clay this has been a game changer for us. Goat's milk at every meal has helped so much, and it also really helps encourage Johnny to eat all his food, he absolutely loves it. I have used both refrigerated and powdered but have stuck with the powdered as it has ended up being more cost effective for us. This is another addition I imagine will be permanent for us.

*** Bil Jac Kibble - I know it is not needed for all dogs but Johnny doesn't seem to digest fat super well and so I put him on a reduced fat formula, but this brand in general has been super digestible for him and he seems to feel really good while he has been on it. It is also super palatable, though it does kind of turn to mush when mixed up with water and enzymes. We tried soooo many foods, including all the commonly recommended ones, but by far have had the most success with this one.

[url]https://www.bil-jac.com/products/reduce ... a-dog-food

Lately we have also started adding in a very small amount of turmeric, as well as some coconut oil and powdered pumpkin. Not 100% sure of the effect yet but there at least have been no negative changes.

Anyways, a little random I know but a couple of natural/non-medication suggestions! I really appreciate all the help I've received here and I hope this can help someone else too! Johnny lives a very active lifestyle as a working dog, and on this regiment he has been able to have treats, chews, and perfect poops all in one!

(P.S. all this has been okay-ed by his vet )

So nice of you to share! Is the clay in powder form? I have some Aztec Healing Clay. I wonder if that would work. Thanks---Pam

thank you so much! i am going to try the clay!

One question, though---Does clay, with its drawing out properties, maybe inhibit the absorption of enzymes? Or is that the exact opposite idea?

I just wanted to post an update:::: The clay truly has been a game-changer! I did a little PubMed search and there is so much info on the use of clay. Wow, I had no idea. I've been using it for a week and what an incredible difference it has made. Finally amazing poos! Maya gets three meals a day and I use the clay supplement during meals 1 and 3 and give her the probiotic during meal 2 and it's worked beautifully.

Debbie, thank you for the great update. Good poops are awesome!

Jill

I'm glad Johnny is doing better.

Interesting about the clay. When Fuzzy didn't respond to added "milk" based pro/pre biotics I gave him the Four leaf Rover soil based on another Epi dog owners' advice. It has the
Montmorillonite clay in it. It helped him get past a very bad SID flair along with Slippery elm. I've switched to Prescript Assist pro - biotic now but I do toss in a 1 tsp of clay a few times a week.

Fuzzy also does really well on the Bil Jac but he eats the Sensitive Solutions Dry Dog Food - Digestive & Immune Support version. He did not do well on any kibble with legumes. Bil Jac was the only kibble he was enthusiastic about eating, coming from strictly raw fed. It also digests well mixed with raw where the extruded I had to feed separately

To some of the other questions I haven't noticed the clay inhibiting absorption of the enzymes. You do want to use plastic utensil to measure it. Metal can negatively affect the "healing" properties of the clay.

I’m really glad it has been helping out! Sometimes they know what they need better than we do… I never would have known about the clay if he hadn’t been eating it at the park!

what a great thread... lots of good info... thanks everyone.

I am particularly pleased that the topic of clay came up.... in the past, this has been mentioned and used by others on the forum with EPI dogs and i do remember people saying what a great result with it that they have had, but i forgot all about it........ so this time... i will give it a mention on the SID section.

again, THANKS everyone!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!