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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.
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mamabear7
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Country: United States
State: Kansas
Pet name: Ruby

New to Forum

Post by mamabear7 » 17 Jan 2023, 11:17

I am loving all the resources that the forum has provided. We have a just over 1 year old female boxer named Ruby who our vet believes has a pancreas issue. We live in a small town and our vet is a large and small animal vet so we keep it simple. Ruby has had on and off loose stools since she was a puppy. She suffers from severe separation anxiety which we assumed was why she had light colored loose stools. Fast forward a year and the stools were changing to diarrhea on and off instead of just being super soft cow pattyish. She also was losing weight despite us experimenting with increasing her feed. Every time I increased her feed she got loose stools. Tried to switch her off of Iams Minichunks to TOTW Salmon at one point because our Frenchie eats that and the results were terrible at the half way point, so back to Minichunks we went. Traditional blood was normal. So the vet first started with a round of amoxicillin (guessing he thought maybe she had SIBO, as she is an avid cat poop eater) which helped while she was on it, but as soon as she was done we were back to square one. Then she started to eat not just cat poop but her own poop. Her hip bones were sticking out and she tried eating everything she could put in her mouth. Back to the vet we went and he suggested trying Pancreplus enzymes. Miraculously after the first dose of just 2 tablets plopped on her 1 1/2 cups food (we max out there despite trying 3x a day feedings too) poop was super solid and a whole different color, but after a week we were back to softer poop. So I increased the enzymes, which caused worse poop. Then I read to crush them and mix with a bit of water, perfect poop at 1 1/2 cups of food with 2 pills crushed and left for 20 minutes. Until I walk her midday again (stopped when she was losing so much weight so she didn't waste energy) and notice that those poops (which she would eat immediately after pooping) are softer. So I am back to the drawing board to try to get it to be just dog food and enzymes. We have had good luck with slippery elm and psyllium husk powder, but we board her fairly frequently at a doggy daycare so I am trying to keep it as simple as possible. Any suggestions for why she has midday soft stools? Her first poops after eating are usually beautiful. I have experimented with adding Beechnut Chicken and Broth baby food (it is seasoning free and just chicken and chicken broth) so she can have added protein and gain weight, but that ends up with soft poop even at half a jar. Maybe I need to start slower, but golly it is hard when your poor dog is wasting away. I had added B12 slowly (again, we're working blind) and it doesn't seem to help or hurt. This has been rough on our family, we have 2 busy children who need me to cart them to and from everywhere, which is hard when you can't leave the dog alone inside and you're on constant poop patrol to know what is going on. I have ulcerative colitis myself and what works for me seems to help her - the slippery elm and rice slop on top of food helps her when she is having a worse flare, but they're not something I can do long term. Also with my own disease I am very aware that your mileage may vary with any suggestions and every body is VERY different on what it can handle.

As of now this is where we are at:
- Iams Minichunks (1 3/4 cups dry) mixed with 3 crushed Pancreplus enzyme tabs (2 x a day) - looking into switching her off this to Kirkland Nature's Domain Turkey & Sweet Potato when we get her stable - trying to up her food to 2 cups 2 x a day but that is a snail's race
- Ordered a sample of Enzyme DIane's 6x enzymes (Would love to know where to start dosage wise because they're way more potent than the Pancreplus tablets)
- Waiting on the stool test to be back in stock ( Do we have to stop enzyme supplements for this? Not sure I want to do that with her being so sickly thin. Also read to do 3 back to back stools because there is incredible variation)
- Giving 1/2 Nutramax Cobalequin B12 Supplement tablet once a day (will up to 1 full tablet this week)
- Considering going back to adding 1/2 tsp of psyllium powder to her morning feeding to see if that will help with the poop staying solid all day

Main questions
- Does anyone have experience with switching from Pancreplus tablets to Enzyme Dianes 6x enzymes?
- Is Wonderlabs B12 suppplement similar? Wondering whether I should switch to that next bottle.
- Does anyone have experience with psyllium powder helping?
- Does anyone have good luck with slippery elm, what dosage are you using? I have been buying capsules that are 500 mg and I dust it on her food with the enzymes or just give her the capsule. She is so hungry she thinks EVERYTHING is a treat and will eat it all.

I also attached pictures of her before and after. The one outside in the summer was July 5, and the other was this weekend. After 6 months you can now clearly see her ribs and hip bones despite plenty of treats and us trying to increase her food as much as possible.

We are very experienced with boxer breed (and rotties) and have never had one with this issue. Our other dogs ate scraps, treats, switched dog foods easily, and could have bones regularly without issue. None were overweight and none had stomach issues. This is very new to us so any help is appreciated!
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Chance
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Country: Canada
Pet name: Chance
My name: Andrea

Re: New to Forum

Post by Chance » 18 Jan 2023, 01:59

Such a pretty girl! It really hurts seeing them ailing and wasting away.

I gather Ruby as not been tested for EPI as yet? Is this what stool testing you are looking into?

The "traditional testing" for EPI is the GI blood panel. It's more accurate, but more importantly provides a lot more information. This test provides at least cTLI (EPI numbers), Folate and B12 levels. Best done fasted, so appt first thing in the morning. You do not need to stop the enzymes for the blood work. (Not sure about poop test).

I had the testing redone again 2 weeks ago (new vet, Yada yada). Fasted 12 hours. cTLI came back extremely low (which I already knew), Folate very low and B12 high end normal (B12 injection biweekly). I did not know of the Folate deficiency. I don't even remember discussing Folate the first time. Honestly I got tunnel vision and blocked out anything but TLI and B12. But the idea of Folate supplementation was not discussed then. This time it was.

I've tried a few different enzymes, but not the ones you are currently using. I started with a trial version of Enzyme Diane. But that lasted less than a week. But his poop did improve a lot. Next I ordered Pantenex. This did help, but took a while to find his optimal dose. (I started way too low, paranoid of giving too much. Had to slowly increase until I got his "magic dose"). His poop was well formed, but still yellow to medium brown. He did gain weight.

Next back to Enzyme Diane 8x(after my last Pantenex order resulted in very inconsistent poops). Immediately the poop did improve, and ultimately went to dark brown.

Next I went to Creon (human prescription medication). I got my vet to prescribe Creon, and went to my local pharmacy. This took a bit of trial and error getting the right dose. But once I got his "magic number", it was the best yet! It works the best for him so far. And I especially like just giving a pill and feed! No incubation, mixing, etc is priceless to a lazy person! <LOL>

Slippery elm: it's something I always have here. But not something I have given often. More use it for those oops days where he gets into something! It does work well for that. However I did notice that it made things much worse when giving it during an active SIBO flare. (When possible, I give it between meals, away from meds or supplements; as it hinders absorption of nutrients, etc).

B12. Started with 6 weekly injections, then switched to Wonderlabs, religiously gave 2 pills every lunch time. Before long, he started getting weaker and weaker by the day. He quickly went from walking a mile to barely being able to go outside to pee. I went off to the vet, who Immediately asked about B12. I showed him the pills I had, and said it's supposed to be guaranteed for EPI dogs. I argued there's no way it's B12. The vet argued otherwise. (This remains the only argument I lost with the vet 😁). B12 was very low. Gave him an injection, and the next morning he got up and ran around the house with my shoe in his mouth! He was happy to be feeling better! I learned then that oral supplements don't always work. And the last test (as mentioned above) is B2 in high range normal.

Psyllium fiber, I haven't really tried specifically. I did buy Inulin (Jerusalem artichoke), but it gave him very funny smelling soft poops. But I have heard others who have had positive results.

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Olesia711
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Re: New to Forum

Post by Olesia711 » 23 Jan 2023, 16:09

Ahhh Ruby is such a cutie... SO SO sorry you are having these issues with her. Hopefully we can help.

I understand that being tight / on a budget, making it hard to afford the proper EPI test, the TLI test... but quite honestly, after reading your post, i strongly suggest that you skip the SCHEBO test that a you were referring to, as that is only a "rule out" test not an EPI confirmation test... and if you have to do it 3 times for accuracy, at that point you might as well put the money towards a definite proper EPI test. The reason why i feel so strongly about doing the proper EPI test, and especially after reading Ruby's history, is because this may not be EPI. We have had actual cases where the owner and the vet felt it was EPI, a minimal amount of enzymes "appeared" to help and 2 years later the dog dropped dead.... due to unintended consequences. The vet was simply trying to be very nice and help the owners out financially by assuming this was EPI so as to save them the expense of running the TLI test. But at the necropsy, they discovered that the dog had a tick disease that displayed EPI like symptoms, responded to the enzymes and so was never tested, but if was treated for tick disease, it would not have died............... this is why i think a TLI test is truly needed in Ruby's case. Although it sounds like Ruby could have EPI.... it would be best to run the proper TLI test. if possible.

Next, i reviewed the food you are feeding, the IAM's minichunks.... it is loaded with prebiotics in various forms and the fact that she responds well to psyllium and the fact that she responded wonderfully to amoxy but loose stools happened when stopped... this all suggests to me that she probably has SID (small intestinal dysbiosis). And Yes, SID goes hand in hand with EPI, BUT, it also often accompanies IBD, Pancreatitis, PLE, Food sensitivities, and a host of many other gastro intestinal conditions. ..... SID is when the gut flora is out of whack. Not enough bacteria, not enough of a variety of bacteria. WHen this is in play, (not enough bacteria and/or variety) then the transit time is messed up (to fast) and you have sloppy poos..... This can happen because of an underlying condition, a food sensitivity, a too rapid food change or some other change that was too much too soon, a nervous tummy- -and any excess activity or event can trigger loose stools ... the list goes on and on. The first line of defense for SID is prebiotics (and tht seems to work in Ruby's case) but if it doesn't work well enough, then the next step is pre+probiotics. We currently suggest Proviable or Visbiome. Some people have found good luck with Mercola Complete probiotics and others like VetriScience Mega Probiotics. It all depends on the individual dog's gut flora composition. Anytime a probiotic is thrown into the mix, we strongly recommend starting with a less than half the recommended dose and working your way up to giving a full dose over the course of a week or two. If the dog continues to have constant loose stools (which is not what is going on with Ruby) ... then we suggest Tylan antibiotic for 45 days, twice a day : https://epi4dogs.com/antibiotics/

To answer your questions.....As i mentioned at the top, the first thing i would try to do if/when possible, is run the TLI test. You only have to food fast for 12+ hours prior to the blood being drawn. And you do not have to stop the enzymes. They will not interfere with the TLI test.

Her midday soft poos could be due to probable SID or any of the other possibilities listed above. THe best thing to do is keep a journal (check out the EPI Log page) as this will tell you what to track and how to track : https://epi4dogs.com/epi-log/

If she is doing well on the IAMS, i wouldn't change.

I understand your reasoning of: 'experimented with adding Beechnut Chicken and Broth baby food (it is seasoning free and just chicken and chicken broth) so she can have added protein and gain weight, but that ends up with soft poop even at half a jar' .....did you increase the enzymes a pinch to compensate for the added protein? If not, you might want to try this again with maybe 1/8 of a tsp of added powdered enzymes..... if it doesn't help...... then this to me is yet another indication that the gut flora is amiss, and since prebiotics helped....a lot.... as does the psyllium and as did the amoxy....and the fact that when you give rice, things are better........ my thought would be at this point, and if you are willing........as i am going to make a counter-intuitive suggestion to you......talk to your vet about looking at this as if "maybe" it is not EPI..... and ask your vet if you can try ... just try.... adding 1/2 high fiber diet with 1/2 the IAMS diet.... start slow adding the high fiber diet until you get to 1/2 & 1/2.. See if this makes a difference or not. If this works, then you will see an improvement almost right away...... whatever Ruby's normal transit time is. THe premise is that fiber is one of the thing that helps with SID. The reason why with confirmed EPI dogs we suggest going with low fiber content food is because fiber can destroy the efficacy of the enzymes from anywhere between 0% to 50%..... so we start folks off with confirmed EPI dogs to go with a low fiber content food..... but then once the dog is stable, try adding fiber (usually rice) . Actually there have been a handful of EPI cases where the EPI dog does not do well until it has some fiber added to the diet..... but this is not very common, hence why we start off with the low fiber food suggestion.

But, just going by your notes, it sounds like Ruby does better with Fiber.... so i hope you and your vet are willing to try a high fiber kibble (Purina high fiber or Royal Canine High Fiber) to see if this might be the problem ... or not............ if EPi, the underlying problem is that Ruby may not be getting enough of the right amount of enzymes.

If the above doesn't work, then i would start using ENzymeDiane's enzyme powder 6x. In Ruby's case, since she did better with a smaller dose, i would "start" with 1/2 tsp to 3/4 tsp of powdered enzymes per 1 cup of kibble... add a few tsps of water to moisten the kibble with the enzymes, mix, let sit for 20 minutes. ... serve. and watch for a few days to see if the poos improve or not and adjust accordingly.

REgarding the B12.... we have seen the best luck with the WOnderlabs Pet Factor B12 .... but as Andrea shared, not every single dog will respond positively. If i had to guess, i'd say about 95% of EPI dogs do best on Wonderlabs Pet Factor B12, worth trying, if you are not seeing any difference from the Cobalequin.. but wait until you are giving the full dose of the cobalaquin. Many dogs do jsut fine on the Cobalequin.... but not all. Don't switch until Ruby is getting a whole pill and then you have to give it some time too! The Cobalequin is made is Cyanocobalaain B12 where as the Pet Factor is made with Methylcobalamin B12 and has the INtrinsic Factor included.... we are not sure why it appears to work better but it does... (usually)... So... my suggestions is yes, switch to the Wonderlabs Pet Factor B12 (as low B12 can also cause loose stools!) if you don't see any improvement after you started giving Ruby the 1 pill a day of the Cobalequin.... and if you/ your vet suspect the B12 is not optimal even after the Wonderlabs Pet Factor B12..... then stop all B12 pills for 1 weeks and run a B12 blood test to confirm this..... and if so, only THEN i would switch to the B12 shots.

REgarding the Psyllium.... yes, if it helped in the past, i would definitely try it again.... Psyllium is more potent than SLipepry ELm.

ALso, with both SLippery Elm and Psyllium. A little is great, too much can give loose stools. Please read the SLippery Elm page https://epi4dogs.com/slippery-elm/ ... and ALWAYS ONLY give SLippery Elm powder, not pills..... so you have control over how much you give..... One of the reasons why slippery elm "might" help with SID is because it is a mucilage and can protect the gut lining from allowing bad metabolites to get through because of SID. It also has prebiotic properties (the SCFA called Butyrate)

Regarding switching from PancrePLus tablets to Enzyme Diane... if Ruby is an EPI dog, then the switch should be great because most folks buy the PancrePlus tablets that are cheap ($44) and they are cheap because they are not very potent. MOst EPI dogs do best with approx 71, 400 USP units of Lipase enzymes, etc. these tables only have 9,000 USP units of Lipase enzymes in them. Enzyme Diane's 6x enzymes usually has somewhere between 56, 000 USP units of LIpase to 91,000 USP units of LIpase, etc. (every bag is marked with the exact level of enzymes.

I know i did not give you a simple Food and Enzyme adjustment that you were looking for..... and i apologize, but quite honestly, EPI is all about finding the right balance of the recommended protocol.... and that can involve a lot of trial and error and takes time. BUt the good news is once you find the right balance of everything.... EPI can be very easy to manage......... it' just getting to that point that can really take a lot of time.................

PLEASE share everything that i am suggesting to you with your vet. the best care that Ruby can get is if everyone works together.
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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mamabear7
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Posts: 13
Country: United States
State: Kansas
Pet name: Ruby

Re: New to Forum

Post by mamabear7 » 24 Jan 2023, 15:17

Wow thank you for all the great info. I was wondering about the higher fiber diet. Unfortunately when we tried pumpkin previously, it was devastating in just a small dose. So maybe it depends on the kind of fiber? I did buy her Evanger's Vegetarian Wet Dog Food because it is low-fat and I thought it would a healthy topper I could use to continue to add easily digested calories. I went off the label on the can but I just found an old post about dry matter calculation. I am now realizing that this is a high fiber food if I understand correctly. Is that correct? So I guess we will find out soon whether the added fiber is a good or bad thing because I gave her about a tablespoon and a half on her dry kibble at lunch. I cut back on the dry kibble so she had about 2/3 of a cup of it, the tablespoon and a half of wet food, and her enzymes. I did mix the enzymes in with the wet food in hopes that they help with digestion. I also topped it with a dose of slippery elm because I read on the sites slippery elm page that it is good for food transitions. I didn't put it on her food this morning and although her poop was solid it was broken into many pieces which often precedes her next poop being soft.

https://www.chewy.com/evangers-low-fat-vegetarian-dinner/dp/44940

The nutritional info on the Evanger's wet food is as follows:
Crude Protein 7.0% min
Crude Fat 2.0% min
Crude Fiber 3.0% max
Moisture 76.0% max

Sweet Potatoes, Potatoes, Water Sufficient for Processing, Brown Rice, Carrots, Tomatoes, Organic Olive Oil, Peas, Blueberries, Cranberries, Dried Eggs, Dried Brewers Yeast, Vegetable Oil, Taurine, Dicalcium Phosphate, Potassium Chloride, Calcium Carbonate, Zinc Sulfate, Ferrous Sulfate, Vitamin E Supplement, Zinc Proteinate, Niacin, L-Ascorbyl-2-Polyphosphate, Copper Sulfate, Manganese Sulfate, Thiamine Mononitrate, Calcium Pantothenate, Vitamin A Acetate, Copper Proteinate, Sodium Selenite, Manganese Proteinate, Folic Acid, Riboflavin, Biotin, Pyridoxine Hydrochloride, Vitamin B12 Supplement, Potassium Iodide, Vitamin D3 Supplement.


Ruby had a soiree with cat food this weekend and took a few steps backwards for a few days. I couldn't get her poop solid even with slippery elm until I cut back on the amount of food and went to three time a day feedings. I am not sure what part of cat food doesn't agree with her, but it never ends well. Unfortunately they both eat in the garage because they're my messy eaters, and if she finishes quick she can sneak over to the other side of the garage to get to his food before I get back. She was scheduled for a bath at the vet on Monday so I used the opportunity to ask for further testing. They did a stool sample (she has been dewormed multiple times and has been on amoxicillin recently). took an x-ray, and took more blood to store in case the fecal test shows nothing. For the life of me I could not convince him to test for EPI but depending on what the lab tells him when he talks to them, maybe it will happen. He said we're already treating like it is EPI, so there isn't a point. *sigh!* I like them a lot, so we just moved forward in the conversation. The vet is most concerned that her outer hyperactivity combined with inner hyperactivity will end up with an internal issue that could kill her. I didn't follow all the lingo, but walked away knowing death is on the table. The good news is that she gained 2 lbs in about two and a half weeks! That is with feeding her about 125% of her kibble recommendation. He did not want to switch food yet. He isn't big on low fat for her because her appetite is so high right now and fat satiates us. So my current goal is to continue at 3 cups a day of kibble (1 cup kibble with 2 pacreplus crushed and a little water), 1 B12 supplement at night (thinking about cutting this in half and doing half AM, half PM because vitamins are tough on the gut), and topping on the food with slippery elm and wet food if today's experiment worked.

Will keep you posted on the test results and what the vet says about changing foods when they are in. I did start a poop and food journal. Hopefully that will help me keep track of what is going on better.

Second and last question - I read treats were a no, so I have withheld those, but Ruby is just over a year, super active, and prone to chew regardless if it is meant to be chewed or not. I have been giving her Nylabones instead of her rawhide chews (always supervised and I take it away half way through, yes it is wasteful but she has to chew). Are those a no-no? I hesitated ever giving them to the dogs, but my Frenchie is also a power chewing puppy (I have a living room table to prove it), and she had to have something. Rawhides, bully sticks, and elk horns all gave her loose stools. She will chew a water buffalo horn but Ruby turns her nose up to them. Any suggestions? I have been looking for those hollow bone chews that are empty in the middle, but everything has peanut butter or some type of stuffing. Even if I removed the peanut butter, I am sure even the residue would set her off. Her and her Frenchie sister can not tolerate peanut butter.

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jilbert57
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Re: New to Forum

Post by jilbert57 » 24 Jan 2023, 17:36

The only thing I can tell you about Nylabones is don't use them if you have aggressive chewers. We had a Jack russell and an aussie/heeler both who got slab fractures in their molars and had to have a tooth pull. Just my experience.
I would try ice chips for treats or plain meat and after an enzymed meal.

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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Location: North Carolina
Country: United States
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Re: New to Forum

Post by Olesia711 » 24 Jan 2023, 18:38

I used to get real big beef bones from the butcher, but then again, my Izzy used to gnaw for hours, but not to the point where she destroyed the bone... i personally don't like the Nylabones,... how about an elk antler? or something like this?
https://www.chewy.com/buck-bone-organics-whole-elk-antler/dp/151378

The Evanger food does not sound like a high fiber food to me, the crude fiber is only 3%.... so it might be just fine as a topper.... HOWEVER..... if Ruby had a disastrous reaction to pumpkin... then she might have a similar reaction to sweet potato. SInce you already gave it..... see what happens..... but going forward don't include it for a few days and watch the poo..... to see if it improves..... if it does then you will have to give it again in the future and see if it make the poos go sloppy again.... if they do, then you will know that sweet potato is probably an adverse trigger for Ruby..... along with pumpkin.

Glad the smaller but more frequent meal helped quell her loose stool issues..... i would try continuing this if possible..... her system may not be able to handle a lot of food all at once..... and maybe 2 meals a day doesn't work for her, but broken down into 3 or 4 meals might be better for her at least until she becomes stable for at least a month or so..... then maybe you can switch back to 2 meals a day.

When you put them in the garage to eat.... can one eat in a crate so that the other can't get to the food? Of can you block one from the other somehow while in the garage?

No need to divide the B12 pill.... just give 1 whole with the same meal every day.

Glad she gained weight ... WAHOO!!!!!!.... and that is good that you are feeding 125%... but you can actually increase that to 150% which is what we recommend... but not all in 2 meals.... it needs to be broken into smaller portions but more meals.... like mentioned above.

I agree with your vet.....i wouldn't decrease the fat content now either.... BUT....do keep this on the back burner, that fat can make SID worse, so if nothing helps get SID in check (if this is what you are dealing with), then you might want to feed a lower fat value food... doesn't have to be a low fat food, but just a little lower in fat %.... sometimes just a slight change can make a big difference.

Keep us posted on the fecal test results, etc.... BUT..... i understand what your vet is saying, but even if Ruby responds, i still strongly advise to test for EPI.... i shared the most sad unintended consequences that happened when another vet tried to help the pet owners save money.... but over the years, we have seen many cases that appear to be EPI, but in the end wasn't...... so please don't give up asking to have the TLI test run........

Quite honestly without having any test results to go by, i am torn between wondering if Ruby has EPI, or a food sensitivity or needs a special high fiber diet.

Thank you so much for starting to keep an EPI journal.....just remember to make one-change-at a time... watch the poos for 2 to 3 days before you make the next change.... and record the results (poop!) even take pictures.... that would great. Hopefully this will help you figure out Ruby's triggers :)

Keep us psoted!
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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mamabear7
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Posts: 13
Country: United States
State: Kansas
Pet name: Ruby

Re: New to Forum

Post by mamabear7 » 25 Jan 2023, 11:44

Thanks for the extra info! Good news, we have had two solid poops since yesterday's lunch with the vegetarian topper. :D Ruby and her sister are now even more interested in meal time. I have to gently remind them that every bathroom break does not equal a meal opportunity!

Great news from our vet - her stool sample came back 100% clear. Praise God for that one! I was not really looking forward to adding anything else to our meal routines.
Also, he is going to order the TLI with the blood sample we gave on Monday. So fingers crossed it shows a clear result because otherwise we will have to start from ground zero. :cry:

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jilbert57
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Re: New to Forum

Post by jilbert57 » 25 Jan 2023, 12:07

Yay for solid poops!
Was she food fasted for 8 to 12 hours before her blood draw on Monday? That is a requirement for a Tli test.
Good luck.

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

Re: New to Forum

Post by Olesia711 » 25 Jan 2023, 16:50

i second the HUGE congratulations on the solid poos... that is AWESOME!!!!!!!

Now, regarding doing the TLI blood test.... i am so relieved and thankful that your vet agreed to do this.... BUT, like Jill asked... was Ruby food fasted about 12 hours prior to the blood being drawn... and today i also contacted Texas A&M Gastrointestinal lab... just to make sure that blood for Monday is okay to use for a TLI test considering you have to still tack on (probably) 2 more days for shipping. The TAMU lab said that blood from Monday will be fine as long as it was refrigerated.... which i suspect your vet did... but you might want to double check, just in case..

So glad that things are moving forward and hopefully you''ll have some answers soon and get Ruby feeling better!
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.........

Chance
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Posts: 195
Country: Canada
Pet name: Chance
My name: Andrea

Re: New to Forum

Post by Chance » 25 Jan 2023, 23:00

Nylander bones can be bad for strong chewers! A friend of mine very nearly lost her black lab to one a couple of years ago. He chewed off the end of a large one and wound up with a severe blockage. It was caught early, and surgery was done. But it was rough. Vet had told her Nyla bones do bring them a fair amount of business.

She attempted to contact Nyla bone company, but they basically said it's your problem. She kept after them, but in the end got nothing.

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