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[Eddiespaghetti]

My Eddie boi gets kibble and canned food. Kibble usually has higher fat and carbs thus requiring more enzymes. Using the link you sent me, they say a cup is 108grams. You will want a teaspoon(4.2 grams) of enzymes per 108 grams or fraction there of. That is about a 25:1 ratio, for this particular food. It's not an exact science due to the fact or different nutritional value and size of kibbles, and every dog being different.
I have been using fish oil to help my puppo gain weight, and it seems to work pretty well. He also does seem to want to eat it. You might have to account for the additional fat by adding more enzymes, but it depends on how much you give. It should be pretty minimal, so you shouldn't have to add much enzymes, if any

[Vossiesmom]

Thanks for your reply!
We’re gonna try out how much enzymes Vos needs for this combo and after that add a little coconut oil too.

[Olesia711]

thanks Jeremy for helping Marie out with the enzyme dosage. You are absolutely correct that with certain food groups/types more enzymes are needed..... i found that with a higher concentration of carbs or too much fiber i needed to give a pinch more enzymes... so Marie i would definitely try what Jeremy recommended . However if/when VOS is stable (and by this i mean delivering normal / good poos for about a month)....then (if you want) try slightly reducing the enzymes to see if her EPI can be maintained on a lesser amount of enzymes. Many EPI dogs, once they reach stabilization can be maintained on a lower dose of enzymes.... not all, but many.... so this is worth trying.

Also, Marie, thanks for the Vorhttps://www.voerwijzer.com/ website.... i will be adding it to our dog food options page

[Patsy]

Hi Marie from UK.
Thanks to my daughter who lived in Zakynthos for a few years, our family has four Greek rescue dogs and a cat! Luckily all healthy.
I talked to a vet over there about epi and he said they too use Zymoral.
I just wanted to throw in a question . In the Uk we must not soak our enzyme powder, it works faster than the US ones, don’t ask me why, and if soaked, nutrients in the food are digested in the bowl in 30 minutes and it smells like vomit . Our powder is made in Europe so I wonder if It’s the same as Zymoral. In which case Zymoral should not be soaked. I think you or your vet should check this with the company .
If I am right, this may be why you are having to increase your dose, because it is being made ineffective.
You are being wonderful with Voss. I’m relieved there’s no leishmaniasis. I’ve seen severe cases with Zante Strays, and it is so sad .,especially when owners dump them . The rescues and their vet are fantastic.

[Eddiespaghetti]

As far as I am aware, all enzymes are generally made from the same ingredients. Pig or cow pancreas, dried and ground. Maybe an anti-caking ingredient. What might change from country to country is the recommendation of incubation. You do not have to incubate the enzymes. Studies have shown no effect of the potency regardless of incubation. Owners, on the other hand, say 15-20 minute incubation is better. Experiment and find out what works best for you.
America is a super litigious country and companies will say whatever they can to not get sued.

[jilbert57]

Another reason we incubate the enzymes is to help inhibit or discourage mouth sores.

Jill

[Vossiesmom]

Hi Marie from UK.
Thanks to my daughter who lived in Zakynthos for a few years, our family has four Greek rescue dogs and a cat! Luckily all healthy.
I talked to a vet over there about epi and he said they too use Zymoral.
I just wanted to throw in a question . In the Uk we must not soak our enzyme powder, it works faster than the US ones, don’t ask me why, and if soaked, nutrients in the food are digested in the bowl in 30 minutes and it smells like vomit . Our powder is made in Europe so I wonder if It’s the same as Zymoral. In which case Zymoral should not be soaked. I think you or your vet should check this with the company .
If I am right, this may be why you are having to increase your dose, because it is being made ineffective.
You are being wonderful with Voss. I’m relieved there’s no leishmaniasis. I’ve seen severe cases with Zante Strays, and it is so sad .,especially when owners dump them . The rescues and their vet are fantastic.

Hi Patsy, sorry for the late response! I've tried contacting the company that makes Zymoral, but sadly they weren't willing to answer my questions. But I can still try to ask the vet to contact them.
Vos does have good poops mostly, so I think the soaking is working for her. We can try out what happens if we don't let it sit on the food for 20 minutes, but I'm also a bit worried about mouth sores and maybe more reflux...
I also don't notice a vomit smell when I let the enzymes incubate the food, it keeps smelling like vanilla. I did see that the product is 47,5% lactose, that's probably the smell. And maybe that makes it less potent than a lot of the US enzymes.
And thank you for your kind words!

[Vossiesmom]

Hi all!
Another update on our sweet girl. Vos is finally doing well on a combinations of canned food (Edgard&Cooper Delightful beef and Irresistible Lamb&Beef) and kibble (N&D wild boar and apple). She's gaining weight back and her coat looks shiny. Her poops are usually normal/good. We're very happy about it!
The urine leaking during the day stopped about a month ago, when we stopped one homeopathic medicine and started another to support her pancreas. Also a huge relief.

The only thing that she's currently struggling with is reflux/regurgitation. We've had her on Zitac from July until November. It helped her in the beginning, but by November it started to get bad again. I found a tincture that helps dogs get back a normal acidity level in their stomach and also helps when dogs (try to) eat a lot of grass (very Vos). We've slowly reduced Zitac, while increasing Groene Os tincture.
She gets the tincture 3x a day, 8 drops with her food. This is the stuff: https://degroeneos.nl/product/mentha-complex-hond-kat/

In the last 2/3 weeks Vos' reflux has gotten worse. And almost every day she throws up a small amount of undigested food.
She's coughing sometimes and I'm worried that the reflux is gonna give her aspiration pneumonia
I'm also worried about the state of her esophagus, with all this acid moving up all the time. Thursday we will have an appointment with the vet, I hope they can do something for our sweet girl.

It's worst in the evening, around the time that we take her for her last walk before bed. Some triggers are jumping off the couch/bed, being picked up and put down, drinking a lot of water. We're trying to be careful with all of that.

Today we slightly increased slippery elm. She get's that added 2x a day to her meals. Maybe doing it separately, before meals is a better idea?
I was also thinking about giving the evening dose of the stomach tincture a little bit later, so it works when she needs it most. Or finding something else because it's not doing enough.
Do you all have any other ideas?

Happy Holidays!

Marie

[jilbert57]

Happy Holidays Marie, it is nice to have a good report on Vos.
When a couple of my dogs were doing this the vet put them on Carafate(sucralfate). It is a chalky pill you crush, put in a mouth syringe with a tad water or broth, shake and give by mouth. The medicine sticks to erosions in the stomack or throat and heals them over time. I forget the parameters but it is given 1 hour prior to a meal or 1 hour after but on an empty stomach. Seems 6 weeks was the duration.
It is for sores or ulcers that have formed due to acid. You might ask.

Jill

[Eddiespaghetti]

Carafate is a good option. I have had to put one of my dogs on it for a little after she got sick.
Another option is Omeprazole. This is what I used for Eddie when we first started the EPI journey.
You can also try cut back on enzymes a little if it doesn't cause other problems.