Epi4Dogs

Hello,
We saw a specialist for the EPI this week. The specialist didn’t like that he only gained a 1/2 lb over 4 weeks so she said to add more food plus wet food and enzyme powder and refrigerate his breakfast overnight and make his dinner in the morning and refrigerate. I am also blending his kibble so it can be in smaller pieces. We just started doing this and his stools are more softer. Is this normal? Before I was just adding water & pumpkin incubate for 15-20 minutes at room temperature than feed and his stool looked not normal. I’m obviously new to all of this. So thanks for your time.

Good morning Gracie,
Will you please give us information on Bandit?
The test results of his Tli, B12 and folate numbers?
What is he eating for food?
Is he on B12 supplements or shots?
What enzymes are you using?
Was he given an antibiotic for SID?

Thanks for information so we can better help you.

JILL

Royal canine Hydrolyzed protein dry & wet food. 3/4 cup dry food plus a little wet food and pumpkin.
Viokase enzyme powder 1/2 tsp every meal.
Famotidine tablet 5mg every 12 hours. 10mg total a day.
No b-12 supplements
The only antibiotic he was given was Metronidazole for bacterial growth from his feces in January.
I’ve attached the test results. All I understood was it’s low.

Thank you so much for the information!
How much does your pup eat a day? The enzymes are dosed on how much food, not per meal basis. The correct dose is 1 level teaspoon enzyme per 1 cup dry kibble, and 3/4 teaspoon enzyme per 1 cup wet food. So depending on how much you feed you might want to adjust accordingly the enzymes.

His B12 could stand to be up in the 600-800 range there is a B12 here:
https://epi4dogs.com/b12-in-brief-2/ the Wonderlabs product mentioned. You might give one a day.

Sounds like you and your vet are pretty proactive and that is great!

Please do not use metronidazole again if it pops up we use Tylan to treat SID in the gut.
Here is a link:
https://epi4dogs.com/antibiotics/

Thanks and ask any questions. There are a lot of great links here.

Jill

He eats 2 times a day. 3/4 cup. 1/2 tsp of Viokase 2 times a day. That’s what the Dr recommended. It’s all very confusing and overwhelming. So should he be having more enzymes? Also does refrigeration of dog food help? I just started doing his food the new way as of 04/24 where I make it and refrigerate it over night for breakfast than again for dinner.

Metronidazole was used in January before we officially got a diagnosis of EPI on 03/20/23.
We sent a new feces with the specialist to make sure the bacteria is in normal range or something to that effect.

to make things easier... DO NOT refrigerate the food... you are basically inactivating the enzymes... that's why things aren't looking so good.

Personally i would up the enzymes to 1 level tsp per your 3/4 cup of food since you are also adding in some extras.
Add just enough room temp to the food so that the food is moist, add 1 level tsp of powdered enzymes to the meal, mix and let sit for 20 minutes.
THen serve.

I am so sorry you are feeling over whelmed..... when first starting out with EPI, it is a lot to take in. But once you get the hang of it,,, it is not so bad. The reason why it is so confusing is that there are "recommended" guidelines, but we often have to tweak the recommendations to best suit each individual EPI dog. .... and it is these "tweaks" that we at Epi4Dogs are very good at helping with

THere is more, but for now, start with the above and get back to us with the results..... and we will help guide you with the next steps

Thank you for your much needed advice. I will stop refrigerating because I really do think it’s changing his feces form/color.
Thank you for creating a group like this and I know it’s a lot trial and error since no one animal is the same but it definitely helps to hear what works and what doesn’t and being able to compare. I know the Vets are great but with something so new for me I definitely needed more information and I can’t afford the fee for every question when things come up.

Also.... with EPI dogs..... in the beginning you should try to feed them approximately 150% of what they normally require....
HOWEVER.... you don't want to feed big meals. SO.... we suggest feeding 150% but breaking it down into 3 or 4 smaller meals a day. To make it easier for you, one of the meals can be fed shortly before bedtime

So he eats 3/4 cup 2 meals a day. He was eating 5/8 cup 2 meals a day before Monday when Dr said to increase amount. So if i calculated correctly he’s currently eating 1 1/2 cup a day so should we add more or break the 1 1/2 cup into 3 meals and how do I do the enzyme powder than. Thank you the enzyme powder scares me to mess up with that.

try feeding 3 times a day:

3/4 cup food with 1 tsp of enzymes (because you are doing this: 3/4 cup dry food plus a little wet food and pumpkin).
3/4 cup food with 1 tsp of enzymes
1/2 cup of food with 1/2 tsp of enzymes (this can be a just before bedtime meal, but try to feed it at least 4 hrs from the last meal.)

P.S. you typically only have to feed the 150% until most of the lost weight is replenished or the dog repeatedly stops finishing all his food.

However, some EPI dogs, once stable only require 2 feedings a day but some will always require more food than what is suggested for their weight/age/activity level.... while others will not require a lot of food. It all depends on the dog, once stable.