EPI dog can't gain weight

[Germohawk]

Hello everyone, my name is Maggie and my dog's name is Bailey. She is 3.5 GSD. She was diagnosed with EPI when she was one and half. We did bloodwork so it is confirmed. Right after that we put her on EPI treatment. She was responded to Enzymes very well and has been stabilized for almost 2 years. However recently I've noticed that she started losing weight again, seems always hungry, and always begging for foods. I increased her food 1/3 times compared to her regular amounts, but it does not help at all. She lost almost 8 pounds in one and half months. Her stool looks firm though, but I can see undigested food. I cook Chicken, brown rice and carrot as her food, I can see undigested brown rice and carrot. I started to give her Wonderland B12 a week ago, but it is not improving, I can see she did not gain any weight and still hungry all the time. What should I do? Please help. Also I am taking her to the Vet next week. I'll keep updating.

[Eddiespaghetti]

Hello Maggie,
It is pretty common for dogs to require more enzymes after a while. I am unsure what exactly causes it. Maybe the pancreas atrophied more?
Regardless of why, I would start giving a little more enzymes with each meal, maybe increase it by 1/8th to 1/4th more and see how that goes. If you can't get rid of the undigested food at that point I would try changing the food. Maybe they are starting to have an intolerance to it?
If they have been stable on this for two years, I don't want you to start over with food experimenting unless you have to.
Though any time there is undigested food going through the GI tract, there is a very good chance that SIDs will start to pop up. You might need to treat for that if you start seeing symptoms.

[Germohawk]

Thank you very much for your quick reply. I also increase the amount of enzymes when I increase the amount of food that I gave her. I’ll keep watching.

Meanwhile I’ve always have this question since she started EpI treatment. Does enzymes that we give to our dog babies have any side effects? Does enzymes damage dogs’ internal organs? What should we do to prevent any potential harm?

Hello Maggie,
It is pretty common for dogs to require more enzymes after a while. I am unsure what exactly causes it. Maybe the pancreas atrophied more?
Regardless of why, I would start giving a little more enzymes with each meal, maybe increase it by 1/8th to 1/4th more and see how that goes. If you can't get rid of the undigested food at that point I would try changing the food. Maybe they are starting to have an intolerance to it?
If they have been stable on this for two years, I don't want you to start over with food experimenting unless you have to.
Though any time there is undigested food going through the GI tract, there is a very good chance that SIDs will start to pop up. You might need to treat for that if you start seeing symptoms.

[Eddiespaghetti]

The enzymes are something the dogs produce naturally. These are just from pork and ground up. Since enzymes don't usually go through the mouth it can cause sores on the mouth and esophagus. That can be countered by making sure the enzymes are moistened. Other than that the only side effect is possible acid reflux. As long as you aren't giving way too much there is very little to worry about.
With anything there is always inherent risk, but it's minimal. It's most allergies and intolerance, over anything else.

[Germohawk]

Again thank you very much for your reply. I’ve always worried that if I give her too much enzymes , that will hurt her internal organs. It seems it should not be a big concern. Great to know.

The enzymes are something the dogs produce naturally. These are just from pork and ground up. Since enzymes don't usually go through the mouth it can cause sores on the mouth and esophagus. That can be countered by making sure the enzymes are moistened. Other than that the only side effect is possible acid reflux. As long as you aren't giving way too much there is very little to worry about.
With anything there is always inherent risk, but it's minimal. It's most allergies and intolerance, over anything else.

[Germohawk]

Hi everybody I increase 1/4 tsp enzymes this morning for her. After her breakfast, I can hear there are lots of sound from her belly, like jiligulu jiligulu. What does this sign tell? I am getting really worried.

[jilbert57]

Hi Maggie it sounds like you are dealing with SID, it is an overgrowth of bad bacteriain the intestine.
Are you homemaking the food? Sometimes the grain in the food, the rice, interferes with the efficacy of the enzymes.Can you swap out the rice with sweet potato?
With SID there are a couple things to do. You can try a pre/probiotic and see if that helps. You can get some Slippery elm online and try that. As a last you can ask your vet for a prescription for Tylan and do a 2 times a day, 45 day course.
Are you giving the B12 once a day?

https://epi4dogs.com/sidsibo-in-brief/

https://epi4dogs.com/slippery-elm/

Jill

[Eddiespaghetti]

The sound could be a couple things, intolerance to the food, indigestion, not enough enzymes etc. I would wager a guess that it is SIDs coming back. A good place to start would be to add some slippery elm to their food once a day.
https://a.co/d/jfd3obG
I would start with half the recommended dose and see if it helps. You can adjust with more or less depending on what you see. Having undigested food pass through their GI tract can wreck havoc.

[Germohawk]

Thanks friend!

Yes I used brown rice for homemade food, I'll switch to sweet potato to see if she like it. I gave her one pill B12 (Wonderlab) at daily base, I also started adding Slippery elm to her food. Actually she begs for dog foods. I still have some Blue dog food that I bought from Costco, so I added 1 cup dog food to her homemade breakfast, she seems doing better now. At least does not beg for food any more.

Yesterday she throw out some yellow foam stuff, that also made me worried.

Hi Maggie it sounds like you are dealing with SID, it is an overgrowth of bad bacteriain the intestine.
Are you homemaking the food? Sometimes the grain in the food, the rice, interferes with the efficacy of the enzymes.Can you swap out the rice with sweet potato?
With SID there are a couple things to do. You can try a pre/probiotic and see if that helps. You can get some Slippery elm online and try that. As a last you can ask your vet for a prescription for Tylan and do a 2 times a day, 45 day course.
Are you giving the B12 once a day?

https://epi4dogs.com/sidsibo-in-brief/

https://epi4dogs.com/slippery-elm/

Jill

[Germohawk]

Thanks friend, I am so lucky to find this forum. I did research when she just diagnosed EPI 2 years ago, fortunately I have both B12 and Slippery Elm (Also from wonderlabs) at home. I am starting to add these stuffs into her food. She seems doing better after breakfast. No belly sounds, no beg for food any more, falls into sleep when I am working.

Again, I truly truly appreciate your help. Thanks everybody who keep posting on this forum.

The sound could be a couple things, intolerance to the food, indigestion, not enough enzymes etc. I would wager a guess that it is SIDs coming back. A good place to start would be to add some slippery elm to their food once a day.
https://a.co/d/jfd3obG
I would start with half the recommended dose and see if it helps. You can adjust with more or less depending on what you see. Having undigested food pass through their GI tract can wreck havoc.