11 years ago you banded together to fly a dog to Canada...

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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[email protected]
Member
Posts: 2
Country: Canada
Pet name: Thor

11 years ago you banded together to fly a dog to Canada...

Post by [email protected] » 22 Aug 2024, 13:40

Hello everyone,
My name is Carol and I haven't been here in years because honestly my dog Thor's EPI has been very well controlled for so long. Thank you Diane! I'm sure many people have come and gone in those years but some may still be here and I would like to thank them. and maybe my Thor's story will give those just starting their pets' journey a little hope.

Thor(aka Thorry, Thorsy boy, the best boy, pupper) was first brought to this board's attention by his first owner when he was a puppy. He was diagnosed with EPI very young and due to job loss, her family couldn't afford his enzymes. Her post here certainly read as a last effort to save her beloved dog from euthanasia. Her post was read by a woman in Canada who agreed to adopt him and Olesia and the amazing people here agreed to fund his flight from Arizona to Canada. It still stuns me today that these wonderful people did this for a dog they didn't even know! By all accounts, he was happy with his second owner who worked in a pet shop until she also lost her job. Thor had to be given to a rescue in Welland Ontario.

This is where I come into the story. :) My family already had a german shepherd plus 3 little kids and I was not seriously looking for another when I saw his picture on a dog rescue site. I fell in love with his face. We were going to be near the rescue on a mini vacation so I convinced my husband to go see the dog and of course, he came home with us as that is what happens when you go "see" a dog. I was aware he had EPI but I knew nothing about it and when I headed to the internet, I found this site and Thor's story unfolded like a gift. Call it kismet, fate, fortuitous coincidence, I don't know, but I will forever be grateful that this dog came into our lives and this website played a large role in it as well as saving his life at least twice probably more when I think about those early days of managing his EPI.

Thor is now 13. He has had a great life. We joke that no one has told him he's a german shepherd and he thinks he's a lab. His personality is best described as happy to be here. It doesn't matter where he is, who he's with, or what he's doing, he has lived every day of his prime with happiness, a lot of goofiness, and some scatterbrain too! However, we lost our other shepherd to bone cancer about a year and half ago and Thor never fully recovered from her loss. He developed Pannus, which we have under control, and he has arthritis in his back legs and spine. It has progressed to the point where is too painful to ask him to continue on. My once happy dog is just too sad and sore and not living his best life anymore. So tomorrow it is time to say goodbye.

Because of so many wonderful people on here, Thor got to live a full life. He went camping, swimming, hiking, had a favourite tree, chased squirrels, ate some bunnies(don't ask: he was fine wiith out enzymes! barely burped), ate my garden clean of tomatoes every darn year, fell in love with the dog next door, took long walks, swims in the lake and felt the love of a family every single day. He did all this while maintaining a weight of around 80 pounds. EPI became something in the background for him, not a death sentence but something very livable. I hope that gives hope to others as he is certainly a success story.

So from the bottom of mine and my family's heart thank you for giving us Thor. Words aren't adequate to express how much we love him. It's easy to think that a forum post is just tha,t but these posts sometimes save lives. Between here and Diane's Enzymes I'm sure there are countless dogs that have had lives just like Thor. Thank you, Thank you, Thank you.


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Vanillanix
Member
Posts: 15
Location: Southern Maryland
Country: United States
State: Maryland
Pet name: Echo
My name: Anika

Re: 11 years ago you banded together to fly a dog to Canada...

Post by Vanillanix » 22 Aug 2024, 19:39

You gave him a beautiful life from what I just read. My thoughts will be with you tomorrow ❤️
Adopted Echo at 8 weeks in January 2020 She's a mixed breed mutt - Embark DNA shows she's 22.7% German Shepherd, 22.1% Pit Bull, 15.9% Chow Chow, 11.3% Golden Retriever, 5.8% American Staff, 5.7% Boxer, 5.3% Samoyed and 11.2% Supermutt lol.

Diagnosed with EPI in June 2020. Has been thriving, thanks to the advice from this forum! ❤️

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jilbert57
Staff
Posts: 2325
Country: United States
State: Washington

Re: 11 years ago you banded together to fly a dog to Canada...

Post by jilbert57 » 23 Aug 2024, 10:08

Hi Carol. I have been here since 2012 and I believe I recall. Wow what a great tribute you wrote to describe a wonderful pup. I am so sorry and will be thinking about your family and Thor. What a full life.

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.

Chance
Member
Posts: 622
Country: Canada
Pet name: Chance
My name: Andrea

Re: 11 years ago you banded together to fly a dog to Canada...

Post by Chance » 23 Aug 2024, 18:38

Aww. Thor's story and the kindness of many are a huge inspiration! He was lucky to have so much love and kindness.

Heartfelt condolences for Thor's pain and suffering at this time. It's very difficult to let go :(
Chance was my 4 legged soul mate. My mobility assist service dog. Pure yellow Lab, 75 lbs. After struggling with weight all his life, finally dx with EPI. cTLI < 1, folate and B12 very low. Fed Raw. Maintained with Creon, Garden of Life probiotic and intermittent calcium bentonite clay. (Tylosin was a big nightmare for him)!

Rylee is Chance's successor; also pure Yellow/Fox red Lab. Started with symptoms at 8 weeks. At 6 months of age, also prescribed Creon due to suspected EPI (due to passing large amounts of undigested food). Currently suspected of blockages in pancreatic ducts. She is maintained VERY nicely on Creon and probiotics. Also raw fed.

Tuckaboo Pam
Member
Posts: 1624
Country: United States
State: Florida
Pet name: Tucker
My name: Pam H.

Re: 11 years ago you banded together to fly a dog to Canada...

Post by Tuckaboo Pam » 24 Aug 2024, 14:26

Apparently I needed a really good cry.

I am so sorry you have to say goodbye to your beautiful Thor, but I have to say I understand your appreciation for this wonderful group Olesia and Izzy started, all those years ago. I, too, have a beautiful German Shepherd because of the kindness and generosity of the people who congregate here.

RIP, handsome Thor. It sounds like your life was pure magic! --- Pam & Tucker
Tucker was a shepherd mix--- TLI 1.3, Folate 9.7, Cobalamin 666, Lipase 38. Diane's Enzymes 4 t/day, B12 1 capsule/day, and Tylan 1/16 teaspoon/day. Taste of the Wild High Prairie, 4 c/day. 60 to 85 pounds! Tucker succumbed to hemangiosarcoma Nov. 2023. I will always, always miss my sweet big boy.

Now there's Nina. 5 year old GSD. TLI 1.0 B12 323. We are still tweaking her routine, and getting lots of help from the forum. She is klutzy and goofy, and we love her dearly, too.

[email protected]
Member
Posts: 2
Country: Canada
Pet name: Thor

Re: 11 years ago you banded together to fly a dog to Canada...

Post by [email protected] » 27 Aug 2024, 11:59

Thank you everyone for your kind words. Thor went peacefully with so much love surrounding him. The house is so empty without a dog. He is very missed.

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Olesia711
Founder & Research Director
Posts: 4532
Location: North Carolina
Country: United States
State: North Carolina
Pet name: Izzy
My name: olesia

Re: 11 years ago you banded together to fly a dog to Canada...

Post by Olesia711 » 31 Aug 2024, 13:14

Hi Carol... and OMG...... your tribute to Thor, Enzyme Diane and this website.... well darn it, your post made me well up with tears.... reading Thor's story!!!

My heart goes out to you that you had to say good bye, and we all understand, when they are struggling and hurting, the biggest and yet hardest gift of love is to let them go and be in peace... but no matter how much we know we need to do this, it still hurts so deeply to let these wonderful beloved companions go................

I remember Thor and am so glad he had such a beautiful life and i don't think i have ever heard EPI, once under control, described better... it truly often is just "something in the background". Thank you for explaining it this way.... as i suspect, this will give much "hope" to others just embarking on the EPI journey, reading this post.

Also.... i am so sorry i am just seeing this post now... over a week later..... i've been virtually off about a week, working on another EPI project, BUT... i still should have gotten a notification of this post, but didn't.... so my apologies for my delayed response too......

Sending you many heart-felt condolences,
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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.........

Beatrice
Member
Posts: 55
Country: Canada
Pet name: Sushi
My name: Beatrice

Re: 11 years ago you banded together to fly a dog to Canada...

Post by Beatrice » 04 Nov 2024, 15:24

What a lovely story! Wow. How many Canadians have I come across that gave an EPI dog a 2nd chance at life?
TLI 3.1
1 Pet Factor B12, 1 small scoop of aventi GI complete pre/probiotic, 1/4 teaspoon slippery elm
Enzyme Diane 8X in HPMC delayed release capsule (1 full capsule + 1/2 capsule for each meal)
Nutrience Grain-Free Subzero Prairie Red (up to 2 cups if no other meat given)
AM 1/2 cup of kibble, plain yogourt with 1/2 banana or sweet potato
Noon 1/2 cup of cooked meat + boiled egg
3:30pm 1/2 cup cooked meat + boiled egg
6pm 3/4 cup of cooked meat
9pm 1/2 cup of kibble
apple, peanut butter snacks with enzyme capsule

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TrixEPIMama
Member
Posts: 77
Country: United States
State: Texas
Pet name: Trixie

Re: 11 years ago you banded together to fly a dog to Canada...

Post by TrixEPIMama » 14 Nov 2024, 12:27

What an incredible story. If I understand correctly, you didn't know when you got Thor that this list had helped save him. You then looked up the list -- and discovered your dog was already part of the EPI4Dogs family. Wow. Just wow.

Amazing story and great life for a wonderful dog. Thank you. And thank all the people who were on this list all those years ago (before my time).
Trixie is an Australian cattle dog or mix, likely born in the Fall of 2020. Picked up as a stray, she was already suffering undiagnosed EPI when we adopted her. Test later showed TLI <1 and cobalamin 189.

Her (non-standard) treatment is 1900 mcg of pure freeze-dried pork pancreas from Allergy Research Group per day. Also 1/4 teaspoon of slippery elm powder and 1/2 (previously one) capsule a day of WonderLabs TrinFac-B, all mixed into her food and served immediately, without the usual 20-minute wait.

We feed Canidae Angus Beef and Barley, which may not yet be the perfect food, but she's doing well and has "happy" normal poops.

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Olesia711
Founder & Research Director
Posts: 4532
Location: North Carolina
Country: United States
State: North Carolina
Pet name: Izzy
My name: olesia

Re: 11 years ago you banded together to fly a dog to Canada...

Post by Olesia711 » 14 Nov 2024, 19:00

EPI folks are the most amazing, caring and thoughtful people i have ever come across.... and i must admit, those that have participated in Epi4Dogs have become family..... and far exceeded being just a member of a dog group.
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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