Epi4Dogs

Hi Joanne. I have heard there is quite a wait to become a patient at UF Vet School, and then it's pricey, but with your pet insurance maybe not so pricey for you. I looked into getting the fasting blood test done there ( I know a student), but they, too, send specimens to Texas A&M. Most of what has gone well for Tucker took place with a vet from Suburban in G'ville who has since retired, followed by this incredible group & our regular vet who listens to me. The final straw for us was the food. Fingers crossed we've got things figured out for the time being. To a degree, it's trial & error for each dog, because they are all different. We are anxious to hear your test results, and hope you will post each & every little question you and your daughter may have...the tiniest detail can make a difference, so keep us posted! ---Pam

Joanne , if this is EPI things will get better so long as you follow the basics

We had a seniour vet at Liverpool small animal hospital, who is now a professor he gave me so much reasurance

I am very lucky to have a great husband who adored Kara, and a circle if people I met through this forum who are among my closest friends , one I have spent holidays with

To be honest, once Kara began to turn the corner we didnt have to visit the vets that often, once a month for her b12 injection, and a chat, and the occasional paw and ears issues, so .........

Jean it’s funny that you say paw and ear issues. Boone has had many paw and ear infections since we’ve gotten him at 4 months old. He is currently on Tresaderm drops for his ears and Betagen topical spray for his paws and Ketoseb+PS shampoo 2-3 times a week for his skin. The vet explained like in the small intestines, the skin can get an overgrowth of normal bacteria also.

To be honest I haven’t been able to bathe him as often as I should because he hates it so much. I have brought him for bathes at the vet or groomers but like once a week, three times only the first week. To be honest his skin looks fine, no bumps, no scaling, not dry from what I can tell, no redness.

His paws on the other hand get reddish inside and smelly. I think it’s because he licks and chews on them. He chews on everything, he’s constantly needing to chew or be busy with his mouth, like a nervous energy. He rips his toys apart in minutes like he’s on a time deadline or something and then proceeds to shred and eat them! I have had dogs my entire life, and many were shredders but never did I have one that would eat his toys! No matter what it is, stuffing, plastic, rubber, thread, any material he will eat it all! Many times we have poops that are 80% foreign objects. Our saving grace is that he has never gone after furniture or baseboards or anything. He has swallowed socks and hair scrunchies whole before I could catch him. In those instances he’s vomited them up within a day or two.

Needless to say he’s been a handful and a half! I still think he does these things because he just doesn’t feel well and doesn’t know how to tell me. It’s like when you can’t scratch that itch and it just drives you nuts!!!

Still waiting on results.

Joanne, eating bizarre things can be another sign of EPI. I'm sure you know that already. Tucker ate XL kong treat holders, stuffed animals, eyeglasses, and whole entire rolls of toilet paper. Some of your descriptions sound like normal puppy behavior, but could be he's really hungry, as dogs with EPI are, at first. Your guy is so stinkin' cute though.

Kara had metatarsal fistulas in the back paws which is basically a hole behind the big pad which fills up and creates pain

https://wagwalking.com/condition/metata ... l-fistulas

hers was auto immune related

and the ears was exactly the same auto immune related ,I had a half hour talk about it from Uncle Ian the vet when it was diagnosed, we was amazing, he could talk at length on any subject, and had treated EPI since the mid eighties

the fistulas were discovered when he spayed her, she was on her back, and it became obvious

paw chewing could be fistulas. could be comfort chewing, which is when they hurt somewhere else, could be a food allergy, has the vet done any scrapings ?

as for a bath, will he go in the sea ? Kara hated the bath, but a pool of mud and the sea were bliss for her, the salt water might help


Jean Dodds is renowned for a test she developed for food intollerances

https://nutriscan.org/

Madelon is really up on this one

I had Kara tested by blood test, she was intollerant of pork, white fish, beef ,and chicken, thank God she could tollerate the enzymes she could eat fresh chicken, cooked, but white fish would go straight through her, and the paws and ears would kick off

we treated the ears with drops and steroids

life is never easy with EPI the auto immune defficiency hits in all ways, however, it never stopped her loving life and being a pain


Jeanx

HI Joanne,

For the ears, this has worked with MANY of us here as well as non-EPI dogs - Zymox - you can get it on Amazon. My boy was plagued with ear infections - both rod bacterial and yeast infections - i had them cultured and treated with antibiotics - once cleared I started using Zymox ear wash and drops as recommended by many people here - that was almost 5yrs ago and we have not had an infection since!! My boy has both food sensitivities which cause itchies and environmental allergies. Anytime I see an ear start to go down, a scratch at the ear or a head shake I get a cotton pad and soak it in the Zymox ear wash and use my finger in it to wipe the inside of the ear - this has kept infections away. Others have used the Zymox drops. You can get them on Amazon without prescription.

As for the red paws, my boy has these too - again I always get things cultured when they first present - every time it's been yeast and my vet has suggested athletes foot cream - again that was 5 yrs ago - when the paws get red in between the toes i use the cream for a few days and it goes away.

If you're unsure if its food or environment I highly suggest spending the money for the NutriScan test and blood allergy test - in the long run you'll save money.

Zymox also makes a great shampoo and conditioner using their enzymatic system. Great stuff.

Jill

Thank you Madelon and Jean! No, we have never had the ears or the paws cultured but the next time I definitely will push for that. The first foot pad infection ( Jan 2nd ) the vet gave Boone a Depo Medrol shot and some antibiotics. The 2nd (Jan 22nd) was the opposite front paw, again some antibiotics, no mention of cultures. The day we tested him for EPI ( Feb 12th)he had the start of an infected ear. Again he never suggested a culture, never does. He gave us some drops and that’s about it. The ear cleared up within 2 days but I’m still giving the drops. I will also definitely be ordering the Zymox wash and drops, not only for Boone but my Golden retriever who loves to take a dip in the pool and gets his ears messed up quite a bit also. Boone has never shown any interest in the pool or the ocean. He’s a big scaredy-cat, afraid of every new thing, noise, and situation. He does love taking trips in the car so I try to take him for rides (not just trips to the vet). Still waiting for results, hoping we hear tomorrow. Thanks again everyone, I hope everyone is having a blessed evening!

Thanks Jill I’m looking them up right now on Amazon. I’m so glad that I found this forum, I’m learning so much. Have a great night.

First off I’d like to once again thank you all for taking the time to respond to all my questions and for giving me tons of information and advice.

As it turns out Boone does not have EPI.
His TLI is 21.2
His Cobalamin is 341
His Folate is 17.1

He did test positive for giardia, canine Circovirus and Colostridum perfingens alpha toxin. I don’t really know what all that means but we were given 10 days of Metroindazole 500mg 2x a day (again for the third time)and 5 more days of the Panacur liquid to add to the five days we just completed.

I feel like we are getting nowhere, and repeating treatments that are not working. I am going to be searching for a gastroenterologist who specializes in these types of issues who might be able to help Boone. I appreciate the help and advice you all have provided, and even though Boone doesn’t have this illness, I have still learned so much over the last few days, your time answering my questions was not wasted I assure you that.

I wish you all well with your pups!!!!