Exocrine Pancreatic Insufficiency - Page 2

Thanks Blitzen. Your commentary on EPI was very complete and shows knowledge of possible suspected causes and trends toward diagnosis.  I welcome your input. If you come up with the info that you mentioned please post as I read the posts on this site regularly and will keep an eye open. Again, thanks!

Yes, I will, Don. I own a breed board, another breed, and some there have been talking about the DNA testing for EPI, but so far I think it's still in the beginning stages.

I did remember a few websites where there is research information about EPI.

One is the AKC Canine Health Foundation  http://www.akcchf.org/   Click on "funded research", "disease", "gastrointestinal disease". You can read the status of funded research addressing EPI and who funded the studies. Some studies are complete, one is still active.  I haven't read all of it yet.

Texas A & M Vet School's site has more on these studies  http://www.tamu.edu/ 

Good info , Blitz!

I have an EPI dog- diagnosed at 3 years old. Fortunately I spayed her due to reproductive problems... Mine had the classic problems - HUGE stools (smelling beyond belief), which moved into stools that had more blood than poop...drastic loss of weight (she's always been lean but we were down to 58 lbs from 72)...poor coat, and her personality was really was depressed. We went thru several rounds of antibiotics, with no improvement. I finally took her to my vet that specializes in homopathic medicine. She was the one who finally sent out the TLI - my girl came back with 0.4 - basically almost no function. I have her on a raw diet and add Pancrezyme to her meals. It's a tough thing to manage - they do well for a while, then have a set back, then do well again. Stress will trigger off a bad spell. When my girl was diagnosed, I called the breeder right away. She called all of the puppy customers from that litter - seems like only mine was affected.

There is a very good EPI group in the Yahoo Groups - they have a lot of good info and share their experiences.

Let me know how you make out....

Sorry, I am pretty ignorant when it comes to Czech bloodlines. I spoke to a woman doing a lot of research on EPI the other day. She is working with Universities to create a database of dogs (pedigrees) having & producing EPI in search of a marker. Her name is Diane Seamans.

SS

What are the symptons of EPI?  The reason I ask is that my 3 year old bitch has been unwell for almost 4 weeks now.  She started off with sickness, this developed in to diarorhea and passing blood.  Treated by the vet antibiotics etc..  We fed her chicken and rice initially, she was still loose.  Moved her on to Chappie which was going through her in equal amounts, but at least it was solid!  Went back to the vets and he told us to keep her on chicken for a week and has given us green capsules to give to her at each meal time, he mentioned it could be EPI and these capsules were to aid with digestion.  Since she has been on these and just eating chicken, her stools have been firmer but yellow and slightly slimy.  Also she is starving all the time, we put this down to the fact she is getting less bulk out of the chicken than out of the Arden Grange dry food she is normally on.  She is 3 years old and has always been a slim dog despite being spayed and really active so didn't really have any excess weight to lose.  She is now a bag of bones and doesn't have a lot of energy.  Her coat however is in really good condition.  Any help would be welcome, taking her back to the vets tonight for a check up.

What are the symptons of EPI?  The reason I ask is that my 3 year old bitch has been unwell for almost 4 weeks now.  She started off with sickness, this developed in to diarorhea and passing blood.  Treated by the vet antibiotics etc..  We fed her chicken and rice initially, she was still loose.  Moved her on to Chappie which was going through her in equal amounts, but at least it was solid!  Went back to the vets and he told us to keep her on chicken for a week and has given us green capsules to give to her at each meal time, he mentioned it could be EPI and these capsules were to aid with digestion.  Since she has been on these and just eating chicken, her stools have been firmer but yellow and slightly slimy.  Also she is starving all the time, we put this down to the fact she is getting less bulk out of the chicken than out of the Arden Grange dry food she is normally on.  She is 3 years old and has always been a slim dog despite being spayed and really active so didn't really have any excess weight to lose.  She is now a bag of bones and doesn't have a lot of energy.  Her coat however is in really good condition.  Any help would be welcome, taking her back to the vets tonight for a check up.

 Don, 

There is some good advice here. I have years of experience with rescue dogs and this condition, and have one of my own who also has it. If you need additional information, let me know. I have a lot of things that I can suggest you try before you do the TLI or other expensive tests. There are indeed other conditions that mimic this and too often people jump at the first mention of the condition, including vets, and especially if a TLI comes back abnormal. The TLI is only a test that speaks to the lack of enzymes present and does not say anything about what causes it. It can also be deceptive, give a positive result and then a few weeks later, return to normal.

It is, in my experience, very rare for really young dogs to have this, but not impossible. Normally this takes some time to develop.

Let me know if I can help.

Hi Don,

EPI usually develops and is detected between 3 - 5 years of age, however, it can rear its ugly head at an earlier age.

I have a 5 yr old male with EPI that was detected at 9 months old. He started out with diarrea, he was always acting like he was starving and would gulp his food down. When he would "poop" it came out as food. There was never any blood, just VERY smelly, yellow diarrea. He food was not getting digested so when it came out in his poo he would try to eat it again. Ugh!  My vet tested immediately for EPI with the TLI test and it was positive.

He has been on enzymes since and his weight is normal (90 - 94 lbs) and he is living a normal life with a healthy coat. We just cannot give him anything that has a high fat or fiber content.  The enzymes are expensive, but the alternative is fatal.  I order my enzymes through Thomas Vet Drug (www.thomasvetdrug.com) as they are the least expensive place I've found over a 5 year period. I get the Bio-Case V powder (12 oz jar). If you order a case (4 jars) it is cheaper still at $320 for the case of 4. Depending on how much you have to give your boy the case could last quite a while.

As far as bloodlines, my boy has the Agar Z Pohranicin Straze on the bottom but I'm not sure if that is where the problem came from. It would be interesting to see how many EPI dogs have the same bloodlines.

I  was really looking forward to start a breeding program with him but as soon as he was diagnosed with EPI I had him neutered. I can only hope others with EPI dogs will do the same to eventually stomp out this dreaded disease!

Good luck with you boy. Keep the faith!