EPI symptons - Page 1

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.

Thanks in advance

John

Go back to the vet and request a cTLI test.  It is the blood test for EPI.

Symptoms include increased appetite, rapid weight loss, huge, grey, greasy, smelly stools, gas. Your vet will need to perform a specific test to determine whether or not your dog has this condition - I had an Alaskan Malamute with EPI many years ago and never recall seeing blood in his stools. He certainly had all the other characteristics though..... 

Spam,

best advice I can give you is as follows :

go back to your Vet, with a stool sample. Have that sample tested for parasides. Many a times there are simple solutions to a problem.

Have the Vet also take a blood sample & have it tested to the, at least, basic parameters. Since the Vet allready suggested, and on a sidenote I dont see it where he got this from, have cTLI test done as well.

You & your Vet need to rule out the simple things first before you jump to conclusions of a greater magnitude. Is your bitch just before a heatcycle ? Loose stools are not all that uncommon for that.

Best to your bitch. Ulli

I would get a fecal test before doing anything else.

I just had pancreatitis and EPI ruled out on my older bitch, so it's all fresh in my mind. First get a fecal test done to rule out bacteria and parasites. It may take more than one test since some parasites encyst and hide. The vet will probably want to do a CBC to check for various abnormalities, like high albumin levels. This should all be done before you do a specific test for EPI. 

Here are the symptoms of EPI: "The disorder may come on gradually over a long period of time or it may develop rapidly over a period of a week or two. The animals with the condition show rapid weight loss caused by loss of body fat, and muscle atrophy. The hair coat has poor quality. There is usually diarrhea with the stools being light yellow or clay-colored, with the consistency of mashed potatoes. In some cases, it may even be watery, without any form at all. Depending on the diet, there may be large quantities of undigested fat present in the stool. The animal will seem constantly hungry and eat as much food as it can ingest at one time." [from: http://www.peteducation.com/article.cfm?c=2&aid=331 This article is in simple language. If you want more, try the Merck Vet Manual at http://www.merckvetmanual.com/mvm/index.jsp?cfile=htm/bc/23404.htm&word=EPI .].  

Don't panic over the phrase EPI. It's treatable and dogs can live normal lives with treatment. It may not even be what your dog has. My bitch didn't have it. She got diagnosed, after many hundreds of dollars of tests, with non-specific colitis and bacterial overgrowth. She didn't lose any weight although my wallet is considerably lighter.

The definitive test for EPI is a cTLI.

Thanks all for your advice, went back to the vet last night and he has taken a stool sample for analysis.  He has also put her on another course of antibiotics, he feels that it is best to eliminate more normal causes before testing for EPI.  Her stools though have come out looking like parsnips this morning, solid but almost looking like the chicken we're feeding her on is not being digested.  I'll keep my fingers crossed.