Susan – thank you soooooo much! This is all so overwhelming and confusing. I don’t mind the EPI but I’m sick of the darn SIBO! SO – when Doc was on RC GSD Puppy his ears always had black gunk in them but it didn’t seem to bother him so I left them alone – I didn’t write down when it all started BUT I know he wasn’t itchy in the gastro – I really noticed the itchy when on TOTW Pacific Stream – his ears were so bad he woke me up scratching and they were bleeding – so I started cleaning them at first with malicidic acid from the vet and then I switched to vinegar and water solution – I also noticed him licking the bottom of paws – thought it was an allergy so I switched him to TOTW Sierra Mountain (lamb only) – his ears have remained good no paw licking but now he’s itchy all over his body – problem is he’s had tapeworms for a while so I don’t if it’s the worms (haven’t found much about them causing itching), if it’s shedding his old coat (I’ve heard this can happen as he’s now absorbing nutrients), if it’s an allergy or if it’s from increasing enzymes – uggggghhhhhh. Doc is on his SECOND round of Droncit for the tapeworms the first two doses didn’t get rid of them all – he gets his last dose for this round Friday – I’m calling the vet today because I’m concerned about how entrenched these things are – I haven’t been able to find anything about having to be on Droncit so long. Thanks for the info on the foods to stay away from. I did more researching yesterday and am wondering if I need to be giving supplements to help his gut – do you give supplements? What food are you feeding Patch? I was staying away from rice because of the whole grain thing but then read yesterday white rice is easily digestible. You mentioned the soluble/insoluble fiber percent – what should that percentage be? OMG I cannot thank you enough for your help.
