[Madelon H]

Hi Susan – we actually talked earlier this year when he was first diagnosed. He’s currently on TOTW Pacific Stream – he has had several bacterial skin infections and yeast infections – possibly has ringworm now – getting cultured and also has pseudomonas infection in his paws and yeast infection between his toes. We are going to see a dermatologist December 14 – I was just thinking ahead about carbs possibly contributing to the infection

[Madelon H]

Susan – thanks once again for the helpful information. I have read that article and several others – lol!! When I looked back at my EPI log I had noted each time he was given the Droncit (always with his supper) he would wake in the middle of the night shaking his head horribly and scratching his ears and they would be red and gooey – then he’d vomit bile – it would be over in about 24 hours – which according to the vet is how long the Droncit stays in their system. He never had a problem until the Droncit but then again he was given Droncit after his EPI diagnosis and at the same time switching foods. Interesting about Tylan having the same effectiveness no matter the dose. I just want to start all over – like I said get him off of everything and then do one thing at a time. The worms came back as two types of fly larvae – a plant based fly and botfly- the vet wasn’t able to talk to the Parasitology department as they were closed but said from talking to them before she thinks they are passing through him alive because of his compromised system whereas in a healthy dog they would likely die before being passed. I have a fenced in yard – plenty of room to run but I can see everything and since he was diagnosed and I began looking at every poop he now won’t go outside unless your with him – hoping he gets over that before winter – I hate cold weather!! As for the “leave it”. I have used that command for many years with my dogs – doc knows it but doesn’t always follow it – lol!! He’s so smart – he knows when I’m gloved up with bag and shovel after he’s pooped that I’m scooping and he will then find me piles of bunny poop – its hard to find bunny poop but I’m getting pretty good at it – scooped five piles this am :). So as far as diet with the yeast – before EPI he was on RC GSD puppy – hydrolysed yeast and rice – ingredients appear to be on the low carb/low sugar side of things – the TOTW I put him on after diagnosis was definitely not – potatoes, sweet potatoes. What I was recently trying to switch him to Natures Logic is very low carb low natural sugar – it had millet and some dried fruits and veggies but all appeared to be on the low sugar side and at that time was when we got the infection diagnosis. SO I’m not sending the bags back (two aren’t opened) because I want to use the rx food for a few months get some normal poop going again let his system get over everything and rebalance itself and then see where we are at. I didn’t do the shots of B12 – the vet didn’t believe in it – his B12 was at 406 so I ordered the Trinfac-b from wonderlab – he gets 3 capsules a day. I haven’t re-tested the levels yet as we are going to have the entire EPI panel run again because the breeder doesn’t believe he’s EPI because at 3mos when he was tested it was normal – I’m writing a 6 page letter to send when we have him re-tested because I want her to inform the other litter mates that there’s a possibility of this happening to them at some point and not to mate the two dogs again – they were mated earlier this year prior to me notifying her. I tried to join the Facebook page yesterday it kept saying pending – I’ll have to check again to see if I was accepted. I would like to get him neutered this winter – have you heard of any problems with that after being diagnosed EPI?

[Madelon H]

Hey Susan – well I have been on a roller coaster ride with Doc for sure!! After all of your information and my own researching I reached out to Nature’s Logic – I really liked that the founder of the company immediately emailed me himself and without me going into detail about EPI and SIBO he said Doc needed a diet low carb/low natural sugar diet which their food is. The bags say 5% fiber but Dog Food Advisor put it at 4% and the company says it’s between 3-5% but the bag has to have the “max”. So I tried the chicken – he did okay, then i tried sardine (noticed a lot of acid reflux) and we are trying the rabbit now. My vet said to give a food 2 full weeks before deciding if it works or not – I haven’t been doing that 🙁 During this time I was finally able to take a poop sample in with the “worm” – the other vet at the practice who i like much better said she finally saw it and it’s DEFINITELY not tapeworm – which is great but unfortunately Doc had been given 4 doses of Droncit and I believe he’s allergic to Droncit – immediately after getting it his ears flare up and he becomes really itchy and vomits bile. SO of course I feel horrible – she said it looks like fly larvae – we are stumped about him passing live fly larvae – we sent it out for testing and are awaiting the results. What i’ve read online I believe it’s called pseudomyiasis – I think he’s getting it from eating rabbit poop or grass where flies have deposited their eggs and the eggs have hatched and Doc eats it – he LOVES rabbit poop. Anyway, I realized he was passing live larvae I took him in for a full rectal exam and through once over – I asked her to check his ear (I had been asking the other vet but he never did) – came back positive 4 out of 4 for yeast, bacteria and rod in the left ear and 1 out of 4 for yeast in the right ear and he has a yeast infection between his toes. We are not sure if this is from the Droncit or the Tylan that he’s been on or if he could be allergic to yeast altogether. After his first bout of SIBO as a puppy he was put on Royal Canin LF Gastro kibble and did fine then switched to Royal Canin Large Breed Puppy Developmental (rx) then switched to Royal Canin GSD Puppy – he did GREAT. SO, I’m thinking the yeast infections he currently has is from the Droncit. We’ve given him a bath with medicated shampoo for his yeasty paws but he is still itchy on his body – his ears are doing much better and his paws but still itchy on the body – not sure if that’s food related or environmental. SO I decided to go back to what worked last time and I bought the RC Gastro kibble and am going to mix that with the rabbit food and get him completely on the RC Gastro and wean off the Tylan (he’s been on it for 60 days). Then I’m going to keep him on the RC Gastro for with a probiotic (doesn’t appear there is any in the kibble) for a month or two and let his insides settle down then I’m thinking about trying the RC GSD Adult (when I read the description it talks about low fermentable foods, etc – it actually sounds like a good food – fiber is a bit high but if it works it works) – I’ve spent hundreds in dog foods that I have sitting half eaten or unopen altogether at this point and am tired of dealing with it and feeling badly for poor Doc.

[Madelon H]

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.

[Madelon H]

Susan – thanks. I belong to the EPI4DOGS.COM group – they are awesome! Did/does your dog have EPI? I know they say you don’t have to have a low fat diet for EPI anymore – BUT here’s my thinking based on my personal experience. Doc, my GSD, was diagnosed at 3 months old with SIBO but not EPI (pancreas just had not completely atrophied at that time) – they did the cTLI test then and TLI was 16 B12 was 800+ Folate >24 – he had the chronic diarrhea with pale foul smelling cow patties – so he was on metronidazole and put on the Royal Canin Gastro Low Fat Dry Kibble – after 2 1/2 months all was well and I transitioned him to Royal Canin GSD Puppy – he was great – got to 95lbs until March 2015 when he started losing weight – no diarrhea – finally he had lost about 10lbs and despite my telling my vet something was wrong he said he was fine – then he started diarrhea and eating poop – I demanded another cTLI test – positive for EPI and SIBO – TLI < .4; B12 400; Folate >24. He was put on the can RC Gastro – WAY to expensive – once we started enzymes and B12 with Intrinsic Factor I switched him to TOTW Pacific Stream – poops got better but not consistent – then DESPITE being on flea/tick and heartworm meds his entire life he got tapeworms and coccidia (he had coccidia really bad as a pup) – he’s also been very itchy lately. SO my thinking after doing much research is that although they say you don’t need to restrict fat for an EPI dog I’m thinking you may need to restrict fat for SIBO – thoughts? The RC Gastro dry kibble is 5% fat and 3.6% fiber. I’m not opposed to prescription diet food if nothing else will work but I’m $4000 into this disease already and was hoping to find a comparable OTC food that won’t break my bank. I was looking at Natural Balance Limited Ingredient food that has 10% fat – do you think that it’s worth trying? I was also wondering about mixing canned food and kibble food since it appears most can food has less fat than the kibble?
Thanks so much!

[Madelon H]

Hi there. Is your dog still having issues? If so, I’m wondering – I know this is gross but – what color are the poops and has there been any weight loss?

[Madelon H]

I don’t think there are too many companies out there that haven’t had a recall at some point in time. I have a 14mo GSD recently diagnosed with EPI (Exocrine Pancreatic Insufficiency) and am feeding TOTW Sierra Mountain with excellent results. There are many GSD owners in the EPI group that have fed TOTW for years and love it.

[Madelon H]

I have a 14month old GSD recently diagnosed with EPI (Exocrine Pancreatic Insufficiency) – I switched him upon diagnosis to Taste of The Wild Sierra Mountain and he’s done great! A lot of GSD owners in my EPI group use TOTW with excellent results.

[Madelon H]

Thanks crazy4cats. I actually never thought about or knew what dog food was made of. After my trainer said rc was not good I found this website was appalled to learn what is in some dog foods which is why I want to switch foods now that I am “I formed”. My pet store is petco but I don’t think they carry Fromm so I’ll probably order it online

[Madelon H]

Yes Doc had giardia and a bladder infection – I think we did three rounds of antibiotics to get rid of it and when he tested negative he still had diahrea which is when I put him on the royal canin GSD – it was a stressful time. He comes from an impressive blood line and is truly a gorgeous dog. I’m reluctant to change foods but feel the royal canin is too expensive – I have a lab/collie mix who is on royal canin satiety because she was a fatty patty and she’s done great on it – I like royal canin for their prescription food. Doc is my first large breed dog and I know GSD tend to have sensitive tummies which is why I’m nervous about switching – royal canin GSD claims to have things in the food designed to be easy to digest and help with the sensitive stomach issue. Shortly after we got Doc we lost my boston terrier Bugsy – it was the worst time of my life – I had him for 14 years and in his last three years he had to have an eye removed and then suffered two major strokes which required hand feeding him and teaching him how to walk again – his head was permanently crooked – he was the sweetest most loving perfect dog ever – I tell you all of this to say Doc – which I was reluctant about getting but my husband wanted – helped me and my 12 year old son get through the roughest time and has brought us so much joy that I want the very best for him. I don’t like the idea of feeding human food – don’t think it’s really safe for us 🙂 and I don’t want to rotate because of stomach issues – I’m really thinking of fromm right now.

[Madelon H]

Thanks c4d but it looks like the list is for puppy food and I’m trying to find adult food – any lists for that?

[Madelon H]

Hound dog mom – please help!!! After reading everything and researching food I’m still confused and stressed and my husband is threatening to divorce me! I have a 12 month GSD who is solid black. I’m very protective because we got him from a great breeder but he had issues when he was little – despite giving medicine from breeder he had a parasite and horrible diahrea after treating parasite. I switched his food to royal canine gs puppy (recommended by my vet) and his stools firmed up and he’s done great. His trainer recently said RC is crap food and recommended Merrick – after researching I both agree and disagree. I talked to the breeder and she said she likes RC because they have not jumped on the advertising bandwagon of trying to list ingredients that consumers want and because they have prescription food they actually DNA test their food. So I’m still soooooo confused – thinking of switching him to Fromm large breed – please help – what do you recommend? I just want him to be healthy after his horrible start in life – I even spent the money to have him tested as a puppy for that genetic digestive disorder because I was so worried – $500 later it was negative 🙂

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