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May 06, 2011

Our 4 1/2 year old has exocrine pancreatic insufficiency. It has always been a struggle to keep him at a decent weigfht, even with the enzymes. Do you have any advice?

Full Question:
Hi Cindy -- I am writing to you because I have tried the forum and have not gotten any answers to this question -- thinking that with all your experience with dogs and GSD, maybe you can help me. Our 4 1/2 year old has exocrine pancreatic insufficiency. It has always been a struggle to keep him at a decent weight, even with the enzymes. We were using viokase and now use biokase because its half the price and I've seen no difference between the results... but he's just so thin and boney, no matter what we do or how much he eats... can you suggest anything to do to fatten him up? He eats a diet of 50% Honest Kitchen, 50% raw ground beef, plus supplements, beef neck bones almost every day, etc.

I am feeding him one cup Honest Kitchen and 1-1/2 cups ground beef, twice a day. Plus kelp, alfalfa, vit E, fish oil once a day, and a raw egg two or three times a week. Plus a beef neck bone just about every day... he has lots of energy, etc. but I can see his ribs, his hind quarters look boney, etc.

Thanks for any ideas -- Best -- Michael
Cindy
Cindy Cindy's Answer:
I might first suggest feeding him 3 or even 4 times a day, divide his meals up. Dogs that have a hard time gaining weight do better with smaller, more frequent meals.

I might feed him the regular AM meal, then feed him 2 to 3 more smaller meals each day... while adding a bit more volume.

I'd increase his overall food consumption by about a third to see if that makes a difference (so I'd add an ADDITIONAL 2/3 of a cup of HK and another cup of meat spread out over his daily feedings).

You might also want to try fattier cuts of meat (if he can tolerate that) or even adding some additional fat chunks to his meals. Our butcher shop will save the fat trimmings for us and let us have them for a very cheap price.

Have you ever tried feeding him pancreas? I know that a lot of dogs that don't do so well on the supplementation sometimes really improve when fed raw pancreas.

http://www.ellsbury.com/cheetahfaqs.htm here is a link I found without doing much searching.

I would also make sure that you are mixing the enzyme powder into the food and letting it sit at room temperature for 15-20 minutes before feeding.

Whenever dealing with EPI, make any changes gradually! I hope this helps.

Cindy Rhodes

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