Question:
I have an 8 month old Basenji female who about 2 weeks ago stopped eating. She had had intermittent diahrea since we got her but due to changes in environment and food we were not concerned. She started losing weight but agian I was not concerned as she had been the runt of the litter and I thought she was just having a fast growth spurt. Then she stopped eating and her ribs were standing out. I rushed her to the vet and we did every test known to man and she came back negative for everything. We then tested her for EPI. Her results were within the normal range but on the low side. The vet thought that that was indicative that she had EPI. I am now trying out the enzyme supplements. The problem is she will not eat dry dog food. I have another Basenji who can eat nothing but dog food. WHile she was ill I was making her dog food with rice, meat and veggies and she was thriving now she seems withdrawn again and is starting to lose weight again. My instincts tell me that she may have an allergy or an intolerance to something in dog food such as preservatives, and not have EPI at all. I'm not sure what to do but I can't afford to keep making her dog food, nor can I keep taking her to different vets until I get to the root of the problem. I am concerned that it may be a parasite or bacteria that is hard to identify, or was in a shedding cycle. I am also concerned that my other dog who is a healthy adult male may be carrying it and not showing symptoms. I am worried that he will pass anything back to her. We have given her a 10 day cycle of apo-sulfatrim but Whiskey has not been given any anibiotics. What do I do now to figure out what is wrong with her.

Answer:
What is EPI? I guess you can tell I am new here........

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Don't feel bad, Parker, I have no idea, either.

I'm sorry for what you and your dog are going through. Can you give us details about EPI?

Answer:
EPI is exocrene pancreatic insufficiency. In it's short form it is a congenital disease that happened while she was forming. It means her pancrease is not creating and sending out the digestive enzymes that her body needs to breakdown and digest fats. Because the fats are combined with the rest of the food she was not breaking down and digesting any of her food and she was slowly starving to death. She is doing much better now that we have on enzyme supplements. Hopefully we have the right diagnosis, because she is still having loose and fatty stools, but less than before. She is also keeping some weight on, thank heavens!

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Thanks, both for the explanation and the update!

I'm very happy to hear that she's doing better!

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