pancreatic enzyme deficiency

[Nancy Sweet]

Well... the fun never ends. My poor puppy has now been treated for Giardia, Coccidias, put on the ID diet for a week, which seemed to help a little, and is now getting worse again since I started transitioning to the Canidae lamb and rice food. His stools are not watery anymore, but still soft and yellow. He eats his food in 2 minutes and acts like he is starving. He is not pooping as much as he was, but I just wish he would get better. The vet said he may have a pancreatic enzyme deficiency. I am waiting for her to call me back. I guess we have to do blood work and abdominal xrays to diagnose it. Has anyone dealt with this? I have heard the treatment is for the rest of their lives (enzymes on their food) and is very expensive. I have also read that it is genetic. My breeder is being very unhelpful and claims none of her other dogs have ever had this. I am so fustrated.

[2m42srv7vi6sq]

If you go to the health food store and buy "food enzymes" and put yogurt on the food, it will help the soft stools immediately. You can also feed papaya pills, as treats.

We had a friend, with a Poodle that had this problem, and the yogurt and papaya did the trick. You will have to do it for life, but your puppy can live a normal life and eat healthy foods AND it doesn't cost a fortune. You may want to try Taste Of The Wild, rather than Canidae. Puppies seem to tolerate pretty well.

I hope this helps.
Gail

[F, Calla & Luca]

The transition to a new food can take a while. Just because the vet says he may have something and hat she wants to check it out does not mean your dog does have this. All may be well with his pancreas. How is your dog's weight, perhaps he needs more food? It's sad he's been ill but so far everything he's had can be treated and cured. It's very unfortunate that your breeder has been unhelpful. I think you should let others know this so they can avoid this breeder. Good breeders should be supported.

[Karen, Jasper and Jackdoodle]

Nancy, ask your vet if it could be Clostridium perfringens. They can do a test for it, and if it's positive, it's treated with antibiotics.
Just a hunch.
http://marvistavet.com/html/clostridium_perfringens.html

[2m42srv7vi6sq]

Good call! Clostridium lives in the digestive tracts of birds. If your puppy was outside and ate anything that had bird poop on it, he could have picked up Clostridium P.

Some of the symptoms of Clostridium P. are digestive problems, among others. Clostridium Perfringens is related to Clostridium Botulinum, which causes botulism in humans.

A complete bacterial workup would be a good place to start. I am surprised that your vet has not done a complete fecal/blood bacterial/parasite series.

In the meantime, yogurt and papaya can't hurt. It is soothing to the digestive tract and fights graham negative bacteria.