[Connie Sutherland]

I was thin all my life....then I retired. :wink:

:lol: :lol: You're a funny one, Bob. :wink:

Lean, yes. Good. Great, even. I just put Jaeger on a diet for that very reason. Even though he was eating next to nothing, he was still a little heavy for a working dog....

Dommie is THIN. Like "hi, you can see every bone in my body, just call me Jack Skellington with a black fur coat" kinda thin. :lol: I have a call into the vet because it's been a while since he saw Dom last and I STILL haven't been able to put any weight on him, but A) the vet is out until Wednesday and B) I figured that people on this board are probably more familiar with the raw diet than my vet is, so they might have better suggestions.

Well, I really don't think you want "nicely rounded."

Maybe not every rib clearly showing, either......

It's good (IMHO) if you can feel each rib easily and see the
last couple easily.

BTW, is he getting salmon oil? The anti-inflammation agent that
everyone should be getting, IMO......... and with dogs, it should be
accompanied by Vitamin E (because E is used by the dog's system to
process oil supplements)?

I would (1) check with the vet about his weight, and (2) start him
on a lifelong salmon oil supplement for G.P., remembering that it
also contains the calories of any pure fat.

But I'd be making that vet call in the meantime. Who knows
what worm he might've picked up since he was checked last ?

A stool sample (if the vet says) is simple, and so is treatment,
in the unlikely event that he did pick up a ride-along since he
was checked.......

JMO!

 

[Connie Sutherland]

Well, why not ask the vet to do the EPI ruling out immediately? I would not want to be terribly worried about it and not address it.

Sounds like you know that serum trypsin-like immunoreactivity (TLI) is the test; it's a fasting blood test (12-hour fast) and any vet can do it. The blood is sent to a lab if the vet doesn't have facilities.

http://www.petplace.com/dogs/exocrine-pancreatic-insufficiency-in-dogs-epi/page3.aspx

I would want to do it and know it, myself, and it sounds like you would too.

It's true that some dogs don't do well on the enzyme supplementation and that those dogs (maybe one in five) just fail, and have to be put down. If the treatment does not work on an individual dog, from all that I have read it's a kindness to put that dog down. However, on many dogs, it's very successful.

If you look at this, you'll see that the response just cannot be evaluated ahead of time:
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/entrez/query.fcgi?cmd=Retrieve&db=PubMed&list_uids=9656030&dopt=Abstract

Half of dogs with EPI diagnosed respond so well to supplements that they are clinically just like a non-EPI dog. One in five does not respond. And the rest respond on a scale in between.

You see that chances are pretty good that he doesn't have EPI -----and, if he does, that he will respond well to treatment. If he does not, you will do the right thing, I know, based on his quality of life....... but of all the probable outcomes, that is the least likely.

I really hope this is encouraging. Facts encourage me.

 

[Connie Sutherland]

No, I meant odds in general.

But yeah, I also thought from reading (no personal experience) that he would exhibit real continuous hunger that could not be satisfied.

When is the test?

 

[Connie Sutherland]

Dom

Do you have any info or an appointment for this yet, Alicia?

 

[Connie Sutherland]

Holy cow!

I will look through saved stuff for Dientamoeba fragilis and ringworm, and maybe others here have actual experience with one or both. I have some stuff about immune system depression too, but I have to fish it out.

How is his weight? The same?

 

[Connie Sutherland]

Interesting, Lyn! This popped up for me today too, on other sites.

Here's more discussion that I stumbled on while looking for weight loss/diarrhea, etc.:

http://www.vetmed.ucdavis.edu/CCAH/Update08-2/upd8-2_intestinal.html

http://64.233.167.104/search?q=cach...pdf+dogs,clostridium&hl=en&gl=us&ct=clnk&cd=2

 

[Connie Sutherland]

Here are a couple of ringworm sites that looked good:

http://www.marvistavet.com/html/body_ringworm.html

http://www.doggiesparadise.com/dog-skin-disorders-ringworm.shtml

MarVista Vet is one of my all-time go-to vet med pages.

Both these sites (and others) do discuss ringworm and its connection (sometimes) to reduced immune response.

So I'm reading about enhancing the immune system. It took a while to eliminate all the sites that were selling something. :roll:

You know what? Two things common to both western-med-type sites and alternative-med sites are exercise and (guess what!) Omega 3 EFAs.

 

[Connie Sutherland]

......Okay, to you and Lynn - I am at work right now and have to finish up quarterly payroll reports, .....

Ha ha ha ha ha......finished mine LAST TUESDAY! (Not a common occurence with me, so I am happy to have a place to brag). \/