Sabo and Pancreas Problems

by Zoe
(Maryland)

My Sabo is a beautiful sable German shepherd. At about five months I met the owners of the other males in the litter and realized my Sabo was painfully thin compared to the others.

About the same time he started having horrible bouts of diarrhea. I fed him a high quality food (Wolfking) but clearly there was a problem.

I took him to the vet and after doing tests on the poop and blood tests, the vet determined he had pancreatic enzyme insufficiency. Basically he was not able to absorb or process the nutrients from his food.

The breeder knew he was sick and inquired about him, so I told her. Her response was... Surprising...

This problem is a recessive gene problem, so first the breeder said she knew of no other dogs in the lines with this problem. I pointed out this was recessive then she wanted to take him back (and put him down) and give me a puppy from an upcoming litter. Needless to say that conversation was short-lived and my Sabo is still with me.

He is on prescription food both canned and dry as well as additive for his food. This is working very well he is now 11 months old and weighs 79 pounds. He will always be thin and I will have to always watch is food intake/ output for problems, and get him to the vet if there is a problem.

Doing this for him is routine now and the joy that he gives me is insurmountable. He will be with me for a long life.

Comments for Sabo and Pancreas Problems

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Profit?
by: Erin

Any company that wishes to stay in business needs to make a profit. End of story. You should go by what your own vet says and other nutrition experts say and not by political bent.

Note by German-Shepherd-Lore.com:
This was not a political statement, it's simple economics. Profit is not a bad thing. When companies are solely focused on profit (as publicly traded corporations must be), however, the quality of their products tend to suffer. Holistic vets typically do not recommend any type of Purina food. Both Iams and Eukanuba used to make decent pet food until they were purchased by P&G, which "enhanced" their formulas with cheap fillers to make them more profitable.

Pippers
by: deb harvey

We had problems with diarrhea as well all kinds of test put on meds for pancreas insufficiency until talked to another vet about another puppy from the same litter she was treating.

She told me to try this food called Purina Eco, a high fiber food. Everything stopped, gained weight and no more. Back to happy puppy. Very thankful for the other vet that was after $2,000.00 worth of medical bills.

NOTE by German-Shepherd-Lore.com:
So happy that Pippers is doing better, but I do not recommend any dog food produced by publicly traded corporations. They have a fiduciary duty to provide a return to their shareholders, which often compromises quality in their products in order to produce a profit.

Be sure to ask your holistic vet about alternatives. There are many options for natural pet food that will provide your dog what she needs, without any harmful fillers or additives.

E.P.I. (what your pup has)
by: Anonymous

This is a horrible disease for a dog. My great dane was just put down because of this, rescued him but had no information on this and knew he just wasn't right.

After trips to the vet, he was put to sleep, was left too long by previous owners and nothing I could do to save him.

what food are you feeding
by: renee

Hi,

My dog Tango is now 4 and has always been thin but recently lost a lot of weight. He had bouts of diarrhea as well but was never diagnosed up until 3 weeks ago when I changed vets once again looking for answers.

He is on Taste of the Wild seafood and canned pure pumpkin to help with weight and diarrhea.

My question is does your dog still have diarrhea and what are you feeding him exactly?

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Sabo and Pancreas Problems

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