EPI, liver and bile duct inflammation

[Mari]

My perfectly healthy cocker is suddenly less healthy. She was diagnosed with exocrine pancreas insufficiency and cholangitis/cholangiohepatitis today. She is 14 and I know that health can change rapidly at this age, but it is still a shock when it happens. Thankfully she is happy and only really showing symptoms of the digestive problems. She has lost a little bit of weight, but she is active, playful and cuddly still. We started her on enzymes for the EPI as well as medicines to protect the liver and bile duct today. I am really hoping her liver values look better on the next blood test. And I really hope the enzymes can help get nutrition in her before she loses more weight. It is scary, but I have a really good vet who I trust and that helps.

I'd love to hear what experiences other cocker owners have with these conditions!

[ejp]

I was wondering if all was okay with you.  Sorry to hear that about your lovely girl  I know what you mean about how quickly things change with them.  I think they hide things so well we are unaware of what is going on with them.  As you say, she is still a happy girl, and hopefully you can get medication to support her system.  I know that Milk Thistle is a herbal support for the liver, but I am not an expert by any means.  Keep us posted, and sending you both a cyber hug. x

[bizzylizzy]

Sorry to read this Mari! sending  to you and ofcourse even more  to Laurie, hope that the treatment kicks in quickly and that she‘s feeling better soon. Tail wags from Humphrey!
 

[AndyB]

My boy Jazz had EPI and I received some wonderful advice from a COL member.  I actually researched the disease and made notes which I took to my vet, rather hesitantly, telling the vet his job.  However, he congratulated me on my research and confirmed that indeed Jazz did have EPI.  Jazz became diabetic about 18 months before I lost him, (in January 2018), and apparently EPI is very common in diabetic dogs.   He lost a lot of weight, it is very difficult to keep weight on a dog with EPI.   Very sadly I lost him two months before he was 14.  He had gone from almost 17 kg to 11 kg when he died.  He was quite a big cocker so not particularly a "fatty" at 17 kg.   See if you can find my posts.  Hopefully the lady who gave me amazing advice will see your post.

[Jaysmumagain]

Mari

I am sending all my and Ollie's love and hugs to you and darling Laurie.  Try and stay positive and glad to hear you have a good vet.

  very special hugs to Laurie

[Mari]

Thank you all for tail wags and hugs! 

I didn't feel nervous before Lauriës appointment yesterday, but I must have been because I was completely exhausted yesterday when we got home. I spent the evening on the sofa, only getting up to give Laurië her medicines, completely useless otherwise The enzymes seem to help already so I am hopeful that the EPI can be managed. It's probably too soon to tell, but she poops less so that's a good sign  I have added an extra meal to get her back to normal weight (hopefully) and she is very pleased about that, nothing wrong with her appetite thankfully.

Ejp: Thank you, I will take a look at milk thistle! I have had some computer trouble lately, my keyboard is only working when it feels like it these days. So I have been reading posts, but been too lazy to actually write anything 

AndyB: Thank you for sharing your experience. Good job researching and good to hear your vet listened. I had my suspicion before going to the vet that the pancreas, liver or gall bladder was struggling. Didn't expect all three to be affected. But I am glad that we got a quick diagnosis for the EPI, I just hope the enzymes help her keep her weigh on. Sorry to hear about your loss and the struggles Jazz had. I guess it makes sense for EPI and diabetes to co-exist, it's all due to the pancreas malfunctioning after all, but what rotten luck to get both! I will take a look on the site for your posts and see what I can learn. Thanks for the tip!

[Mari]

If my neighbours happened to look out their window this morning, they probably saw me doing a victory dance around a perfectly ordinary dog poop   

[Mudmagnets]

Thankfully no experience, but hoping you and your vet can help make Laurie comfortable and get her condition under control. 

Re the computer is the keyboard cordless and battery operated? I found with mine new batteries help when it starts misbehaving (missing out starts of words or suddenly not showing on screen what I was keying in for example)

[Jaysmumagain]

If my neighbours happened to look out their window this morning, they probably saw me doing a victory dance around a perfectly ordinary dog poop   

You've even got me dances over here too

[Mari]

Thankfully no experience, but hoping you and your vet can help make Laurie comfortable and get her condition under control. 

Re the computer is the keyboard cordless and battery operated? I found with mine new batteries help when it starts misbehaving (missing out starts of words or suddenly not showing on screen what I was keying in for example)

Thank you!

It's a laptop unfortunately, and the usb port stopped working too so I can't connect an external keyboard. Probably need a new computer, but that will have to wait, vet bills are pretty high even with insurance. Luckily it still mostly works, its just more effort to type as I have three keys that only work if I press and hold them for a moment, I am used to typing fast 

[Mari]

You've even got me dances over here too

[ejp]

Woohoo a proper poo!   Cause for celebration indeed 

[phoenix]

As Andyb mentioned,I’m the one who had a springer spaniel who developed epi at 4 yrs old, and passed away from  heart failure at 11.   As you know yourself, it is a manageable condition once you’ve got the enzymes working. Fantastic you’re there already,  happy poop dance day!  The other vital supplement is B12 with intrinsic factor. A high  level of 600 is needed. It makes a huge difference.
I learnt everything I know from a huge forum called Epi4dogs. Olesia Kennedy started it some years ago, and has researched everything with Texas A&M  university,  Journals, and collated information ., and the site Is recommended with the major US veterinary bodies.  Because epi is associated with German Shepherds, the majority of vets  don’t keep it on their radar for other breeds.
I don’t know anything about liver conditions ,  I truly hope that you get good results there too.
I’ll send you a pm when I’ve been out for a dog walk. It’s icy and cold  and I’m not looking forward to it.

[Mari]

Thank you! Will be reading all the advice I get and check the links!

Poos have continued to look mostly normal, so I am very happy about that. She is extremely hungry all the time though. I am feeding an extra meal and I think her weight has been stable since we started treatment. However, she is still hungry and whining for food long before every meal. I am hoping she will calm down if we can get her back to the weight she was before this happened. But I don't know if the hunger is an epi-dog thing. At least she has her appetite and is her cheerful waggy self.

It remains to be seen if the liver bounces back, next blood test mid-january will show us more. She doesn't have any clinical signs of liver damage I don't think, so I am carefully hoping the liver meds can work their magic and be discontinued after the next blood tests.

[ejp]

Lovely to hear that things are a little steadier Mari.  Stability is what you want.  Different issue entirely, and not sure if it will help, but anyway, Max had a cyst on his liver, and as his condition progress, his poop became more orange in colour.  Not wishing to alarm you, I am off the mindset that information helps. It was one of the ways I could monitor change.  That was also when I started to use red clover and milk thistle to support his system.  He wasn't on any medication as it wasn't fixable, and the vet had no issue with it.