Diet in Brief
- Managing an appropriate diet for an EPI dog is extremely important but can be the most confusing aspect to managing EPI since finding the “best” diet really depends on the individual dog!
- Some dogs can eat their normal fare once enzymes are properly applied, however….more often than not, this does not seem to happen very often.
- The majority of EPI dogs appear to do best on a low fiber diet of 4% (or even less fiber content) appears to work better.
- If you plan on feeding a commercial kibble, check out the foods in the “grain-free” section, just understand that it is the fiber content at 4% or less that is key….. “grain-free” is a misnomer (marketing term and not accurate). Fiber is found in vegetables, fruits and grains.. but there are different types of fiber (see fiber page)
- Keep a daily journal … if normal eliminations continue to allude your dog, diet changes/adjustments may be needed. Try foods with even less fiber content.
- When initially treating an EPI dog, if possible, it is better to feed smaller portions but more meals a day, to feed approximately 150% of food that your dog requires. Once the body is nutritionally replenished or the dog has gained back most of it’s weight, food intake should be reduced back to normal amounts.
- It is counter-productive to feed fat restrictive foods to an EPI dog unless another medical condition requires it, or if the EPI developed from chronic pancreatitis.
- If a dog does not want to eat, check for mouth sores, and check B12 levels, or it is possible that SID (small intestinal dysbiosis)/SIBO acting up.
- Because finding the “right” diet is so confusing, it is highly recommended to read the DIET page and the FIBER page in it’s entirety and the DOG FOOD OPTION http://www.epi4dogs.com/dogfoodoptions.htm page to get an idea of how to approach feeding an EPI dog.
- For some ideas and ratio’s on ingredients for raw or home-prepared meals, see the “Raw /+ Home-Prepared Meals” section in the DIET page
- Be sure to read the piece on Sweet Potato and the science behind it (by Dr. Jean Dodds) vs. the White Potato