Chunky Monkey Club

Apollo was diagnosed with EPI in May of 2024.  He had dropped to 74 pounds.  Since he is a long haired German Shepherd, I did not even realize he had lost 14 pounds.  I felt awful for not noticing the signs sooner.  Thankfully our vet is incredible and was able to recognize the signs, recommend the correct test to confirm, provided resources that led me to EPI4Dogs, and got us on a treatment plan.

Apollo is also dealing with Perianal Fistulas and is on a few medicines for that, which also contribute to hunger.  Apollo’s healthy weight is right around 88 pounds.  Each week, Apollo continued to show improvement, we were thrilled when the vet said he was 87 pounds….

But of course, he is in this club now for a reason.  He quickly bypassed his recommended weight.  The vet said if he got above 90, we would have to talk about diet, so here we are.  He’s currently sitting happy at 98 pounds!  Because he is a GSD, we do need to keep him lean, but until he is balanced out and off some of those medicines, it is very difficult to manage his weight.  Fingers crossed we don’t push past 100.  We try to supplement with all the veggies, but it is never enough and he is always hungry.  We are hoping he can come off some meds soon and we can get him back to his ideal weight, but until then, he is one chunky monkey!

Thank you for all you do,
Jill and Apollo

This is our Twiggy, April 2022, our Chunky Monkey! 

Our Twiggy, an English Lab cross, was found as a stray living on the streets (June 25, 2021). When Edmonton’s Animal Care and Control Centre picked her up she was emaciated and weighed 48lbs. Her body condition score was 1 out of 9 and she was in danger of dying from starvation. 

Vet care began immediately. After 5 days the vet noted that humane euthanasia may be the kindest option. There were no clear answers from her bloodwork, or improvement from medication and Twiggy’s explosive liquid diarrhea had not let up. 

However, 7 days later, one last random test came back positive for Exocrine Pancreatic Insufficiency. Within 2 days receiving pancreatic enzymes Twiggy’s  diarrhea stopped and for the first time in a long while she started gaining weight. 

Infinite Woofs Animal Rescue Society accepted Twiggy and placed her in a volunteer foster home. 

We adopted Twiggy 3 months later. Our Great Dane had lost his best friend to heart failure and chose her over many other adoptable dogs. When Twiggy joined our family she still needed to gain more weight even after gaining 11 pounds while recovering in foster care. 

With help from our vet it took us 7 months to get Twiggy to a healthy 80lbs.

We also found Twiggy benefitted greatly from an over the counter vitamin B12 oral spray for humans. The B12 is absorbed through mucus membranes. 

A friend who had bariatric surgery suggested it.

https://www.jamiesonvitamins.com/products/vitamin-b12-energy-spray?_pos=3&_sid=8f557840c&_ss=r

In addition to Twiggy’s EPI journey….. she also shares an Instagram account with Duke, her new brother when she joined our family…  ….https://www.instagram.com/twiggyandduke/ 

Duke joined our family when he needed to be rehomed. Before we got Twiggy, Duke had spent 3 months every day lying for hours on his best friend’s grave. That ended the day he met Twiggy.  What a joy it is to watch these two dogs 🙂

Almost a year ago Yadira was 53 lbs and you could see her ribs from across the room. Saturday, January 22, 2022 at the vet she weighed 73 lbs and the Dr. ranked her a body condition of 6, 5 is a perfect body condition, 9 being very obese and 1 being emaciated.  She now weighs more at almost 2 1/2 than her 3 1/2 year old brother by a pound.
Thank you! Yadira’s mom Magchick