Not So Helpful

Well...Harper's being a brat.  That's actually good news.  It means she's feeling good.  Here is a bit of evidence:

She is back to pre-washing all the dishes for us.  Which really isn't so great when you're supposed to be keeping her away from any off-diet food.  You try fighting with a stubborn 70-pound garbage disposal.  But does she eat HER food?  OH no.  Not until you give in and bribe her with something.  Sometimes this is some plain meat (like boiled chicken breasts) which she is allowed to have, a little frozen pumpkin, or her favorite, putting a little of the kibble in an empty cat food can.  Does she care that she doesn't get any cat food?  Not really.  It's the can that does it for her.

Alright, as for the health update, it's still in the wait-and-see mode.  We believe that the intestinal infection has cleared and are off antibiotics right now.  However, the digestive function is perhaps still a little...loose?  Trying not to be gross here.  It's looking up a bit, but it's still not great.  She also seems to be putting on a bit of weight, but that could be my imagination, as we haven't been back to the vet to be weighed.  Hopefully the digestive issues clear up soon so that we can get some vaccines.  She continues to be medically excused from being up to date on her shots, but it would be nice to get, I don't know, rabbies and the like at some point so we could head back out in public. 

What are we doing differently?  We're thoroughly charting EVERYTHING.  Every bit of food, every time she goes to the bathroom (though, I didn't go out into the yard with her at lunch, so I don't know, and Chris is going to be upset with me), and every medication we give her.  We continue to do about 1 tsp of pancreatic enzyme to 3 cups of food, but recent articles we've read seem to suggest a higher ratio of enzyme.  We also are continuing to give her FortaFlora, a pro-biotic for now to try and address that the antibiotics have killed of the good bacteria, but we may stop that after she improves.  As we chart it, we may add more fat into her diet.  The more recent studies on EPI dogs that we've read seem to contradict the long-held belief that these dogs need to be on low fat diets.  Rather, it's important to minimize grain/fiber, and fat can actually help them put weight back on.  We're only going to make one change at a time, though, so we're not starting that yet.  We've also tossed about the idea of going to a more meat-centric diet, but it would be expensive, so we're holding off on that for now. 

Long story short, she seems to be improving, but we're not out of the woods yet.