EPI Woes

I forget if I mentioned, and am too lazy to search my own posts to verify, that recently Yara was put on a new enzyme supplement. I was pretty wary of this decision. Partially because it was basically done without my involvement. But mostly because she was doing fabulous on the Viokase. The only issues we had were if she refused to eat a meal or two because she would be loosing out on the dosage of enzyme she would routinely receive.

Anyway, she’s been on the new generic formula now for just about a month and I’ve noticed a marked decrease in how she’s doing. Initially it seemed she was defecating more, but the color and texture were fine so I mostly thought I was paranoid. Then another week went by and it seemed that she had more of an urgency in her bowel movements — she was very excited and relieved to be outside for our afternoon walk at work, for instance. As that week bled into the next, it seemed that she was having looser stool and she was growing more apparently distressed when defecating, like she was having constipation or diarrhea.

Friends of mine have also begun to notice these issues and on Monday I finally decided to call Fidelco to inform them of the goings on. I also gave my vet a call, whom I had spoken to when the decision to change the enzyme was first made. She was less concerned than I was, but assured me if there were any issues that she would firmly back up my wish to return to using the Viokase. Not surprisingly, I got a bit of a noncommittal response from Fidelco and the specific person with whom I need to speak with has yet to call me back.

But in the last three days I’ve only gotten more concerned for Yara. She’s skipped a total of five separate meals since Monday, including today’s breakfast. She pooped a truckload yesterday, though it was fine in texture and color. But most importantly to me she just seems lethargic and, well, like she doesn’t feel good. I’ve already decided to call into work today to deal with this, but I’m terribly anxious about all of it. For one, obviously, Yara’s not feeling well, and I’m already in a shitstorm with work for all the time I’ve had to take off because of my migraine issues.

I’m kind of stressing out.