Dear Dr. John,

We adopted a German Shepherd mix about one year ago when he was almost a year old. Despite trying various diets, he had regular bouts of diarrhea. Fecal tests always came up negative. The bowel movements were always soft and tan colored. He was always hungry and even with eating lots of food he started to lose weight. Our vet tried using metronidazole a few times and even special diets that worked minimally but after a few weeks he tested him for pancreatitis and that was confirmed. Now our vet has concluded that our dog has something called EPI. How common is that? Our dog is on a pancreatic supplement for life along with the low-fat diet that we have used for a while. His bowel movements have become normal, and he has gained back the weight. We were told that the chronic pancreatitis may have caused a change in his pancreas that led to this condition. Could this have been prevented had the pancreatitis been discovered earlier?

— P.F.

Dear P.F.,

EPI is the acronym for exocrine pancreatic insufficiency. While not common, your dog’s breed and age fits perfectly with the typical presentation of the disorder as German Shepherds are the most affected breed. One cannot say that an earlier diagnosis of the pancreatitis might have prevented the development of the EPI since there can also be a genetic predisposition.

The pancreas produces enzymes necessary for the digestion of food and a lack of these enzymes, regardless of cause, leads to the clinical signs that you observed. Those signs of soft stools that often look like tan cow feces, insatiable appetite accompanied by weight loss, and negative tests for parasites, matched with no resolution using various medications and diets.

The treatment of providing pancreatic enzyme replacement and using the right low-fat diets usually allow dogs to have full normal lives. Nothing else needs to be done now but one good precaution would be to let others know not to give your dog fatty treats or foods.

Dr. John de Jong is President of the World Veterinary Association. He owns and operates the Boston Mobile Veterinary Clinic and can be reached at 781-899-9994.