EPI Appeal
Exocrine Pancreatic Insufficiency is a severe, debilitating and sometimes fatal disease in dogs. Of course, many other animals can suffer from this disease, including us humans. The cause is not clearly understood but the symptoms are. Fundamentally, the pancrease disintegrates and therefore renders the body without the essential digestive enzymes to break-down food. Thus the body can no longer assimulate food and the poor suffering animal starves to death, unless he or she receives veterinary quality care and attention with replacement enzyme supplementation. However, this does not always work, as dogs under five years old and those with secondary infections and further complications can and do die from this wretched disease.
Hope with severe EPI
The image on the right is of "Hope", with kind permission to publish from her beloved person, Pam. Sadly, Hope didn't make it and is fondly remembered in the hearts of those who have EPI dogs as one of our 'Rainbow Bridge' pups.
Founder and Executive Director of NLPR, Julie Hamilton, knows only too well the debilitating health problems of EPI when her German Shepherd, Angel, at nearly eight years old contracted EPI in August 2009. Angel is now plump and well, thanks to the fantastic help and support of a very informative EPI forum, an excellent vet and continuous, appropriate treatment.
The EPI Forum raises money for EPI genetic research or you can go directly to the EPI research website by clicking here. The research is cruelty-free and involves donor blood from EPI patients.
We are extremely pleased and proud to assist with raising funds for EPI research by offering a £10 EPI purple virtual brick on our Wall of Fame from which half the money raised will go toward this extremely deserving charity - the EPI research Fund -and the other half to NLPR's Relocation Appeal.
You can purchase the EPI purple brick in our Gift Shop, using WorldPay secure online payment facility. Please note that on the payment page there is a text box for any message you would like placed on your purple brick. We have illustrated and dedicated on our Wall of Fame the first purple brick "In loving memory of Hope".
A message from Olesia Kennedy, owner of the EPI4dogs forum: "Please help us put an end to EPI by supporting EPI Research in hope of identifying the genes that cause this devastating malabsorption condition. To learn more about EPI, please visit us at http://www.epi4dogs.com/." To learn more about EPI disease, you can download and print this pdf EPI brochure.
