Chronic Diarrhea & Weight Loss

[Nweako]

Hi all,
I am posting here today cause I have tried everything to treat a 2 year GSD but nothing seems to work. I hope I can find help here.
I rescued this dog about 2 months ago. He was 66 lbs then and already looked underweight. He has had loose stools from the begining. I immediately put him on a grain-free kibble and continued feeding him that for a month. On the kibble he developed lots of hotspots and was constantly biting/itching his skin. His appetite was bad as well. So I decided to switch him on a RAW diet. Before switching him he was 60 lbs, so he was losing lots of weight. I immediately saw positive results on the RAW diet. Not once did I see him scratch/bite his skin and hotspots stopped growing. His appetite was much much better. Good news ends here. He still had loose stools and continued losing weight. His poop was mucusy and yellow (looks exactly like melted caramel). I did a little bit of research online and stummbled upon EPI and that sounded what my dog had.
Unfortunately where I live (Riyadh, Saudi Arabia) none of the vets I have visted carry out a test (TLI?) to determine if he was EPI. However, I made him take the CBC test and here are a few concerning results:
LYM: very low the lowest it can be.
LY: lowest it can be too.
ALP: very low (5 U/L).
AMY: is a bit low (182 U/L).
BUN: a bit high 33.
I check his weight again 2 weeks ago and he was 58 lbs. I went to another vet showed them a pic of his poop and they decided to give him Marbocyl (why?) injections for 5 days. I was shocked! After shot#1 his poop was firm for the first time in 2 months. He showed signs of gaining weight! I thought this is it! It fixed his problems.
Unfortunately, the moment he stopped the injections he was back to square one (loose stool). So while he was on Marbocyl (he was doing great) once he stopped Marbocyl (not so great). What would this indicate? SIBO? EPI? Giardia? I tried canned pumpkin, yogurt, nothing works.
I don't know what to do! I have made 20 visits to the vet during the past 2 months and they don't seem to be much qualified. Should I take a sample of his stool and make a surprise visit to the vet and let them test it?

HELP!!

[Misfits4Me]

Welcome.....You don't mention if after ALL these Vet visits, did any Vet examine a stool sample? Parasites are the number 1 cause of what your describing...Especially, in Rescues....

Standard test (With a sample of poop) will look for Whip Worm, round worm, hook worms....Tape worms are hard to find on a slide!

You MUST also ask for the specialized test for Coccidia AND Giardia.....
These two don't show up on a standard test, but are usually the cause of what your describing......

ALL treatment for any of the above parasites should be done through your Vet.......Their Medicines will work as opposed to OTC meds. that don't....

Good luck, Let us know what you find out........Karla

[Heather8448]

Hey go to facebook and look up the group pit sisters
I think their email is pitsisters (at) pitsisters.org they have a dog with epi
who came back from the brink of death they may be able to help