Kelly
Administrator
Same problem here...
Hi Barb,
I have been fighting liver problems with Trevor going on 4 years now. It all started with a trip to the vet saying "he just doesn't seem right". A chest xray revealed an enlarged liver, so a blood test was ordered.
His liver enzyme levels slowly increased for years. His vet kept scratching her head & didn't know what it was. It started with slightly elevated Alk phos & cholesterol. Which we just monitored for several years because they were never REALLY high, but they did tick up with every 3 month blood test. It is now to the point where he has high ALT, cholesterol, BUN & Alk Phos.
We ended up having a liver biopsy & ultrasound done last year. No definitive results. No shunt was found. Bile acid tests came back positive for malfunction. Cushing screen normal, Thyroid normal. Within the past 6 months his liver values began exponentially increasing. We are at the point of liver failure now. Trevor's symptoms include muscle wasting & vacillating appetite.
My regular vet is out of options.
After taking him to a specialist near Boston last week, that vet requested an ACTH test for Cushings. Apparently it is a more advanced test and can catch a-typical cases of Cushings. We hope to get the results this week. I really hope it is positive, just because we have no diagnosis. At least cushings can be managed & it would explain most of his symptoms & high liver values.
The only thing that has helped him & has probably kept him alive this long was taking him off commercial food. I ended up buying a book called."Hope for Healing Liver Disease in your Dog." By Cyndi Smasal. You can get it via Amazon.
While we were still at the beginning stages of high liver values, the book diet did get his values under control. I noticed that if kept him on a strict diet & took him off animal protein (using tofu as his protein source) his values dropped. Unfortunately he now is completely sick of tofu & i have been using fresh chicken or turkey to entice him to eat.
Of course his values started to climb after that.
I did have a consultation with a veterinary nutritionist who at one point, tweaked his book based diet a bit. She said a 38 lb Sheltie who has liver problems should have 30-40 grams of protein a day.
Feeding many small meals throughout the day also helps the liver process food easier. Trevor gets fed 4 small meals a day, spaced out as much as possible. He gets various supplements, but super milk thistle & sam-e are the most important for liver health.
I believe if I put him back on commercial food now, his liver would completely fail. So I cook in bulk every three weeks or so & freeze individual meals. The basis of his diet is organic pasta (or sweet potato), steamed veggies (at least 3) & a protein source (i.e. tofu, chicken, turkey). Combine that with various vitamins & liver supplements. Fun!
You will be in my thoughts!
Hi Barb,
I have been fighting liver problems with Trevor going on 4 years now. It all started with a trip to the vet saying "he just doesn't seem right". A chest xray revealed an enlarged liver, so a blood test was ordered.
His liver enzyme levels slowly increased for years. His vet kept scratching her head & didn't know what it was. It started with slightly elevated Alk phos & cholesterol. Which we just monitored for several years because they were never REALLY high, but they did tick up with every 3 month blood test. It is now to the point where he has high ALT, cholesterol, BUN & Alk Phos.
We ended up having a liver biopsy & ultrasound done last year. No definitive results. No shunt was found. Bile acid tests came back positive for malfunction. Cushing screen normal, Thyroid normal. Within the past 6 months his liver values began exponentially increasing. We are at the point of liver failure now. Trevor's symptoms include muscle wasting & vacillating appetite.
My regular vet is out of options.
After taking him to a specialist near Boston last week, that vet requested an ACTH test for Cushings. Apparently it is a more advanced test and can catch a-typical cases of Cushings. We hope to get the results this week. I really hope it is positive, just because we have no diagnosis. At least cushings can be managed & it would explain most of his symptoms & high liver values.
The only thing that has helped him & has probably kept him alive this long was taking him off commercial food. I ended up buying a book called."Hope for Healing Liver Disease in your Dog." By Cyndi Smasal. You can get it via Amazon.
While we were still at the beginning stages of high liver values, the book diet did get his values under control. I noticed that if kept him on a strict diet & took him off animal protein (using tofu as his protein source) his values dropped. Unfortunately he now is completely sick of tofu & i have been using fresh chicken or turkey to entice him to eat.
Of course his values started to climb after that.I did have a consultation with a veterinary nutritionist who at one point, tweaked his book based diet a bit. She said a 38 lb Sheltie who has liver problems should have 30-40 grams of protein a day.
Feeding many small meals throughout the day also helps the liver process food easier. Trevor gets fed 4 small meals a day, spaced out as much as possible. He gets various supplements, but super milk thistle & sam-e are the most important for liver health.
I believe if I put him back on commercial food now, his liver would completely fail. So I cook in bulk every three weeks or so & freeze individual meals. The basis of his diet is organic pasta (or sweet potato), steamed veggies (at least 3) & a protein source (i.e. tofu, chicken, turkey). Combine that with various vitamins & liver supplements. Fun!
You will be in my thoughts!
