Liver issues

[lvoss]

@hdolbow:

that contiuum doesn't have the Parainfluenza part either.. Do you not give your dogs that either? I'm definately going to mention this to my vet.

why don't you give the leptospirosis vaccine? Is there a reason or is it just preference?

I have not given lepto because my boy, Nicky, has a brother who had a severe reaction to the lepto vaccine. So I have never given it but in recent years, my vet has stopped recommending it for any of their clients because serovars found in our area are not the ones in the vaccine so the dogs wouldn't protected anyways.

I have started using Continuum with last year's puppies upon the recommendation of my repro vet and do not plan to add Parainfluenza for those puppies.

[Knipper]

I don't want to give false hope, because this might be something completely different, but I thought I'd share, just in case.
Two years ago Blaze (who was 14) dropped half his weight in a month. He would eat, but nothing was getting absorbed. His stool was the colour of wheat and was barely solid, almost like pudding. It was also extrememly acidic and burnt his butt hairs away.
We did every type of test we could, but nothing was so far out of wack to explain it. The X Ray showed that he didn't have a liver. It was gone. There was nothing else wrong that we could see
Now at his age, we were given the option of the MRI to look closer, but there was no way I was going to put him through surgery at 14, and the cost of the MRI would have used up all of my funds. I talked it over with the vet and we decided to just treat him for the no liver and overworked pancreas issue.
He gets 1 tsp. of pancrease-v powder on his food and half a flagyl pill everyday. The powder has to sit on everything he eats for twenty minutes. If he feels frisky and eats the garbage or anything without the powder, he feels it for the next three days.
He is a healthy weight now, and the stool is pretty normal most of the time. We did an X Ray not too long ago, after her had his first and knock on wood only seizure, still no liver visible, but again, we haven't opted for the MRI.
I hope everything works out for you and your pup.

[Patty]

I've been following these threads with much sorrow. Remember while there's life there's hope. I pray for you both. I don't know whether you are open to homeopathic treatment but I gave one of my old dogs who had a very diseased liver due to an infection, homeopathic remedy Lycopodium. It kept him going for three more years without more problems.

[thunderbird8588]

@Patty:

Remember while there's life there's hope. .

I couldn't agree more and i'm sure however long you get with him will be precious.
I refused to believe Benji was dying because he wasn't, he was living !

[thegriffswife]

I haven't been on the threads is quite sometime. I took my 3 yr old basenji into the vet saturday for weight loss, digestion issues. I thought she had some sort of acid reflux but the vet suspected something different. We did blood work and it turns out she has high liver enzymes and high red blood cells. I would have to go to the university for an ultrasound. or our vet could do an xray but she said they may not find anything in the xray. I am devastated right now and I hope every turns for the better for your basenji!

[lvoss]

For those of you having issues with your basenjis, liver or otherwise, please be sure to sign your basenji up on the Canine Phenome Project website and fill out or update your dog's health survey to include this information. This is the easiest way for the basenji health committee to gather information about what issues may be upcoming problems in the breed.

The canine phenome project website is http://www.caninephenome.org and registration is free.

[agilebasenji]

@thunderbird8588:

I refused to believe Benji was dying because he wasn't, he was living !

That is the most beautiful thing I've read in a long time.

[thunderbird8588]

thegriffswife, sorry to hear about your Basenji,you must be devastated, i hope the vets get to the bottom of it, please keep us updated.
There is some great info on the forum about diets, alternative therapies to try ,so at least you can perhaps try them out and not feel so helpless.
I wish i'd been on the forum when Benji was ill.

[thegriffswife]

Ok well Layla has an appt at the Michigan State University Vet Hospital. Just the initial visit is $100 - I had my vet fax her blood work to them and to me. Her ALKP should be somewhere between 23 - 212, hers was over 2000 and her ALT should be between 10-100 and hers was 733 most everything else was in normal range or very close to normal.

I know they will want to do an u/s so that will be next after this initial visit. Wish Layla luck!!!

[hdolbow]

Just another update:

were doing another two weeks of antibiotics, then well do another round of blood work to see if it helped any. The vets also going to start introducing new meds in slowly and were
switching him to a prescription diet.

I just wanna thank all of you for your kind thoughts and words. It really means a lot. We're very hopeful he will bounce back a bit and stay with us for a long time.

[thunderbird8588]

Layla,
wishing you all the luck in the world at the vet hospital !

[thunderbird8588]

Heather,
thanks for the update, i do hope the antibiotics help Rocky.

[tanza]

@hdolbow:

Just another update:

were doing another two weeks of antibiotics, then well do another round of blood work to see if it helped any. The vets also going to start introducing new meds in slowly and were
switching him to a prescription diet.

I just wanna thank all of you for your kind thoughts and words. It really means a lot. We're very hopeful he will bounce back a bit and stay with us for a long time.

Glad to hear things are a bit better. Fingers crossed that he does OK and responds to treatment and is comfortable….

[Basenjimamma]

good to hear…keeping all of our fingers, toes, paws and claws crossed he will do better now...

[Mandy]

It is great to read that it is going well.

[tanza]

How is Rocky doing? Haven't heard from you in a while…..

[hdolbow]

hey, yeah i've been busy around the house and with school and stuff, plus he hadn't been back to the vet until tuesday, and we actually found out the results of another round of blood work last night, sooo like i said before, he was on denamarin, & 2 antibiotics. I don't think I ever posted this but the vet actually started him on some omega 3 pills and prednisone a couple weeks ago. ( He's been peeing up a storm! it's insane! lol ) we actually stopped giving him the baytril because it made him salivate A LOT and he would foam and shake his head, like he hated it, so the vet said stop. he had a full 30 days of the amoxicillan though, and then we went back tuesday for the blood work. when we first took him there when we noticed him losing weight he weighed 15 lbs 10 oz. tuesday he weighed 13 lbs 9.5 oz. so hes really losing a lot of weight. The vet said most of the levels stayed the same but one went up and one went down. Hes going to put him on another pill that is being custom made for him. (i'm not exactly sure what its gonna do, dan talked to him) but we have to go pick it up directly from the place that makes it. and he'll continue to be on the denamarin and prednisone until he dies or we have to put him down. We go back to the vet for more blood work on the 14th, because he said the lab gives discounts if you do the same blood tests more than once in a month, and $87 a month for blood work is kinda a lot, on top of the meds.

personally, i can see a change in him. He is lazier. definitely more aggressive. the other night i went into the laundry room and they were all laying there and he didnt even pick up his head. i sat down next to him and was petting him and he still didn't move. it scared me. i don't think Dan wants to accept it, and he says hes acting normal when people ask, but I spend more time with them,[ i'm home 3 days a week while Dan's working. ] It kills me to say it, but at the rate he's losing weight, I can't see him lasting much longer. He eats, he's just not putting on weight. I'll have to get a picture of him and post it so you can see. My mom came over the other day and was shocked. She said he looks like he went through the holocaust, because you can see his hip bones, spine, and rib cage. She didn't expect him to look that bad. I feel horrible but I feed him quite a bit. He eats like half a can of wet food mixed with about a cup and a half of dry food, plus 1-2 treats a day. We offer it to him at least 3 times a day, so its normally gone by the evening, or theres a tablespoon or two left over. if he eats it all, we offer him more. we're doing everything we can, short of shoving food down his throat. I just don't know why he won't gain weight back.:(

[hdolbow]

^That's him next to Mia.

^again, next to Mia

[Kipawa]

I'm so sorry that Rocky is not doing well. Sending hugs to all of you. It hurts like crazy to lose a beloved pet. All we can try to remember is the wonderful times.

[k.rass]

I tried to read through all the posts but couldn't seem to find if Rocky has anemia. That could explain his lethargy and grumpyness. Max, a few years back was having that trouble and they gave him some iron supplementation which helped. Also did they test him for tickborn illness?