Liver issues

[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?

[tanza]

So sorry to hear… it is a hard thing when they are ill and there is nothing to help them.. hard as it is.. you just have to "steel" yourself that at some point you know when the quality of life is no longer there... and while for me, it has been with elders, regardless of the age it is never easy.... we just have to do what in our hearts is right for the dog... it is never an easy decision, however since I have been though a few in the last years... you will know when the time is right... it is in their eyes...

[hdolbow]

thanks guys. it's definitely been a rough month. I'll try to keep you posted more often, but nothing really changes unless we go to the vet to get his weight/blood work.

^Here he is last night with Dan..

[hdolbow]

well guys, the end is drawing near..

in the last week, he has swollen up to the point where he looks like he swallowed a basketball in his ribs and pregnant in his abdomen. Hes having a hard time breathing. (they are short but deep breaths) and he is pooping 4-5 times a day. I went to the vet today with Mia for her annual (she's healthy as a horse), and was talking to him about it, and he said its fluid building up and he's basically in the end stages. The fluid is pushing on his insides, which is causing the breathing and pooping issues. We were supposed to go next week to get more blood work but the vet said it wouldn't even be worth the money. He said basically theres nothing we can do now, except let him go on until it gets to the point that we will have him put down. He also said we could try to drain the fluid to make him more comfortable and he may be able to breath better.

I relayed all that info to Dan when I got home and he called him to talk to him himself. So we are going tonight to have the fluid drained. We'll see how it goes I guess.

I'll keep you guys updated.

[tanza]

Heather,
I am so sorry to hear that… my heart goes out to you...

[Kipawa]

Heather, Dan and Rocky, my thoughts are with all of you.

[k.rass]

I'm so sorry about Rocky. My heart sank when I read the post. You're in my thoughts.

[hdolbow]

well your good thoughts must of worked wonders. What we thought was fluid.. wasn't! it looks like he is just gaining weight 17 lbs 11oz! There could be SOME fluid but not enough for the vet to tap and the vet said his breathing and heart rate are fine. Were going back in two weeks for blood work again to see if somethings changing !