Any experience of liver problems in dogs?

Hi

Tess, my 2.5 year old Golden Retriever has been drinking water excessively and pacing up and down wanting more all the time. I have also found sick with blood in it, not a few streaks but a lot.

I took her to the vet today and he took blood tests and has told me that he wants her in on Monday for bile acid test - she will need to be in all day. He called me tonight with the blood results and said that the normal levels for dogs when they do a liver test can be up to a 100, liver failure is around 1000. Tess has a level of 500.

Needless to say I am worried sick, she has always drank a lot of water and I have had problems getting her to put on weight and now wonder if I should have known - I have taken her to the vets before about this and they have prescribed antibiotics thinking it may be water infection.

The long and short of it is the vet is fairly sure she may have a congenital liver defect. He says he can't give a definite prognosis until further tests are done but he more or less said if it is that, there is no cure.

Does anyone have or had a dog with liver problems, is there a special diet I can feed her to help? What was the prognosis for your dog?

Sorry for the long thread.

Sarah

hi
try not to worry till the results come back(hard i know ) my guess is that your vet is ruling out the possibility of a 'portosystemic shunt' although it is usually diagnosed earlier than your girlie.
she could also have (amongst other things), an infection,the liver has a remarkable ability to repair.
my advise till the results come back are to have her on some kind of liver support(i would recommend 'denamarin' although your vet may already of done this)
this may help.....
http://www.vet.utk.edu/clinical/sacs/shunt/faq.php

good luck

I was going to suggest something like denamarin too Tupacs (Do you have any experience of using Zentonil too?)
The bile acids should give a clearer picture of what's going on, fingers crossed for you both.

Thanks so much for your reply and the link.

I guess I will have to wait until Monday for further information from the vet. It is a worrying time. She has always been very small for her breed and has not been the easiest of puppies with regard to her weight and health. I just hope it is just an infection, she is just such a sweet heart and I just want her to be healthy and happy.

The link was brilliant, very informative and easy to understand - thanks!

Hi
The thing to remember is that the liver is an absolutely amazing organ. It can function perfectly well when most of it isn't actually healthy enough to work. Often liver function tests can throw up strange results too...the liver can indicate problems elsewhere.

I guess what I am trying to say is hold on...don't trouble trouble til trouble troubles you and all that sort of thing. IF she has liver problems...then hopefully something can be done to help her, not to cure it, but certainly to maintain a good quality of life. That's IF it turns out to be liver problems. Try to stay positive...there is so much that can be done.

HUgs x

Hi Sarah if it is Livershunt there is an operation that can be done in some instances , Tupacs will probably know more about it. (I know of someone who had the operation on a puppy and it was ok afterwards ) .

I would also inform the breeder of any problems.
I hope Tess wil be better soon (hugs) .

Thank you all so much for your replies. They have all been very helpful.

I shall try not to worry .... just keep my fingers crossed for Monday.

Thanks

Sarah

good luck,will be thinking of you both,fingers and paws crossed

Hope all goes well. Our eldest has liver disease. Its a complication of hypothyroidism. You can get hepatic prescription foods which can help. Foods like Burns help support the liver.

My boy is an oldie but his liver isnt the best, he had liver enzymes that were above 800 it was off the charts and endd up with pancreatitis also, his liver enzymes are still high but nothing like they were. I got him tablets like Tupac mentioned he hasnt had his enzymes tested since but the whites of his eyes are white (they went yellow) and no vomiting since, there are liver friendly foods you can get.
I say try not to worry too much, (easier said than done) see what the vet thinks.
They can be such a worry at times, will be thinking of you and have our fingers crossed for you on Monday