I am sure glad we found this site. My wife and I are numb right now as we have been told there is a good chance our soon-to-be three year old (7/30) princess, Sophie, may have liver disease. She began having head shaking (tremors) about one week ago and I have had her to our regular vet and a neurologist last week. Our regular vet referred us to the neurologist as she was not sure what this was (she mentioned White Shaker syndrome). Of course, the neurologist started the post-visit discussion with pricing of the diagnosis ($1600-$3200). This floored us as we are in no position to pay that kind of money right now, especially for just a diagnosis. When I informed the neurologist of this, she recommended a CBC panel and bile testing. The CBC came back fine; the bile was 73.4 (after fasting) and 70 (after eating). Now we've just received the neurologist's recommendations back (new bile test to confirm levels, then a diet change, then Protein C testing with possible rectal nuclear scintigraphy, biopsies, intra-operative liver studies, spinal fluid collections, etc. All told, well over $5000. My wife is in tears and I am close to it.
Can anyone enlighten me on what we're dealing with here? Sophie is asymptomatic except for the tremors, which have lessened a great deal since it was first noticed. She has no shaking whatsoever when resting or when her head is down, her stool and urine are fine, she plays with the same vigor she did before and her appetite is great. I would have thought we would see some other signs of problems if it was liver related, but I guess I'm not a vet.
We could use some friends right now and this site looks like the place to be. If anyone can shed some light on this, we would really appreciate it.
John
