Ahhh...it does sound like something is not exactly right.
Ok, here's my take. She should first have a Bile Acid Test (BAT) done. This will show how the liver is functioning. It is a blood draw (cost is $40 to $100 - depending on where you live). She will have to be fasted for 12 hours, brought to the Vet and they draw blood, then they feed her special food and 2 hours later they draw blood again. You should get the results the next day. You will get 2 numbers (a pre and a post) Pre should be less than 10 and Post should be less than 20. Honestly the Post number is the most important. "They Say" a post number over 100 is in LS territory, but that isn't always the case. It could also be MVD, which is managed with diet and supplements. Ex: Roxy's first BAT post was 100.9 and after more testing, we feel she has MVD.
So the other tests we did was a CBC, urinalysis, coagulation. All came back normal. We did do a U/S (cost about $350) but all it showed was a normal size and shape liver, and probably wasn't even necessary, as a U/S is not 100% accurate.
So, my advice would be do a BAT, CBC and Urinanlysis. Then you can do a Protein C test and then go from there with those results to see what other tests should be done.
University of Tenn (Dr. Tobias) is suppose to be VERY experienced and knowledgable with LS and lots of people choose them for LS surgery, which I have heard to be about $1500 (give or take) - but it's her experience and success that is most impressive.
Keep us posted |