[christiers]

My vet did wait until after her first birthday to change her over to a restricted diet. Coco's first BAT was 25.1 in July 09, second was 22.9 in Oct 09, and last was 69.8 in Apr this year.

Denamarin was added in July, the diet change in October...because of these changes and the even higher BAT in April, my vet had actually suspected a portosystemic shunt.

Personally I am still annoyed that I went to U Penn and the "specialist" there told me that nothing was wrong with her because the annomia, cholesterol, and u/a came back normal. I probably shouldn't be but, that doctor is a teaching doctor, educating future vets. I feel like that because Coco is asymptomatic they were just dismissive, even with copies of the labwork in hand. Actually I am more disappointed, in myself...I knew something wasn't right. That feeling is what prompted us, after weeks of back and forth struggling, to say "go ahead, let's do the biopsy". I felt that if a number is just a number is just a number applied to the BATs, then perhaps it applied to the normal results as well.

Anywho....so here we are. And look at this fabulous forumI joined back in October and had never utilized!!! The responses, people taking the time to share their experiences, what they have learned....it is absolutely amazing.

Many thanks to all of you. There is a comfort in knowing that this is not uncommon, although I wish all of our baby were completely healthy without restrictive diets...but healthy with assistance, well that is why there is veterinary medicine, right?