Hi, I'm just giving an update on my 14 year old Yorkie Winston's situation.
As I've stated before, he was diagnosed with a lyme exposure in June 2010 - the lyme antibody decreased from 127 to 29 after treatment with doxycycline so the treatment was successful. In October 2010, Winston had another engorged tick on him and he was put on two weeks of doxy, then another seperate week. My first initial post on this message board - I had discussed how I was concerned that the engorged tick could furthur worsen his immune system from his previous lyme exposure and I wanted to put him on more doxy. The vet told me it wasn't a good idea and we would test his lyme antibody in February to see what the number was. I hope that is the right decision. Anyway, Winston had and still does have somewhat increased thirst but more frequent urination and was having accidents in the house once in awhile. No other symptoms. He eats Newman's Own kibble, The Honest Kitchen - Keen , He takes Ask Ariel Fish oil, Ask Ariel COQ10 and Flying Basset Proanimal Probiotics, although I'm going to be changing him over to Animal Essentials Probiotics & Digestive Enzymes pretty soon. I bathe him with Dr. Harvey's Protection Shampoo and spray him with Ark Natural's Neem Spray - Both used as a flea/tick preventative.
Here are the recent tests that were done and important results.
A Urinalysis, Chem27 and T4 - All done at the end of Dec. 2010:
The Urinalysis showed protein in the urine as before, a USG of 1.032 and 3+ struvite crystals. His bloodwork was normal overall with the exception of an increase of his ALK Phosphatase - 188. Lipase - 761. His Thyroid Panel showed a result of 1.1 which was just normal.
An x-ray was done to see if he had stones because of the crystals in his urine - no stones were found. The vet looked over the x-ray and decided it would be a good idea to get an abdominal ultrasound done so we did that yesterday. The internal specialist who did the ultrasound said everything looked normal. Another UPC ( Urine-Protein-Creatinine Ratio) was done and it had increased from 0.6 in October to 1.1 . The internal specialist who did the ultrasound said this was good news and that we will do another UPC in 3 months. She said to continue giving him fish oil and that I should give him 1/2 baby aspirin everyday. I'm not going to give him the baby aspirin. From what i'm learning now, the baby aspirin wouldn't be a good idea because it could be dangerous for a dog his size - 10lbs.
They also ran a urine culture and we will get the results in a few days.
Other than that, my dog Winston still has somewhat increased thirst but more frequent urination. The bloodwork for December was normal, the urinalysis showed protein and the UPC showed an increased level which isn't good atleast from what i'm been researching. For the crystals in the urine, i'm being told to make sure he drinks more water, which I am and i've also started to give him The Honest Kitchen's ice pups which is a grain free treat that I make as a warm broth and he is enjoying that. I'll probably be talking to the vet in a few days and I will discuss what other tests we should do. Any input would be appreciated, Thanks, Jessica |