Quick Up Date
 

lacey most likely has mvd and is still not doing well on meds and diet. she is now down to 3 lbs 2 ozs from 4lbs 11 ozs a month ago. she isnt having quite as many seizures but still has little or no energy. i havent been on yt as much because i have been cherishing every moment i can with her. the vet at the hospital has said we can give her more food to eat even though it could harm her we need to get weight back on her or at least give her more energy so we can continue with more tests and possibally do a liver biopsy. am i being greedy in trying to keep her alive? part of me says yes but part says no. i just dont know what to do or think anymore. it breaks my heart to look at her and see every tiny bone sticking out, but then there are times when she will play for a half hour and act normal and then after that she is out for the day and night unless i wake her to feed or give her her meds.

So sorry Lacey is not doing better. Hugs from Zoeybear and baby Chloe.

Iam so very sorry, my prayers are with you both:lovewings

So sorry that Lacey isnt improving... Keeping you both in our prayers...

I'm so sorry.:( I haven't been able to keep up with Lacey as much as I would've liked. Could you tell me what tests she has had and what food she is on?

So sorry about your baby. Prayers are coming your way.

Has the Vet. ruled out liver shunt? Sometimes I wonder if the meds they give them before they really know the problem isn't doing more harm than good. Have you gotten second opinions? I'd be giving her some med. rare steak at this point. What food is she on. If it's dog food you may want to think about real food instead. Also buy a tube of Nutri-Cal and start giving her that too.

i AM SO , SO SORRY-SPEND EVERY SEC. YOU CAN WITH YOUR BABY!

awww hugs!!:ghug:

No your not being greedy, I would be doing everything I could to keep her alive too, as long as she's comfortable. You love her and I would fight too.

Sending prayers to you and Lacy.

Sounds like you are doing every thing you can for her. I think they let us know when they have had enough and you will know. Hopefully she can get stronger soon.

for now they have most likely ruled out liver shunt. she has been to both my vet and madison vet hospital, at madison they only did blood work and ultra sound and didnt see a shunt so they believe its mvd but didnt want to do any other tests on her because she is to weak. this week my vet did do a protien c test but we havent heard back from them yet. she is on LD food amoxi drops and lactulose along with vetri dmg and hepato support and nurti cal i dont think i can give her meat she is only allowed 2 grams of protien a day, although we have uped that a tiny bit to see if she will perk up a bit.

Poor little sweetie. You probably don't have to do a liver biopsy if you are doing the protein c test. Maybe just a scintography to rule out liver shunt completely and just treat as MVD (my opinion only).

Are you feeding L/D canned or L/D kibble?

Have you thought about cooking for her? Some owners have gotten excellent results with this. Please no red meat though.

I'm so sorry Lacey isn't doing well. Hugs to both of you!!

LD canned food. me cook for her, my own family doesnt even eat my cooking, lol except my lasanga. but if i did try how would i know if she is getting the right amount of protien ect?

Lol:) I think Lacey will like it. The L/D may be fine (as long as you stick with the canned). I just know that some people see good results with Dr. Dodds Liver Cleansing Diet. Since the fish (that it calls for) isn't optimal for some liver compromised dogs some switch it to egg. Yorkieluv does this for Miko and he is doing really well with it. I did it for Ellie for awhile but we don't have to be selective anymore. You could ask for help on the conversions at the yahoo group. Isn't it 2-3 grams of protein per day per kilogram of body weight (2 in your case because she has symptoms)? If my math is right that is about 1.5 (or 2) grams of protein daily and someone would have to figure how many grams are in an egg to see how much she should get a day. The diet also contains sweet potato, green bean, white potato, canola oil and supplements. This is a low fat diet so you could supplement with apple or watermelon bits. I also think the supplements in this recipe aren't balanced but someone could probably figure that out. You could also talk to a nutritionist about it. This can be a lot of help. Maybe Susan Lauten from University of Tennessee? When you feed an all-in-one like L/D you may be feeding too much protein if you increase the amount that she eats in a day. If you feed homecooked you can give her her allotted protein for the day while increasing the veggies and/or carbs.

Or if you are very happy with the L/D you could add extras to it with no extra protein.

a dog nutritionist? or just a people one?lol

dog:)

I'm so sorry she isn't doing better. Sending warm wishes your way...

Yes, please no red meat...That is the very taxing on a sick liver. It produces the most amount of toxins and really makes the liver work too hard.

An ultrasound cannot confirm whether or not she has a shunt. In fact, most of the time an ultrasound is inconclusive in that sense.

You are not being selfish by keeping her alive. She CAN get better, but the sicker their livers are, the longer it takes to get them stabilized.

Canned L/D is fine, and you might want to add a little apple as snacks (no skin). Do you give Lacey the lactulose at each meal? She should be getting about 3 doses per day. This would be optimal to help push the toxins out of the body. She should be getting several small meals per day to help ease the load on her liver. How many bowel movements is she having in one day?

Unless you're really willing to put in the legwork needed to learn how to calculate grams of protein in the foods and which supplements, etc, I would say stick with the L/D if she likes it.

she gets lactulose @ 6am 2pm 10pm and gets 1tsp of LD 5x's a day but vet just uped it because she is loosing weight still. in one month she has gone from 4lbs 11ozs to 3lbs 2ozs. so my question is can i give her things like sweet potaos ect along with the LD? just to get her weight and activity up?
according to the ultra sound her liver is normal size.so at least thats a good thing.

Oops, my math was wrong. So please nobody with a dog with MVD listen to it.:) Since you are sticking with the L/D I don't think there is any problem giving extras like apple for the calories. Maybe your vet can give you a list of foods she can have.

I'm so sorry to see that Lacey isn't better and losing so much weight. You are not being selfish by keeping her alive. There is always hope and I would do the same. I will pray for a miracle in your sweet baby. *HUG*

You can add carrots, green beans, apple and watermelon to her food if you want.
How is she doing??