Bile Acid Test- vet want to now do biopsy. I am so worried

[sadiesamie]

Originally Posted by Yorkieluv

If she's the potassium citrate, that's supposed to help keep the stones at bay, but 8.0 is still off...

she was at 5.0 and producing calcium oxalate crystals. Once we added a scoop of the potassium citrate her ph went up to 7 and now 8 and no signs of crystals. what do you mean by 8.0 is still off? Not where it needs to be? I think you have dealt with crystals too.

[sadiesamie]

I hear great things about the wellness dog food but I am not 100% with this one. My girls are starving when it's time for feeding. And i think there are a lot of fillers in this too. they both are doing well so far though on it. I do wet the food. Samie has lost almost 1 lb. this is the only food she has been on to be successful in her losing weight. But i would like to see them both on something better. I firmly do not believe this is it. and with the issues we have- maybe homecooking would be best. Sadie had very bad skin allergies and she has improved immensely in the last 2 mos since off of the hills pres d/d food. She was itchy and very red constantly. I also am giving omega 3 every day and by adding this and putting her on the wellness has made a hude difference with her. She rarely itches. Maybe 1 or 2 times a day as opposed to non-stop. When we made this switch knew this wasn't permanent. it was only better than what they were on. It was all i could find to make the switch when we did. I didnt' know what food to get for them?? and it was coming time to get more. I DID not want to get another bad of the pres food. So this worked out. but I do believe it's time now to again- to make a switch or home cook.

if someone wouldn't mind sharing a recipe with me i am very willing to do it. i would have done so already but i hear it's complicated. I KNOW i can handle it. I just need to research more.

[sadiesamie]

also been giving fresh cauliflower in very super tiny amounts (i always like to introduce something slowwwly to avoid stomach upset and diar) but do you think the cauliflower is better raw OR cooked for them?

[sadiesamie]

Originally Posted by Yorkieluv

Your welcome
Hopefully, the link will work for you!!

i sent them an email a couple wks ago and i just sent another. hope it works. :-)

been also spending some time on b naturals website. so much excellent info on there!

[Yorkieluv]

Does your vet have any suggestions for food? The main thing is to stay away from red meat and high oxalate foods. I know there are several diet suggestions on that website...Maybe you could try one of those homemade diets?

[mrshelbysmom]

Has your vet suggested Hills presription diet LD. That's what Shelby had been put on. It comes in bites but probably canned also if that is what you would prefer.

[sadiesamie]

Originally Posted by Yorkieluv

Does your vet have any suggestions for food? The main thing is to stay away from red meat and high oxalate foods. I know there are several diet suggestions on that website...Maybe you could try one of those homemade diets?

You would think that our vet is 1000% a sales rep for HILLS SCIECE DIET. She is very stubborn talking about food and she knows nothing about nutrition. She is very hard to talk to anyway. And as far as I am concerned- she will retest Samie in a few weeks for her bat. and then if still no good news. We are asking to get referred to the speciallist. They we will use her for annual check ups and rountine bloodwork and urinalysis. thats it. Been told we are going to the best of the best so that's why we have not switched. Plus she knows samies ct condition and gets us in and out of the vet quick. If Samie wasn't so bad at the vet and didn't turn blue and all that we would have went to another place that was referred to me from a freind that works at the emerg vet. otherwise we have to drive 40 miles each way or more to another one she highly recommended but overall- yes she could get in a lot of trouble for sharing such info with me but she knows how i am with my girls and she knows who is good in our area and who to stay away from. with as often as we have been to the vet. sometmes 2 times a week and these bat tests especially. taking samie for her first draw and then going back two hours later. I could not drive 40 miles each way. and it's too hard on my little baby also. so we stay where we are at and bite the bullet. we have a very good vet-but she is fresh out of vet school -5 yrs and my friend told me that what she has seen in newer vets is its sometimes trial and error. they will run every test imaginable. and that is pretty much what she did with Sadie. we didn't know better- but we know now. 5200.00 later- the vet knows we will spend it too. so yeah- we are surely in a rock and a hard place. but she does not give me any help talking about food. she is very hard to talk to anyways. so i make my husband deal with her. I always have a boatload of questions and she rushes me off the phone. Maybe later when i have more time i will vent and write the experience she put me though with the office mgr there. Put it this way- if we didn't need them more than they need us- we would have pulled out of there a long time ago.

I need to go through some posts and find the nutritionist someone spoke to. it was a phone consultant that was very helpful to someone but i can't remember who it was?

Samie's other issue is since she has been on this food she WILL NOT stop eating poo. so she is definitely missing something somewhere in her diet.

Problem with picking a homemade diet--i am to scareed to pick one on my won. i am too nervous that not all nutrients would be in the food i made and i am too scared to do in on my own. I know i can handle it. I cook dinner 7 days a week now. I love to cook. I would enjoy cooking from my girls especially if i knew i was doing something good for them. I am making more treats this w/end for them and also doing some baking for my husbands work next week. I LOVE TO COOK AND LOVE TO BAKE.
I NKOW I CAN COOK FOR MY GIRLS- ALL I NEED IS A RECIPE. DO THIS. :-)

sorry if any typos= i am typing w/o my contacts in or glasses on. :-)

[sadiesamie]

Originally Posted by Yorkieluv

Does your vet have any suggestions for food? The main thing is to stay away from red meat and high oxalate foods. I know there are several diet suggestions on that website...Maybe you could try one of those homemade diets?

i have been looking at some recipes but i need to know for sure they are ok for liver ocmpromised dogs... and also kidney. None of the ones i saw so far included vitamins or nutrients. just food. if you know of one- i will go and get what i need today and be in the kitchen faster than you can say... COOK. LOL! :-)

[sadiesamie]

Originally Posted by sadiesamie

You would think that our vet is 1000% a sales rep for HILLS SCIECE DIET. She is very stubborn talking about food and she knows nothing about nutrition. She is very hard to talk to anyway. And as far as I am concerned- she will retest Samie in a few weeks for her bat. and then if still no good news. We are asking to get referred to the speciallist. They we will use her for annual check ups and rountine bloodwork and urinalysis. thats it. Been told we are going to the best of the best so that's why we have not switched. Plus she knows samies ct condition and gets us in and out of the vet quick. If Samie wasn't so bad at the vet and didn't turn blue and all that we would have went to another place that was referred to me from a freind that works at the emerg vet. otherwise we have to drive 40 miles each way or more to another one she highly recommended but overall- yes she could get in a lot of trouble for sharing such info with me but she knows how i am with my girls and she knows who is good in our area and who to stay away from. with as often as we have been to the vet. sometmes 2 times a week and these bat tests especially. taking samie for her first draw and then going back two hours later. I could not drive 40 miles each way. and it's too hard on my little baby also. so we stay where we are at and bite the bullet. we have a very good vet-but she is fresh out of vet school -5 yrs and my friend told me that what she has seen in newer vets is its sometimes trial and error. they will run every test imaginable. and that is pretty much what she did with Sadie. we didn't know better- but we know now. 5200.00 later- the vet knows we will spend it too. so yeah- we are surely in a rock and a hard place. but she does not give me any help talking about food. she is very hard to talk to anyways. so i make my husband deal with her. I always have a boatload of questions and she rushes me off the phone. Maybe later when i have more time i will vent and write the experience she put me though with the office mgr there. Put it this way- if we didn't need them more than they need us- we would have pulled out of there a long time ago.

I need to go through some posts and find the nutritionist someone spoke to. it was a phone consultant that was very helpful to someone but i can't remember who it was?

Samie's other issue is since she has been on this food she WILL NOT stop eating poo. so she is definitely missing something somewhere in her diet.

Problem with picking a homemade diet--i am to scareed to pick one on my OWN................(typo in my last post) i am too nervous that not all nutrients would be in the food i made and i am too scared to do in on my own. I know i can handle it. I cook dinner 7 days a week now. I love to cook. I would enjoy cooking from my girls especially if i knew i was doing something good for them. I am making more treats this w/end for them and also doing some baking for my husbands work next week. I LOVE TO COOK AND LOVE TO BAKE.
I NKOW I CAN COOK FOR MY GIRLS- ALL I NEED IS A RECIPE. DO THIS. :-)

sorry if any typos= i am typing w/o my contacts in or glasses on. :-)

also- what is the secret to staying logged in on this yt. man it frustrates me constantly....... having problems editing a msg if i wanted to and exceedling my time- sorry- but what is the deal with this?????????? it's early and i guess i am on my way to having a bad day. Ya'll should know just how close i am coming to just throwing in the towel. A year of worrying, researching and every corner i turn not a bit of good news anywhere with my girls. i am tired. i am weak... and there has got to be a way out of this rut we are in.

[sadiesamie]

wow- I am getting so caught up in the moment I guess typing this all of this morning has just caught up with me and right now i am literally crying my eyes out. i have to take a break- I am so sad right now.

[Yorkieluv]

Don't cry!! It will be okay...First, let's find out if there's even anything wrong with her liver...My first piece of advice is to re-do the bile acid test in a couple of weeks...make sure she has not received any heartworm or flea meds within this time frame, as I believe this can throw the test off...

If the pH is too acidic, your dog can form calcium oxalate stones..If it's too alkaline, your dog can form struvite stones. That's what I meant by off...I think the target pH is more in the 7-range.

As far as food goes, if you homecook and give the right kinds of food (no high oxalate and very little to no medium oxalate), then in theory, she should not need the potassium citrate...BUT you would have to talk to your vet about this.

Can you remind me what is in this wellness food?

[sadiesamie]

Originally Posted by Yorkieluv

Don't cry!! It will be okay...First, let's find out if there's even anything wrong with her liver...My first piece of advice is to re-do the bile acid test in a couple of weeks...make sure she has not received any heartworm or flea meds within this time frame, as I believe this can throw the test off...

If the pH is too acidic, your dog can form calcium oxalate stones..If it's too alkaline, your dog can form struvite stones. That's what I meant by off...I think the target pH is more in the 7-range.

As far as food goes, if you homecook and give the right kinds of food (no high oxalate and very little to no medium oxalate), then in theory, she should not need the potassium citrate...BUT you would have to talk to your vet about this.

Can you remind me what is in this wellness food?

Ingredients
Deboned Chicken, Ground Barley, Rice Bran (from brown rice), Chicken Meal, Ground Brown Rice, Tomato Pomace (source of Lycopene), Rye Flour, Oatmeal, Oat Fiber, Whitefish, Tomatoes (natural source of Lycopene), Natural Chicken Flavor, Canola Oil (preserved with mixed tocopherols, a natural source of vitamin E), Ground Millet, Carrots, Spinach, Sweet Potatoes, Apples, Blueberries, Calcium Carbonate, Dicalcium Phosphate, Flaxseed.

Minerals
Zinc Sulfate, Zinc Proteinate (a chelated source of zinc), Iron Proteinate (a chelated source of iron), Ferrous Sulfate, Copper Proteinate (a chelated source of copper), Copper Sulfate, Manganese Proteinate (a chelated source of manganese), Manganese Sulfate, Sodium Selenite.

Vitamins
Beta Carotene, Vitamin E Supplement, Ascorbic Acid, Vitamin A Supplement, Niacin, Calcium Pantothenate, Riboflavin, Vitamin D-3 Supplement, Pyridoxine Hydrochloride, Thiamine Mononitrate, Folic Acid, Biotin, Vitamin B-12 Supplement, Choline Chloride, Taurine, Mixed Tocopherols (a natural preservative), Glucosamine Hydrochloride, Chondroitin Sulfate, Chicory Root Extract, Garlic, Yucca Schidigera Extract, Green Tea Extract, Lactobacillus Plantarum, Enterococcus Faecium, Lactobacillus Casei, Lactobacillus acidophilus.

Wellness® uses ethoxyquin-free protein sources.


Yes her ph should be closer to 7. I have backed off of the pot citrate. i do not give her a full scoop. sometimes i wonder if i should skip a day. 1 whole scoop is for a 10 lb dog. she is not 10 lbs she is 6.5 everyone thinks home cooking would be hard- I can handle it and if i coudn't i would at least try. but i know i could do it. i am going to start giving both dogs the white part of a hard boiled egg and more veg's for treats until we get this worked out. i don't think it would harm my other dog to have low oxalate good protein snacks.

[Yorkieluv]

The nutritionist will be able to tell you what to homecook...Once you start, it's really easy!! I like to cook large batches of my furbabies' food so that I only have to cook once a month. I freeze it in two-three day portions....

[Ellie May]

Please don't cry.
There may not even be a problem with her liver.

About the food, homecooking is the best option but I always recommend starting with a nutritionist. That way you know it is balanced and you will know the foods and supplements you should and should not give.

I have found that homecooking does take up some times (less when I use eggs as Ellie's protein). I have also found it to be more expensive because I use some organic ingredients. If this isn't a problem for you, then go for it.

[sadiesamie]

it just dawned on me...how RUDE- i was not even posting in the thread that i originally started... it was someone elses. now i feel so bad.
I am going to get back over here where i belong. :-(

i guess when you are overwhelmed as i am-anything can happen...