Sick Yorkie-Lymphangiectasia - Update
 

An update on Wycket follows. I posted some 44 days ago asking questions about my very sick Yorkie - Wycket - who had been diagoised with Lymphangiectasia. I wanted to give an update and also provide some information should anyone else find themselves in this same position.

I am happy to report that although he is on a medicine regiment and on a special food product, Wycket has gained a pound and is back to his old self.

He again torments his sister (Bristol the cat and queen of the house) and barks loudly enough that his elderly brother (Rusty a 13-year old Cocker) who's hearing is not good, barks right along.

Wycket is on the following medicines: Metroridazole, Prednisone and Cyclosporine. We are just about to begin weaning (sp?) him off the Prednisone which is a steriod and aside from not being a good idea to be on a steriod too long, it makes him urinate alot. His blood will be tested monthly to make sure all the levels remain where they should.

He is on special dry food and his medicine is now given to him in a piece of bread instead of a piece of cheese or luncheon meat as he cannot process fat so must have none of it. (Oh Wycket feels much better as he tries to steal everyone's food).

Basicallly, Wycket will always have this condition and this regiment is designed to manage - not cure - his Lymphangiectasia. Treatment is not inexpensive.

Just wanted to provide an update as I received many informative and encouraging messages.

Great update! :)

I'm so glad that his condition is being successfully managed! :thumbup:

I am so glad that he is doing better. It's wonderful that you are able to share your experience and knowledge with others who are or might find themselves in this same situation. Thanks for updating on Wycket. I pray that he continues to do well.

I've just posted my dog Spencer's story and hope to hear back from you on your experiences with this disease. My vet doesn't seem to know much about it and I am so very scared for my baby spence. Any help you can provide would be so appreciated.

Wycket's Life with Lymphangiectasia
 

I am sorry to hear about Spence's illness. I know how scary it is but with proper treatment and diet, we have had great success. Wycket is back to a normal life being the alpha dog (yes, he only wieghs 8 pounds) in a household with an old Cocker and one alpha cat sister.

Wycket is off the steriod Prednisone altoghether. He is now taking a lower dosage of Cyclosporine and if his blood work comes back ok(we test quarterly), they will probably lower it some more. He still takes his Metroridazole and will for life from what I understand. He is on a diet of Duck & Potatoe dry food (which costs $31.60 per 8 pound bag) but it seems to do the trick. Yes, he still steals regular food from his brother when we don't watch closely but even that has seemed not to have any detrimental effects. He is totally normal at this point.

I am happy to give you my vet's name and number so that your vet can call and compare notes. Certainly this disease is probably different in every animal but my vet is really pleased with Wycket's progress.

I'm at work otherwise I would let you know the dosages of the medicines Wycket is current only and the actual name of the dog food.

All is all, this course of treatment seemed to have saved Wycket and aside from the cost, is a small price to pay for Wycket's health.

All the best to you and Spence.

Thanks so much. I am so happy to hear Wycket is doing so well. Other than the two days of vomiting and an engorged tummy, Spencer is doing great. I think my vet is still not 100% sure this is the cause of his fluid retention. Did Wycket have surgery to confirm his illness? I am struggling with whether or not to do this. Spence is scheduled for next Monday but I'm worried the surgery is high risk due to his low albutim levels. My mom's vet will be doing this in TN and he seems to think there could be many other culprits at work. He will run some tests prior to doing any surgery, but feels looking inside will give us an ideal of exactly what's wrong. I have him on EN by purina right now and he seems to be coming around, he had about 20 pieces of kibble today. I also bought some extra virgin coconut oil which is rich in MCT's. He is on the met.... drug too and steroids. I should dry the wet food you mentioned. Spence has always been on Royal Canin for yorkies so may like their formula better. Is that something you can buy at petsmart? Thanks so much for your encouraging words, it does give me great hope.

Reply
 

Wycket never had any surgery just x-rays, sonogram, test of the belly fluid and blood tests. We decided to try his current regement before going any further with other tests. Fortunately, we have had success.

The Royal Canin food is the dry food - Duck & Potato Light. Wycket didn't eat much to begin with and even less when he was ill. He lost body fat as I could feel his back bone extremely well when I would pet him. That was another symptom I missed at the beginning. He has gained back some body fat since his appetite returned and his backbone is not as pronounced as it was. We also watch his weight but he still doesn't eat much but he never did. He may consume 1/2-3/4 of a cup of dry food per day - and usually in the morning. The vet told me to just leave food out all day - right with another dog and cat in the house, Wycket would never get any.

My best wishes to your entire family.

-Yvonne

Im so happy to hear he is better. Thanks for the update. :)

Thank you Yvonne. Your story gives me hope. I just got back from the vet and they're going to do an ultrasound Thursday. If nothing else presents itself I probably won't do the surgery. That would just tell us if it was IBD or LI and the treatments are pretty much the same. I don't want to put him through surgery for that. He's doing great right now. He's bright, wants to play and walk and eating so hopefully that continues. How long has your little guy had this? As far as life expectancy I don't know what to expect. I want to do all that I can to make him as comfortable and happy for as long as possible. He's only 6. I love him so much, this is so hard. I just wasn't expecting it at all. You wouldn't even know he was ill if he didn't have the fluid in the tummy. Give Wycket a hug for me. Juliet

Wycket was diagnosed in March of 2008. My vet says that this is a condition that he will have for life but as long as it is managed, he should have a long and happy life. So far, we feel really confident about his future. I had talked with another person whose Yorkie was also diagnosed and she said her Yorkie died at 18 due to heart problems not from this condition as they too were able to manage the illness. Keep the positive thoughts and know you are doing everything you can. These little guys are much tougher than we are. Keep us posted.

Very Sick
 

Hi. My baby went back to the vet last night in an emergency. He has been sick for about 2 weeks. We took him in 2 weeks ago because of listlessness and an engorged tummy and breathing difficulties. He is 5 years old. The vet was mostly concerned with low calcium and low protein levels. She performed some test to see if he has a thyroid problem. They told me to give him Tums which I did. He got worse so took him back in 2 days and they started IV and gave him calcium. He was better Monday but had an awful diarrhea. We took him home and belly swelling was down and diarrhea was gone. He ate like a horse all day and we gave him meds for diarrhea as the vet prescribed and the calcium. Yesterday he would not eat or drink all day and the diarrhea came back viciously also with vomiting. We rushed him back last night as he was becoming nonresponsive. They immediately gave him calcium (still low and protein very low) and put him back on IV. Now they are testing for Addison's but I am more concerned with intestinal lymphangiectasia. The vet said it would be bad news if that is what it is. I am very upset about this and he said he would need to do a biopsy but is ruling out Addison's first. Is there anyone else in my position?

My Experience With Lymphangiectasia
 

I lost my 10 year old Oscar last Saturday after being diagnosed with this disease six months ago (via biopsy). I wanted to post my experience, and hope to help or save even one yorkie. Please keep in mind I am posting from Canada, so many drug names or normal ranges may not be the same as in America).

He was diagnosed with IBS about two years ago, his albumin level had dropped to 29 (the normal range is 31-42) – my vet said it could either be IBS or Cancer (I almost dropped dead), however, if the Prednizone worked then it would be IBS. He also thought it IBS because Oscar had previous issues with diarrhea – which we gave him Flagyl for (10 days), this would happen maybe twice a year since he was 4 year old. After four weeks on Prednizone (decrease the dose every week) his albumin level increased within the normal range, always in the low range – but in the range none the less. My vet suggested that we test Oscar’s protein levels every three months. So this is what we did, however, until about 10 months ago.

I went in for blood work April 2008, before getting his teeth cleaned – and I am sure that I asked the technician to check his protein levels. I called the next day, and she said everything was okay – I assumed she meant protein too, because I was sure I asked them to check that. Anyway, mistakes happen – I love my vet and I know he cared so much about Oscar, it wasn’t his fault. Then during the summer, when we were renovating our kitchen and I forgot to pick up off the floor and throw away the half a KFC big crunch sandwich – you got it, I came home a few hours later and he had diarrhea all over the place. I found him in my bed with the top of the bun licked dry; he seemed sick and stayed that way for about 24-36 hours when I finally took him to my vet for blood work. When we got the results his albumin level had dropped to 13 and had to be rushed to the emergency clinic (anything below 15 will result in fluid building up in the lungs, belly, and legs). After an ultrasound they found 100ml of fluid in his lungs and the specialist actually came in on the Sunday to insert a needle and remove the fluid. Anyways, on the Monday (after three days on IV) when the internal medicine specialist came in he did the biopsy and advised that Oscar had Lymphangiectasia – the course of treatment would be steroids.

So we went home with Prednizone and tested his albumin level almost every week. At first it went up (we were excited), then it dropped again about a month later – maybe to 19. Oscar was not himself on Prednizone, couldn’t hold him, like he was paranoid. So the doctor decided to try Budesonide which made it go up a point or two, but nothing that would keep him healthy. Then he started to vomit uncontrollably – not exaggerating when I say 30 times, just blood and mucus. This lead to rushing him to the emergency clinic and a couple day stay – more tests, etc, etc. So the doctor put him on Imuran and also gave him Ranitidone for his stomach (to help settle his stomach with all the drugs). The protein level went up again, and then two weeks later down – another bought of vomiting, rushing to the clinic, etc, etc. So we decided to try a homemade diet –the vet gave me a hills canine reducing diet, its for overweight dogs – but it had the same make up, low fat, high protein. He also allowed me to take home the anti-nausea drug (Cerina) and be able to administer it to Oscar via needle; it seemed that it would work after ten minutes. This way Oscar would not have to endure the trauma as before. The diet worked for a week and then albumin level dropped again. I thank the doctor so much for the needle, as Oscar vomited maybe seven more times until last Saturday – but it would stop ten minutes after the needle. So I tried another home made diet, from Hilary Watson, she is in Guelph, Ontario and created a recipe book and supplement (this is very new – look up Balancer) – this diet was cod fish, peas, blueberries, cod liver oil, safflower oil and balancer supplement. After one week his albumin level increased to 29 – it hadn’t been that high since being diagnosed in August, but yet again the next week it dropped to 23. My last hope was the diet, so I knew his time was coming. The doctor said Oscar wouldn’t be able to live long on such a high dose of steroids, as those drugs would cause other issues. So about 10 days ago his white blood cell count came in at 35000 (17000 is normal) with some issues in the kidney – we tested his urine but that was okay. My regular vet said we could check his stool for blood – which we did and it came back positive (on the Friday), however, that day he stopped eating and seemed in pain (up until this point he ate like crazy). I knew that day we were going to let him go; I just couldn’t bring him to the emergency clinic and leave him one more time. I was worried the specialist would tell me the end was near and I didn’t want his last days to be in a cage in the clinic. In the end we spent $11,000 to try to save him – but only a miracle would, and it didn’t come.

I know this may seem like a very sad story, however, this is my suggestion could I go back in time. Test your dog’s albumin levels often, yearly if he is not sick (I think this disease can be managed if caught early – I wish now we would have kept him on a low dose of Prednizone since 2007). If he continues to have diarrhea or poop that is not normal, take him to the vet and test his albumin. If his protein levels are low, get him on Prednizone, and possibly keep him on it (even one pill a week). Keep him away from fatty foods (if he gets into something like KFC take him to the vet at once). And finally if possible feed him a home made diet – even my vet said the gastro he was on (for about 6 years) was low fat; however, it still had fat. No fat is best, and I bet if I put Oscar on this cod fish diet right away he may have lived longer.

If you have any questions, please email me – I will try to answer as best that I can from my experience with Oscar. jacalynh@sympatico.ca

Well the quest to diagnose spencer continues....as I type this he is barking and playing fetch with my husband, definitely not the picture of poor health! The doctor did another round of blood and urine test yesterday. The blood tests were the same with the only thing on concern his albumin level of 1.7. The urine test however showed a protein loss of +3 instead of the +1 before. The vet said because of this she can't rule out a kidney problem. He is having an ultrasound tomorrow so we should know more then. Please say a prayer for the little guy. The only symptoms we've had were the day of vomiting a couple of weeks ago that went away almost immediately and his low albumin level which has led to ascites or fluid in the abdomen. Best case is this is IBD, Inflammatory bowel disease....worst case it is lymphangiestasia or kidney failure. He is the picture of health so I'm hoping against hope it was a flare up of IBD. Will keep you posted. Thanks so much for all the information and well wishes. Juliet

My Pup Just Diagnosed with Lymphangiectasia
 

We just got the diagnosis today for my 3-year od Yorkie. It's such a shock, since he seemed fine until I noticed on Sunday that his belly was getting swollen. Here it is just 4 days later and he's been poked and prodded and had the endoscope biopsy yesterday. He has a mild to moderate case and starts treatment (low-fat prescription diet, prednisone, azathiopine) tomorrow. The vet is being so careful not to get my hopes up that it will work. I need some hope.

Please look up my original post regarding my Oscar's battle with this illness. Link here - http://www.yorkietalk.com/forums/sic...orkie-two.html

Also, I would highly suggest a home-made diet - I used one from Hilary Watson, information attached (she is awesome answering any questions). Even though your vet may suggest a medical diet, it is no where near as good as home-made. Also, you MUST never feed him anything fattening - not even a little bit - if he needs a treat give him peas. Good luck and keep me posted - any questions please let me know.
THE BALANCER Home-Made Meal Supplement for Dogs

Thank you.
 

Jacalyn - thanks for the info and I'm really sorry about Oliver (his photo is precious!). Jock started treatment today and I'm praying that it works and his albumin goes up. His spirits seems pretty good (better than mine!).

Thanks,
Karen

Hi Karen, my profile picture is of our new love - Carson (has the same letters as Oscar) - he looks so silly because I put baby oil in his fur as his skin was flaking. In my profile I have an album of all Oscar's pictures, I haven't had a chance to upload any of Carson yet (except the profile). Keep on top of the blood testing, weekly if you can until he gets stable. Please try to get him on a home-made diet, something high protein and low fat. Good luck!

Scruffy is Sick
 

Hello Everyone. About two hours ago, I received a phone call from my vet that no one wants to receive. Yesterday, after 4 days of on and off diarrhea, I decided to take Scruffy, my 3 year old yorkie, to the vet. He had lost 1lb, and just was not himself. The vet prescribed him antibiotics and took a CBC [complete blood count]. This morning, Scruffy was doing much better and was back to himself. However, the doctor called me and said that Scruffy's albumin levels were very low. He went through what could be causing this: liver problems, the kidneys not functioning properly, and bowel problems. He insisted that the first step is to bring in a stool sample along with a urine sample tomorrow. I am fearful that this is PLN or PLE, or cancer [which the doctor did mention as I nearly hit the floor]. Scruffy is 3 years old and is one amazing dog. I have researched all possibilities [which only makes me more nervous] and was hoping that someone out there was going through something similar or went through something similar with a positive outcome. I can actually that I have never been this scared. . . any thoughts would be greatly appreciated.

Oh I am sorry your baby is not well. You may get more response if you start a new thread, I have no experience with this and I know I am of zero help. I hope someone who has more knowledge than I do can help you out!

Get a Good Vet for Scruffy
 

Scruffy's Mom -

I'm sorry to hear that Scruffy is suffering and you are scared. When my Jock first got sick, I heard many of the same potential diagnoses from my family vet. However, he knew that he didn't have the expertise to treat something so specialized, so he referred me to an internal medicine specialist who really focuses on intestinal problems, often in small dogs. She was able to diagnose in minutes what our family vet could only speculate about. I think the key to my Yorkie's successful management of his disease (lymphangectasia) has been high-quality specialized vet care and a good partnership between the specialist, our family vet and us.

Good luck. Let me know if you have any specific questions.
Karen

I would also suggest running a Spec Cpl panel on him as this can accurate diagnose PLE - which is how my Sissy's was discovered. Although you only read about managing symptoms and no cure, the vast majority of these cases are not found until very late end stage. Sissy's was caught at the very earliest stage and subsequent blood work has a normal TLI level. Her albumin was never high however.

She is on a regimen of supplents (probiotic, vitamineral green, colostrum, and liver support) along with The Honest Kitchen Preference mixed with cooked white fish and salmon alternatred with The Honest Kitchen Embark. After 6 months of supplements and this food, along with B12 injections, she is a completely different dog and doing very well. Never give up hope!!!!!!

Jacs0517 I am so sorry for your loss. I lost my beloved Teddy to this horrible disease last year and I am still so devastated by the loss. I also tried everything to save him and spent $16000 the last few months of his life. I was taking him to a specialist also. I am sorry all of you have to go through this. As for the diet, they had me hire a top veterinary nutritionist who told me he could have no dog food whatsoever. She said that even the low fat dog foods had too much fat for his body to handle. I did catch his early and I had him on a special home made diet. I did everything I could possibly do but it wasn't enough. The specialist hospital was 2 hours away and when he took a turn for the worst very early in the morning I was hysterical that I wouldn't get there in time to see him again. Thankfully I was able to be with him and he died very peacefully in my arms. I will miss him for the rest of my life.
Please try to be as informed as possible. I learned that a lot of vets, even the top ones, don't know a lot about this disease. I wish you all the best and many long years with your babies.

My yorkie Dirk is sick. He acted like he had something stuck in his throat. He would cough and trie to throw something up but nothing came. Then he started laboring to breath. I took him to my vet and we have run tests. Blood work, liver test. His protein level was way below what it should be. 1.5 os considered critical and his was below that. They gave him a plasma transfer and that brought it up to 1.9. He is doing better but we still do not know what is causing it. Dirk is not under weight so I don't think that he is losing protein through his stomach. If you have any ideas please let me know

iluvdirk

Dirk's Illness
 

Hello. First and foremost, I know exactly what you are going through, and it is horrible. Try to be positive and get your yorkie the help he needs. After about 5 days of diarrhea, I took my yorkie Scruffy to the vet. The vet ran a CBC and he had an albumin level of 1.9 which is well below what is normal. The doctor gave me a long list of possibilities as to why he had this problem. . . kidney disease, liver disease, lymphagiectasia, IBD, lymphoma, etc. The first step my vet took was to collect a urine and fecal sample. The urinalysis results ruled out kidney problems as his kidneys are the picture of health. The fecal exam looked at whether or not he had some type of parasite that was causing the problem. He did not have a parasitic infection. The next step was an abdominal ultrasound performed by an ultrasound specialist. The doctor gave me the option of waiting two weeks to see if the problem was purely related to colitis, but I opted to have the ultrasound done right away. The ultrasound showed some areas on inflammation in the stomach, as well as the intestines. Both the ultrasound tech and my doctor agreed that there were no true clinical signs that led them to believe it was lymphagectasia, thus, they determined it is IBD. By this time, Scruffy was back to himself and was putting on weight. Scruffy is allergic to something in food and he must be kept on a strict diet. He eats prescription food and is currently on 1/4 of a pill of metrodinazole twice a day. He appears to have put some weight back on and is back to being his playful self. The doctor insists that that there is the possibility that Scruffy can come off of the medication at some point, but his protein levels must be stable first. Be sure that you ask your vet as many questions as possible. Make sure that he/she has an understanding of all of the above mentioned problems and don't be afraid to get a second opinion if you do not see your dog's condition improving. I will warn you that the cost of running these tests adds up [about $1000 for me], but it was worth it to make sure that Scruffy is getting the care that he needs. As I said, he's a happy little camper these days, and aside from getting his medicine twice a day, everything is back to normal. He'll have another CBC run in a few weeks to monitor his albumin and globulin levels. Good Luck!!

Sue

Hang in There Dirk's Mom
 

Dirk's Mom - I'm so sorry to hear about your pup. Hang in there. It's difficult but there are so many impressive vets out there to help with difficult medical problems.

When my Jock had the same problems (really low albumin), the vet (a specialist in internal medicine - not a general vet, which I think is really important), immediately suspected lymphangectasia. She did a scope where she put a tube down his throat with a little camera on the end (he was under anesthetic) and took a small sample of his intestine out for visual inspection as well as lab tests. The visual confirmed the lymphangectasia and the lab tests ruled out IBD.

Jock was not underweight either. In fact, b/c his intestines could not process the protein, he was losing intestinal fluid into his abdomen. So in reality he really was losing weight (major muscle mass) but I could not tell b/c it was being masked by the bloating from the fluid. Once he started treatment and the fluid went away, he was the skinniest little thing. I felt so badly for him, since I hadn't been able to tell.

I would strongly suggest if at all possible where you live that you get Dirk to a vet that specializes (i.e., is Board certified) in internal medicine rather than a regular general vet. It may make the difference between a quick and correct diagnosis and a bunch of guessing and unnecessary tets. Our family vet suggested all kinds of things - cancer, liver problems, IBD - but referred us to a specialist. We went there the same day and the vet honed in quickly on the diagnosis and started treating him the same day.

Jock has done really well with the treatment, but there have been some ups and downs. But all in all he is so much better and he's like a puppy again (he's 4).

Good luck. Let me know if I can answer specific questions.
Karen

my sick Yorkie
 

:(:confused:I am so glad to hear that your Wicket is doing better. My Dirk is now home from the Vet and is on a special food called Purina H A hypoallergenic. Also he is taking Metronidazole. I was wondering what kind of food you are feeding your dog ? Also my Dirk is still retaing to much fluid. He stomach is large and feels like a sponge. Did your dog have the same symptoms. Please let me know what you think. I am looking for guidance here. Thanks so much for the past information. I really appreciate it.

Teresa
North Dakota