My baby is sick :-(
 

My baby Corky has been sick for the past 3 days. He has been acting very lethargic, he wants to just lay around in the same place. I have to pick him up and take him down the stairs to go out to the bathroom, bring his food and water to him so that he will drink it. So I took him to the vet this morning. They did a fully inclusive blood/urine check and they called me to tell me that his ALT was high it should be between 10-100 and his is 120, so they were going to keep him to do some Bile Acid test. So they did that and they said his levels pre and post were >30. The doctor said it could be something with his liver, possibly liver shunts. So now I have to take him to an internal medicine specialist. I feel so bad for him. I don't want him to be sick. I hope it isn't anything serious. I just want him to be back to his normal peppy self. I have a feeling this is going to end up being a very very expensive visit with the doctor and that is going to really suck because I don't really have extra money like that. It's a sad day for me and my Corkie Monster.....

Those results are on the low side ...if he has a shunt it more than likely can be managed with diet and medication. I'm curious he hadn't eaten for 3 days prior to the bloodwork being done. My dog's ALT was 421 when first tested. Did he have any other symptoms? The internal medicine specialist should be able to help ... I'd get him there asap. Keep us updated on his condition. My thoughts and prayers are with you both...

I dont know anything about liver shunt - but we just went through a pancreaitis attack a couple weeks ago. It was Bailey's first medical issue. Compared to possible liver shunt, our issue could be considered minor - however, it was the worst two days I have experienced in a long time.

Long story short -I'm sending well wishes your way! Get well soon, Corky!!!

I hope he feels better soon. My Cali has very mild liver shunt (MVD) and her bile acids were around 90 the first time and 47 the second and she requires no treatment so I am hoping your baby will recover soon and not need expensive care. The internal medicine vet should be able to give you a better idea on the test numbers too. Please keep us posted.

I'm sorry to hear that your little Corky is sick.
I hope it's nothing very serious.
Please keep us posted.
I will keep Corky and you in my prayers.

Thanks for all of the well wishes. It was really strange, after his doctor visit he was a little more peppy but then around 6PM he was back to his normal self he was wanting to go outside and for walks playing with kitty and doing what he always does. I'm now wondering if I over-reacted and everything is fine. But we are still going to go see the internal medicine doctor to make sure that everything is good. He hasn't been eating very much today, so I might try something to make his food a little more appealing to him. Like maybe putting some of that gravy stuff on it. Maybe he was just having a few bad days. I know I was battling a pretty bad cold for the past week, so maybe it was sympathy sickness. But that still wouldn't explain his elevated levels. My friend was wondering if maybe he got into something that made him sick like that. But i didn't notice him getting into anything unless maybe he took a nibble of one of those mushrooms that grow outside but i'm pretty good at keeping him away from them. hmmmmm it's a mystery. I'm just happy that he is feeling better. And from what it sounds he hopefully won't have to get surgery. I will keep you posted on what the internal medicine specialist says.

Prayers for your little one

sounds like it is liver shunt :( do you have him on a low protein diet until you get him to internal medicine specialist -- SO MAD at vet as they ran pre and post biles in house with those numbers - did they not send out to lab to get exact numbers ?????? Now you have to have test re run with ims because sounds like they did in house snap pre and post biles --- Ask them for exact numbers as the higher the bile acids the more likely it is liver shunt. If you are going to do further testing and your dog is acting sick i would take him to university of tennessee if he does need surgery as they are the best and cheapest - dr tobias is the surgeon and yorkies are 38% more likely to get liver shunt and that is what this sounds like

they can have a normal alt and have a liver shunt sadly :( my friends dog did --join this group asap and learn as much as you can about it and they may recommend a good ims in your area Liver_Shunt_And_MVD_Support@yahoogroups.com

do not do gravy !!!! he needs to be on low protein diet - does he act sick after eating? did vet put him on L/D until they figure out what is wrong? Elevated alt could be from him getting into something but not the bile acids so if alt is high and bile acids are high it is probably mvd or liver shunt -- my dog has mvd with no symptoms. Low protein diet is very important. Does your dog head press, picky eater, seizures, act spaced out after eating ? These are all signs of liver shunt

Unfortunately, it looks like the vet did do an in-house bile acids test.
High is read as "above 30." So it could be 30 or 500 and there is no way to tell without redueing it and sending to a lab.

why do these vets do this :( i can understand doing in house spec cpli for pancreatitis as the lab one takes 3-4 days to come back but doing the bile acids is a hassle and to do a half way test makes me so angry to put an owner and dog through this more than once - just seems unethical to me :(

I have been feeding him Orijen puppy food. The vet did not give me any RX dog food. He pretty much just told me that his bile acid was high and he needed to go see the internal medicine specialist. He hasn't had any seizures, he sometimes scratches head on the ground, but not often, he doesn't space out after eating The only thing that really has changed is that he wants to be cuddled up next to me sleeping and he shakes sometimes. But like I said he was fine yesterday evening all full of energy and acting normal, then today he was a little down like he had been, then he went back into being full of energy, and now he is kind of doing the shaky and wanting to sleep thing. It's frustrating. Hopefully the internal medicine specialist will be able to see him tomorrow or tuesday. I'll keep you posted.

I hope they can get you in. Tell them it's an emergency.

join the liver shunt group as they deal with this daily and will tell you all the symptoms -- does he act wierd after eating as that is usually the time of them acting a little off -

is it orijin fish diet? Is the protein over 18% or 22% if so too high for a liver disease dog