Yorkie has ALT level of 680+ and Dehydrated... Help please!

[beausgrrl]

Ladyjane, that pic is adorable

[ladyjane]

Originally Posted by beausgrrl

Ladyjane, that pic is adorable

oh, you mean my avatar? I found that on the web.

[beausgrrl]

Yes, your avatar, thought maybe it was of your dog.

[ladyjane]

Originally Posted by beausgrrl

Yes, your avatar, thought maybe it was of your dog.

oops...time to change it....

[Madraga]

Originally Posted by beausgrrl

I would def. find out if your dog got Immiticide (for adult heartworms) or Ivermectin (for baby/microfilarea), just to keep it straight, etc. Either the adults and/or babies dying off can cause embolisms with the Immiticide or slow kill methods....

We had the 2 shot protocol one day apart of the Immiticide last November. This was after Beau had xrays and bloodwork done to determine (I think educated guess now) what stage he was at and whether he was healthy enough to withstand the Immiticide. His xrays showed an enlarged heart which our vet said he could have been born with but could also be from heartworm disease. I don't believe seeing baby/microfilarea in a blood smear is a standard way to determine any stage before treating adult heartworm but just shows there are or had been adults... I've read that the babies can stay in circulation in a dog's blood after treatment for up to a year.

That all being said... Beau had been on Interceptor since we adopted him and when we had our vet records sent to them they helped pay for his Immiticide treatment and they sent us a year's supply of Interceptor. Just this summer we changed to Heartguard Plus as I just didn't think the microfilarea were dying off enough with the Interceptor.... who knows if I'm right.

I think our second followup to the adult heartworm treatment with Immiticide, our vet was concerned the babies were still pretty abundant in his blood smear so we asked if we could do anything for that. I think I asked about it as I'd read about a shot of Ivermectin (to help clear the babies) and she said that was possible to do. We did that and then continued to 'manage' Beau's activities to keep him as 'quiet' as possible, etc.

Now that it's a year later and he seems to still have alot of babies in the smears I don't know what stage he would be considered as he still doesn't show signs. My understanding is that when the dog does show signs, coughing, etc... the dog is in later stages and weaker. I hope my rambling helps someone.

I think also, vets are finding out the heartworms are becoming resistant to the adult treatment as well. And it's not a clear science how to rid a dog of them always... also... can't recall if this has already been discussed.. but here's a quote from a site "Ivermectin does not kill adult heartworms. It does weaken them and will speed up their death. Heartworms typically live two years. To further speed up the process of heartwormDoxycycline. The Doxycycline kills off an organism within heartworms called wolbachia. Wolbachia is a symbiotic organism that lives within adult heartworms. By treating an infested dog with a 30 day regimen of Doxycycline, you kill off the wolbachia, weakening the adult heartworms. This also is reported to lessen the inflammatory immune response of worm die off when the dog is receiving HW treatment of any kind. By weakening the heartworms and then continuing to treat with Ivermectin, you can clear a dog of heartworms typically in 18 months or less."

Thanks so much. I appreciate all this info you're giving me coz quite frankly, no one here knows how to treat it properly. I've noticed more coughing now from my dog, especially when I take her out for a walk. We just do leisure walks but she gets really really nervous and jumpy, and I don't know how to correct this. I want her to feel safe around me, that I won't allow anything to harm her but I think she's just like this coz she's always been caged and never allowed to socialize. Her previous owners must've been cruel to her. It's that or she just wants her old life back. I try not to take her for walks and stuff so she won't be tired and stuff, but I think she gets bored around the house and just sleeps all day. She doesn't do potty in the house, I think she's used to doing it outdoors and I never yelled at her for doing it in the house or hurt her. I allow her to pee and poop in the house but she won't. She holds it in until someone takes her out. And she gets easily distracted too so when she does it outside, it takes her forever to feel safe enough to pee. Pooping is another story. I know dogs are supposed to poop after every meal right? Well she sometimes poops once in 2 days, sometimes once a day. And she eats more than 1 meal a day. I dunno if that's supposed to be a concern for me but almost all vets I speak to are never alarmed by this.

I'm sorry but I'm just not used to sick dogs, I'm used to healthy dogs that aren't sick and then eventually get sick. So for me, everything is a concern.
Like just today she coughed twice, like one of those loud coughs as if she ate something and choked. She's fine, but I dunno if that's the heartworm worsening or a symptom of something else. She used to have like small coughs, kinda like a hiccup, but today's cough is different. I just got her for 3 weeks so maybe I'm just slowly seeing the way she really is but I'm just concerned.

[kjc]

If you could get her some Denamarin (given once daily), or Denosyl and Marin (given in the same day) it will help her liver to heal and protect it from further damage. It can take time for the ALT to return to normal.

Small dogs do best eating 2-3 meals per day, and many hack or cough occassionally, it doesn't mean anything is wrong... but worth a vet check. As she's been on an antibiotic, it may not be from a respiratory problem, but either a normal thing or possibly from the Heartworms.

I have seen ALTs come in at 2000 and higher. I know 600+ was probably very alarming to you, but it will get better in time. Good Luck and Bless you for trying to help her...

[kjc]

The vaccines she got could be making her sleep more than normal. Some dogs may take more than a week to recover from being vaccinated all at once as she was. Don't blame yourself... your vet should have known better.

[143julz]

Have you tried giving your pup ice cubes to lick?? Dogs loves to lick on them Just a thought

I hope the best for you and your baby

[Madraga]

Originally Posted by kjc

If you could get her some Denamarin (given once daily), or Denosyl and Marin (given in the same day) it will help her liver to heal and protect it from further damage. It can take time for the ALT to return to normal.

Small dogs do best eating 2-3 meals per day, and many hack or cough occassionally, it doesn't mean anything is wrong... but worth a vet check. As she's been on an antibiotic, it may not be from a respiratory problem, but either a normal thing or possibly from the Heartworms.

I have seen ALTs come in at 2000 and higher. I know 600+ was probably very alarming to you, but it will get better in time. Good Luck and Bless you for trying to help her...

Thanks so much for the post. I'm learning a lot from this forum. I went to see a new vet yesterday coz I didn't want to go back to the other vet anymore. The vet did a blood test after 3 days of being released from the hospital, and I know it's too soon to see normal results. THe vet also told me it'll take at least a month to see better results for her liver. His SGPT range is between 20 and 40, and my dog's results are at 195. Still a bit high. He has recommended a change of diet, coz she eats a lot and she gets hungry but she will only eat boiled chicken breast. Anything other than boiled chicken breast, she won't touch. The new vet wants me to feed her white rice with soft boiled egg and very little chicken. What she'll do is eat a little of the rice and if she can pick the chicken out, she'll eat that. so we are a bit concerned now coz she eats very little again. And we know she's hungry coz she'll keep going back to her feeding bowl, it's just that she won't eat the rice. She's a very picky eater, she will only eat boiled chicken breast, you can't even put anything in there.

My new vet said that her liver levels shot up probably coz of the Proheart shot. He says he never uses that coz it's relatively new and not fully tested. My old vet said that Proheart was Ivermectin so I opted to go with it, but apparently it's not ivermectin but a derivative of ivermectin. Had I known this, I would've disallowed it. I'm regretting this terribly and I do hope she comes around and get better soon.

I'm a worrier so I tend to worry about her little hiccups and things. Yesterday she threw up this yellowish substance that was foamy. And my new vet said to just monitor her coz it's probably from the car ride. I'm thinking maybe she got really really hungry coz she did fast the previous night for the blood test the following day.

My main concern right now is the feeding and the pottying. She doesn't poop as much and I was given this antibiotic that actually causes constipation so I opted to discontinue it. It's an Anti-protozoal med for the liver.

Can I feed her chicken stock with rice? or will that be too taxing for the liver as well coz it's got chicken stock?

[kjc]

If you have a blender, blend the chicken up with a bit of water before you put it in with the rice. This should make it very difficult for her to pick it out and she may eat more. If no blender, Gerber's Chicken Baby food will work, bc it coats the rice and can't be picked out as easily.

You should continue the antibiotic. That alone could make her a picky eater, she doesn't have the proper flora in her gut for digestion.

The vomiting of the yellow substance is more than likely bile from her tummy being empty. Many Yorkies do this in the morning if they don't eat a snack or small meal at bedtime.

To help her poop, check with your vet, but one can add a teaspoon of canned pumpkin, and/or green beans to her food. Some like it some don't, but offer it to her more than once. Some can be timid trying new foods, so be persistent with offering it to her.

Yorkies, in general, will wait forever if they know you will break down and give them chicken breast. Stop giving in to her! When you blend up the chicken for her food, keep some on the side and put it right on top after you mix up the rest with the rice. I used to keep a bag of minced chicken in the freezer and break of a pice to put in their dinner. Hide a few bigger chunks under her food. Eventually she'll learn to eat her food. Do not give any foods by hand until she is transitioned to the new diet.

You can also mix more chicken in to begin with and then ever so gradually decrease the amout, and may be to get her weaned off it altogether.

Have her bowl on the table close to your plate. About 1/4 way through the meal, give her her bowl on the floor. This may make her think she's getting table food and she may eat better.

You may have to change up and try new things or a different routine till you find what will work be for her.

Good Luck... let us know how it goes...

[Madraga]

THanks. So far I haven't been giving her chicken. She's been eating the prescribed diet coz I think she knows she won't get anything else. She eats little but she does eat more sometimes.

On a different note... Something happened today that sort of changed a lot of things. She was asleep and i pet her and she lied on her back to allow me to rub her belly and chest, she loves this. I was sitting by the floor and rubbing her belly and chest when I yawned. This startled her so she woke up and got frightened. She then started barking and barking at me and growling, this in turn scared me so I know I looked like an idiot coz I held up my hand like as if I'm being held up by thieves and started begging her to stop. I know I looked more scared of her than anything. So I started yelling her name to make her stop. This scared her more and she jumped off her bed and went to the bathroom which was a few feet away from me and barked some more. I then stood up and started yelling her name again. She didn't stop so I left the room and called my dad to come in. She settled down and came near me but she had this frightened look and she couldn't look at me. I noticed that she peed a little in the bathroom, I think I startled her enough to make her pee. Now she won't come near me and would rather sleep downstairs and go to the maids room. I'm completely distressed coz she's been warming up to me so much and following me around and showing me so much affection and now this happened. I'm afraid I'm going to start all over again. And what if this time she never completely trusts me?

I'm always at home and I usually spend all day with her, tonight though I went out for dinner with a few friends. I've gone out before, but tonight was longer than the previous occasion. I know they can't tell time but when I got home I noticed a bit of change in her. She still followed me around and got all excited when I was home tonight. She never spends time alone, I have maids so she does go to them. A little bit of history so you'll understand my dilemma. I got her 3-4 weeks ago, and she's always bonded with the maids before me coz they played with her first before I could have the chance. So when she first got here she always followed the maids around and would not even come near me. It took me a week or so and she started warming up towards me, I had to have a leash with me all the time and I'd have her follow me around all the time. The dog trainer asked me to do this so she'll know she has to follow me around. It's been working great and the dog trainer did tell me not to let her sit on our couch and sleep on my bed, but a few nights ago I had to sleep in my brother's room on the floor and she slept near me, not with me but just near me. She never really trusted me completely to sleep next to me. She would sit on the couch especially when she got frightened. I was told not to cuddle her or carry her too much, this I'd have to say, I failed to follow coz given her medical problem recently, it was hard for me not to cuddle her and giver her as much affection as I could.

Now I don't know what to do. I'm so depressed coz I know I made a mistake by yelling at her, but i didn't mean to startle her, I just yawned in front of her. She suddenly started barking. I didn't get her as a puppy so she's jumpy around me and I get jumpy around her too. I really thought she was gonna bite me. I thought by now she'd be familiar with my face and she'd know I'm her new owner and that I won't hurt her, but after she started barking at me and I yelled at her (to my regret now, but when she was barking, I thought she was gonna bite. Coz she bit my cousin and aunt when they frightened her) I didn't know what else to do. She won't sleep in the same room as me anymore. What should i do??

Thanks again.

[ladyjane]

Just give her time. Sounds like she will need lots of it. You need to be patient. If she ever does that again, I would suggest just getting up and walking away. Don't try to convince her that you are not the bad guy.
Dogs that have been abused will behave that way for a long time and sometimes they never totally get over it. She will be fine with you in time. She is a tiny little thing and the only way she knows to defend herself is with her teeth. Once she learns there is no reason to defend, I am sure she will be ok.

[Madraga]

Originally Posted by ladyjane

Just give her time. Sounds like she will need lots of it. You need to be patient. If she ever does that again, I would suggest just getting up and walking away. Don't try to convince her that you are not the bad guy.
Dogs that have been abused will behave that way for a long time and sometimes they never totally get over it. She will be fine with you in time. She is a tiny little thing and the only way she knows to defend herself is with her teeth. Once she learns there is no reason to defend, I am sure she will be ok.

Thanks Ladyjane. Do you know what I should do to make her warm up to me again? I'm sorry I have so many questions and concerns, I'm just not used to having rescue dogs. I didn't know they're a lot of work and she's on the stubborn side. Last night i couldn't leave her alone downstairs so I carried her up here and she does allow me to pet her but she's so fearful of me now. She was trembling when she saw me, trembling in the same way as she does when there's a thunderstorm. This morning when I woke up she seemed fine. She was wagging her tale and letting me pet her and she was coming near me, then I brought her downstairs and things changed completely. She started to cower and she couldn't look at me. It's so weird, she's like a human being that is afraid and couldn't stand the sight of me. I asked all my maids to ignore her so she'll know that she'll get attention when she starts to trust me again. I think that's the only way for me right now because she's looking at my maids as her saviour or something.

I'm so sorry for all this and I don't know if I'm the right person to give her a home because I don't think I can handle her. I love her so much but she's very "fragile", it's like i can't play with her too much coz it'll stress her, she's got a moody disposition that I'm constantly tiptoeing around. I feel like I've given her a harder life by keeping her.

[ladyjane]

Just leave her be....let her figure out that you are not there to hurt her and will be her friend. You should be the one to feed her and provide for all of her needs. Provide a safe place for her to stay...a little place all her own where she can go if she wants to. Sometimes an open crate works well...it is like their own little hideaway.

[kjc]

So sorry to hear about this event... I'm thinking, in addition to what Ladyjane has said, that something about you may be triggering a bad memory for her.

As this is the internet and I cannot see you or what is going on, I am going to make some suggestions that may seem a bit silly, but may be worth a try. And as I am totally ignorant of any customs and/or cultural issues, forgive me in advance if I cross any lines, as anything I say here is not intended to offend in any way, shape, or form. Here goes.

First, I want to address physical appearances. Do your maids wear uniforms? Could you dress to appear to look like one of your maids? I'm only saying this because there is something about the maids that makes your dog feel safe, obviously. Could be a skirt opposed to slacks or jeans, all one color as oppossed to a more vibrantly colored outfit. Anything you can see that makes you appear so much more different then them? Hair color or style? Wearing/not wearing eyeglasses or sunglasses? Hats or scarves? Consider anything that may be obvious to the dog.

Next, think about how you smell. The soap you use, perfumes, hair products, skin cremes, deoderants, hand cremes, anything like that can be reminding her of a previous owner. I don't normally wear lipstick unless I'm going out, but I put some on one day to help with dryness, and my dog acted like I was a different person. He kept sniffing my mouth... it got a bit weird but the only thing I could figure is that he really liked a person in his past that wore lipstick. He seemed more relaxed in a sense, just the opposite reaction your dog had when you yawned.

I'm not sayng you have to change who you are, but if you can find either a good trigger and play on it (like the lipstick in my case), or a bad trigger and avoid it, that would be a good start.

Another thing to consider is dog to dog behavior. When you yawned, did you cover your mouth with your hand? I'm thinking maybe not? Dog to dog, the showing of teeth can be seen as threatening behavior. Until she trusts you implicitly, you may have to be careful with certain behaviors that can be misinterpreted. Staring into her eyes can be threatening, also. When she's acting terrified, don't look directly into her eyes, look off to one side.
That she exposed her tummy to you is a submissive behavior on her part, and very good. When you yawned while she had her tummy exposed, she may have thought you were going to attack her. I'm refering to the most base, instinctive level of communication between two beings at this point. Other things to consider is how much above her you are. Getting down on the floor with her will be seen in a friendlier light, than if you hover over her.
Dogs that have been physically abused will be reactive to fast movements of hands and arms, and feet and legs. Until she's more comfortable, I would tend to move slowly and deliberately around her so she can't confuse what you're doing.

When she approaches the maids, what are they doing? And what do (did)they do to entice her to come to them?

Most all Yorkies are more respondent to a high pitched, almost squeaky, mouse-like, child-like voice. You could try different types of voices to see which she likes best, and use it during stressful (for her) times, and play times too. I think bc they are small dogs, they can relate better to higher pitched voices.

As she is new to you, does she know any commands, like 'sit, stay' or 'Go lay down'? Try different phrases till maybe you hit on something she understands.

My last adopted dog really scared me on our first day together. I started to pick her up to put her off the bed, and she let out a low, rumbling growl. I was so unnerved by it at the moment, I decided it was best if I walked away because I truly felt fear and I didn't want her to pick up on that. I went into the kitchen to compose myself and figure out how I was going to handle her if she did it again. I went back into the bedroom and tried again and as soon as my hands were on her she started growling again. I acted shocked, and said (in a high pitched voice) 'What? You don't growl at me! Silly puppy!' And I laughed. I call it 'Laugh Therapy'. For one, laughing will relax you. Secondly, she will sense this, and feel less threatened, than if you speak sternly to her. If you do this, be careful not to show her your teeth. This can be difficult and you may have to practice in the mirror, so you can see exactly what she'll see when you do it.
Then, too, you'll have to aclimate her to a human smile. Start with minimal teeth showing, just for seconds at a time, just occasionally throughout the day at different times. As she becomes less reactive, show a bit more teeth (bigger smile) a little at a time. This can take weeks to months, but it prevents tense situations, and possible bites.

One last silly thing. Whenever I accidentally hurt my dog, as in snagging a knot in her hair while brushing her, she would turn to attack me. I have found this with other dogs too. If you apologize verbally to them, it has a good effect. And I mean go all out. Like " OMG! I am so sorry! Did that hurt? Oh you poor, poor baby! I didn't mean to hurt you I'm so sorry, Are you Okay?' And use a high pitched voice, try babytalk, whatever you can do to mend the situation. This can work in other situations too. "You're soooo pretty" got me out of a tough grooming session that was quickly heading south!

Have treats too, with you all the time. Ask your vet if she can have like Cherrios, any fruits (apples) or vegetables (carrots, green beans). Find something she really likes.

Bonding can happen quicker too if you talk to them like you would talk to a child. Just include her in the process of whatever you're doing.

Hope this helps..