Thanks everyone. Barney threw up yesterday morning - I'm pretty sure the doxycycline is aggravating him. It was suspended in almond oil and was a clumpy mess so I have pills now for the next week and he should handle them better. The almond oil suspension was gross, it stunk, and I could barely draw up the syringe! I should have gotten pills right away. But, he is doing well. I'm talking to my vet on Monday so I'll see what else she has to say about this.

Barney is in excellent hands.

Well aren't you a sweetie! I'm going to send you a friend request right now! ;)

Cathy,

So happy to hear Barney is doing well...oh my you must of been worried sick. Poor little guy but he has you and you are doing a wonderful job taking such good care of him. He is lucky to have you watching over him :D Give him hugs from Lexi and I and keeping you and Barney in our thoughts and prayers that he get better everyday :D

Cathy
Great to know that Barney will be OK. I know how worrying this has been for you.

Eww...the almond oil sounds just yucky. Hope Barney is tolerating the pills better. Glad to hear is is on the mend!

So glad he is on the road to recovery. I have been reading the progress. Beege:aimeeyork

I hope Barney does better on the pills. Hugs for Mr. Barney!:p

Cathy: I have been following this thread and your journey with Barney. So glad things are looking positive and he is on the road to recovery. Bless you for being the best pet owner possible. Sending happy thoughts and continued prayers.

Update on Barney and Leptospirosis
 

Someone asked about Lepto today in diet and health so I thought I'd update my thread.

Barney was treated with doxycycline for two weeks for the leptospirosis infection. My vet and I discussed giving the vaccine and decided against it. She was playing phone tag with the laboratory and the specialist to obtain more information because she just had a hard time believing he had the infection and that his positive result was more likely due to a prior vaccine.

Where do we stand? I don't know where they stand ultimately (meaning my vets!) as they are still conferring. But, I know where I stand. I am not giving the vaccine to any of my dogs because I feel they are at low risk. We have a very high risk of Lyme here in New England and I do not vaccinate for Lyme. I feel that we are at a low risk for Leptospirosis infection. My dogs walk concrete streets and sidewalks in a city and play in their yard during dry conditions only. Their feet barely touch the ground and when they do, I've got sandals on order from Karen at All Dog Boots. :D

I think their individual lifestyles do not support the vaccine and I am going to go with the recommendation of my regular vet over the specialist on this. I hope I don't make a mistake, but if I do, then it is certainly not because I did not give this a whole bunch of time and consideration and that is what I believe to be in my dogs' best interest at the end of the day.

I hope this thread helps others. Thank you all for your support.

Hope he is a lot better now.

I hope Barney is doing better. Sending best wishes.

Thank you! Barney appears to have made a full recovery and is doing fantastic!

That is wonderful to hear. :)

I truly feel this thread was sent my way today...
 

First off, let me tell you how very happy to hear that at the end what seemed like a frustrating and upsetting path, there was happiness and your pup is healthy! :)

We are into about month two of what is becoming a confuisng and frustrating situation ourselves. I posted about what we have already been through here... http://www.yorkietalk.com/forums/sic...s-disease.html In taking our Valentino in for routine bloodwork and urine testing before a tooth cleaning, we were given some unsettling news. There were white blood cells in his urine. So...long story short we follwed up with further testing. Our vet was convinced he had some more severe problems going on and his liver tests showed problems with his enzymes. She threw out terms like "Cushing's", "Addison's disease" and even..."Cancer". We were thrown into a tailspin and made an appointment for a ultrasound at the specialist. We got the ultrasound which showed a "liver on the larger size and some inflamation". We were sent home with a diagnosis of "bartonellosis" and put on an antibiotic.

A bile acid test a month later is now showing even worse enzyme numbers and Tino again has an appointment for a follow-up ultrasound appointment and possible biopsy on tuesday.

The part that really has myself, my hubby and my vet flustered is that he has absolutely NO symptoms....not a one. I am lucky enough to spend a typical 23/24 hours a day with this sweet boy. Friends and family laugh that I can anticipate even if he is going to "sneeze". That is how well I know my boy and I know that there is nothing different about his demeanor, he has shown no signs of pain...not a thing!!! He is his silly, michevious, hungry, rambuncious, smart self!!!

Well, this morning I had an overwhelming feeling inside that I was going to go to that appointment equipt with some knowlege of how to help our boy. So....I googled "liver diseases with no visible symptoms" and found this thread in google! After reading through the 10 + pages I feel like you could be talking about Tino!!!! We have been an urban family for 5 years, only to move to a suburb for the past two years...and I didn't even think this could be a possibility. But I plan on doing some more research and bringing all my findings to his appointment. And I am not leaving until I am offered a lepto test!!!!:exclaim:

Thank you so much for this info, and I hope you and your family are well :)

Thanks for your note and I'm sorry you are going through this with Tino. I am not sure after reading your thread that his issues are the same as my Barney's were. Barney's liver ALP was elevated (mildly, but persistently)....upon ultrasound the kidney in combo with the liver was what led to put lepto on the table as a rule/out diagnosis. The test for lepto was about $100. I will never know if Barney really had it because he had prior vaccination with leptospirosis vaccine as late as 2008 so that could have thrown a positive titer. Of course his levels were right on the cusp of infection vs. prior vaccine to make it even more questionable. His liver is still elevated and he is now on liver medications. He is an older dog, and the cause is unknown, but it is mild and my vets do not think his overall clinical presentation or his bloodwork warrant further invasive diagnostics. I'm just not putting my 11 year old dog that runs around like a puppy who has no care in the world through anything like a liver biopsy. I opted to treat him with Denosyl and Marin to see if those medications improve his liver. I just can't treat the dog because of lab work imperfections and ignore his healthy demeanor of a well dog and I doubt any of my vets would suggest that.

I wish you the best for Tino, I'll follow his thread, and if you think I can be of any help with this lepto experience feel free to PM.

I am so sorry, you are in my thoughts and prayers

Tino was put on the sam-E, milk thistle combo Denamirin as well as a vitamin E supplement last month so we are hoping that will help a bit too. I couldn't agree with you more about putting a happy, seemingly healthy pup through unnecessary biopsies and intrusive procedures. It seems so cruel, especially after the specialist was convinced at our last ultrasound that he had contracted some type of "environmental" issue thus creating his liver/ kidney issues.

Also, Tino is our little explorer and loves to smell, roll in and walk through all the gunk and junk he can find...his speciality is rolling in fresh bird poop (EWWW!!!! :eek:). I always just chalked it up to him being a curious little boy and then just gave him a good shampoo. It's so crazy to read about lepto and see how easily it is transmitted :(

Of course we will go in with an open mind and hope for the best, but I feel like this has given me a good insight on a possible reason for his liver enzyme abmormalities and kidney issues. He has already been put through some different blood tests and has been such a trooper. I have called the vet to get all his vaccine records so I can take them with me to the specialist as well...

Thanks for your response, please wish us luck :)