| ladyjane | 10-15-2012 08:29 AM |
Olivia - Cholangiohepatitis & Protein-Losing Nephropathy
For starters, my sweet Olivia could really use prayers.......
It has been a busy three weeks. On a Thursday morning Olivia did not eat her breakfast....then, in the afternoon, she did not want to eat again. I picked her up and she screamed. Now, Olivia can be a drama queen, but I just had a bad feeling about this and called the vet. They told her to bring her in....we suspected pancreatitis maybe in the early stages. Her labs were all WNL and her xray was fine. The only symptom she had was anorexia and she also had a very high temp of 103.6. They gave her fluids and metronidazole and told me to return in the morning if she was still the same. Sure enough...still had a temp and wanted nothing to do with food. Tenderness up high in her chest area. Took her in and while we were talking about what this could be, I decided to take her to the specialist .. not really thinking it was something really awful but it was a Friday and if your pup is a client of GCVS, they can be admitted any time of the day/night. I did not want to have a sick pup over the weekend and have to go to the EC. So...off to the specialist we went. The specialist was very concerned about her because while her albumin was WNL, it was on the low side. She suggested admission and a complete workup on Olivia. Wow....I was stunned. ... I knew she was not well, but honestly did not think it was something really serious. Serious it was....they found on ultrasound issues with her gall bladder and her liver and scared me to death when they started talking about a possible rupture of her gall bladder and surgery. I had NO idea that gall bladder surgery in dogs is very risky. As the specialist was talking about it, I found my stomach doing flip flops. Anyway....she suggested medical treatment and close observation and of course, repeat ultrasounds. Olivia was admitted to ICU on antibiotics and fluids. Three days later she was responding and there was some improvement on her ultrasound. They discharged her on two antibiotics, mirtazapine for her appetite and tramadol for pain. She ate like a bird for a week...I had to constantly offer her food and water. Went back for another ultrasound a week later and slight improvement. Her clinical signs now are much, much better. She is bright and alert and eating really well now, thank God. She is still on two antibiotics and will be for one more week. Her diagnosis: suspected cholangiohepatitis .. the only way to really know for sure is a liver biopsy but they did not want to do that on her.
As if that was not bad enough...they were worried about the protein loss and thinking it could be intestinal ( all I could think about was Cookie...and another one with lymphangectasia)....but for Olivia, they found that she had protein in her urine...so they did a urine protein/creatinine ratio and it was very high. So...now she is on Enalapril . She goes back on Wed this week to be checked out and possibly put on other meds for the PLN.
I guess the only thing I can say is that I thank God that I have access to such wonderful vets. Honestly, if you came to my home and saw Olivia, you would never guess that she is sick. I really did not think that it was going to be something like all of this. I am still somewhat shocked.
Seems I have now learned about yet a couple more illnesses thanks to my love for this breed. I swear they get the darndest things.
Anyway....prayers from all of the YT members always seem to help the pups and I will be so appreciative for prayers for my sweet Olivia. | 