My yorkie liver is in bad shape
 

We came back from a 2 day trip and our girl looked a bit skinner and she looked yellowish. Her eyes were yellow too. My in laws are in health care and knew right away it was something due to her liver since humans get the same symptoms. I tried giving her water but it didn't work as she was throwing it up along with food. My wife took her to the vet at which time they ran organ function test, blood work, feces, heart worm and urine tests. I really didn't want to spend more than 500 but I'm afraid that might be just 1/4 of it.

She was admitted yesterday afternoon and was put on IV with antibiotics. I called today to see what they came up with from the tests. My vet told me her liver isn't doing good. He told me the liver tests that came back with some weird acronyms and that it was 10x what it should be. They want to see 75 on it but it was 750 and another one was 17 times normal.

She will be on IV fluids for 3 days and they will run the tests again on Saturday and will let me know if it's working. I love my dog (I have 3 of these buggers, I kept my male) but he said he's had them before that were 100x times what it should be and have been there for a month. But the cost for a day of IV fluids is almost $250. Before meds and extra days on IV fluids I'm looking at around 1,300.

Is pet insurance worth it?
Is my baby going to be fine?


He told me it was most likely from something she ate. And that it was a good thing I brought her in. Before we took her in her pee was extremely dark, almost gold. I ended up with some on my hand because she tinkles a bit when she gets excited and it stained my hand like if you wipe off monkey blood from your skin. :eek:

I hope your baby gets better soon. My baby had problems with her liver as well, so I know how stressed you and your family are. The vet told us that Rosie needed to be on zentonil for the rest of her life and needed bio acids test every year. Praying that your baby will get better

I hopes he gets better soon. If you feed her grapes they are extremely toxic to dogs. Please let your vet know asap

Thankfully he told me that she will not need medication for the rest of her life. Her liver just needs to clean itself of the toxin that is causing the jaundice.

And I will call them at 9am to let them know.

I am a HUGE beliver in supporting your babys liver with milk thistle...it will help clear the toxins and you can just add a couple of drops to her food daily....no big deal....and it supplements liver function....all my dogs are on it because I just so worry about all the chemicles in the vaccines and meds we have to give them to keep them "legal" and alive....plus anything they may pick up in the yard or from licking their paws, etc.....I dont take mine off my property so this isnt too much a concer for me, but some do walk their dogs out in public and you just never know what they are walking thru.....There are NUMEROUS foods that are toxic to our babies....grapes, raisins, avacados, onions, etc....you probably could google "toxic foods to avoid giving my dog" and you would come up with a long list....! Do a list of plants and medicines too!!!

I am glad to hear she is going to be ok

I called yesterday and she had thrown up once so far since being there. I wont know how she is doing until they run the tests per the vet. If the tests show improvement she will come home.

I hope they run the tests soon good thoughts go out to you both

Me too and thank you everyone for your well wishes.

My girl is home now but the Vet wasn't happy about it. He wanted a few more days on IV but it's already $1620. I love my dog but I also like paying my mortgage.

He said the tests show 50% improvement to what they were when she came in. I have the lab sheets but I can't understand it. But her White Blood Cell before was normal at 8.24 but today it was 28.83 which is double the normal and makes him think she has a bacterial infection and not something she ate. My wife gave her a bath and said a yellow substance was covered on her.

We were told to only feed her at night (no dry food as it will dehydrate her) and water can stay out. My wife got some canned food they recommended. Here's the meds we have.

Baytril 22.7, 14 pills
Cerenia 16mg, 4 pills
Denamarin 90mg, 21 pills

If she isn't improving I will take her to another vet and one that is cheaper, if there is such a thing. On her initial tests her Cholesterol was 613 which is double and probably from us giving her people food. Which we will completely cut out.

I'm praying for your little one. I hope you can find a way to get her back to a vet and get her back on the IV to flush the rest of the toxins out. Believe me, I know how hard it is to find money for that stuff!

Yes, once she pulls through this, no more people food. (well boiled chicken breast and rice and carrot sticks and stuff like that are ok, but no bad people food, ok? ;) )

Praying your baby get's well soon. I know it is so sad when they get sick, and I don't think there is such a thing as a cheaper vet any more. But I think paws help with some peoples pet's if the owner can not afford it all. Putting you and your baby on my prayer list. Get to feeling better soon little one, Hug's and Kisses.
Anne/Luci:animal-pa

If she does fine then we go back the 26th to run the tests to see if she's still improving.

Keeping prayers going out that your baby continues to improve.

She's doing very good now. Her pee is still rather a deep yellow, but my in laws are both in healthcare and said it may take awhile for her pee to be back to normal once it gets rid of the infection. But she is drinking plenty of water and eating (soft) dog food. Today she was back at her old self humping her bed. The antibiotics are gone but we still have the liver pills we give her once every morning.

Thank you everyone for the well wishes and prayers.

Oh I am praying for that little Yorkie to get better. These dogs are small and need only the food that is meant for them. May the Lord who created her and watches over her bring her to good health soon. Every prayer we say is heard and I hope to hear a really good report soon!

Update:

Bree isn't 100% back to health as her skin and eyes are still yellow along with her urine. She is eating and drinking fine though. So I decided to take her to another vet and get a second opinion or if they could give me some meds that would help.

Her last weigh in before being sick was 9lbs. When I took her in the first time she was down to 8lbs. When I took her in yesterday she is 6.5lbs. At 9lbs she was extremely over weight because of us.

I took her in to see the new vet. She told me that she would like to do an ultra sound to see what's going on, maybe she has tumor(s) or something else wrong. I agreed as it's been long enough not knowing what's wrong. She gave her an injection of Vitamin B complex, Convenia and Fluid Therapy. Along with Denosyl to give everyday. Funny thing is I told her the other med says to give without food and I told her that's impossible. She laughed and said I'll show you a trick. She got a pill out opened her mouth and just put it down her throat. LOL, damn that was easy. I thought that would choke her with a pill in her throat like that.

So today we got the ultra sound and her gall bladder was GIGANTIC!!!!!! She said it so big that it's pushing the other organs around (shifting) and there are no tumors. She said this is unusual in dogs of her age. So she gave use Ursodiol to shrink the gall bladder and to get another ultra sound on CHRISTMAS EVE. This medication is supposedly fast acting if it's going to work. If not we may need to think about getting the gall bladder removed.


Medication she is taking

Cerenia
Ursodiol
Amoxi
Metronidazole
Denosyl

She's an active dog and seems normal other than her yellowish tint and goldish urine :)

Medical bill so far 2200. :(

2200 is total even from first vet. I can't imagine the cost to remove a gall bladder.

I have a pup who was recently hospitalized with liver and gall bladder issues. They scared me when they started talking about removing the gall bladder. It is not simple surgery in dogs like it is in humans. There is at least a 30% mortality rate...perhaps higher. Make absolutely sure you trust whoever might be doing this surgery. I personally would have taken my Olivia to Texas A&M if she ended up needing the surgery. Fortunately she did not..she is not totally out of the woods and needs ultrasounds every 3 - 4 months but so far, so good. I know A&M is far for you...but the one thing about them is that if a pup is hospitalized, you only need to put 50% of the bill up front and they make a six month payment plan with the final bill.
Best wishes to you...I will keep your baby in my thoughts and prayers. Do hope the meds work for her!
Oh...and as for bills, I totally get it. My Olivia's bill after three days in ICU was right at $3,000. Insurance is good, but you cannot get it for a pre-existing condition.

You might also want to look into getting Care Credit:

CareCredit Healthcare Finance - Payment Plans and Financing for Cosmetic Surgery, Dental, Vision, Hearing, Veterinary & Other Medical Procedures

Sorry, I haven't updated my location. I moved back home which is between Houston and Galveston in a city called Dickinson. I can pay cash that isn't the point. I love my dog but there's a point in which I'm willing to spend on an animal. I might sound like an a hole but I'm being honest.

I also tried getting a quote on dog insurance but a few said she was to old.

Between my 3 yorkies I'm about 7k into them in vet bills over a 5 year period and it'll only get worse as they age. One of my males came from a bad breeder and needed surgery on his back leg. The leg joint to the hip was degenerative and needed to be fixed.

You don't sound like an ahole. Sometimes there is a limit on what people can spend and you always have to weigh a lot of factors...age of the pup and also the predicted outcome. Not sure where she is being treated right now, but I live not far from you and honestly if one of my pups needed soft tissue surgery which is what this would be, I would high tail it to College Station. I have to say that I am not sure I would put my Olivia through that surgery....she is approximately 10 years old and it is very risky surgery.

Trust me I understand...I am over that amount in one year. I try not to even think about how much. Had one in November 2011 who went to A&M for surgery to remove a salivary gland. Had one who was hospitalized last year at this time ... she ended up being diagnosed with lymphangectasia. She was in ICU for a few days. Then I had one with surgery due to hip dysplasia and then Olivia a few months ago. Seems that when it rains it pours. I am hopeful that 2013 will be break time for me....perhaps for you, too!! :)

I hope the meds are going work for Bree. Good thoughts for you both

Good luck with the ultra sound

Mly prayers for a heling for this little Yorkie. You are so wise to take her to another vet and it sounds like this vet is great. No amount of money can take the place of the love a Yorkie has for us. You will be surrounded by our prayers and love.

I am not condemning you I actually understand what you mean and respect it....I'm just at a different place in my life where my animals mean the world to me, I am 47 my kids are gone etc., I can not put in to words how much they mean to me, there truly is nothing I wouldn't do for them...I have spent well over $20,000 on Miss Mini...(its always difficult to admit that its way over 20) but its true. When I (use to be we) make a decision on their care the first question we always ask is will it fix them? will their quality of life be good? I won't settle for less, if their quality of life is in jeopardy then I just simply won't do it....but if its curable and/or controllable, I will just keep taking loans and whatever I have to...soon enough they will be gone as will I, I'd rather spend my days knowing I am doing everything I can for my pups and making them as happy as they make me....they are blessings, and I am not afraid to admit that there isn't anything I won't do for them...