Suspected Lymphangiectasia
 

Hi, my baby started bloating up last week. Took her to the emergency vet and to find out she wasn't absorbing protein. This caused her vasculature to expel water into her abdomen. After ultrasound, draining and blood work they suspect Lymphangiectasia causing protein losing entropathy. They put her on metronidazole 2x a day and told me to go to my local vet on Monday.

So I took her to the local vet after more bloating on Monday, they drained .75ml of fluid from her abdomen and put her on prednisone 1x a day for 14 days. Told me to put her on prescription low fat gastrointestinal food and to come back in a week for a followup.

I've been doing some research and I guess its more common in certain breeds, such as yorkies. I'm thinking about switching vets because she didn't have answers to a lot of my questions. Has anyone had experience with this? Is your dog on daily medications? supplements? Any important tips you can give me?

We have members with experience with lymphangiectasia. I contacted one of them to let them know about this thread...

Thank you so much! It's a scary situation, it's been a roller-coaster of emotions this week.

I will be back later to post more, but here is a thread about my one pup, Cookie who had lymphangectasia. Perhaps it will help a bit in the meantime:

http://www.yorkietalk.com/forums/sic...ia-update.html

I just checked your location. My suggestion is to go to Michigan State Small Animal Clinic.

Small Animal Clinic | College of Veterinary Medicine at MSU

This illness can be controlled,but if your vet is not familiar, I would get to a specialist and they look to be the closest to you. When these pups start having fluid in their bellies, it is pretty serious. It would be best to have a specialist take a look. She definitely should be on prednisone, but perhaps other meds as well....

Is she eating? It is really important for them to eat; and yes, she should be on very low fat.

This is a great link....


Intestinal Lymphangiectasia - Mar Vista Animal Medical Center

Yes she is eating very well! And it appears that the fluid is going away, she's almost back to her regular size. She has tons of energy today, won't stop playing. I think I will end up taking her to MSU to figure out how to maintain this if my vet doesn't think she needs more treatment than her current round of steroids and prescription royal canin.

What do you feed your baby?? Any certain kind of vitamins or powders you add to the food?(

She is eating extremely well! She never had dirrahea or vomitting before the vet visit. I have her on ground turkey and noodles for the time being. Her fluid almost seemed to disappear over night and today she has so much energy. At the beginning of the week she was acting very sick, she seemed bloated and miserable.

I think I am going to try and switch vets after her checkup. Reading your posts about a nutritionist and stuff make me second guess my vet. I asked her if she would need supplements or anything and she said no that the royal canin food should be enough. She also said just to do this round of steroids. She still has about 3 weeks left I think. It was half a pill for 14 days and then half every other day.

The only symptom she had was the bloating at first, no vomitting or dirrahea so it came as a shock with the results. Then after the emergency vet she seemed to get worse and the pain meds made her vomit. She looked miserable until the steroids kicked in. Now she's eating extremely well, actually extra hungry. Right now she's on turkey and noodles. Today her fluid went down, she almost looks back to regular size and she's running around like a maniac!!

How long was your dog on steroids for? The vet sounded like she wanted to do this round which I think would be 3 weeks?? I asked her about supplements and vitamins and she said the prescription food would be enough, that's why I'm doubting her. I heard about low calcium and supplements that they would need.

Do you know if you need a referral to see a specialist??

I would definitely do a consult at MSU! They deal with this stuff all of the time. General vets don't see as much of it. You will walk out with a lot of information and I suspect they will treat maybe a bit differently than your vet. You do need a referral .... your vet should have NO problem giving you one. Just call and tell them you would like to take her to MSU...they should be happy to see you go there!!

Cookie remained on steroids for a very long time. The specialist told me she would stay on forever, but in time, he finally took her off of them because she was doing so well. He doesn't recommend daily, high doses of course....he just keeps them on a very low dose and also every other day so that the adrenals still function. Long term daily steroids wreaks havoc on their bodies. He keeps them on it just because they often will relapse and it is easier to snap them out of it if they are on that low dose.

If you want to home cook, you definitely need the right diet and supplements!!! Now, if you go with the Royal Canin low fat GI, no you don't need to add anything else. Your vet is right about that. I chose to home cook, but I have seen pups with PLE do very well on RX diets!! You don't need to add anything to it....actually you should not. Diet is THE most important thing in keeping these pups healthy. I would not feed what you are feeding unless a vet nutritionist has formulated that diet. It can be pricey to do a nutrition consult......but, if you go to the website I will post below, you can get a diet at no charge...BUT for a dog with a medical issue, you need the vet to approve it. They send a fax to your vet and all your vet needs to do is sign and send it back. Then, you can choose the diet..their computer is set up to only let you use the foods that are appropriate for that condition. This website sells the supplements that you need......I used those supplements for Cookie all those years. She did fantastic on that diet. She didn't have one of their diets, but did use the supplement...many of the nutritionists use Balance It in their diets. The supplements are around $50 but it is a large jar and lasts about 3 months.
www.balanceit.com

I am SO happy you posted....your girl has been on my mind. I am relieved to hear how well she is doing! I know you must be as well. :)

Sorry did't mean to reply 3 times. Didn't see that my posts had to be approved by mods until the last time.

Don't worry about it. After you've posted enough times, the mods will no longer have to approve your posts and they will appear automatically.

Thanks so much for your help, your story gives me hope for my little girl! I can't believe how well she is doing, she did a 180 over night, and now she won't even sleep she has so much energy. She is peeing ALOT but I'm guessing its from the steroids and from losing the bloating. She is looking super skinny though. Right now shes on come cooked bland meal that the emergency vet recommended for 5 days, I'm waiting for her prescription food to get here today in the mail to start slowly switching her to that. Monday she's going into the vet so hopefully her blood results will come back ok and I'll ask for a referral then.

Do you know what her albumin is? That is something that they monitor to determine the meds that are needed.

Oh, you had to order the RX food! Gotcha! Yes, I know of others who have lived long lives. Cookie passed in March 2017, but not from PLE...she ended up with lymphoma. :( She was diagnosed with lymphangectasia and IBD in Dec 2011 and I was sure it was going to be my last Christmas with her. She was in ICU and I was sure she was dying...I was SO upset. You just cannot count them out...these pups are SO resilient!! I had her for that one and 5 more Christmases.... so yes, there IS hope!!

Oh...and yes, the steroids increase appetite and also cause increased drinking and urinating. Hopefully her albumin will come back up and they can decrease the steroids...they do that slowly and carefully though.

Update just got back from the vet. All her fluid is gone, and she lost a lb. I'm guessing it was all fluid. I had them run another protein test, her total protein went up to 4.7 compared to last week's 3.9. Her albumin is at 1.8 and it was 1.5 last week.

She wants me to come back in 2 weeks for a check-up. I'm definitely switching vets though before then. She didn't have answers to any of my questions about treats and chews that would be safe to give her. She also wanted to give her some vaccines today. Everytime in the past she has had vaccines it makes her pretty sick, plus I'm sure her immune system is already low. She had a allergic reaction to distemper last time and it's on her chart yet she still recommend it. No way lady!!

Awesome on the blood work!

Yes, it does sound like it is time to move on. I recommend looking for a vet clinic that is AAHA accredited. Of course you still need to ask a lot of questions, but I find that the most up to date and thorough clinics are the ones that are accredited. They have to meet certain standards.

https://www.aaha.org/default.aspx


Ask other pet owners who they use and also read the google reviews!

AND .. I totally agree with you. I would not let a vet give my dog shots while she was on high doses of steroids. Makes zero sense to me.

Was your dog ever to eat bones or bully sticks? Mine is a huge chewer and I would hate to take that away from her.

No I don't do bones and no bully sticks. I won't let any of mine have any kind of edible chews like that. I do let them chew on the dura hard nylabones or even the Hartz chew bones ... I don't normally like Hartz much, but I have used those bones for many years without any issues. I clean them in the dishwasher. I am always very worried about gastro intestinal issues and choking issues with other chews....and definitely would be careful with her because she already has suspected lymphangectasia. I don't think you said she was scoped?? Until then, you don't know if maybe she has IBD as well. Of course, this is just my opinions. :)

I have had people say the dogs can break their teeth on these and yes, that can happen, but it never has to mine. As I said, Hartz isn't my favorite but my pups love these things:

https://www.walmart.com/ip/Hartz-Che...w-Toy/10312002

The ends get a bit chewed on and I just toss them out when they do.

Oh, and another thing. She needs to be on a very restricted low fat diet....bully sticks are not high in fat, but I would think they might change her dietary requirements. That is where a vet nutritionist can come in handy....if you chose to continue using them, the diet might have to be adjusted. Same with treats...I would stick with things like sweet potatoes or green beans....something without fat.