Feeding a Furbaby with a Liver Problem Hi, Grace has a serious liver problem. She is on LD with some yogurt. What can she have that won't cause her harm? Should the yogurt be low fat? Before we found out that she had a problem, she loved Cheerios. Would it hurt to give her a few? What is everyone else feeding for treats? |
I'm sorry that your Grace has liver issues :( Yes, the yogurt should be low-fat or nonfat...Just make sure that there are no artificial sweeteners in it. Also, cheerios should be just fine :) Other treats that we give our furbaby with liver issues are: apples (cut into small pieces and peeled), watermelon, carrots, juiced zucchini or celery, steamed veggies. |
Hi, I must have just missed you at UT on Thursday. We were there from 9:30 - 1:00. Dr. Tobias was so nice and spent almost an hour with me answering my questions. Dr. Hicks was great too. He carried Lily around in his lab coat all day with just her head sticking out because it was the only way she would stop crying. I was keeping my eyes peeled for any Yorkies and somehow missed you anyway. Lily does not like the L/D at all unless I bake it first. She has not taken to the yogurt very well but loves the FF cottage cheese. I also tried her on apples and watermelon but both were a no go. She does like cheerios though and allowed me to replace her bully stick with a carrot. UT told me I could also give her a human diet supplement called Perative to try and get some weight on her but I haven't been able to find it yet. How is Grace doing since her surgery? Lily drinks alot of water now and is just not quite herself. She usually barks ALOT to fuss at me when I don't do something fast enough or for attention and loves to attack and wrestle with my other Yorkie. Now she just sits there and sleeps alot. She seems to have lost her spark. I hope its just temporary. |
Hi Lily's Mom, Yep! I saw you sitting in the waiting room when I was paying for Grace's surgery. Grace was slow for a couple of days too, but today played chase for 5 minutes trying to get a stick away from her. Grace loves LD and I'm glad. I have a large Yorkie and a Silky Terrier also. They keep her going. She's a pistol. Give her a little time to come around. That's so very traumatic for them (and us)! We're praying for you and Lily. |
What brand of yogurt does everyone feed? I bought Grace some lite yogurt today and some cottage cheese (no fat). She seems to be hungry on the LD. How much do folks usually feed? On KD, she was getting 1/4 day (per vet instruction) and was gaining weight well. Now she seems to have lost what she had gained and is always hungry! |
i dont know what to feed a yorkie with liver problems, but i hope your baby stays healthy!!! |
I would check past threads on liver problems (shunt,MVD) There are many tips on diet and treats. Yorkieluv is a wealth of information on this subject and to the yahoo groups that pertain to this, or at least she has been for me (thanks so much!) while I have recently been monitoring my boy for what I've thought are liver symptoms. Grateful to say he's been acting normal for 2 days (knock wood). I'm changing the food over to lower protein and not feeding meat flavored treats. Praise God, he's been back to normal, by my , for 2 days. But I admit, I could've been paranoid and hovering causing myself to imaging some of the symptoms I was worried about. I want to thank the nice people here who helped calm me down when I was frieking out. I lost a dog in 2003 to liver shunt that had been misdiagnosed so I'm a little hypersensitive to that. Thanks to everyone. Especially yorkieluv for all the info. Good luck with your research on your baby!! |
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Just a tip, you can not do a search on MVD using the search tool because it is too small of a word. To search MVD on this site, go to google and enter the following: MVD site:www.yorkietalk.com |
The last couple of days I have started giving Grace more LD. She needs to gain some weight before she blows away. Last night and this afternoon, she has gotten sick and has thrown up RICE only. Evidently she can't digest the rice. Any suggestions? She was on KD before she went to UT and she did fine. Help! |
Isn't she on milk thistle? Dr. Tobias told me that the milk thistle could cause vomiting and if it did to discontinue it and give her a call. Maybe Yorkieluv knows more about it. Oh and I forgot, to answer your earlier question, Dr. Tobias also said that the best yogurt was Lowfat Stonyfields because it had the most live active cultures but it can be hard to find. |
Yes, she's on milk thistle. She feels fine. She just isn't digesting the rice. She was fine on KD. How can you call Dr Tobias? If you call and leave a message for her, will she call you back or have someone call you back? Grace seemed to do better on the KD. |
We use the low or nonfat Stonyfield yogurt. Both of my furbabies like it, thank goodness! If your baby won't eat it, you can mix in something that they will like...Examples, little pieces of apple (peeled) or something that they really like (no meat though :) ) Denosyl (Sam-E) also makes their tummies upset sometimes. There's something called Nux Vomica that you can get at a health food store. Just drop 1 or 2 beads into their mouth without touching the beads so they don't lose their potency. It helps with the nausea. Are you giving the right amount of milk thistle? I have a chart that I found on the liver shunt/mvd group that explains how much you can give of the milk thistle per their weight. Maybe she's getting too much? I will get that to you as soon as I find it. |
Milk Thistle dosage: Dried herb: 15-20mg/pound once a day; concentrated or alcohol extract: 2-5 mg/pound every 8-12 hours. See manufacturer recommendations for veterinary-formulated supplements. This is from a note from Dr. Tobias that someone posted on the liver shunt/mvd group in the yahoo pet groups... Hope this helps!! |
I ended up sending an e-mail to Dr Tobias and she answered right away. She said that some Yorkies won't eat the LD and the owners feed them KD. Grace had gained some weight on KD before her surgery, so I hope she puts it back on soon. She really likes KD. It was very nice of Dr Tobias to answer my e-mail. My referring vet has been on vacation ever since we got home and has another week to go and I didn't want Grace to go that long vomiting up the rice. |
Dr. Tobias is the best! She called me this afternoon to follow up on Lily. She could have easily had one of the students call. Have you tried baking the L/D? Lily will only eat it baked. I slice it into 6 or 7 round slices and bake it at 400 for about 40 minutes. Lily likes it golden brown on the outside but soft on the inside. Whenever its time to feed her, I just take one of the baked slices and cut it into bite sized pieces. Then I add a little bit of yogurt and mix it until the L/D pieces are just barely covered with the yogurt. She gobbles it up! |
Hi, Where did you read that leaving your Yorkie on the L/D diet longterm was harmful? I would hate to hurt my baby. My Yorkie is on the Royal Canine Dry dog food for liver issues. The bag does say not for long term use, but when I called the company they told me that was only for dogs who did not have liver issues. I feed my Yorkie the Royal Canine Hepatic LS 14, cheerios, carrots, sweet potatoes, non-fat yogurt, apples and watermelon. I was wondering if cheese was ok? We retake his Bile Acid Test next month, his portal scan showed no sign of a shunt, so since he is asymptomatic, we are being careful. Did you say Bully Sticks? Aren't they a beef stick made from a dried bull's penis? I'd say you're better off with Carrots! hee hee.. Thanks for your help and I will keep your baby in my prayers. |
Do you think it would be OK to give Mickey the dry Royal Canine Liver Diet and then from time to time (for a change) the Hill's L/D wet baked? That sounds like a great treat for him. Thanks for the tip! Quote:
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I'm sure that would be fine as long as he doesn't have a sensitive tummy to changing foods :) I like the ingredients in the RC a little better than the l/d. The l/d dry contains ethoxyquin and bha/bht, but the wet does not. Bully Sticks are not okay for dogs with liver problems. They are 100% protein. |
I was wondering if it was okay to give Grace her Interceptor and use her Frontline on her. I forgot to ask Dr Tobias when I was there. Anyone know? |
From everything that I have read, frontline is not safe for liver compromised dogs...Many times, they recommend revolution for liver compromised dogs...It's supposed to be one of the "safer" ones and it takes care of heartworm, fleas, ticks, etc. So it's just one dose... |
Do you know if the frontline would increase seizure symptoms or just bad for the liver, I used it on Otis right after I started noticing things. He goes in the a.m. for the remainder of his bloodwork. |
Well, I don't remember what Miko used to be on, but it was something like frontline or advantage or something, and he was lethargic and just not acting quite right. I believe it does damage the liver though, I think some liver dogs don't have reactions, but it is not good for them. |
I e-mailed Dr Tobias this afternoon and asked her if Grace could have her Interceptor and Frontline and she said that they would be fine. God I love that woman! She is the best! I hope I never have another liver shunt baby, but if I did, I wouldn't hesitate to run back down to her at UT. You couldn't get better care anywhere! |
I found a great treat for Lily that might be useful to you. Gerber makes these freeze dried apples that are cut into tiny little cubes and Lily loves them! Which is strange because she won't eat fresh apples. I take some cheerios and mix in some of the freeze dried apples and leave it out for her while I am at work. This gives her something to eat if she gets hungry and also gets some sugar into her system while I am gone. |
I'm glad that Dr. Tobias was able to answer that question for you :) |
Some dogs don't have reactions, but I know that some liver compromised dogs do have problems with flea/tick medications. Miko is one of them. |
Advantix My little Boy Mickey hates the Advantix. He runs around the house trying to scratch it off his back. I need to find an alternative. |
I was just being sarcastic... I wouldn't give Mickey bully sticks even if he didn't have any issues! YUCK!!!!! (smile) |
Dumb Question: Can He Have Cheese? Can a liver compromised fur baby have cheese? Not cottage cheese, but like string cheese. Thanks! |
Revolution is a good alternative, it's one of the "safer" ones....and it takes care of heartworm, fleas, ticks, etc. Yes, they can have cheese, but low-fat or non-fat is best :) |
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