Elevated Liver Levels in Dogs

June 24, 2014 By Jodi

Delilah recently had her annual exam. In CT the rabies vaccine is mandatory every three years and we also vaccinate for Leptospirosis. This was Delilah’s year for her Rabies booster, and since I don’t like giving multiple vaccines in the same visit, on her initial exam our vet made Delilah ‘legal’ with the rabies and I scheduled her Leptos vaccine for a couple of weeks later. During her exam Dr. Soutter discovered Delilah had a broken tooth on the upper left side of her mouth. We schedule her for a cleaning and tooth extraction next month.

During her second visit we had a blood draw to check her thyroid level (she takes Levothyroxine) heart worm and I asked for a glucose check as she’s been drinking a LOT of water.

When Dr. Soutter called with Delilah’s results I was caught off guard when she said, “Delilah’s blood work is fine, except her liver levels are slightly elevated.”

I’m not surprised at all. I bet your liver levels are elevated too. You do put an awful lot of whiskey in our coffee.

Dr. Soutter explained that Delilah could have an infection in her liver or a bit of inflammation. She said the levels weren’t high enough to prevent her from doing the dental procedure next month, but we still want to lower the levels. She started Delilah on Amoxicillin and Metronidazole for antibiotics as well as Denamarin for liver support.

After I hung up from my vet I did the worst thing possible. I consulted Dr. Google. “What causes elevated liver levels in dogs?”

Words like Hepatitis , Liver disease and Liver Cancer came up and it scared the bejesus out of me. And then I started thinking, what if we treat her with antibiotics and liver support and it turns out to be the wrong treatment?

I placed a call to my vet.

I told her everything. And she told me to stop consulting Dr. Google.

The Denamarin will boost her liver and the antibiotics will take care of any type of infection.

Hepatitis is different in dogs than it is in people. In people Hepatitis is viral, in dogs it’s bacterial. She’s also almost certain it’s not liver cancer, she said typically with liver cancer the levels will be normal or very high and there will be other indicators.

The Denamarin is a combination of SAMe (SAH ME) and Silybin (Milk Thistle).

Here’s what the manufacturer’s of Denamarin have to say, “Administering SAMe (S-Adenosylmethionine), which is found in Denamarin, has been shown to markedly increase liver levels of glutathione,^1,2 an important compound for liver health formed when SAMe is metabolized. The SAMe in Denamarin has also been shown to help protect liver cells from cell death^3,4 and may help cell repair and regeneration.⁵

Denamarin also helps support your pet’s liver through the administration of silybin. Silybin is an active part of an extract from milk thistle, known as silymarin, and has been shown to support liver function by helping maintain a healthy oxidative balance.”

We will check her levels again in a month and if they are still elevated we will do an ultrasound.

Animals can’t speak for themselves to tell us when something is wrong. Dogs in particular are very stoic and don’t always show us when they are hurt or not feeling well.

I can’t emphasize enough how important it is to not only have your pet physically examined once a year, but it’s so important to have their blood checked as well. I’m praying it’s a simple (if you can call a liver infection simple) infection that we caught early enough to prevent it from becoming something more sinister.

You’re a worry wart Mama, has anyone ever told you that?

Things I See that You Don’t See

June 12, 2014 By Jodi

With our split walking schedule, I’ve really had the chance to observe both my dogs to see what makes them tick. When I walk Sampson he likes to sniff, BUT he’s also very much into looking around, watching for people and other dogs. Many is the time when he’s stopped to poop or pee and heard a voice or noise and stopped what he was doing to continue his walk. Sampson (the dog who gets no affection at home) regards people as the ultimate rubbie resource.

When I walk Delilah her walk is more scent oriented. Her nose is typically to the ground sniffing for something to eat, or a trail to follow to something to eat.

I on the other hand am constantly on alert, mostly for off-leash dogs. For some reason we seem to attract off leash dogs wherever we are.

Because I am constantly looking around and Delilah is not, I sometimes see things that she doesn’t see or I see something well before she does. And I’m not counting the cats I see in the windows. Nor will I point them out to her, I could see her dragging me up to every window on the street, looking inside to see if someone left food on the table.

No thank you!

So here are some of the things I’ve seen on our walks, that Delilah has not.

A cardinal that flies across our path and lights on the roof of a house.

A cat that saw us through a stand of trees and went to hide under a car. Can you see it?

A bolder cat, who openly stared at us.

She actually spotted this one after I stopped to take the photo.

And one more cat who watched quietly from the safety of the yard.

A lonely tennis ball waiting for someone to play with.

A brave and daring Chipmunk.

Okay, she did see this one too, because I stopped and had to keep moving closer just so you could see it. Then she was on high alert for the rest of the walk.

A discarded toy.

A dad playing ball with his boys.

I better put a disclaimer in here. Emma, hold on to your mom, you are not going to believe that Delilah has actually walked by this twice (TWICE) without even noticing it.

Yes Emma, it’s a WABBIT!!

How are your pups on a walk? Are they scent or sight hounds?

Follow-up Friday

There will be no Follow-Up Friday tomorrow. For the first time EVER we are participating in the Fit Dog Friday Blog hop. I am currently (if all went well) in Florida celebrating my nephew’s graduation from college, along with his daughter’s birthday.

This is Thursday’s Barks and Bytes Blog Hop hosted by 2 Brown Dawgs and Heart Like a Dog. This is a blog hop for all bloggers, you don’t have to have a pet blog to join, we simply as that you display one of our badges and link back to your hosts.