Dog with liver problems

[mhsjax]

I have never had dogs, except for a couple of years growing up. Anyway, we took our Malti poo in for his check up, he is 2.5 years. Anyway, everything is fine but his liver enzymes. They are elevated to around 200. The Dr said that they have come down from last time.(can't remember what they were, and he said they would retest to see what happens)

Anyway, he suggest a food for this and also some pills to help break down what ever the liver wasn't doing. I don't know much about livers. Anyone have any experience with this. We will be doing this and retesting in about 3 months.

 

[phamton]

My dog tested high for liver enzymes and he was found to have cushings disease. He was put of a special formulated food for liver and is doing well. he is too old to be treated for the cushings but so far, it's been over 2 years and he is doing well for such an old dog.

 

[hiwaygal]

My dogs liver enzymes were elevated right before he was diagnosed with diabetes.

For a brief time, we were feeding him Royal Canin Hepatic Formula food and he was taking some pills to help improve his liver function.

It is my understanding that a diet that is lower in protein can help with some liver problems, but there is some disagreement about that. I think it depends on what is causing the reduced liver function.

I can't offer any more advice, but try not to stress too much (your dog may pick up on that) and do what the vet says.

And best of luck to you and your little guy!

 

[mhsjax]

My dogs liver enzymes were elevated right before he was diagnosed with diabetes.

For a brief time, we were feeding him Royal Canin Hepatic Formula food and he was taking some pills to help improve his liver function.

It is my understanding that a diet that is lower in protein can help with some liver problems, but there is some disagreement about that. I think it depends on what is causing the reduced liver function.

I can't offer any more advice, but try not to stress too much (your dog may pick up on that) and do what the vet says.

And best of luck to you and your little guy!

Thanks. THe food I am going to use is something that I have to get at the vet. He said the pills are expensive, so I asked how much and he said probably around $35.00 a month. Big sigh of relief. When he said expensive I was figuring about $100.00 per month. So this I can handle.

He has no clue as to what has cause his liver problems. but other than that healthy as a horse. or um dog I mean. lol

 

[Southerngirl71]

My dog also suffered from high enzymes for a few years. Never did know what caused it but he did take a pill (demarin) each day to help out. The dr would test every 6 months and told us the symptoms of cushings to look out for.

 

[hiwaygal]

Thanks. THe food I am going to use is something that I have to get at the vet. He said the pills are expensive, so I asked how much and he said probably around $35.00 a month. Big sigh of relief. When he said expensive I was figuring about $100.00 per month. So this I can handle.

He has no clue as to what has cause his liver problems. but other than that healthy as a horse. or um dog I mean. lol

I can't remember the name of the pills we were giving him, I know I still have some left...we can compare notes and if it's what your dog needs to take, I can send you what's left!!! (seriously, they aren't old, we just got them in November)

And yeah, as far as I know the hepatic foods are all prescription and I think there are only three brands: Hills, Purina, and Royal Canin. Don't go looking at how they are "rated" though because it's bad. But, we do what we have to do when it comes to prescription diets.

You can also get prescription food at Petsmart, you might want to check if it's cheaper there (anywhere you get it, it will be pricey) and if your vet will write you a prescription for it.

The good news is that it seems no matter what, it is treatable (I know diabetes and cushings are manageable - not curable, but they can live a happy life with either of these conditions).

 

[mhsjax]

My dog also suffered from high enzymes for a few years. Never did know what caused it but he did take a pill (demarin) each day to help out. The dr would test every 6 months and told us the symptoms of cushings to look out for.

I am pretty sure that is the name of the pill that he will be giving Max. Was it hard to get the dog to take it or is it like the heart worm med and they love it?

 

[mhsjax]

I can't remember the name of the pills we were giving him, I know I still have some left...we can compare notes and if it's what your dog needs to take, I can send you what's left!!! (seriously, they aren't old, we just got them in November)

And yeah, as far as I know the hepatic foods are all prescription and I think there are only three brands: Hills, Purina, and Royal Canin. Don't go looking at how they are "rated" though because it's bad. But, we do what we have to do when it comes to prescription diets.

You can also get prescription food at Petsmart, you might want to check if it's cheaper there (anywhere you get it, it will be pricey) and if your vet will write you a prescription for it.

The good news is that it seems no matter what, it is treatable (I know diabetes and cushings are manageable - not curable, but they can live a happy life with either of these conditions).

Aw, thanks so much. Will do. Thanks also for the encouragement. WE had to put our cat down about a year ago. Vet pretty sure it was bladder cancer and she was in pain. My youngest hasn't gotten over that. the thought of anything happening to our little guy is more than I stand.

And my DH, you know the yeah he is ok, he is a dog, no big deal. Says, Well he is part of the family, so whatever we have to do. Um, where did that he is just an ok dog go to. Men, they are so funny.

PS we use Royal Canin now for him, but it isn't the prescription kind.

 

[WendyZ]

Two years ago the Dr. gave my shih-tzu three weeks because of the results of his liver tests. His numbers were in the thousands. We thought he had the flu, until the bloodwork came back. They put him on Denamarin. Which has been a miracle for us. He is doing great! He is 15 yrs. old, so it was at a point where we were just going to keep him comfortable. He has other medical issues too, so it's different for him. But I'm 100% sure without this medicine he would be gone by now. I've read countless articles online about the dogs this medicine has helped. We just enjoy each day and do the best we can for him!
Right now he is begging for a snack from his brother!

If they give him Denamarin. It has to be taken an hour before he eats breakfast. Need to fast overnight. What I do is put a bit of peanut butter on my finger, mainly to hold the pill on it. Murphy takes it right off my finger. It was horrible at first. I gave it to him at 4am, so he thought he could eat them. He usually ate at 5am. So we had to wait an hour to eat. But now he takes it and goes right back to sleep...wakes up whenever or when I wake him to leave for work. He normally eats around 7-8am before I leave. On the weekends, whenever he wants. I still do the 4am pill b/c that's what he's used to and like I said goes right back to sleep. You cannot give it to him with food though...not sure why. I think it has something to do with absorbing it in the stomach. Good Luck!!!

 

[mhsjax]

Two years ago the Dr. gave my shih-tzu three weeks because of the results of his liver tests. His numbers were in the thousands. We thought he had the flu, until the bloodwork came back. They put him on Denamarin. Which has been a miracle for us. He is doing great! He is 15 yrs. old, so it was at a point where we were just going to keep him comfortable. He has other medical issues too, so it's different for him. But I'm 100% sure without this medicine he would be gone by now. I've read countless articles online about the dogs this medicine has helped. We just enjoy each day and do the best we can for him!
Right now he is begging for a snack from his brother!

Wow, thousands. OUr is just in the 200's and is down from about 6 months ago. Max is showing no symptoms at all.

 

[KatelynnsAuntie]

My 12 yr old cat is on Denamarin and on another pill too which helps break down the bile in the liver...I can't recall the name but I believe there are some o's in the name. He's also on Flagyl, which is an antibiotic.

He's doing great. The only reason I knew there was a problem was because he was losing weight and the bloodwork came back showing liver issues and that he has hepatitis. He's been on meds since October and has even gained some weight back.

Don't worry too much. I'm sure he'll be fine.

 

[Disney-Kim]

I had a malti/pom/poo that ended up with liver cancer and died from it. He had seizures and for years we had him on phenylbarbitol...which destroyed his liver...even tho in his last few years we switched to the postassium stuff....it was too late.

He lived for about 2 years after his diagnosis...and one of the things we did do to help the elevated enzymes was Hills Liver dog food...they sold it at the vet. So I would suggest this for sure.

I hope all turns out well for you and you are able to control the enzymes with diet.

good luck !!!

 

[mhsjax]

Thank you to everyone for your info and well wishes.

 

[Dan in Florida]

I can't remember the name of the pills we were giving him, I know I still have some left...we can compare notes and if it's what your dog needs to take, I can send you what's left!!! (seriously, they aren't old, we just got them in November)

And yeah, as far as I know the hepatic foods are all prescription and I think there are only three brands: Hills, Purina, and Royal Canin. Don't go looking at how they are "rated" though because it's bad. But, we do what we have to do when it comes to prescription diets.

You can also get prescription food at Petsmart, you might want to check if it's cheaper there (anywhere you get it, it will be pricey) and if your vet will write you a prescription for it.

The good news is that it seems no matter what, it is treatable (I know diabetes and cushings are manageable - not curable, but they can live a happy life with either of these conditions).

Hey Hiway,
Are you Hiway also from BarkingHard? This is Dan in Florida
Contact me (PM).

 

[Southerngirl71]

I am pretty sure that is the name of the pill that he will be giving Max. Was it hard to get the dog to take it or is it like the heart worm med and they love it?

He would take it but did not like it. I would take a treat out and would not give him the treat until he ate the pill. The pill usually sat for a few minutes before he would eat it. Another trick is to coat the pill in peanut butter. This worked all the time. He also loved his heart worm pills. Sadly we had to say goodby to him on the 8th of last month. I can't remember what his number was but I am pretty sure it was higher than 200.

 

[mhsjax]

He would take it but did not like it. I would take a treat out and would not give him the treat until he ate the pill. The pill usually sat for a few minutes before he would eat it. Another trick is to coat the pill in peanut butter. This worked all the time. He also loved his heart worm pills. Sadly we had to say goodby to him on the 8th of last month. I can't remember what his number was but I am pretty sure it was higher than 200.

Oh, I am so sorry. I will try the peanut butter he loves that.

 

[Brit17]

Our furbaby started to have slightly elevated ALK levels when she was about 3 years old ... as a result, our Vet recommended that we just monitor her and recheck her blood every 3 months ... as time went on, her ALK level went up and down, and then gradually kept increasing, so we then had ultrasounds performed on her liver, adrenal blood tests taken, and ultimately, a liver biopsy done ... all the tests came back unremarkable, except for the biopsy which showed that she had high copper levels (aka copper hepatopathy), (which coincidentally didn't really even have anything to do with the elevated ALK level, but still needed to be treated through celation) ... so, long story short, we have learned that the liver can be a tricky little organ to figure out ... it's been 5 years now and we still haven't come up with the exact cause of her elevated liver enzyme (ALK), however, to promote her liver health, our Vet put her on a daily regimen of Vitamin E, Denamarin, Ursodial & Metro (Flagyl), and yes, our phamacist likes to see me coming into his store every month ... she is also on Royal Canin L/S (low copper) prescription dog food and we continue to have checkups and her blood rechecked every 3 months ...

I understand totally how worried you must be feeling, but like I mentioned before, the liver can be a tricky little thing ... hopefully, in 3 months his levels will be back to normal ...

 

[mhsjax]

Our furbaby started to have slightly elevated ALK levels when she was about 3 years old ... as a result, our Vet recommended that we just monitor her and recheck her blood every 3 months ... as time went on, her ALK level went up and down, and then gradually kept increasing, so we then had ultrasounds performed on her liver, adrenal blood tests taken, and ultimately, a liver biopsy done ... all the tests came back unremarkable, except for the biopsy which showed that she had high copper levels (aka copper hepatopathy), (which coincidentally didn't really even have anything to do with the elevated ALK level, but still needed to be treated through celation) ... so, long story short, we have learned that the liver can be a tricky little organ to figure out ... it's been 5 years now and we still haven't come up with the exact cause of her elevated liver enzyme (ALK), however, to promote her liver health, our Vet put her on a daily regimen of Vitamin E, Denamarin, Ursodial & Metro (Flagyl), and yes, our phamacist likes to see me coming into his store every month ... she is also on Royal Canin L/S (low copper) prescription dog food and we continue to have checkups and her blood rechecked every 3 months ...

I understand totally how worried you must be feeling, but like I mentioned before, the liver can be a tricky little thing ... hopefully, in 3 months his levels will be back to normal ...

Thank you