Hi everyone! Hoping someone here might be able to help. My husky, Boo, is a 13-year old female with some of the usual age-related issues such as stiff joints and weight gain, but has otherwise been in decent health.

Some background: About 3 weeks ago, I took her to a self-serve dog wash wherein they provide everything, but you do the work. She was absolutely fine when we left. She has difficulty getting in and out of car, so the trip was strenuous. However, by the time we got home ~2-3 hours later, she was despondent, went to her bed, & slept.

From that point, she stayed in bed, stopped eating, stopped using the bathroom, stopped pretty much everything. We knew something was seriously wrong by day 3 when she simply wasn't recovering and so had a vet come to the house.

Full blood panel was done and she was found to have the most advanced liver disease the vet had seen. Her Alt level (one of the major enzymes), which is supposed to be 23-140, was a staggering 5,992. Other enzymes were similarly high. She was very ill and dying.

We chose to put her on hospice for a couple of days so we could say goodbye. Part of this was sub-q fluids and an antibiotic as well as milk thistle. We were devastated.

Then...she started getting better. Slowly at first, but within a 4-day period, she was regaining her personality, started eating, etc. We had the vet come back out and draw blood again. The improvements were remarkable and inexplicable. Things weren't quite normal yet, but about 70% improved and she has continued to improve in the last week to the point that she is almost 100% herself again.

We are all left scratching our heads trying to figure out what could have happened. No meds or foods that we are aware of that she could have gotten into. Wondering whether topical poisoning from any of the shampoos, etc at the dog wash are a possibility. Has anyone had or heard of this happening?

Any thoughts, insights, or guidance would be very appreciated. TIA!

Jennifer

I never heard of topical poisoning but so glad to hear your boo is getting better. I know my 13 year old lexi has had elevated liver levels when she gets sick but nothing even close to that high.

I want to bump this before it gets scrolled off the page. Not as many people are on during the weekend and I'm hoping someone could advise/give their thoughts, to help you out. I'm glad Boo is improving and hope it continues

Dogs do absorb from their skin into the bloodstream so it is certainly possible that topical poisoning occurred. Monthly topical flea and worm treatments work in exactly this way - albeit they do use non toxic chemical compounds.

For example - one thing many people are not aware of is that tea-tree oil is highly toxic to dogs. Putting an undiluted essential oil like this one directly on the skin can in some instances, poison the dog.

Tea tree oil is found in many dog shampoos and antiseptics which is where the confusion comes in, however they are normally in such a small % that they are totally fine.

To the OP, there is a small chance that there was an issue with the shampoo in the hydrobath. A small chance for sure, but not inconceivable.

I am glad that your dog is recovering and it certainly must have been very alarming.

I was aware of topical poisoning from some episodes of college kids (frats) who had painted all of their exposed skin (and most of it was exposed) and almost killed themselves because of it. But, other than to say that I'm glad the old girl is rebounding I had nothing intelligent to add to this so I just kept quiet.