Poor little Chillster - he's had a rough thanksgiving! He was celebrating his therapy certification and then hit with three things at once!

I saw Jenn's thread on high liver counts and hope Sierra's doing better, Jenn! I thought I'd start a separate thread since it's slightly different. I'm hoping someone may have some insight as we bite our nails waiting for the next test results! He seems ok, he's eating well, but drinking and peeing a ton.

So we took Chili in for a wart on his lip on Friday and did his annual blood panel (he's 6 1/2 - we think - and fairly sickly with a sensitive tummy, allergies, etc so we do it yearly) and it turns out his liver enzymes are up too!

Has anyone run into this? He also peed in the house twice since we found the wart (You could tell he felt so bad about it - and we've been taking him out every 2-3 hours since then). He had his bordatella shot 2 weeks ago - so dunno if that can affect it. He also felt crummy after last year's bordatella shot, and ate a toy (which he NEVER does!). He did have some out of the ordinary food in the week prior to his tests - a cheeseburger to celebrate his therapy certification, some treats from the pet store owner the morning of the test and a whole bone-in raw chicken breast a few days before (I imagine the chicken breast wouldn't affect it - I took the skin off).

His ALT is 424 (normal range 12-118), Alk Phos 1343 (range 5-131) and his GGT is 24 (range 1-12) and Bilirubin at 0.4 (range .1-.3). His ALK Phos was slightly high last year - but really only 138 - 7 pts over normal. The rest were normal.

Vet started him on Amox, too - plus Denamarin which has both the SAM-e and Milk Thistle. The vet also did a bile acid blood test yesterday - we had to go back twice - once on an empty stomach and once 2 hrs after eating. They also took a urine sample.

They used him as a pin cushion for a half hour and now believe me to get blood from his chest instead of limbs... even Frosti was fighting Daddy to go help poor little held down Chillster while he cried for help. It's a good vet otherwise, but the vet techs really need to listen to me next time. He's so good at the vet and the first blood test through the chest (On Fri) was easy peasy while I bear hugged him. We were all a little shaken at the end, especially after the vet discussed possible causes. <rant over>

Updated: We got Chili's test results from the bile acid test today (the vet is so nice and took the time to discuss all the results and possible causes) and we'll need to get an ultrasound to see what's up. The good news is that they've narrowed it down to either gallstones, gall bladder issue or a portosystemic shunt (but he doesn't have any symptoms of that). The vet recommends either having a radiologist come in or to take him to see an internist (in case he needs surgery for any reason, he's already there). His Bile Acid level was 107 while 13 is normal, and the post eating one was 295 with a normal level being 25. His urinalysis was fairly normal, just a bit dilute.

Has anyone else had anything like this?

So fingers crossed it's something simple that can be treated quickly and easily without making him uncomfortable or the need for surgery! On the bright side, he doesn't seem sick and seems to be doing well. He had his first therapy dog assignment today and basked in the attention!

Ouch that's rough! Has anything in his diet changed? I want to say that's related to higher fat in the diet but I'm not sure...

Ya, that's what I asked the vet, too. Seems this latest test ruled out anything that he may have ingested or anything in his diet. Both dogs went through a phase of trying to eat the dirt in the yard a few months ago but both stopped last month. We don't allow any manure or pesticides in the yard, but still didn't let them eat it. They would dig, so I assumed it was for worms or bugs.

We have changed foods a couple months ago, but it's highly rated and gets rave reviews. Company just went out of business so onto Zignature Trout and Salmon. He's also on Nupro silver and gets salmon oil supplemented.

The weird thing is that there are no symptoms and he appears really healthy and normal.

Just got back from a long few hours at the specialist - he got an ultrasound (his belly is all shaved now, but they did a nice job), another blood test that's being sent off to Michigan and review of his file. His calcium levels are high too and they're hoping that part is parathyroid issues and not related to the liver issues. Fingers crossed - long wait until Wednesday for results!

Little buddy seems to be doing ok other than eating less at dinner. He's still super enthusiastic about treats, so we think he might be filling up on water and thus eating less. He's been drinking and peeing like crazy!

Sam, I'm just checking on this, sorry I missed it. Sierra only has her ALT level hight with everything else ok. We are retesting dec 26, an ultrasound is our next option if it has gotten highter. I wish I could help but I'm still trying to figure this all out myself, seems there can be many reasons it goes up glad there were no leaks or cancer found in the ultrasound, hope u get more answere from the new blood work.

I don't have anything except that Storm went through a period of drinking and peeing like crazy. Everything else was OK. With Storm we thought it was diabetes insipidous where he wasn't concentrating his urine and the hormone that does this was not functioning properly.

Sam, I'm really sorry to hear this. It sounds like Chili is being very brave through all these tests. I hope it will turn out to be something easy to treat. I'll be thinking of you all.

Thanks, guys. I hope it's something treatable, too.

Jenn, I can't remember from your thread if the vet gave Sierra Denamarin to bring down her levels? The reviews seems awesome and we have Chili on it. Fingers crossed that helps! Possible test results back tomorrow so we have all paws crossed for something treatable!

Sam, have you thought about a holistic vet? Just curious.

Yes, definitely! I just want a definitive diagnosis first. He's already on denamarin (milk thistle and SAM-e), plus a super premium 90% air dried meat food, filtered water, etc. We'll explore additional options with a Holistic vet once we figure out what is going on with him. We're working with a fantastic specialist who sent out his blood sample to Michigan State, they have super specific blood tests they can run.

Oh yeah, Michigan State is only an hour from us. I have them on speed dial should I ever need them for an emergency

Sam,
we just have her on SAM-e and Milk Thistle pills not the combo of denamarin. we give sierra half a SAM-e pill 1hr before each meal and she gets the thistle at night with her meal.

i hope you get some answers soon!

Thanks, Jenn! I was thinking of doing that too instead of the Denamarin after our next test results.

I just got THE call from the vet, but they just said the lab is busy and they should get the test results Sat or Sunday. UGH!!!

I'm praying for good results Sam!

Good news and ok news...

Good news - it's not Lymphoma.

Ok news - He's having his parathyroid out next week, it was causing the hypercalcemia (high calcium) and causing the peeing/drinking a lot. The liver issue is separate, and they will do a laproscopic biopsy at the same time while he's under anesthesia. I'm worried about him undergoing surgery and not sure how long he'll need to be there (we have a consult the day before to cover all this) but I know he's in the best hands possible and we're getting him the best care. So fingers crossed he makes it out of surgery and recovery fine and that the liver issue can be managed and isn't a sign of anything else! I'll find out more Tuesday afternoon at our appt, when he gets an ultrasound to see which parathyroid is the issue and we go over what will happen. Paws crossed!

Did they rule out cushings?

Sam, I hope all goes well!

Thanks, guys! Yup, they ruled out Cushings and anything else. They were able to pinpoint the hormone that causes Parathyroidism pretty accurately.

When it rains it pours, after I posted this I had to take hubby to ER since he cut his hand working on his car! I told him...between both of you boys I'm at a vet or dr every few days!

I hope it all goes well, Sam. And I hope your hubby is okay too!

Thanks! Hubby is ok, just need to be supervised from now on. LOL This is the 2nd trip to ER in the last few months. I might have to crate him when I leave the house...