Question by Linda N: My almost 10 year old Bichon – elevated blood levels – liver function help..?
My almost 10 year old Bichon has been healthy and showed no signs of an issue but at a routine blood test for a teeth cleaning she had an elevated blood value they said can be linked to liver damage. They did the liver test 2x (6 months apart ) and both came out okay but that value has climbed 200 points since than even though she is on a liver diet food. They no want to add liver function supplements, which I will start tomorrow. She has been on a steroid every summer for a month or so since she seems to get a skin allergy, but this only happens once a year (I read sometimes steroids can affect the situation so wanted to include all the information.) Why are the levels continuing to go up while she is already on the diet? Should I consider adding a milk thistle supplement for her? I love my dog and want to make sure this treatment is effective so the problem does not go any further. I am currently living inEurope and want to make sure she is getting the same care she would by the great vets in the USA. Please let me know what you think. Thank you!
I read on vet websites that milk thistle is sometimes encouraged by vets and would not give her it without consulting mine, but wanted other dog owners with experience to answer the question. Also considering this is her first real problem and she is almost 10 years old, I am not believing this is an inbreeding issue (although could be genetic) and wondering how you came to the conclusion she is severely inbred? Any REAL dog owners that can input would be appreciated!
Level was up 200 points (from 300 to 500)

Best answer:

Answer by Kaviani999
That’s very sad and I know you really want to do something to help her, but I do NOT recommend giving her milk thistle or any herbal supplement geared toward humans. Dogs are similar in many ways, but some innocuous substances are downright toxic to them. It’s best to not prescribe yourself if unless you’re trained in veterinary medicine.

It honestly sounds like she is heavily inbred and has a lot of bad recessives. You can only treat symptoms in such cases.

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Question by Marina D: My beautiful female shihtzu is in heat for the second time and she’s almost 3 in August.. Is this normal?
My beautiful female shihtzu is having her second heat cycle and she’s almost 3 years old in August. I have not had her spayed because she’s been having issues with food allergies and is on medication. She survived parvo at 10 weeks of age and after going through treatment. Did the parvo mess up her cycle? She had her first heat at only 6 mos and its been a while and she’s in her second heat cycle and like I said she’s turning 3 years old in August.

Has anyone had this happen to their shihtzu?
I know the heat cycles are different on some dogs but could the parvo caused her cycle to be irregular?

Best answer:

Answer by Night_owl
I have known plenty of dogs who had parvo at a young age who didn’t have long lasting problems in adulthood.

No, it isn’t normal that she is only having her second heat cycle at an age of 3 years- generally female dogs have two heat cycles per year. Your pup should have had at least 4 of them by now.

Food allergies aren’t any real reason to avoid spaying your girl- I have seen plenty of allergy prone dogs make it through surgery just fine. As long as your vet is confident they can spay her without a problem I would get her spayed- she will be healthier and happier in the long run.

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Question by Nolwe: Did my dog almost die from the Leptospirosis Vaccine?
Greetings,

I have been a TC in “other health” for humans, but when it comes to my dog, I need your help. Here is what happened.

Abby is a 10 yrs old Chocolate Lab bitch; pure breed.

8.22.09 – She got a Vaccine for Leptospirosis, along with her other yearly vaccines. She was treated for her bad allergies and hot spots the week before, the Vet felt that she was health enough to have her shots, I don’t think she was.

9.8.09 – She stopped eating her dog food, but would Eat people food and was drinking her normal amount of water.

9.9.09 – She stopped eating anything, and stopped Drinking water.

9.16.09 – We took her to the Vet. Had $ 3,000.00 worth of tests done, get Fluids; IV. We had to wait this long because the vet was double (even triple) booked till this day. The vet knows us well and knows our dog is a picky eater, if she hot or there is a thunderstorm coming she will not eat. Take her in to

Pleas Note: The Only Symptoms she had related to having Leptospirosis, was Anorexia, Fever (mild), and dehydration. These can also be Symptoms of advanced Fanconi’s Syndrome or so out Vet told us.

9.16.09 – The vet thinks she has an inherited disease called Fanconi’s Syndrome. After getting the test results back from Cornell University (on 9.18.09) the vet was correct. Take her in to get Fluids; IV.

9.18.09 – More test results come back, she has Fanconi’s Syndrome, UTI and Leptospirosis; She has lost about 30 lbs. She is down to 65 lbs. She is put on amoxicillin. Take her in to get Fluids; IV, Get some more tests taken.

9.20.09 – Starts to drink water, but only a small amount.

9.21.09 – Take her in to get Fluids; IV. She has gained a pound since 9.18.09, She has started to eat, but only small amounts of Baby food and she is drinking more water. We are still waiting on getting some tests back. We still don’t know is we are out of the “Dark, Sad, Woods” yet.

My theory is that she was not well enough to have these Vaccines and got Leptospirosis from it. She goes on walks in the same areas (does her business) and has all of her life. We had to stop taking her to dog parks when she was 1 year old because she was getting UTI’s from the pond that was at our dog park. She has always been on a leash when she goes on walks, has not been eating grass of any kind. We have no new dogs or cats in the area. She has not been in any water other then her bath, we use the same water on ourselves (not water from a garden hose). We always keep a very close eye on her because she gets a lot of UTI’s and has chronic allergies.

Is there any info any of you might have to help me trace the source of the Leptospirosis? Or info that she contacted Leptospirosis from the Vaccine? Info I can bring to the Vet on Wednesday?

I am sorry this is so long, I want to be as detailed as I can. When I was a TC I loathed having short questions to answer, where I had to ask more questions to give a correct answer.

Thank you for your time,
Nolwe

Best answer:

Answer by Angel Barbie
Dogs do not get the illness from the vaccination, the vaccination isn’t given in a live form. Sometimes they very rarely get a reaction to the vaccine, but they don’t get the disease. Vaccinations should be given when the dog is healthy, because a dog with an already compromised immune system will not build up suitable antibody’s. If you dog GOT the illness then it would have already been in the system.

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Question by Roxy: My 2yr. old basset hound refuses to eat almost everything we put in front of her, what is wrong with my dog?
This poor dog had her food changed on her 7 times since May. She had terrible allergies that finally subsided after we found a good holistic dog food(and one that she actually liked). We made the mistake of not changing the food gradually,but she hadn’t had any stomache achs or diarreah…she seemed fine until last week when she refused to eat ANY dog food at all. We gave her treats and some table scraps, just so that she’d have food in her,and she ate that no problem. Well she no sooner stoped eating the scraps,so I grilled some white meat chicken, and mixed it with rice…she ate that for 1 day, and is now refusing to eat that at all.She will (hardly)eat one thing one day and not the next. She is getting very skinny, and extremely lethargic day by day,now even her gums are pale. She is going in to the vet very soon, but in the meantime what can I do for her, and does anybody know what this is? Is she sick, or did we just completely mess her up with all the food changes recently?

Best answer:

Answer by tgrnicole
It sounds like all of the food changes may have her terribly confused. It is good that you are taking her to the vet soon (hopefully VERY soon), but in the mean time try feeding her a high quality canned dog food. Canned food comes in several different flavors, so maybe you could give her a different flavor each day.

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Question by Lyndsey: My vet has recommened giving my dog benadryl for allergy relief, he has been on the benadryl for almost a year
and up until this point it has worked wonders for him. He has alot of skin allergies which is very common in his breed… he is a Basset Hound. I was just wondering if anyone may know of anything else I could do?? Obvisously he has just kind of became immune to the benadryl! I plan on taking him back to the vet I just wanted to see if maybe anyone had any other ideas before I did that may be less expensive b/c trust me I have paid my fair share of vet bills this month… thanks
I have him on Science Diet food which was recommened by his vet at Banfield….

Best answer:

Answer by Tony’sJeanius
Go raw and “allergies” will go away. Benadryl is BS and treats only symptoms not the cause.

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