Are you following the instructions from the vet or are you "improvising". It's not clear to me from your post.
GI/Gallbladder Issues -- how to help my dog!
Hi,
I posted awhile back about our dog having a gallbladder mass on ultrasound. The good news is that it wasn't a tumor but simply gallbladder sludge. His liver enzymes were elevated which led us to do the ultrasound. They are still elevated, around 350 for ALT, 325 for ALP -- they haven't really changed much in the last two months, despite giving him milk thistle, not really getting better, but not getting worse. We tried Denamarin for three days, but it gave him terrible diarrhea. We've concluded that it doesn't work to give him any type of med on any empty stomach.
We saw the Internal medicine vets at Colorado State vet hospital and she said she's not sure if this is driven by the gallbladder or something else. She suggested trying a low fat diet, which we mixed with his regular food -- half, half - and giving him Ursodiol and eventually transitioning to all low fat. Since he's been on Ursodiol, his appetite doesn't seem as good and he seems constipated. We tried feeding him the all low fat on two different days, and each time he vomits kibble within two hours.
Other than the intermittent vomiting, he seems fine. His poops are fine -- well formed. His energy level is good -- he's a very high energy playful dog. But this food thing has now caused him to lose weight, around two pounds during the last two months.
I honestly don't know what to do now. I want to help him. I'm wondering if it's some sort of GI thing, or something else that's driving this.
Any thoughts or advice is greatly appreciated.
I posted awhile back about our dog having a gallbladder mass on ultrasound. The good news is that it wasn't a tumor but simply gallbladder sludge. His liver enzymes were elevated which led us to do the ultrasound. They are still elevated, around 350 for ALT, 325 for ALP -- they haven't really changed much in the last two months, despite giving him milk thistle, not really getting better, but not getting worse. We tried Denamarin for three days, but it gave him terrible diarrhea. We've concluded that it doesn't work to give him any type of med on any empty stomach.
We saw the Internal medicine vets at Colorado State vet hospital and she said she's not sure if this is driven by the gallbladder or something else. She suggested trying a low fat diet, which we mixed with his regular food -- half, half - and giving him Ursodiol and eventually transitioning to all low fat. Since he's been on Ursodiol, his appetite doesn't seem as good and he seems constipated. We tried feeding him the all low fat on two different days, and each time he vomits kibble within two hours.
Other than the intermittent vomiting, he seems fine. His poops are fine -- well formed. His energy level is good -- he's a very high energy playful dog. But this food thing has now caused him to lose weight, around two pounds during the last two months.
I honestly don't know what to do now. I want to help him. I'm wondering if it's some sort of GI thing, or something else that's driving this.
Any thoughts or advice is greatly appreciated.
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We did follow the instructions of the vet -- changed his diet to lo-fat prescriptioni diet and have been giving him Ursodiol daily. The good news is all the symptoms have disappeared -- he hasn't vomited for a month, he has high energy and everything seems great. We have a return visit scheduled for next week. Hopefully, his liver values have dropped.Are you following the instructions from the vet or are you "improvising". It's not clear to me from your post.
So we found a low fat food he likes, Hills I/d. We took our dog back for a recheck yesterday. His liver enzyme values are much improved, with ALT dropping from 371 to 151, and ALP dropping from 325 to 219.. They are still not quite back to normal, but trending in a very positive direction. But here's what's weird, they insisted on doing a repeat ultrasound, and he has gallstones. Then the vet told me I had to have him get surgery for the gallstones, for a whopping $6000 to remove his gallbladder. When I asked here why that was necessary when it seemed the medication was working, she had no response for me. Something feels very weird here especially since our primary care vet says they don't normally recommend surgery if his symptoms have resolved. My friend suggested I get a second opinion from another vet.
We're very reluctant for expense and also for his health to consider surgery. He's had a seizue under anaesthesia before and this surgery is very risky with a mortality rate of 20%.
We're very reluctant for expense and also for his health to consider surgery. He's had a seizue under anaesthesia before and this surgery is very risky with a mortality rate of 20%.
Sounds as though a 2nd opinion IS definitely in order.
I believe that He will be Okegranny said:
We did follow the instructions of the vet -- changed his diet to lo-fat prescriptioni diet and have been giving him Ursodiol daily. The good news is all the symptoms have disappeared -- he hasn't vomited for a month, he has high energy and everything seems great. We have a return visit scheduled for next week. Hopefully, his liver values have dropped.
FYI, I did schedule a second opinion with an internal medicine vet, but they can't see him for six weeks. However, I had an online consultation through vetster.com. This site rocks!
You can send them records/doc of tests and then you meet with them. You can check out their profile, they are licensed vets, where they went to vet school, their experience. The vet I met with was incredibly knowledgeable, and finally helped me understand what the ultrasound actually said. Which was essentially that my dog still has gallbladder sludge. But she said the fact that his symptoms have abated and that his blood tests are much improved were good signs. She said that I should still pursue a second opinion with a local vet, but it made sense to keep on medical management as long as he was doing well and at 2-3 months to get him rechecked.
You can send them records/doc of tests and then you meet with them. You can check out their profile, they are licensed vets, where they went to vet school, their experience. The vet I met with was incredibly knowledgeable, and finally helped me understand what the ultrasound actually said. Which was essentially that my dog still has gallbladder sludge. But she said the fact that his symptoms have abated and that his blood tests are much improved were good signs. She said that I should still pursue a second opinion with a local vet, but it made sense to keep on medical management as long as he was doing well and at 2-3 months to get him rechecked.
Just thought I'd provide an update. I finally got a second opinion with local vet. She actually said that my dog has gallstones, which was totally different from what first vet said. She said I could continue with medical management and that I should go back to his old dog food because it's possible he has food allergy that causes intestinal inflammation that led to gallbladder issues. But she did say there is a risk of a stone obstucting the duct, so he might eventually have to have surgery to remove the gallbladder. I liked this vet a lot more as she actually brought the ultrasound images up for me to see and explained what she was seeing.
I know this is an old post. Message me if you have questions about gallbladder removal. My Westie had hers taken out when she was 12. She had sludge and possibly a gall stone in her bile duct. She's doing well a year and a half later.
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