Another new diagnosis, and a lot of confusion

[Briana]

I'm so glad I stumbled upon this group, I feel so frustrated, lost and scared right now. My little girl, Scarlett, is a 4 year old goofy and bouncy boxer-mix who stopped being so goofy and bouncy about 2 months ago, and she had started skipping meals. Her blood work on June 8th revealed that her ALTs were 309 (3x the upper limit). The consulting vet (and about 5 other vets I talked to) recommended simply rechecking in a month, and were not concerned. I went back three weeks later after she refused food for 48 hours, her ALTs had skyrocketed to 2200 (22x the upper limit). An ultrasound revealed an abnormally small and dark liver. The aspirate wasn't very helpful and only found some evidence of inflammation. Not only am I INFURIATED at every single vet who ignored my concerns for Scarlett, I also feel I cannot trust them. 

Currently, the vet is running tests for Leptospirosis (although she doesn't have a single symptom for Lepto) and told me I would have to wait until the end of the next week to even discuss a biopsy. This was after the vet told me she was "pretty confident it was CAH". Considering how quickly this disease is progressing, I am extremely uncomfortable with this plan. Every resource I can get my hands on emphasizes the importance of administering prednisone as early as possible to slow disease progression and improve outcomes. I am also uncomfortable with the safety of putting a liver-compromised dog under anesthesia.

Did anyone else have to wait this long for a diagnosis? How long did it take for your pups to start feeling like themselves again? 

I immediately began home cooking all her food and she is on a regimen of SAMe, famotidine, minocycline (for the "lepto"), Liqui-E, and ursodiol. 

Thank you for any input you can provide. This group gives me some hope in an otherwise bleak prognosis for my baby.

-Briana and Scarlett

[Susan Schmitz - A Dog's Life Photo]

Hello Briana, 

Sorry to hear all that you are going through. Unfortunately, it seems to be pretty common to take so long to get a diagnosis since many vets are not familiar with the signs of the disease. I am not sure if it is becoming more common now or if I am just hearing about it more because of this group. But I had TWO dogs with liver diseases. One was caused by tainted jerky treats. If you have any packaged treats in your home, please throw them away immediately. I have no trust in commercial dog foods or treats anymore. 

I know it is scary to give a dog with a compromsed liver Predisone because it is hard on the liver but almost every person I have talked to that has been in the same situation has had their pet on it during the critical phase. I am not a vet and don't know all of the reasons why but I do know that it saved my Doberman's life. She was on high doses of Predisone, antibiotics, Ursodiol and Zinc Acetate. She pulled through the critical stage and lived another 7 years with the disease. There is hope. Just listen to your vet, give Scarlett the meds and be very careful with her diet. 

Best wishes to you. Hugs. 

Sincerely,
Susan Schmitz 

A Dog's Life Photography at Photo Fusion Studio
Website: www.ADogsLifePhoto.com
Phone: 602-386-9997

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[Briana]

Thanks so much for the support. After a lot of harassing, I convinced the vet to prescribe prednisone after the Lepto test came back negative (which I knew it would be), she still wanted to wait a few days to run more tests... We may consider a biopsy in a week or so to find out if it is copper associated. 

Susan, how did you figure out it was the treats that caused CAH? Was it copper toxicity as well? 

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[shar...@une.edu]

Hello, 

Did you end up opting for the biopsy?