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[admin]

Hi Joe

Nice to hear she’s feeling frisky, even though she’s not allowed to be! Sending you all the good luck in the world for this new treatment – fight those horrible worms off, Nauset. She sounds like the most adorable little girl & deserves a bit of fuss from her Dad for being such a sweetheart. Give her a cuddle from me & the boys too.

Love Sheena, Worzel & Ollie

[admin]

No worries – sounds like Bingo couldn’t care less anyway if he’s fast asleep! The other liver enzymes would be AST aspartate aminotransferase & CK creatine kinase (not creatinine). If they tested SDH Sorbitol dehydrogenase that would be good too. The link I gave explains it a bit. Have a good sleep bedside your beloved Bingo. Speak tomorrow!

Sheena & the boyz

[admin]

Hi Vally

Good news that those teeth aren’t too much of a problem. I think Brigitte’s idea of coconut rubbing is brilliant – got to be worth a go.

Please don’t worry too much – neither of these blood results are all that “bad” & if the rest are fairly normal, that’s great!

The low creatinine might be because of low muscle mass – do you think he’s still fairly under-muscled compared to before he got the AIHA? Highly muscled dogs have high creatinine levels naturally, so the reverse must be true. Can you increase the protein in his diet? If you can, hopefully the level might come up. Low creatinine is a sign of malnutrition in dogs without other underlying problems, but because of the AIHA treatment (the prednisone is catabolic & “eats muscle”), I personally think it’s still the drugs causing it. I know for sure that little boy of yours is certainly not malnourished!

Have a look at the AIHA term on ALT – I hope what I’ve written will help you. These drugs do have an adverse effect on the liver, especially in the long term- do you have the results of any other liver enzymes? Increasing the milk thistle (I used powder from capsules) helped Worzel’s ALT come down dramatically, but he definitely had tummy ache after his doses. I started putting in his food & he tolerated it much better. I have taken it myself & it gives me terrible heartburn on an empty stomach. I know it can cause dogs to have loose stools too.  I sympathise with Bingo not tolerating it too well, Vally – so difficult.  Maybe a liver scan would put you mind at rest if it doesn’t come down – the liver is an amazing organ, capable of regenerating & recovering from serious problems. Have a look at the bit about steroids in

https://ahdc.vet.cornell.edu/clinpath/modules/chem/alt.htm

So my friend, please don’t get too stressed out over this – give that amazing boy of yours a big cuddle from his Aunty Sheena. I think he’s done brilliantly, considering how long he’s had to take the drugs.

Loads of love from Sheena, Worzel & Ollie

[admin]

Hi Vally,

obviously your vet is not too concerned about these values? I am sorry I don’t understand it all, Patrice can probably give you a much better answer. ALT would be the liver so my thought would be giving milkthistle and possibly even Sam-E. Maybe Bingo is already on these? CREA is creatine and shows what is happening with the kidney? This is a big question mark, I really don’t understand this one.

For the teeth I had an idea of a home remedy that might work for a bit. Try and rub some coconut oil on them. Just take a little piece and rub it on his gums. I am sure after a few times he will love it, it tastes soooo good and it can help with infection/inflammation. if it does not help it certainly will not hurt. I know people who have used it and it really helped with all kinds of tooth problems.

Best wishes,

Brigitte

[admin]

Hi dear Joe

That is not what you wanted to hear, I know, but at least that is the “baby” stage of the heartworm – not much comfort just yet, but at least the adult ones seem to have been killed off. I just had a quick read of

http://www.vcahospitals.com/main/pet-health-information/article/animal-health/heartworm-disease-in-dogs/773

and it says that dogs return after treatment of the adult heartworm for another (different) treatment to kill the baby microfilariae off, so I would guess this is the normal chain of events.

Also http://www.heartwormsociety.org/pet-owner-resources/canine-heartworm.html

says about 2 separate treatments as well.

 

Try not to get too downhearted, Joe – you know we are all thinking of you & crossing everything for Nauset. She can beat these parasitic nasties – she is lucky to have you & so are we. Dunes is watching over you & Nauset right now – I’m sure of that.

Loads of love as always

Sheena, Worzel & Ollie

[admin]

Hi Tara

This has made my day – such great news! Give Diablo a HUGE hug from me – he’s making great progress. I would also do what Brigitte says – keeping an eye on blood tests always puts our minds at rest if we are worrying.

Loads of best wishes from Sheena, Worzel & Ollie

[admin]

Hi Vally

Sorry to hear about Bingo’s teeth, poor thing. I don’t know much about dogs, but Molly had 3 general anesthetics and 3 sedations and came out of them just fine. The last general anesthetic was when she was very poorly with AIHA (for her bone marrow biopsy). She was given Oxyglobin the night before but she had no problems with the anesthesia. They are generally very safe these days and the veterinary anesthetists are highly trained. But I do know how scary it is! I hope all goes well, do let us know how he gets on.

Mary & Mable x

[admin]

Hi Vally

Poor old Bingo – in the wars again. Just wondering if this may be happening due to bone calcium deficiency induced by steroids – people certainly are prone to osteoporosis. Maybe you could ask about this, although they may not be able to do much about it. The trouble is that blood calcium levels tend to be high with steroids & a supplement of calcium might not be advisable because of this (risk of kidney stones etc). It’s worth asking though.

Worzel has a little benign growth on his anus which the vet & I decided to leave alone as I don’t want him to have another anaesthetic either! It’s that crazy paranoia again & I sympathise. Obviously, Worzel had to have anaesthetics for his bone marrow biopsies (first attempt was unsuccessful at local vets) when he was first ill, but it was done extremely quickly & they watched him like a hawk. The specialist reassured me that it was no big deal (ha ha) having to do it again & he was absolutely fine a couple of hours later each time. Trust me Vally, he really bounced back quickly, despite being unwell, and the types of anaesthetics available these days are very good. I bet someone else on here has had to get their AIHA dog anaesthetised too. Your vet & specialist sound great, so you know can trust them to give you the best advice. I think you’re right – those teeth will have to be removed, just in case.

Let us know how you get on as soon as you can – me & the boys will be thinking of you Bingo. Give him a big hug from his Auntie Sheena.