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The tbil is total bilirubin, this is a breakdown product of hemoglobin (the dark coloring) in red blood cells, usually removed by the liver. It can be a bit high because the liver isn’t doing a good job, but it can also happen if the blood sample is not handled carefully and some of the red blood cells get jostled and damaged, leaking this coloring into the sample. And it can also happen if the sample sits too long before being taken care of.
If it has never been high before and is not high again this time, then it is most likely damage to the blood sample by mishandling.
Weight loss can be good. I noticed this with Cassie two weeks ago. She now weighs about 4-5 pounds less than her last test but her CBC and chem screen were PERFECT. Not bad for a 10 year old dog, who eats like a pig.
Can you get him to drink water before he leaves for the test? Would be better.
my best patrice
Vally,
I will be thinking of you this morning and hoping all went well with the blood test. Please post your results when you have time!
If you can’t fast him, at least keep it lower fat, that is usually the culprit that interferes the most. I’ll be interested to see what the alt is at now that you have decreased the prednisone even more to an average of .9mg a day.
When I was decreasing Chance’s prednisone, the liver enzymes dropped very quickly after the very large prednisone decreases, but then the progress slowed down when we got down to smaller doses.
In some dogs there can be a bit of chronic liver damage from long term prednisone use. But rest assured that the liver is truly regenerative and can be quite functional.
Many vets find interpreting borderline liver values as possibly indicating liver disease (like this slightly high alt) in dogs as a complicated and somewhat controversial diagnosis. And in your case his alkp is well within normal limits. This would be another indicator to a vet to not worry too much.
Generally, in a dog that otherwise seems to be doing ok, they will not be so quick to suggest there is something wrong. They will adopt a wait and see attitude.
He may be feeling a little less enthusiastic as the dosage of the prednisone drops, this is not uncommon as the adrenal glands struggle to wake up and do their job properly. Watch for signs of “not doing well” ranging to a more serious disinterest in getting up to go outside. If he behaves like this he probably feels “washed out.” Give him time to readjust to the new dosage.
Good Luck!!!
patrice
Hi Karen,
I am glad you have found us! I have split off your post to a new topic just for you.
Do you have questions you would like to ask? We have many folks here who have been through this disease with their dogs and can help you.
Please let us know what your vet has done so far and what medications have been prescribed.
my best, patrice
Linda doesn’t have computer access and wanted me to post for her:
I wanted to let you all know that Sadie’s CBC results came back normal. Great news! We are convinced it was the massive oak (male tree) pollen. I have been keeping her in mostly, and the brief times outside, I rinse her paws. This seems to help.
She’s loving having Olivia (2 1/2) and William (8 months) here this week, but misses having me to herself. My spoiled girl.
Tara,
I imagine that it is in part because he has been on prednisone and any anti-inflammatory drugs might also irritate the stomach and also they can lead to bleeding.
While I don’t always advocate using alternative treatments, this vet in the video mentions a number of them that she has used in treatment. It might be something to explore with your vet?
I am not an expert on this condition and esp the treatments. You might consider seeing a veterinarian specialist, hopefully a board certified internist (diplomate), and see what they think about managing this condition.
Try this search engine. Start general so you can see what is in a wider area.
http://www.acvim.org/PetOwners/FindaSpecialist.aspx
my best, patrice
Rey,
I am so sorry to read about your Boxer. You will find friends here to help you through the sadness.
Boxers can have a inherited defect that causes a form of heart disease called cardiomyopathy in addition to a heart murmur. This can cause an irregular heartbeat which can lead to syncopes (fainting) from lack of blood to the brain.
Over time congestive heart failure will develop and that can lead to other organ problems. You mentioned ascites, an accumulation of fluid in the abdomen. As the kidneys begin to have more trouble because of heart failure they can fail to remove all the wastes from the blood that they should. These wastes in the blood cause something called azotemia. This relates to problems with appetite and an overall poor condition. Dogs with heart conditions fail to thrive and lose interest in eating. It is very discouraging and I have been through this with Chance.
It is very likely your Boxer had a form of anemia that is related to illness and kidney failure. The kidneys are very much involved in stimulating bone marrow to make new blood cells.
It is indeed also possible that she had a form of autoimmune disease that was attacking red blood cells if, in fact, your vet says the blood test showed this.
What is not directly related is your information about the glade plugins. I have just read some studies and reassured myself that the quantity of di-n-butyl phthalate required to possibly cause endocrine disturbances appears to be many tens of thousands times higher than the average home would have. There is no conclusive evidence so far that this is a danger in the average home. Most of this stuff that is ingested is excreted in the urine and feces within less than a day.
Please do not be overeager to blame yourself for what happened to your Boxer. However, that said, we all do the same thing, blame ourselves for what has happened to our companion. As owners we all try so hard to help our pets and when we fail we think we have messed up somehow.
Your boxer loved you and the best gift you gave her was the love and attention in the past few months. Special cooking and plenty of love was what she needed to feel that she was part of her family.
You also made a very difficult decision out of love to not put her through more treatments. That takes great courage and I honor this gift you gave to her.
We do what we can with the knowledge we have at the time.
If you have time visit The Bridge page on our website to read a story written by one of our members, Brigitte. I think it will help you very much. You will find others will write you in the coming days as well.
please accept my deepest sympathy, patrice
Sorry you couldn’t get into the website last night. Around midnight my time I was fixing the problem with the Nauset topic getting out of order, I split it and then rearranged the replies so they were sequential. Then I did a repair on the forum.
Also, a little after that the Jetpack monitor that watches the website notified me that the website was down for about 4 minutes. That happens now and then. It could be as simple as the ISP is working on the servers. Our ISP is really good and my monthly reports never show more than a few minutes lost. Last month there were no outages!
![bingo-14-5_1200x775](https://www.secondchanceaihadogs.com/wp-content/gallery/aiha-dogs_2/bingo-14-5_1200x775.jpg "Vally\'s Bingo \\"Smile\\"")
![Brigitte_Cleo_Ripley_Enzo_4](https://www.secondchanceaihadogs.com/wp-content/gallery/aiha-dogs_2/Brigitte_Cleo_Ripley_Enzo_4.jpg "Brigitte\'s Cleo, Ripley, Enzo and Guest \\"Rockin\\"")
