Pets
This is Beans. He's 4 years old and a about two weeks ago he had a problem with vomiting and diarrhea. He's never had a problem up until then. We took him to the vet and after some blood tests it seemed that his liver was having an issue. They did another test and we're waiting on results that will tell us if his liver is failing or if it can be controlled with diet/medicine. Has anyone had to deal with this? This is my baby and I'm not ready to say goodbye if we can't control it. Thanks for reading and any information you may have.
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Liver Issues?
This is Beans. He's 4 years old and a about two weeks ago he had a problem with vomiting and diarrhea. He's never had a problem up until then. We took him to the vet and after some blood tests it seemed that his liver was having an issue. They did another test and we're waiting on results that will tell us if his liver is failing or if it can be controlled with diet/medicine. Has anyone had to deal with this? This is my baby and I'm not ready to say goodbye if we can't control it. Thanks for reading and any information you may have.
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Re: Liver Issues?
Exactly which blood panels did they run and how high were his values? Which values were elevated?
Liver values can be high for a number of reasons, it isn't always an indication that his liver is failing. For example, he could have pancreatitis, he may have ingested a toxin, etc.
Since he also has vomiting and diarrea what food have you been feeding?
ETA: is he from a breeder? Have you talked to them about any history of Cushings or any other issues?
They see us rollin'...they be hatin'.
I'm not sure exactly what values they looked at. They spoke to my mother mainly. He's on a diet of Iams for small breed dogs. He's not overweight. The stools and vomiting seems to have cleared up with some stuff the vet gave us. He wasn't from a breeder that we know of. We got him from a local shop that closed last year so we have no way to contact who we bought him from.
We know little dogs like him can have problem processing table scraps so he doesn't get those often at all and when he does it's a corner of dry toast or a part of an egg white. He eats healthy treats and gets regular exercise. We didn't see evidence of him getting into anything (he's too small to reach most stuff) but he could have picked something up out in the yard. He was playing the other day. Perhaps it was just his body fighting off a virus to cause this?
Look there no polite way to say this, the food is a really bad food and that alone could cause serious stomach issues. Check out dogfoodanaylsis website for info. The food has a lot of byproducts and those will mess with a dogs system; Iams also has a history of recalls.
Pet store dogs come from puppy mills. The living conditions are awful, there is no genetic testing and the dogs are very often sick and have a host of genetic issues. It really is the worst place you can get a dog and financially supports a barbaric industry. Check out www.stoppuppymills.org. A number of us have fostered adults rescued from puppy mills and they are more prone to health issues, not to mention horrifically treated at the facilities.
Also, make sure you aren't using Hartz flea and tick products. Those will make a dog really sick.
I really hope your dog is ok. Read through the FAQs at the top of the board, definitely change his food, and be sur to keep track of tests being run, medications and diagnoses. You are his only advocate so you need to learn as much as possible.
Will definitely be switching his food. As for the mill thing I'm sure he didn't come from a mill. I got to know the lady that owned the shop quite a bit and she just wasn't the type. She'd take all of the puppies home at the end of the night. They were raised with lots of attention and care. I'll keep everyone updated on the news we get when his test results come back.
By definition a reputable breeder will not sell puppies at a pet store so best case scenario he came from a byb who didn't do genetic testing. Even nice pet store owners can get their dogs from mills, if you haven't seen what they're like or bothered to educate yourself it's easy to think they're no big deal. also, a lot of mills advertise and act like bybs instead of mills. That's why we don't usually advocate buying a dog when you haven't seen where its raised or can't vouch for the breeder through a breed club.
Imo its better to admit that a pet store puppy can't have come from anywhere good so you can do preventative care for genetically predisposed issues, don't buy one at a pet store again and can educate other people.
Let us know if you need help choosing or finding a food. Is he on metronidazole? It sounds like he may just have had pancreatitis, the food should help with that and can help with reducing the chances of some genetic issues like kidneys, diabetes, etc.
If you bought the dog from a "shop" I am 100% confident it either came from a mill or BYB.
I want to also ditto everything that Kellbell has said.
I would not recommend buying a dog from a shop, ever.
When looking for a new food, avoid ingredients on this list:
http://www.dogfoodproject.com/index.php?page=badingredients
They see us rollin'...they be hatin'.
We got the results back. The levels should be at 20 they said and his were at 89. At 100 he goes into full failure. At least that's what I think she said. At about that time I kind of lost my cool. The vet said at this point we can do further testing to see WHY it's happening, but it's gone too far to be reversed. She basically gave him a death sentence. We didn't ask how long he has. We couldn't bare to know. We can only make him comfortable for the time being. If it gets to the point where he is not..we will do what needs to be done so he doesn't suffer.
His food will be changed. I'll go through the list. Thank you guys for your time...I'm sorry I don't have more info but I'm barely held together at this point.