Bingo likes going to the vet – he says he doesn’t, but he must

[Vally]

Bingo’s liver enzymes have been creeping up again since we got them down to almost normal.

Checked again today and yes they’ve gone the wrong way again by a bit. They are:

ALKP 225 up from 165 last time (23-212)
ALT – 179 up from 148 (10-100)
GGT 27 up from 11 (0-7)

Apart from those, everything else is good and his PCV was a record 50 – yes he was probably a bit dehydrated but who’s counting.

Specialist said this is not really a concern at these levels. He’ll go back again in 3 months again, have it checked and if they’re still up they ‘ll do an ultrasound, although he actually had an ultrasound done in January which didn’t show any problems.

So I’m not worrying MUCH. I’m thinking I’m going to try once again to lower his pred. Starting tomorrow we’ll try again at 1/8 tablet maybe every third day and 1/4 tablet the other 2 days. Only thing I’ll really need to be watching for is lameness I think. He suffers from arthritis and the last time I tried to reduce his pred, the arthritis kicked back in, but lets try again, again, again, again.

You may remember my energetic boy tore his crutiate 3 months ago some time between sleeps and naps but he’s doing well with that. There’s still some limping, mainly when he first gets up, but on the whole it doesn’t seem to bother him. Specialist today checked him out and said yes he is a bit creekier than last time but his knee isn’t bad at all. I actually got him these really cool non-slip socks which he keeps on (I’m only using them on his back legs as they’re the weaker ones). They seem to help a lot. I did put down extra rugs, but he’d just walk around those. Just ordered some extra pairs as he keeps forgetting to take them off when he goes outside.

I also cut his homeopathic drops down by heaps over the last few weeks as they contain alcohol. He’s had none for the last 4 or 5 days at all. Was hoping that was the cause. Who knows, maybe it is, but needs more time for the stopping of them to show effect in the results. I’ll try and keep him off those totally for now.

Not sure if I should do more milk thistle. He’s currently on 1/3 of a 7g tablet twice a day. Dr Dodds’ recommended dosage for milk thistle for his weight is 20% of human dose. My tablets say (for humans, 1 tablet 3 times a day) so I think he’s probably already getting the maximum I should give him on that. He still takes SAMe too. If anyone has any other ideas, I’m listening…..

Love Vally & Bingo

[admin]

Hi Vally

Wow!!!!! 50 is fantastic – I think Bingo needs a big medal for that.

Those liver enzymes aren’t too bad, Vally, but like me, you worry even though the vet says not to – I would want to try to do something if it were me. How about dropping Dr Dodds a quick line? I would. Maybe there is some leeway with the milk thistle dose – & also her liver cleansing diet might be an idea for a little while? I know how well you feed him, Vally – he gets very well looked after, so I imagine you’re already on top of that one.

I was reading that turmeric also may reduce liver enzymes, but it can also act as an anti-clotting agent. I also read you can’t use it for too long in humans as a high level supplement, so I would definitely as Dr Dodds about this before starting it.

There is also something called schisandra, a chinese herb – I bet Dr Dodds will know about this for dogs as she is very up on Chinese medicine (what doesn’t she know????) – I can’t find much about use for dogs, but it works for people with liver problems.

Last thought – Acetylcysteine which contains glutathione – it is used for paracetamol (tylenol) acetaminophen – overdose (poisoning) & therefore definitely helps the liver recover. Again, I would ask Dr Dodds, though.

Looks like it’s over to Dr Dodds or your specialist (still Uncle Phil I presume?)

Hope this helps – I’m sure others will have some ideas too.

It is true Vally – if the vet isn’t too worried, Bingo is fine, Especially with a PCV of 50
– whoopeeee!!!!

Love Sheena & the boys xxxxx

[Susie]

Hi Vally,

Congratulations on that 50!
That’s just awesome!

I was going to suggest Tumeric and then I saw that Sheena mentioned it as well. I thought about it for his arthritis though, not knowing it helped with the liver. My husband and I use it daily for arthritis and many other ailments. Another thought is fish oil or glucosamine. (?)

I’ve been planning on switching Emily to Dr Dodds diet (at least for one of her meals) but I want to use organic potatoes because I read recently that potatoes have one of the highest amounts of pesticides. That may not be an issue living where you do.

I’m impressed that Bingo walks around your rugs! What a gentleman he is. Emily and Sadie think that those are great big pee pads! I can’t have rugs at all. Its a good thing for them that I think they’re so cute ;-)

♡♡♡Susie & Emily

[lynn]

vally……. that’s wonderful… wow 50%. funny about the rugs… Hayley won’t go from room to room with out rugs being down… she will walk on the wood but not without rugs being down … she has a hang up with wood floors. and Emily and saddie likes pretty pee pads … how sweet our fur babies are. and other’s wonder why they are so special to our hearts… they each sure have their own way to make them special, huh?! vally, if you would like the vetri-science treats for the liver I know you can’t get them there… I will send you a pack to try… look them up and see if you feel safe to use them for bingo and let me know after talking it over with his vet. I am so glad bingo is doing great… as I know we never ever stop checking gums or anything different we rush of to the vet…. poor Hayley learner years ago when I would say… let mom check your gums… all in those words he opens her mouth on her own…. bless her heart… I will still just keep checking but she has learned… to open wide … so I don’t use my finger I guess… don’t know… ha! lynn & hayley

[Vally]

Thanks for your messages.

Sheena and Susie, Bingo is already on turmeric, yes Susie for his arthritis but I didn’t know about the liver, thanks Sheena, and it’s also a tumour inhibitor? Another plus.

Lynn, you are so kind. Customs here would not allow it in the country. They are incredibly strict about all foods and medicines unless you have a licence to bring them in.

Patrice has said to get his bile acids checked so when we go in, I’ll specifically ask for that too.

Back in January when his enzymes were out, I ran them passed Dr Dodds and her answer was
“2) It’s more likely that the carprophen injections, even given intermittently are causing liver enzyme elevations. You’ll note that the GGT was high at one point, which reflects stasis of bile flow through the liver.”

It’s possible it was his cartrophen injections, which he has had again in the meantime. I’m going to quickly double check with her as her email back to me refers to carprophen injections not the cartrophen injections which he actually had. Two different things.

Sheena thanks for the extra stuff I can check out and I think I will run them all passed her again to get her opinion.

She also suggested the liver cleansing diet last time which I have been very slack about. I bought some fish and turkey today to make it up. Turkey is actually quite hard to get here unless it’s Christmas time, plus Bingo didn’t really like it too much. Too bad Bingo.

Love to all.

Vally & Bingo.

[admin]

Hi Vally

Another thought – I forgot about Ursodiol – it lowers liver enzymes too – worth mentioning to Dr Dodds too??? I see Patrice recommended getting Bingo’s bile acids checked – a great idea. Ursodiol is very useful for bile acid problems.

Yes – turmeric is rated on the anti-oxidant, anti inflammatory, cancer prevention fronts too. I had forgotten Bingo was on that already – sorry, Vally. There is a lot of hype about it just now in the medical world – it contains circumin & has been used in Chinese & Indian herbal medicine for a long time.

How are those shoes doing? I think they’ll help him a lot. We have mats everywhere now as Worzel slips sometimes – something else to worry about!

Love Sheena & the boys xxxxx

[lynn]

vally, the turmeric is great stuff … how ever if your fur baby is going to have surgert w/in two weeks you have to stop the use as it thins the blood… I used it for shelly along w/the medical mushrooms….. also! Hayley got those calcium spots on her right front leg… she got two of them in fact that she licked on for ever…. so when the natural vet told me to use it on shelly (bless her heart she had cancer growths in her last stage of cancer and I put turmeric on them they didn’t go away but one did only but they got smaller) that’s what gave me the idea of putting it on Hayley( being white did her leg turn yellow even w/ a gauze bandage ) she couldn’t lick but guess what no more calcium spots on her. I would use it but can’t on blood thinner. I love cooking with it but it one that’s on hold until off the blood thinner. and it helps the joint too!
Hayley…. had a big emergency this morning… to her it was. I started to come on the forum this morning… she went all nervous on me. she had all her toy’s laid out she counts each and every one. her care bear was gone.. she cried and ran everywhere. we looked the whole house over in the car’s . it was under my bed pillow… she turned kind of pale she was so stressed …. the vet said to bring her in the morning. … will check her out. she has her color back now .that girl can really stress if she can’t find a toy sheena , they have some great socks not the sock to help fur babies walk on tile and wood the catalog I buy from is in the company of dogs… these stay on great! they don’t slip off.the regular socks are a waste of money we have some really cute ones but they dot stay on… these are made for crippled or aged fur kids. hope this helps. Hayley doesn’t care for her tennis shoes or boots but likes the socks … they help her from falling and sliding on the floor…. in the shoes she lays flat on tummy with all four legs to the side p.s. I will be happy to send a bag of the treats to help the liver for bingo…. I don’t mind at all. lynn & hayley

[Vally]

Lynn, I knew about turmeric and surgery. Dad also takes it so I was aware of that but thank you for mentioning. Always better to mention all we know. Yes Sheena, it’s the latest isn’t it.

Patrice has suggested stopping turmeric until we know more about gall issues as it can cause problems there.

The socks are the absolute best. He doesn’t seem to notice them at all. I swear they have helped his wonky knee heaps so I’m wondering if the slippery floor has been making things harder for him, even though I wash and dust the floors constantly. No, I love these socks. Got two more pair in the mail today as spares.

Lynn, I’m sorry Hayley was upset. Poor baby losing her care bear. Thank goodness you found it. She sounds like such a little mummy. We had a little dog come into the house at the end of January. Bingo spent the whole time hiding under his chair just watching this dog run around the house playing with his balls (tennis :) ). After the dog went home, I noticed he didn’t want to come out, didn’t want to eat. Was acting absolutely terrified. He ended up in hospital overnight because I didn’t know what was wrong with him, he was acting so freaked. We’ve all come to the conclusion that this little dog in “his space” totally freaked him out, so there are no dog visitors any more. He’s just too nervy. I use Adaptil plug-ins (the sort they have at veterinary offices to help calm dogs). I think they do help keep Bingo less nervy, and in fact when this little dog came into the house, I realised after that the Adaptil bottle was empty, so maybe without that working, and the little monster in the house, sent Bingo over the top.

No, Lynn, you can’t send the treats, as Customs here will not let them through. They are very strict here. Thank you very much for the thought though. I’m looking at the ingredients and seeing if I can find something similar here.

Love to all.
Vally & Who’s a Scaredy Cat.