Sunny

[Tamara]

Maura, it’s pretty normal for their energy to go up and down, especially in the early days when the PCV is still pretty low. Just take your cues from Sunny. Ashki’s is still variable, although less so than when he was first diagnosed. I’m so glad she is able to be affectionate with Jill — that must make you all feel better, Sunny included.

All of these meds are hard on the liver. I would want them to check chemistry to see how her liver values are. You can add denamarin, it’s a prescription supplement that is protective to the liver and has been very helpful to many dogs on these drugs.

big hugs —
tamara and ashki xoxox

[maura]

Patrice, The soloxine is .2 every 12 hours.
Sunny looks a bit jaundiced today in her lower belly. We are catching no breaks here.
I am just loving her every second. She still likes her food.
I am just worried she is going to get super painful or distressed on a sunday night. Orchard Park is always open but what a drive.
Thanks
Maura and Sunny Girl

[Patrice]

Maura,
What time is the earliest you get up in the morning and the latest you go to bed? I am helping Vally with your med dose chart. I need to know the window of time you have to give meds and if there are any periods of times when you are not home.

The jaundice is a direct relationship to the ability of the liver to clear bilirubin from the system. “Bilirubin comes from red blood cells. When red blood cells get old, they are destroyed by the body. Hemoglobin, the iron-containing chemical in the red blood cells that carries oxygen, is released from the destroyed red blood cells after the iron it contains is removed. The chemical that remains in the blood after the iron is removed becomes bilirubin.”

Yellow indicates a milder level of bilirubin. Right now the liver is stressed out by metabolizing the prednisone, one of its jobs. The liver is pretty cool, the cells can suffer the damage from metabolizing drugs and then new cells are generated to heal the liver. So, if there was no organic liver disease prior to this, the liver will most likely regenerate and return to normal once the prednisone is reduced.

You can help by using supplements that assist this process. There are several that are commonly used, not only in human medicine, but also in veterinary medicine. Sam-e, which is normally made in our bodies, can be supplemented to assist the liver.

And anecdotally, the use of milk thistle has known to also be supportive of the liver regenerating cells. Sam-e can be bought over the counter, but the sizes they come in are really too large for a little dog. And milk thistle can be bought at health food stores. The important factor in milk thistle is that it needs to be a quality product. How it is harvested, stored, manufactured and packaged makes a big difference in the potency.

Your vet carries Marin, a “pharmaceutical grade” version of milk thistle’s essence silybin. They also carry Denamarin which combine silybin and Sam-e. Both of these are dosed specifically for veterinary use. I used this with Chance and dropped his liver values from 80x normal down to normal within a month.

Once he was closer to normal values I also used Country Life Liver Support Factors for him and that is a high quality supplement that contains several ingredients that are very supportive of the liver. The cost is much less expensive but it was highly effective for the 1-2x higher values.
my best
patrice

[maura]

Patrice and everyone,
Thank you for that info. SO informative. I feel like all of you who post on this site would be amazing veterinarians. It is like you hold the PHd for AIHA and I am grateful to have all the info I can–even if things do not turn out how I would like. I will ask my vet about marin tomorrow. I have to pick up the special eye drops tomorrow at Orchard Park so I will inquire.
Sunny still loves eating. I know it is the pred.
The night is here again. My 13 year old daughter has been really helpful. She is going through the bargaining stage and says things like Ïf Sunny lives she will clean her room and help walk her more.”
I thank you for the continued input-so appreciated.
–Maura and Sunny

[Vally]

Sunny is a fighter, so it looks as though there is going to be a clean bedroom in that house.

Love Vally & Bingo

[hope]

Hey Maura and Sunny (and Jill)!

Just checking in on y’all..so happy that Sunny’s holding her own! I know you will — I still do too — but the low energy levels are pretty normal so try not to panic. Steve is in normal range now and he is still pretty low energy, much more so than he was pre-diagnosis. And when he gets super active, he passes out quickly as well. This disease is hell and the meds are really hard on them from what I understand.Y’all are doing great though — hang in there!

Hugs,
Hope and Super Steve

[maura]

Patrice,
My up time will be about 6am and 11pm will be the window of opportunity to give Sunny all those meds. I am calling the techs today to see if they can give me a great schedule of all these rather than just me reading the label that says 1/2 every 12 hours.
To Everyone who continues to read and support me and Sunny-thank you. She is on her second transfusion’s power; I just pray that these meds will push her to become regenerative.
ttys
love, Maura and SUnny

[admin]

Thanks for the update, Maura – we are all with you in hoping and praying for regeneration

Lynda