# Mimi is NOT being spayed today



## Zorana1125 (Oct 24, 2010)

I dropped Mimi off this morning to be spayed and I had labwork drawn prior to. Well the vet called me and said she was not going to say her bc her ALT is 224! Normal range is 10 to 100. Now we r going to run a bile acids test to see what in earth is going on. I am beside myself and so upset. I can't believe this is happening. I need advice!! Mojo had an alt of 299 once when we went to Vegas for vacation and our vet thought it was due to stress, is steadily declined over a few months. I'm not sure what is causing her alt elevation and she is only 10.5 months old. Any thoughts??

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## woodard2009 (Aug 4, 2010)

Wow! So glad you had the bloodwork done. Hope you find answers soon.


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## susan davis (Mar 25, 2011)

If the other liver tests were normal, and there are no symptoms, I'll bet that everything is OK. I have a chi that is on phenobarbital and her Alkaline Phosphotase is 5500mg!!! (normal is around 150). All the other liver tests are normal,so the vet says do nothing for now. We are reducing the phenobarbital with the addition of another medication.


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## Zorana1125 (Oct 24, 2010)

Her alkphos was normal. I wish I could get the bile acid test results sooner!! We r also going to redraw her alt in 1 month to see if it changes any. The vet said to hold off on starting any supplements so we can see how it changes in a month on its own. 

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## Lindsayj (Apr 18, 2012)

Oh no! I'm not sure what it could be, but I hope you find out soon. Good thing you decided to get her spayed or you wouldn't know!


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## KrystalLeigh (Aug 17, 2011)

Oh wow. I'm so sorry that happened and I hope that she's okay! Poor Mimi.


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## ChiChiLove (Feb 4, 2013)

My Mini had this same issue when we pulled some routine blood work around her first birthday. Her ALT was in the low 500 range but she was 100% normal otherwise. We pulled a bile acids which came back normal. When we retested in a month, her ALT was around 90.
We never figured out why it spiked. Nothing had changed. And six months prior to the high reading, she had gotten blood work done with her spay which was normal. I think stress or some dietary indiscretion may have been the culprit.


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## elaina (Jul 1, 2008)

Sorry to hear you couldn't go ahead with the spay but i'm glad you had the bloodtest and hopefully they will be able to figure out the problem...


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## nabi (Nov 25, 2004)

Sorry this happened to you..it's so upsetting...Zari had the same thing happen when she went in for her spay, since she was already fasting they went ahead with Bile Acid Test which was normal...she was spayed a week later without incident....testing was redone at the 6 month point and was normal...this often happens when these little ones are dehydrated.


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## lilbabyvenus (Feb 8, 2009)

Oh no, I hope Mimi is ok! Hopefully she's just dehydrated or nervous


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## lulu'smom (Jan 4, 2012)

Oh no! I don't know what to say! When Lulu's ALT was 749 her AST was also high, and she had purine crystals in her urine. She also had a symptom of an issue with her liver of excessive thirst, but with that being the only symptom, it took me a few days to notice the additional drinking of water. I'm sure though that Mimi's is nothing more than stress and dehydration as others have said. Hopefully all will be well with the Bile acid test. I know the vet said no supplements which rules out milk thistle, but I know a liver cleanse diet. It's homemade, but not raw. If you want it, PM me, and I'll be happy to give it to you. It's just regular food and wouldn't hurt any of your dogs if they ate it. We fed it to Gidget sometimes when Lulu was on it.


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## Jayda (Jun 15, 2012)

Hope Mimi is OK. I know the waiting must be tough. If she is normal otherwise that is a good sign. Hugs to Mimi!


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## Zorana1125 (Oct 24, 2010)

Thank you to everyone for your support, it was not a good day for me. I just got home from work and am going to do some research. I hope I am as lucky this time as I was with Mojo. I have to admit it's reassuring to hear some of you have been through the same thing. ...now if only those results would get here faster!! Thanks again!

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## Zorana1125 (Oct 24, 2010)

lulu'smom said:


> Oh no! I don't know what to say! When Lulu's ALT was 749 her AST was also high, and she had purine crystals in her urine. She also had a symptom of an issue with her liver of excessive thirst, but with that being the only symptom, it took me a few days to notice the additional drinking of water. I'm sure though that Mimi's is nothing more than stress and dehydration as others have said. Hopefully all will be well with the Bile acid test. I know the vet said no supplements which rules out milk thistle, but I know a liver cleanse diet. It's homemade, but not raw. If you want it, PM me, and I'll be happy to give it to you. It's just regular food and wouldn't hurt any of your dogs if they ate it. We fed it to Gidget sometimes when Lulu was on it.


Oh wow those were high!! I may take u up on the liver cleanse. I think I'm going to start the milk thistle anyway. If her bile acid is bad, she's gonna need it and if it's normal, y not help speed up the recovery process?? I wasn't prepared mentally for any of this today. I am glad we did the labs first tho!

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## Chihuahuasloveme (Jan 8, 2010)

So sorry to hear about mimi I can relate with Miaya's recent near death pancreatitis thankfully we were able to solve it but it was so severe I am 100% sure she would have died I think she almost did twice our guardian angels must have been watching because it was a miracle even to the vets that she survived and is normal. I truly hope and will pray you can find a quick cure for mimi we call maiya mimi as a nickname. Good luck mimi.


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## Zorana1125 (Oct 24, 2010)

Chihuahuasloveme said:


> So sorry to hear about mimi I can relate with Miaya's recent near death pancreatitis thankfully we were able to solve it but it was so severe I am 100% sure she would have died I think she almost did twice our guardian angels must have been watching because it was a miracle even to the vets that she survived and is normal. I truly hope and will pray you can find a quick cure for mimi we call maiya mimi as a nickname. Good luck mimi.


Thank you so much, I really appreciate your kind words. I am so sorry to hear about Maiya! How scary and awful. I would have been a wreck too. So glad to hear she pulled through and is back to normal. I'm ready to face whatever it is. I remember a while ago a member posted her chi's funky symptoms and everyone was saying it may be a liver shunt but she didn't want to do a bile acids test. Mimi has no symptoms at all, only 1 elevated lab. Praying it comes down soon. Thanks again! 

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## Chihuahuasloveme (Jan 8, 2010)

4 veternarians told us she was a lemon and to return her and that she would die on us randomly we did not give up and I fought for bloodwork. All 4 said she must have a liver shunt but after the the blood work came back all of her liver functioning was normal but other things were elevated that didn't relate to each other so they relaly thought something bad was happening inside of her after 1 day of antibiotics she was normal her cpl level was >1000 after 10 days of antibiotics and a low fat gastro diet her cpl level was 123 shes still a normal dog and I am sooo happy we syringe fed her we literally had to squirt food down her throat every 2-4 hrs the vet said if we hadnt her oancreas would have ate itself and she would have died we had an ultrasound done of her organs and ruled out a shunt or an under developed organs. 

I hope you can get to the bottom of this don't give up and stay strong I had to get sooo many opinions as I would not take that she would die as an answer. I

I did research on shunts as was told by many they were sure she had one I read a lot of positive outcomes from it I pray it isnt a shunt and just something that can be cured fast and easy. 

Prayers for you both again! 

Maiya only had Hypoglycemic episodes but her sugars were never low it was very very strange


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## lulu'smom (Jan 4, 2012)

Zorana1125 said:


> Oh wow those were high!! I may take u up on the liver cleanse. I think I'm going to start the milk thistle anyway. If her bile acid is bad, she's gonna need it and if it's normal, y not help speed up the recovery process?? I wasn't prepared mentally for any of this today. I am glad we did the labs first tho!
> 
> Sent from Petguide.com Free App


I'm so glad you did that bloodwork too! I'm with you--I would go ahead and start the milk thistle. It's natural. It's not going to hurt and can only help. Also, a fabulous food for her that is perfection as far as almost 0 purines and great source of protein is an egg. You can scramble an egg in coconut oil for a meal. That's not part of the liver cleanse diet, but it is great for her once every other day (If it doesn't start something ). Just PM me if you decide you need that diet, but you may want to see what the bile acid test says.


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## Zorana1125 (Oct 24, 2010)

Chihuahuasloveme said:


> 4 veternarians told us she was a lemon and to return her and that she would die on us randomly we did not give up and I fought for bloodwork. All 4 said she must have a liver shunt but after the the blood work came back all of her liver functioning was normal but other things were elevated that didn't relate to each other so they relaly thought something bad was happening inside of her after 1 day of antibiotics she was normal her cpl level was >1000 after 10 days of antibiotics and a low fat gastro diet her cpl level was 123 shes still a normal dog and I am sooo happy we syringe fed her we literally had to squirt food down her throat every 2-4 hrs the vet said if we hadnt her oancreas would have ate itself and she would have died we had an ultrasound done of her organs and ruled out a shunt or an under developed organs.
> 
> I hope you can get to the bottom of this don't give up and stay strong I had to get sooo many opinions as I would not take that she would die as an answer. I
> 
> ...


You definitely saved her life, I doubt many people would have gone through all that and kept fighting. I plan on doing any and everything to figure it out. My friend sent me some stuff from cornell university about bile acid tests and protein c testing. Once I get the bile acids back, depending on the results, I will test her for protein c. I have a lot more research to do!! 

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## Zorana1125 (Oct 24, 2010)

lulu'smom said:


> I'm so glad you did that bloodwork too! I'm with you--I would go ahead and start the milk thistle. It's natural. It's not going to hurt and can only help. Also, a fabulous food for her that is perfection as far as almost 0 purines and great source of protein is an egg. You can scramble an egg in coconut oil for a meal. That's not part of the liver cleanse diet, but it is great for her once every other day (If it doesn't start something ). Just PM me if you decide you need that diet, but you may want to see what the bile acid test says.


Thanks for the egg suggestion, just 1 egg for her whole meal?? I do have coconut oil for them already! I'm gonna wait to hear about the bile acid results before I make any changes but I'm sure I will be asking u lots of questions. You're the best! Her and leo are playing like two wild monkeys right now so whatever it is, it can't be that serious!!! (Fingers crossed)...

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## foggy (Oct 12, 2009)

Oh I'm so sorry, I know how scary it can be to get back those kind of results. I am sure she is fine though and they will likely return to normal. I know it sounds high, but vets don't usually become concerned until they are quite a bit higher. 

I have been through this with my Roo, her ALT went from in the 300's to 645. I was so terrified. I had 2 ultrasounds done and also a bile acid test. Her bile acid test came back normal which was a huge relief. Her ultrasound showed some signs of fibrosis, but on the second one (after using a supplement called liver happy) it was almost gone. The great thing is the liver can regenerate if there is an issue and it's caught early. 

My Roo is now on Denamarin (a supplement you can buy on places like Amazon) which quickly brought her ALT back down to 150. It's been a miracle supplement for her. She will be tested again in 3 months. 

Try not to worry, I am sure Mimi will be fine. It seems ALT values can go up and down rather wildly over minor issues. The great thing is you are aware of and can keep an eye on it. I'm betting they went up for a minor reason and it will resolve. The milk thistle is a great suggestion. Best of luck to you and little Mimi.


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## Zorana1125 (Oct 24, 2010)

foggy said:


> Oh I'm so sorry, I know how scary it can be to get back those kind of results. I am sure she is fine though and they will likely return to normal. I know it sounds high, but vets don't usually become concerned until they are quite a bit higher.
> 
> I have been through this with my Roo, her ALT went from in the 300's to 645. I was so terrified. I had 2 ultrasounds done and also a bile acid test. Her bile acid test came back normal which was a huge relief. Her ultrasound showed some signs of fibrosis, but on the second one (after using a supplement called liver happy) it was almost gone. The great thing is the liver can regenerate if there is an issue and it's caught early.
> 
> ...


Thabk u so much for sharing your story!! I'm so glad Roo had such great luck with denamarin (I think that's milk thistle with samm e in it). I have also heard of liver happy. My friend has a maltese who swears by liver happy. I remember when my chi gino had horrible liver enzymes from his long term steroid use and his liver bounced back. My vet at Purdue teaching hospital said it was a very forgiving organ. I will look into liver happy also! Thank u again so much!! 

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## foggy (Oct 12, 2009)

Zorana1125 said:


> Thabk u so much for sharing your story!! I'm so glad Roo had such great luck with denamarin (I think that's milk thistle with samm e in it). I have also heard of liver happy. My friend has a maltese who swears by liver happy. I remember when my chi gino had horrible liver enzymes from his long term steroid use and his liver bounced back. My vet at Purdue teaching hospital said it was a very forgiving organ. I will look into liver happy also! Thank u again so much!!
> 
> Sent from Petguide.com Free App


Yes, that's correct, Denamarin is milk thistle with SAMe.  And that's exactly what my vet told me too, how forgiving an organ it is. That made me feel better. I was literally crying and inconsolable when she first called and said they were 645. I go to a holistic vet so I tried the Liver Happy first and she is now on Denamarin and it's helped SO much. Her last ultrasound was virtually normal and her ALT went down 500 points in only 2 weeks on the Denamarin so I highly recommend it or Liver Happy if her results continue to be higher than average. I do think they may just go down on their own.

I'm betting Mimi's issue is minor, and may have just been something very like dehydration or getting into something funky, hopefully the next time they will be completely fine. Please keep us posted. I'm sure she will be just fine.


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## lulu'smom (Jan 4, 2012)

Zorana1125 said:


> Thanks for the egg suggestion, just 1 egg for her whole meal?? I do have coconut oil for them already! I'm gonna wait to hear about the bile acid results before I make any changes but I'm sure I will be asking u lots of questions. You're the best! Her and leo are playing like two wild monkeys right now so whatever it is, it can't be that serious!!! (Fingers crossed)...
> 
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Thank you, girlfriend--back at you!  I give Lulu 1 egg for 1 meal, usually her AM meal and it seems to hold her all the way to her PM meal. Trust me she will let me know if she's hungry. She did a lot of that on that recent frozen raw I tried. lol I don't blame you. Sometimes when you go to changing a lot of things at once, you make things worse instead of better. I'll always try my very best to be here for you and your babies with whatever I can. Thankfully she's having a ball--I'm sure it was just a simple thing that will be A-OK!! (my fingers crossed too)


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## lulu'smom (Jan 4, 2012)

BTW, like foggy, my vet also said as high as Lulu's ALT was, that wasn't really a high that was worrisome. Yes, not to be ignored and definitely treat to bring back to perfect health, but it could be much, much higher than Lulu's 749 reading. I, too, freaked, but it was easily remedied with a SamE medication, antibiotic, and the diet as well as the knowledge that the liver regenerates itself. I reiterate everything foggy said hoping to help you not worry so much! (If that's possible)


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## ellev (Nov 22, 2013)

On the plus side - at least you can procrastinate the first few days after a spay. Ugh felt so bad for the little one the first two days ! Would have rather spayed myself then watch her whimper in confusion - LOL


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## AnnHelen (Nov 29, 2010)

I know nothing about this, but you are in our prayers <3 XOXOXO


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## Zorana1125 (Oct 24, 2010)

Hi friends! The vet just called, bile acids are back...


And they are NORMAL!!!! I am so so happy! I will still start her on milk thistle so we can get her alt down faster so we can spay her! 

Thank u again so much to all of you who shared your experiences with me, it definitely calmed me down a lot. We will recheck in 4 weeks and hopefully everything will be back to normal. 

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## Brodysmom (Jan 8, 2009)

Awesome news Zorana! coming late to the party but wanted to say that I'm so glad that everything is OK! Great news.


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## Zorana1125 (Oct 24, 2010)

Brodysmom said:


> Awesome news Zorana! coming late to the party but wanted to say that I'm so glad that everything is OK! Great news.


Thank u Tracy! I am so relieived. Hoping we can spay her in about 4 weeks. 

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## foggy (Oct 12, 2009)

Zorana1125 said:


> Hi friends! The vet just called, bile acids are back...
> 
> 
> And they are NORMAL!!!! I am so so happy! I will still start her on milk thistle so we can get her alt down faster so we can spay her!
> ...


YAY! That's wonderful news!! I know what relief that feeling is. I'm so happy for you and little Mimi! Please keep us posted on how it goes, I'm certain her level will come down to normal in no time.


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## lulu'smom (Jan 4, 2012)

Oh, I'm so relieved!! :cheer::cheer: Keep us posted.


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## Zorana1125 (Oct 24, 2010)

We went to woof life and home goods today. ....left w 2 bags of treats, a new sweater, a cuddle cup , and dog bed. I think mimi officially forgives me for the stressful weekend!! Lol. 

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## pigeonsheep (Nov 8, 2008)

Dex has high ALT too...but that not that extreme and he still wasnt able to get fixed because of it :/ i feel you.


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## Zorana1125 (Oct 24, 2010)

pigeonsheep said:


> Dex has high ALT too...but that not that extreme and he still wasnt able to get fixed because of it :/ i feel you.


Has he had a bile acids test? Whats his number?

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## Lindsayj (Apr 18, 2012)

Zorana1125 said:


> Hi friends! The vet just called, bile acids are back...
> 
> 
> And they are NORMAL!!!! I am so so happy! I will still start her on milk thistle so we can get her alt down faster so we can spay her!
> ...


Yay!!!! I really hope everything looks good next month!


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## pigeonsheep (Nov 8, 2008)

Zorana1125 said:


> Has he had a bile acids test? Whats his number?
> 
> Sent from Petguide.com Free App


i didnt get that test done because i never got my bloodtest result back from my 2nd vet i went for a 2nd opinion to...sigh. i dont trust any of them here


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## Zorana1125 (Oct 24, 2010)

pigeonsheep said:


> i didnt get that test done because i never got my bloodtest result back from my 2nd vet i went for a 2nd opinion to...sigh. i dont trust any of them here


Ohhh I got ya. Dex's may have been a fluke or maybe he got into something. The bile acids test will check liver function, so if Mimi's came back bad, then I would check protein c levels at Cornell University. I did a lot of research and my friend gave me tons if info bc her maltese has Microvalvular dysplasia (mvd) so she has gone through all of this. Are u giving dex anything like milk thistle? Too bad u didn't live closer, I would take u to my vet!! It's really hard to find a good vet who isn't trying to rob u blind or charge way more than necessary. 

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## debrawade10 (Oct 10, 2013)

Just read all of this Zorana...what a scare. It is nice that you are so knowledgable about these things. The problem I have is that I will find too much info and get frightened by what the problem MIGHT be. Better more knowledge then not enough though! So glad the levels are normal now..
Sounds like you did the right thing.....Retail therapy always helps!


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## Jayda (Jun 15, 2012)

So glad she is "normal"! Lucky girl to score some pretty new things. How old is she now?


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## Zorana1125 (Oct 24, 2010)

debrawade10 said:


> Just read all of this Zorana...what a scare. It is nice that you are so knowledgable about these things. The problem I have is that I will find too much info and get frightened by what the problem MIGHT be. Better more knowledge then not enough though! So glad the levels are normal now..
> Sounds like you did the right thing.....Retail therapy always helps!


It was really scary. I didn't know anything about any of it initially. After the vet called, I started crying like crazy and then called Leslie from Woof Life. She assured me it was probably nothing and not to get worked up until the bile acids came back. She also sent me lots of info from this very well known vet from Cornell university. I was still nervous awaiting the bile acids results but once I got those yesterday, I felt way better. I thought Mimi for sure had a liver shunt bc I always think the worst after what we went through with Gino. 
Ha, yes retail therapy helps! Finally got my dog squad sweater too!

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## Zorana1125 (Oct 24, 2010)

Jayda said:


> So glad she is "normal"! Lucky girl to score some pretty new things. How old is she now?


Thanks Lynda!! I will have to show them off in a new thread later along w the new bed from Home Goods that I'm blaming Krystal and a few others for! She will be 11 months on December 8th, her 1st birthday is right around the corner!!

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## debrawade10 (Oct 10, 2013)

Zorana1125 said:


> It was really scary. I didn't know anything about any of it initially. After the vet called, I started crying like crazy and then called Leslie from Woof Life. She assured me it was probably nothing and not to get worked up until the bile acids came back. She also sent me lots of info from this very well known vet from Cornell university. I was still nervous awaiting the bile acids results but once I got those yesterday, I felt way better. I thought Mimi for sure had a liver shunt bc I always think the worst after what we went through with Gino.
> Ha, yes retail therapy helps! Finally got my dog squad sweater too!
> 
> Sent from Petguide.com Free App


Oh my, what an experience...exactly how I would have felt. Anything with myself and I am fine. My dogs are a whole different story! What do you think of the Dog Squad sweater? Lily has outgrown hers so I was going to order some new ones. I really love the softness and fit of them, Lily seems very comfy in them and actually seems to enjoy wearing them.
Picture, pictures of Mimi's new stash!


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## pigeonsheep (Nov 8, 2008)

Zorana1125 said:


> Ohhh I got ya. Dex's may have been a fluke or maybe he got into something. The bile acids test will check liver function, so if Mimi's came back bad, then I would check protein c levels at Cornell University. I did a lot of research and my friend gave me tons if info bc her maltese has Microvalvular dysplasia (mvd) so she has gone through all of this. Are u giving dex anything like milk thistle? Too bad u didn't live closer, I would take u to my vet!! It's really hard to find a good vet who isn't trying to rob u blind or charge way more than necessary.
> 
> Sent from Petguide.com Free App


Yay u understand  well he was on these drops that contained milk thistle...he hated it so much lmao! I am planning to find another vet soon to check again after changing his diet for a while now. He's always eating well and his activity level is great


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## susan davis (Mar 25, 2011)

Were the bile acid tests negative? You just said you felt better after getting the results, so I assume they were negative.


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## Zorana1125 (Oct 24, 2010)

susan davis said:


> Were the bile acid tests negative? You just said you felt better after getting the results, so I assume they were negative.


Yup they were negative, I am so relieved!

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## Chihuahuasloveme (Jan 8, 2010)

Woohoo negative results


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