# Liver Disease Advice



## LittleWing00

I wrote in a few months back about high bile acid levels from some bloodwork. I changed my chis diet from Royal Canin to Nature's Variety Instinct Dry Dog Food about a month ago an had this test redone. Well, the values are much higher and I am more concerned.

First Test 10/31/08:
pre meal 23.0
post meal 36.4

Second Test 1/3/08:
pre meal 85.4
post meal 75.9

He fasted 12 hours before each test and does not have any symtoms of liver or gull bladder problems. I am at a loss for what to do. I am not financially capable of doing many more tests but I love my chi dearly. This is the first dog I have ever owned myself and I am so concerned. I want what is best for him but am afraid I won't be able to afford it. Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated. I think my next step may be to have an ultrasound done. Does anyone know how much this might be in Florida? Thanks for any and all advice.


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## rebel_yell

Hi there, what is your vet recommending at this point as far as further diagnostics? My initial vet recommended biopsy after a free standing bile acids test came back at 82. I went to a specialist after researching the beans out of liver disease and he felt that ultrasound would be better at that time (less invasive/less risk).

Before I had the ultrasound done my boy was started on a daily dose of Denamarin (milk thistle and SamE combo). This is a neutraceutical that is liver supportive.

I've seen marked improvement on the Denamarin as well as a modified protein diet combined with Dr. Dodd's liver cleansing diet.

I would recommend these sites to check out:
http://pets.groups.yahoo.com/group/canineliver-d/
this one is a forum on yahoo with excellent and plentiful info as well as people experienced with liver issues/disease.

Also:
http://www.monicasegal.com/health/liver.php

As far as the ultrasound pricing goes...well, I know that it was expensive for me. But the most important thing is to find a very good sonographer preferably one adept at locating shunts and other maladies in the canine liver.

I hope this helps some, I will keep your sweet boy in my thoughts and prayers.


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## LittleWing00

Thank you so much for your response. I actually made an appointment to see a specialist today. He is a board certified animal inernist. After looking over Coco, he decided an ultrasound was the best next step. After the ultrasound, he concluded that there was no physical abnormalities and no appearance of a shunt. All his organs looked good and blood flow through his main arteries. We even got to hear his heartbeat! After that result, he concluded that he was 90% certain that he had Microvascular Dysplasia, a broad term for a type of liver disease. This is a disease that is not curable, but definitely manageable. After doing a little more research, I am very confident that he will live a full life. Even though he had the raised values he has no symptoms which is promising for a full life. The doc advised me to use SAMe. I found some online that contains 20 mg of Milk Thistle which he also wanted to start Coco on. It is a small dog specific SAMe whiich is nice. So now we will have him on the SAMe and the Instint Dog Food diet and re-check his bile acids in 3 months to see if there is any change and then go from there. Otherwise, there is no cure and we know that he has some type of disease but to surgically do a biopsy is out of the question for me. So we will treat him for Liver Disease. Thank you for your thoughts and prayers!


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## *Tricia*

I am very happy that it seems his liver disease is going to be easily managed


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