When I first decided I wanted to adopt a dog to be a companion for Sampson, I said I wanted a dog close in age, mostly because I wanted them to have similar energy levels. I couldn’t think of Sampson dealing with puppy energy, nor could I think of an older dog dealing with Sampson’s energy. Enter Delilah who is approximately 18 months younger than Sampson.
WHAT I didn’t consider was a scenario where I would deal with two dogs aging, and how heartbreaking and nerve wracking my life would become.
Monday we had Delilah’s blood drawn to check her liver levels. Unfortunately the antibiotics and the Denamarin did nothing to reduce her levels, instead her levels increased slightly.
The next step my vet advised was to have an ultrasound done to rule out a mass on her liver or somewhere else in her stomach that might be contributing to the elevated levels.
My vet’s office does not have an ultrasound machine, instead there is a Dr. with a portable machine who travels New England. He typically makes his way to my vet’s office on Wednesdays. Since it was late Tuesday afternoon, my vet suspected we might have to wait until next Wednesday to have the procedure done.
THANKFULLY the ultrasound Dr was available yesterday, so we scheduled the procedure. I spoke with another vet from our practice who explained the procedure. They would try and do the ultrasound without anesthesia, but if Delilah was too wiggly or uncomfortable, they would have to anesthetize her. If the Dr. discovered something and felt it warranted it, and could do it safely, they would do a fine needle aspiration if I was agreeable. I was.
Or course, the test is done on an empty stomach. Nothing to eat after 9:00 pm the night before, nothing to eat the morning of, although she could have water.
So yesterday, my sweet baby girl missed her breakfast. This went over like a loud fart in church. (Which actually happened at a wedding I attended. It was awesome!)
Every time I moved, Delilah moved with me. Here’s how our conversation would have gone, had she been able to talk.
D: It’s BREAAAAAAAKFAAAAAAAAST time.
Me: No sweetie, I’m sorry, you get no breakfast this morning. But I will bring a half serving of a meal for you to have after your procedure.
D: How ’bout some liverwurst to wrap my meds in?
Me: Oh honey, no. Today you don’t get your meds in the morning.
D: BUUUUUUUUUUTTTTT I’ll get cookies on my walk, right?
Me: No darling, I’m super sorry, but you can’t have any cookies on your walk either, here have a bit of water.
D: This is bullshit!!
Me: Yes I know love and so is waiting.
The easy part was dropping her off. I felt more comfortable dropping her off because 1) it was at my own vet’s office and I love them dearly, 2) my favorite vet tech checked us in and promised to be me while Delilah was there.
They gave me a window of between 11:00 am and 3:00 pm for the procedure. I jokingly told them the cable company gives me a better window. 🙂
Finally about 2:20 I got the phone call and it was good news!! Delilah’s liver looks normal. There are no masses!! They recommended she have a Bile Acid test, which they were able to do while she was there. They also recommend a biopsy, but based on what the Dr. saw during the ultrasound it’s okay to wait a couple of months for that.
The bad news is we might be looking at Chronic Hepatitis. Which according to Dr. Google (I know, I know don’t listen to Dr. Google) can still be life threatening. I am however taking hope in the fact that we have time to perform more tests. I think if it was really bad they would insist on the testing sooner, rather than later.
No-one said ANYTHING about shaving my fur Mama!
Of course, I’ll be having another conversation with my Vet once the Bile Acid test results come in and hopefully we will know more then.
In the meantime the Dr. said whatever is going on it looks like we caught it early!
I’m going to take that for the win, Alex!
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Oh my goodness! Not another health issue!? But hooray for no masses!! THat’s definitely a win! Try to not freak out tooooo much about what it might be until you get more tests done. (I know that’s way easier said than done!) Hope the bile test will be enlightening!
Love your imagined conversation with Delilah. I’m certain that’s exactly what she was thinking!
We have to think positive thoughts that all will turn out well!
I’m taking that as a win, too. Don’t worry, Delilah. You still look beautiful even with the bare fur patch.
Catching it early is a huge thing. Keeping you in my thoughts and hoping everything will calm down for you soon!
Poor Delilah I know how challenging it is to have more then one dog aging at once! Pings levels have fluctuated quite a bit over her liver disease journey of two years. Also I would aks the vet about what will be gained from the biopsy. In Pings case we elected not to do it as they said it would only possibly reveal the big C and there was basicall nothing to be done about that. Of course Im sure the situation could be very different with Delilah and there might be much to gain. I was also told that the procedure was somewhat risky
retro rover
That fart in a church thing totally cracked us up! On the other side, that really sucks with the liver issues. I guess having two dogs close in age is nice until they get older, but Mom says having three of us spread at 1, 8, and 12 is not easy either as we all have totally different needs. I think no matter how you do it, there are issues. So glad there isn’t a mass, but we have our paws crossed that those liver values go down. That would totally stink not being able to eat anything after 9pm. Luckily, when that has happened here we needed to be at the vet at o’dark hundred so Mom didn’t have to deal with us missing much.
You know Miss D is in my prayers. Glad there’s no mass showing up! I know what a relief that was! Sounds like the vet is right — they caught whatever it is early, while it’s easier to treat.
Omgosh….this sounds like donnas senario with toby…i know sometimes…testing is warranted..but when you have a test..when you are not ill..they can sometimes bring up things that people would never know if it wasnt accidently found. Toby had the same with his calcium level..thete one week..gone another..me..they thought i had bone dancer becauce of a routine urine exam..went to the cancer dr…she laughed and told me go home…next test was normal..i always wonder if our levels change routinely and no one knows unless accidently found!!!
Of course..on the other hand..it does catch things early….its like dammed if you do and dammed if you dont!!
Now that i rambled…i hope everything turns out fine for you and it was just a fluke…good luck to you both jodi…will send prayers your way
Yes, having aging dogs really can be rough. Before Luke, I realized every pet in our household was considered “senior” and that kind of scared me! So far we’ve been pretty lucky not to have too many issues (KNOCK WOOD) with the four seniors (dogs and cats) we now have.
I am SO glad you got the news of no masses. I hope the bile test results will give you more good news, and try to stay away from Dr. Google in the meantime, or at least not to focus on the worst case scenarios. Hepatitis sounds pretty treatable to me, especially if you caught it early. This is why we now do a Wellness Panel blood test for our girls.
Delilah has such good argumentative skills, it is really hard to deny the logic of her appeal. I wish there were some way of letting dogs know that what we are doing is for their own good because we love them. Keep thinking positive.
We hope that everythingy will work out and that it is nothing serious…
Hey Delilah…. I had an Ultra Sound LAST MONTH…. and my furs are just starting to grow back… it is kinda COOL on hot days though… Just sayin. F.F.
Hope you get good news with the rest of the tests.
Thank goodness the ultrasound didn’t show a mass. I never realize how many times I slip Blueberry a snack/breakfast/etc until I have to deprive her of those things before a “procedure” at the vet’s. She looks at me so pitifully, as if to say, “Don’t you love me anymore?” And then the final insult comes when I leave her at the vet’s office. It makes me want to poke my own eyes out so I can’t see the look on her face.
This sure is a long drawn out process of finding out what is wrong with her. Hope they can give you answers soon and help her!
I don’t know why I am having so much trouble with Barks and Bytes. Gremlins in my computer?
Hopefully all the test results will be good news! Sampson and Delilah sure keep you busy.
I hope it all works out okay. Hugs to Delilah, and to you.
Wow, I know how you feel about the aging dogs…I’v ehad a similar conversation with my guys multiple times..too many times. I”m glad they found nothing – at least no mass. I’m hoping that whatever is going on it’s treatable.
Our first dog had immune mediated hepatitis that caused psoriasis of the liver. It was a difficult journey for him and us. I hope your lovely girl does not have anything as serious. POTP.
I know you had a stressful day yesterday. It sounds like she was a good girl. Hopefully they will find it is something other then hepatitis and not serious. You know I am here if you need to talk. 🙂
Thank you for sharing your experience. We haven’t had to deal with any health issues beyond arthritis so I’m completely ill prepared and I don’t trust Dr. Google AT ALL – although he’s sat up with me a few nights.
I’ll follow along to keep up to date with Delilah’s progress (great name by the way), because this IS bullshit!!!
Great post!
Jodi – Ask your Vet about putting Dalilah on Milk Thistle it helps support and clear toxins from the liver. I had a Sheltie who had liver difficulties and this helped decrease her numbers. You never know anything could help.
Milk Thistle is an herb that you can get at places like Natural Grocers…
Good luck with your sweet girl – give her a hug and a kiss for me – I’ll send out a puppy prayer to the heavens!!!!!!!
Well, I am very glad to hear that you were able to catch things early enough.
Oh, and UGH! Shaved fur?? How dare those humans!!!!
ღ husky hugz ღ frum our pack at Love is being owned by a husky!
Thinking of you guys. I couldn’t help but laugh, because I think my Bruce and I would have the same conversation if he had to fast for something.
oh so glad her liver looks normal and no masses! what a relief, I hope the levels don’t get any higher and she does great for a very long long time!
Hi Jodie. Today is my first visit to your site. I joined the Thursday Barks and Bytes Blog Hop for the first time yesterday. You have a very nice and personable writing style that I enjoy.
I have been a veterinarian in California for over thirteen years so I read your post about Delilah’s elevated liver enzymes with interest. It sounds like your veterinarian is doing all the right things and that you and your veterinarian are working well together to try to make sure that Delilah gets whatever diagnostics or treatments that she might need.
If you ever feel that you would like more information about her liver issues or that you would like a second opinion, you might consider taking her to a board certified veterinary internal medicine specialist in your area. You could ask your veterinarian for a referral or just check online and/or talk with friends to find a specialist in your area that has a good reputation. It is usually possible to take your pet to a specialist without a referral from your veterinarian and it is usually not that expensive for an examination and consultation with a specialist.
-Dr. Rachele Baker
Thank goodness her liver levels were back to normal. I can’t imagine how hard it would be to have both dogs with health problems at the same time. Take care, all of you, and don’t listen to Dr. Google.
Have you had her checked for Addison’s Disease? It is a commonly missed diagnosis which causes elevated liver values. It can be diagnosed/ruled out with the ACTH stimulation test which is noninvasive. We spent a lot on tests ruling things out, but that test gave us the answer. Though not great news, our dog is now on predisone and is doing great. Good luck.