Labradoodle with chronic hepatitis

[Barbara Dudas]

I am hoping someone out there will have some experience with this. Over the last three weeks my husband and I noticed some changes in our 8 year old doggie. First we noticed he seemed to have smaller than usual stools and he seemed to be straining. Second he started not wanting to get in the car. He goes to the office everyday with us and jaunt in the last two weeks he was hesitant getting in the car and we had to coax him. On Tuesday we thought his stomach looked a little larger so without hesitation we took him to the vet. An X-ray showed fluid in his abdomen which they drained to make him more comfortable. Blood work showed all his liver numbers were abnormal. They suggested we see a specialist for an ultrasound. We had that done yesterday and it showed what they believe is chronic hepatitis and pretty significant liver damage. At this point they would like to do a biopsy of his liver. The normal outpatient method of doing that is not possible since they are afraid he would bleed too much. They either want to do it in surgery or laparoscopically so we have to consult back with our vet to determine which method is the best for our guy. We have so many questions and are trying to wrap our heads around this. This seemed to come out of nowhere. The symptoms we were seeing seemed pretty minor. We were thinking we'd leave the vet on Monday with some meds or suggestions to relieve constipation and maybe some meds for arthritis. If anyone has any experience with this I would very much appreciate hearing what your experience has been. The big immediate question I have is regarding diet. The last few days I had been feeding him some chicken breasts mixed with broccoli and carrots to try to get him some relief from constipation. Generally he's been eating a mix of a high quality lamb canned food and dry food. He had gotten picky six months or so ago and we started mixing in the canned food (probably a sign of what was happening). Also any idea concerning the method for the biopsy? While I know the laparoscopic procedure is less invasive without specifying it the specialist indicated its an expensive procedure. Any thoughts or suggestions would be appreciated. The vet said they see chronic hep more frequently in the lab breed than in other breeds for what it's worth. Thank you!

[Janet & Jaxson]

So glad to hear the hopeful news!  And glad Chase decided to go to work today!  Thanks for the update, keep us posted.

[Laurie, Wally & Charlotte]

I've continued to think about Chase and your predicament. Your recent update got me to thinking . . . I mentioned in an earlier reply that Wally couldn't have a dental procedure a couple of years ago, because the pre-surgical labs revealed damage to his liver from Rimadyl. I remember that our vet prescribed something to help speed up the recovery of his liver, so I just called her office to find out the name of the drug. It was Danamarin. Perhaps this could help Chase. Who knows, but I thought I'd share it, just in case. 

[Barbara Dudas]

That is the liver supplement Chase is on!  I am very excited to hear this because it gives me hope that this med will help heal his liver.  He has been on it since Saturday so fingers crossed I'm hoping it may be working it's magic.  Thanks so much for checking on this and for the information!

[Laurie, Wally & Charlotte]

Fingers, toes and paws crossed that it will work like a charm :o)

[Jane, Guinness and Murphy]

I second that!  Sending lots of hopeful energy.

[Wendy and Myla]

This all sounds soooo encouraging!  Thinking of you lots and hoping for the very best outcome!  Hugs!

[Nancy, Ned, Clancy, and Charlie]

What hopeful news!  I hope your regular vet's thoughts prove true and Chase has a full recovery.

[Barbara Dudas]

All is about the same with Chase.  He is not eating much in the morning but gobbles his food in the early evening.  I wondered if any of you have tricks for getting your dogs to take medicine (larger type tablets)?  Right now I am using as small a piece of lunch meat as possible to get him to take it but it worries me because he should only be getting his prescription food.  I was using turkey but he started turning away when I gave it to him so now I'm using bologna, which he loves, but I'm not sure is very good for his liver.  The vet tech told me she just shoves the tablets down her dog's throat.  Not sure I could do that....any suggestions appreciated!  Chase is taking 5 tablets a day right now so it's kind of an issue in our house.

[BG and Gavin]

I have used a dab of processed cheese spread to coat the pill. It doesn't take much. Not sure if that would be bad for his liver or not. Can you hide the pills in the canned rx food?

[Karen, Jasper and Jackdoodle]

Jackdoodle takes 10 to 15 pills a day, depending on time of year and day of the week, and since he has IBD, I couldn't hide them in lunch meat, liverwurst, cheese, etc if I wanted to, because of his restricted diet. So I have to pry open his mouth, place the pills at the back of his tongue, then hold his mouth closed until he swallows. We have to do that 4 times a day. It's not fun for either one of us, but the bottom line is, he must get those meds to live, and it's up to me to get them into him. I coat them with mashed sweet potatoes (which he can have) to keep them from sticking at the back of his tongue. It also makes it easier for me to spot those that he does manage to spit out, lol. 

[Linda, Charlie Brown and Beau]

Do they make your prescription food in the can form or just kibble?  That might be a a possibility.  My vet has recommended the cheese you squirt out of the can, but Charlie would not touch that stuff.  I was thankful his RX was for only 10 days. Charlie is one that eats one piece of kibble at a time, so it is extremely difficult to trick him. He eats so slow and one piece at a time.  I ended up having to have him open his mouth and quickly dropping the pill on the back of his ton and closing his mouth so he had to swallow.Good luck.

[Ricki and Tara (doodle)]

What are the main ingredients in the RX food? Is there anything in it that you could purchase and use to disguise the pills?  Maybe the primary protein?