My Dog has Liver problems. I have taken him to the vet where they did blood tests, ultrasound with biopsies and they still cannot tell me what is wrong. I am giving him milk thistle. He will not take the antibiotics or the Maren and barely eats. Do you have any suggestions?
Thank you.
I’m sorry to hear about your guy. He may need exploratory surgery to better define the problem. I know it may sound drastic, but he sounds pretty ill.
Good luck.
Phillip McHugh, DVM
Park Veterinary Hospital
Durham, NC
Milk thistle is the same as Marin essentially, so that part is okay. Ask your vet to have the other meds compounded into a form which you can give. Consider having the whole biopsy process redone, and if it was done via ultrasound, consider having it done this time via exploratory.
Dan
Try the following:
(1) glutathione IV-at least 3 cc’s, use IV alpha-lipoeic acid as well. Call For Better Health, LLC in New Orleans(Humans) 504-818-2525 or NOLA Animal Clinic, LLC(Animals)504-241-6462
(2) hepatic support from Standard Process
(3) L/D (Science Diet food)
Lily Rai, DVM
NOLA Animal Clinic
New Orleans, LA
Sometimes the bile needs to be cultured to rule out the possibility of a bacterial hepatitis. Depending on the type of biopsy (needle aspiration ((cell sample)),vs others which provide a tissue sample e.g. needle biopsy, laparoscopic biopsy, or surgical) another type of biopsy may be required.
Surgical is the best but not always practical. Needle aspiration is the safest and easiest but may not give the necessary info to make a diagnosis by a pathologist. Pathologist will often require a tissue biopsy and sometimes a fairly large one (laparoscopically or surgically obtained) to make a definitive diagnosis. I would find out what type of biopsy was performed and repeat with a more aggressive one if bacterial hepatitis has been ruled out.
Dr. Terry Medinger, DVM
VCA Aurora Animal Hospital
Aurora, IL