Question by tangalangbabe: Can my dog recover from liver damage?
Yesterday morning me and my husband were awakened by my 3 year old male doberman peeing in the bedroom floor. My husband got up to rush him outside and he collapsed right before he got him to the back door. I then tried to get him to go outside and he pooped on himself. I looked at his gums and they were really white. I freaked out and then called the emergency vet and they told me to get him there as quickly as possible. This is about a 30 min drive and on the way there I sat with him in the backseat while my husband drove. When we got to the vets office he was fine. He was wagging his tail his gums had a little more color in them. They couldn’t find anything wrong. This vet proceeded to tell me that he had an irregular heart beat and that he may have a heart problem. I then took him to my regular vet when they opened and the run some tests on him and said everything seemded to be normal except that he had an enlarged prostate. He is not fixed due to him only having one testicle that has dropped and it was going to cost 0 to get him fixed. I know he needs to be fixed and I will take care of that later
The test results come back today and he said something about the liver reading being in the 900′s and the normal is supposed to be 120
He asked if he could have gotten ahold of anything like tylenol or anything like that. He said he has never seen it this high. After I got off then phone with him I remebered that a pack of stackers with one pill in it had fell from a shelf in the kitchen the other day and i picked it up and put on the kitchen counter. When i went to look for it it wasn’t there. I have searched the whole house, in between couch cushions, under furniture everywhere and can not find the wrapper or anything close to it.
Could this be what had happened to my dog? Will his liver recover from that?
Also my dog is acting normal since he arrived at the first vets office yeaterday morning at 5 am. He has been eating normally and drinking plenty of water. He has been acting like himself.
The vet had me bring him in again to run some more blood work to double check the numbers because they were so high. I can’t afford paying outrageous vet bills and I am hoping someone knows more then what the vet is telling me or if another vet can give another opinion. I would really appreciate it to hear responses from vets.
Thanks
I also wanted to know if his liver readings were that high if he would have any symptoms?
Best answer:
Answer by Dreamer
The liver is an organ that can and will regenerate and heal itself over time. However, there are some chemicals and substances that can cause irreperable damage to the liver.
Without knowing exactly what he ingested or how much, it will probably be impossible to guess if he can recover or not. If his liver function starts improving, there is a good chance he will make a full recovery. If his function stays the same or starts diminishing, there may not be much else anyone can do about it. At this point all you can really do is wait.
What do you think? Answer below!
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only your vet would be able to answer this fully. I am so sorry!
You are better off doing as the vet says. You may as well go ahead and fix him now.
l am not a vet but vet nurse and high liver count is really dangerous BUT given he took these pills before the blood work out it may give a false reading.You need really to see a specialist as blood tests path tests are expensive or find another vet who is ab excellent diagnostician.Liver damage initially will not exhibit illness at first but eventually does so unfortunately you may have to be up for the blood workup or a biopsy of the liver to see what is wrong.You may get help at some of th vet faculties at Colleges you never know so try everything as liver failure id not something a dog can survive unfortunately.re the missing testicle you have to get the dog neutered as if it does not come down there is a chance of cancer here.
Your not going to find a veterinarian diagnosis over yahoo answers.
The best thing to do is to call around and speak with vets in your area, tell them your story and see what they say…call a few and get different opionins.
Blood test CBC/Chem 12 is the only thing I can suggest, its a good idea to follow up and get another test done in a few weeks.
Best of luck w/ your doggie.
The liver is important for the purification of the blood. If that has become damaged your dog could have long term effects.Please follow any advise your vet gives you. The vet knows more about this than you or I do.
Unfortunately, I am very familiar with liver disease in dogs. A couple of years ago one of my dogs was diagnosed with it.
Vets will tell you it can be either genetic, because it common in some breeds. You can search online to see if liver disease is common in Doberman’s.
Another cause for liver damage or disease is from meds, age and the environment. If your dog ate the 1 Tylenol pill, it would have caused your dog’s liver enzyme levels to be very elevated.
Other symptoms of liver disease is if your dog loses his balance and walks kind pf wobbly. Almost like he’s drunk. If he does not eat as much, drinks a lot of water, some hair loss, and if his foot pads become crusty and scaly. When these symptoms occur, usually the liver disease is advanced and not good.
If the bloodwork was the only symptom, that could be a good sign. There are treatments and a diet you can do to help your dog live a good life and flush the toxins out of his body.
Ask your vet if there are any vet specialists in your area. Your dog needs a liver specialist(endocronology, oncology, internal medicine). If your vet or you can’t find a specialty vet group, check nearby colleges. If money or ask your vet to call specialists and get info. on an IV treatment for liver disease. Basically, the vet just flushes your dogs system with amino acids/fluids.the treatment lasts just 1 day at a time. If the symptoms go away, then you can just do the treatments as needed.
There is a great diet I found by researching online. Dogs with liver disease need a high protein/low fat diet. I gave my dog a low protein dry dog food. Then, every day, twics/day or however many times a day you feed your dog, feed him a small diet of chopped boiled or scrambled egg(give him mainly the egg whites), cottage cheese(a couple tablespoons or so), steamed veggies, fruit, cooked rice or potatoes and boiled chicken breast. This diet gives your dog the protein it loses from the liver not functioning properly. It also boosts amino acids that your dog needs and helps him feel better.
Have your vet redo the bloodwork in about 2-3 weeks. If the levels are back to normal, that is great. If they are still high then ask your vet to recommend a specialist or have him call one to give him some suggestions and mention the IV amino acid/fluids treatment.
I hope things work out for your dog. I’m not trying to scare you with my advice and such, it’s just that liver disease in dogs is serious and the sooner you help him the better it is for him.
Best of luck to your dog. Hope I helped.
relax and just call your emergency vet a couple of more times. and if they dont answer just take them there.