Krissy home but won't eat!

[chasenluke]

We picked Krissy up this afternoon from the vet where she had been since Saturday. The vet was still a little concerned with her eating but wanted to see if she would do better at home. She wasn't as perky as she would like. She said something just doesn't seem right.

She went to vet for hypoglycemia and is doing a little better with her blood sugar. THey were having to feed her every 4 hours and sometime by syringe. So far since we have been home she hasn't eaten anything for me. I am not sure what time they feed her last so I am waiting and giving her time to settle since she has only been home 1 hour. SHe came to us on Royal Canine and we were in process of switching to Natural Balance. We did pick up some can food Sunday. I have also tried mixing baby cereal, half and half, baby food meat and karyo that I read about here. No luck there yet.

Any suggestions for getting her to eat?

THey did liver enzymes and they were normal. They didn't do the BAT but say we need to do it. I want to give her some time to recover from all of this first. When we got home she did play some with the boys and barked and ran but not for long. When she went in Sat her blood glucose was 30 so I know it will take time to get back to normal. SHe just doesn't seem the same.

She is 10 weeks and now weights 1lb 15 oz. She was at 2 lbs.

[dwerten]

wow sounds like liver shunt possibly the only way to know is the bats -- maybe some liver shunt moms can help as mine has mvd and she eats just fine -- you may want to join these two groups as they can help with eating Liver_Shunt_And_MVD_Support@yahoogroups.com and dogliverdisease -- both u can search under yahoogroups.com

[Ellie May]

If it is a liver issue, eating certain types of protein can cause a build-up of toxins in her system, so she would associate food with that feeling and not want to eat. I guess because she is symptomatic you have to BAT now but ideally it should wait til 20 weeks when her organs are fully developed.

I would go ahead with it now though because if that is an issue, her diet will need to be changed around. I don't think it's worth the risk to wait any longer personally. Also, the new recommendations are that the dog does not need to be fasted (good in this case), but most vets don't know that. The biggest issue I see is that there is some controversy about drawing this much blood from such a young and small pup. Your vet should know if it will be okay. If hypoglycemia was the only problem here, she should've snapped out of it when she got sugar. It has been too long for something to still not be right...

[chasenluke]

We talked to our normal vet yesterday (she was at a 24 hr hospital so was a different vet) He was saying that if it were her liver she wouldn't be able to keep food down that she would be throwing everything up.

She did eat a small portion of canned food last night and then would eat anything when I woke up in middle of night so I syringe feed her about 5 mls of the formula mix.

I think she is constipated now. They gave her some much meds for her diarrhea that now it has had the opposite affect.

We are going out of town next week and my mom was suppose to keep her but I may decide to board her with my vet and get the BAT done.

I also called breeder and she claims she has never been told any of the puppies have had a liver shunt. I have a 6 month genetic guar. I paid $950 for Krissy and now vet bills are already $600 and that doesnt' include any BAT.

[Ellie May]

Originally Posted by chasenluke

We talked to our normal vet yesterday (she was at a 24 hr hospital so was a different vet) He was saying that if it were her liver she wouldn't be able to keep food down that she would be throwing everything up.

She did eat a small portion of canned food last night and then would eat anything when I woke up in middle of night so I syringe feed her about 5 mls of the formula mix.

I think she is constipated now. They gave her some much meds for her diarrhea that now it has had the opposite affect.

We are going out of town next week and my mom was suppose to keep her but I may decide to board her with my vet and get the BAT done.

I also called breeder and she claims she has never been told any of the puppies have had a liver shunt. I have a 6 month genetic guar. I paid $950 for Krissy and now vet bills are already $600 and that doesnt' include any BAT.

Wow, I'd really have to disagree with the vet.
Liver compromised dogs can usually hold food down...
Does she ever get shaky maybe 2 or 3 hours after eating?

Of course this could be something else entirely though.

[bailey12]

Zeus could keep food down, but just didn't eat much. Made perfect sense when I figured out he had a compromised liver. I think it might be worth a shot to change her food to one for dogs with liver problems. It won't hurt her if it's not her liver. juliet

[chasenluke]

What can I feed her? If I am reading everything that says it is the protein can I mix the formula without the meat baby food and just use half and half and rice sereal with Kayro?

I amy be glad I kept the reciept for all the canned food I bought this weekend. I am jsut at a loss with what to do and I guess until I get the BAT test done and know for sure. Now I don't know if I should board her with my vet who would be so much cheaper because we get a great discount since we know him or if I should just spend even more money and go to the vet she was at this weekend.

She is definitly not as active as she was even when we are trying to play with her. At the vet she did pep back up once she got the sugar and it wasn't until yesterday she seemed more depressed and didn't eat as well. Could it be the constipation? Maybe it is making her feel bad. What could we do for it?

[Ellie May]

Originally Posted by chasenluke

What can I feed her? If I am reading everything that says it is the protein can I mix the formula without the meat baby food and just use half and half and rice sereal with Kayro?

I amy be glad I kept the reciept for all the canned food I bought this weekend. I am jsut at a loss with what to do and I guess until I get the BAT test done and know for sure. Now I don't know if I should board her with my vet who would be so much cheaper because we get a great discount since we know him or if I should just spend even more money and go to the vet she was at this weekend.

She is definitly not as active as she was even when we are trying to play with her. At the vet she did pep back up once she got the sugar and it wasn't until yesterday she seemed more depressed and didn't eat as well. Could it be the constipation? Maybe it is making her feel bad. What could we do for it?

If she is really constipated, I'm sure that could make her feel horrible.
Have you tried canned pumpkin (not pumpkin pie filling)?

Food for liver compromised dogs is generally too low in protein to be healthy for pups (unless it has to be given if the liver is diseased...). I would talk to the vet about it first because she may just not be feeling well and if her liver isn't diseased, going to such low protein may not be a good idea... I would stay away from red meat, pork and exotics until you get this figured out and if your vet doesn't agree that she should go on low protein/prescription food, maybe you can find a puppy food with a lower protein level... Does that make sense?

[chasenluke]

We are still having to feed Krissy with a syringe. We are giving the Nutrical as well. I am worried that when she smells the food she will now think of being force feed and it will be worse. She has only attempted to eat on her own abotu 3 times since we got her. I dont' know if I should keep trying different fodds because I dont' want to upset her tummy.

She has been a little more interested in playing. She still just isn't acting right. SHe is getting better. I am wandering if it was just being at the vet. I am still not sure what to do about next week when we are on vacation. My mom is more than willing of doing what needs to be done but the vet would watch her more and i could get the BAT done to at least rule it out.

If her liver enzymes came back normal what are the chances the BAT won't?

Shannon

[Yorkieluv]

In order for the liver enzymes in a regular blood panel to really come back high, the liver has to have a significant amount of damage/inflammation/etc. at that time...
So, it's very possible that the liver enzymes in the regular bloodwork come back normal, but BATs come back elevated.
So, BAT should be done to check liver function.