[mah4angel]

Louie had his dental cleaning today and we were told that his pre-exam testing showed elevated liver levels (I think she said enzymes) and were prescribed a liver supplement called S-Adenosyl-225 or Denamarin SAMe (225 mg).
I tried asking the vet what could have caused his liver (enzyme?) spike (ALT/SGPT at 149 U/L, 100 is the cap) and she suggested it could be early liver disease, could be something he ate recently, it’s hard to tell without diagnostics.
What else can cause this spike? What else can I do to prevent this from happening again/care for his liver? He also has another ear infection, which sucks. But I think the original vet we went to probably under-prescribed the cortisone drops (Otomax with yeast and bacteria treatment), and did not instruct us to use/prescribe us an ear cleanser. So, that might have caused some of the problem.
Anyway, I don’t want my dog to have liver problems in the future, and I’d appreciate any suggestions you lovely dog enthusiasts have to offer.
Thanks so much 😀

[theBCnut]

Liver enzymes can be elevated due to any insult to the liver, such as heartworm meds, flea meds, fertilizer, bug sprays, herbicides, cleaning agents, etc. They just usually go up for a short time and then go back down again. It’s when they don’t go back down that you start worrying about liver damage, so having bloodwork repeated is the way to go. But make sure there is nothing going on around the house that might be an exposure.

[mah4angel]

Okay! Makes sense, he’s on heartworm prevention (Quadriguard, which no one at the vet’s office has heard of lol we got it from the previous vet), and flea and tick prevention, And, when my fiancee and I got home yesterday his two little nieces told us that they had been “feeding” him but could not tell me what they were feeding him… Sigh. AND he’s taken a dewormer once in the past two months, I believe. We’re supposed to give him another one even though there were apparently no worms detected in his fecal testing. I trust my vet, but it doesn’t make sense to me.

[mah4angel]

Is it normal after general anesthesia for dogs to have a loss of bowel control/diarrhea? My dog just had an accident and he has never pooped in the house. It was also essentially nothing but liquid 🙁

[pugmomsandy]

Anesthesia is a medication with varying side effects. Different dogs can have different side effects. Also it could be from the pain meds (if they gave him some) or from the antibiotics.

[theBCnut]

Anesthesia usually slows down the digestive tract to the point that is is common for dogs to not have a bowel movement for a couple days afterward, but as Sandy says different dogs react differently and there are other things that could have caused it.

[mah4angel]

Yeah 🙁
Now that I look at his history with us, he really has never had consistent or healthy bowel movements. For the most part, his stools are always loose and light-colored. The only consistent thing about the three dry foods we’ve fed him (Purina Puppy Chow-not our choice, Innova Prime Chicken and Turkey, and Earthborn Holistic Primitive. is that they’re all chicken-based (or chicken is the main animal protein). We’ve been doing the Primitive with the Earthborn lamb-based wet food tubs as well. We’ve done plenty of fecal tests with the vet and no parasites… I’m just at a loss.

[pugmomsandy]

Is he still having loose stool? Have you tried giving him some fiber? Like a tablespoon of pure pumpkin puree or a teaspoon of chia seed or 1/4-1/2 teaspoon of psyllium? Or are you going to try a different food? My fosters usually transition well to Nutrisource grain free. I use the Lamb or the Heartland Select (but this one has chicken). The Lamb has lamb and salmon. They also have a fish one – Seafood Select. Wellness Core Ocean has more fiber as well and no chicken in it.

[Melissaandcrew]

Your heartworm tab has three dewormers in it already.

[mah4angel]

The Quadriguard?

[pugmomsandy]

Yes, the Quadiguard. Contains ivermectin, pyrantil pamoate and praziquantel. All three are antihelmintics.

http://www.medicationdaily.com/quadriguard

[mah4angel]

Hey you guys 😀 SO there was a wormer that was mentioned before (I think by HDM) on ONE of the many topics on here and I just cannot find it. It’s supposed to be meant/widely used for farm animals, and everyone was saying that they have used it on their pets and that they really really love it! I don’t, however, remember the name of it 🙁 If anyone can help me out, I’d really appreciate it.
Gracias in advance ^_^

[theBCnut]

I have no idea of any wormer that anybody really loved. I must have missed that one.

[Hound Dog Mom]

I have no idea either. I don’t use wormers on my dogs so it wouldn’t have been anything I mentioned. Unless you’re thinking of diatamaceous earth, maybe?

[mah4angel]

I have no idea ahhhh. It may have been more of an immune booster or something. I just remember it came in a huge jar, I BELIVE in powder form and that it was a good alternative to heartworm preventatives and that it’s commonly used in farm animals o_O

[mah4angel]

I’m just trying to look for a more holistic alternative to the heartworm preventative that my dog is currently on (which is like, a chemical stew).

[Hound Dog Mom]

Sorry I don’t remember the discussion and it wasn’t me 🙁 I use valuheart every 45 days during heartworm season.

[theBCnut]

I think you are mixing a few different posts together. There isn’t an alternative heartworm prevention like that at all. DE was mentioned as a possible for intestinal parasites. It could come in a big jar and everyone was talking about what else it is good for i.e. hair and nails.

I think the holistic approach is more towards using natural mosquito repelling sprays and keeping your dog in during bad mosquito times. And making sure his immune system is as healthy as possible.

[pugmomsandy]

There are heartworm “nosodes” available and other herbal heartworm prevention http://www.onlynaturalpet.com/products/Only-Natural-Pet-HW-Protect-Herbal-Formula/999068.aspx

Dr Will Falconer in Houston TX sells nosodes. His website is VitalAnimal.com

And there are also herbal parasite products as well. There are some at onlynaturalpet for you to look at too under “shop by condition” then “parasites”.

I use Halo Herbal Dip and Mercola Natural Defense Spray for mosquitoes and fleas.

[mah4angel]

AH YES it is an intestinal parasite preventative that I’m thinking of.

And thanks for the suggestions!

[mah4angel]

Okay another question (I’m so sorry!).
We have a newborn baby in the house (not my baby haha I’m 21, no babies for me for a while ^_^) and we’re using Similac with Iron for his formula. Apparently Louie really likes the formula because we constantly spill it on the floor and he licks it all up.
My question is, is formula safe for him (I have a feeling it is, but I really don’t know)? And, my bigger concern, will it throw off his vitamin and mineral supplementation if he ends up licking it up? I don’t want him to be getting too much iron or anything else. For a bigger dog I don’t think I’d be too concerned but he’s so small that I’m always worried something will have a bigger effect than it seems.

Thanks and sorry again…

[mah4angel]

OH totally forgot! I’m thinking of using ProHeart 6 for the next six months for my Louie. It’s a heartworm preventative that’s injected and protection lasts for six months. Not sure if this is a good alternative to a monthly/six-week pill?

[InkedMarie]

I would never use ProHeart. First, they had a recall, was off the market or a long time. Second, why do you want to put that much chemical in your dogs system, all at once? Think about it. Monthly heartworm prevention is bad enough but you can go every 45 days so its not so bad. ProHeart is a big dose of chemicals, all at once.

[theBCnut]

I don’t think you can assume you use a bigger dose of Proheart. It is a different chemical and kills a later stage of heartworm microfilaria. But I do believe it has more side effects and negatives just because of what it is.

[InkedMarie]

Patty, I’m really tired and don’t understand who your last post is directed to or what you mean!

[theBCnut]

Sorry Marie

I probably didn’t word it well anyway. I was trying to do 4 different things at once and I am only ever good for one at a time. I was trying to explain to you that I don’t think ProHeart is a bigger dose of poison even though it works for six months. It just kills baby heartworms at a later stage of developement than the monthly preventions. However, due to the drug that they use for it, I think there is more potential for bad reactions and complications. So I, also, wouldn’t use it.

[InkedMarie]

Ok, Patty, thanks for explaining. I thought I was told, way back when it first came out, that it’s a bigger dose, all at once. I guess I was wrong!

You know, when my kids were little I was great at multi tasking. Now, not so much!

[theBCnut]

I couldn’t even do it as a young mother. My kids have always known that if I get distracted, I’ll completely forget what I’m doing. One of my kids helps me remember everything , the other takes advantage of it.

[mah4angel]

Okay you guys thanks so much!

Also, I understand oh my goodness. I’m a nanny of three (one six year-old, one four year-old, and one six-week old) and they are quite the handful! I potty-trained the two older ones- because their parents refused to do it themselves- and taught the oldest one colors, numbers, and letters. I’m also the only one whose ever read to them. I know it’s not the same as being a parent but I really have raised those kids and it’s so mentally challenging to have two, now three, crazy children to care for…

I kind of figured as much as far as ProHeart having more side-effects. I guess I was just hopeful because Louie is REALLY seriously hard to give pills to (like we hide it in cheese, and he bites of sections of the cheese, finds the pill, takes it out, and eats the cheese -_-).

[theBCnut]

I use liverwurst and always have three dogs surrounding me so they know if they don’t scarf it down quick someone else might get it. There are some advantages to dogs natural greed. Ask you vet about ProHeart in regards to the elevated liver enzymes. Your dog might not be a good candidate for a lot of things if that ends up being a chronic problem. BTW, after giving HW prevention, you should probably give milk thistle to help cleanse the liver anyway.

[mah4angel]

Thanks! I’ve actually comprised an all-natural herbal prevention plan with Only Natural Pet products. So, no more chemical heartworm prevention for Louie ^_^

I did not know that milk thistle has properties that would help with the cleansing of the liver! We’re going to have him re-tested for the liver enzymes soon. The vet said that the elevation was so small that it most likely is less than nothing to worry about, and that when she re-tests they should be back to normal.
I’m pretty much 99.9% sure that I know what happened, though. The HW pills we’ve been using (Quadriguard) was from the previous vet that saw him, and the new vet had never heard of it. The new vet didn’t know that the Quadriguard had wormers already so she would give him additional wormers every month (which is one of the things I pointed out early on because I found it strange that she was giving him wormers even though he tested negative for heartworms).
I kind of think she didn’t believe me when I said we had him on something. Every time we go to the vet, the computer system tells the vet tech to ask if we wanted to put him on heartworm prevention because “it says he’s not covered” even though we’ve told them over and over and over again that we have him on Quadriguard. I’m kind of done with Banfield. I want to find a local Holistic vet, but all of them are quite a drive and Louie gets DEATHLY carsick. Also, the two holistic vets within half an hour of here have pretty awful ratings on Yelp 🙁

I’m actually finalizing my purchase from Only Natural Pet. I’m getting a ton of stuff. Two different kind of prevention (the HW Protect Herbal Formula and the Para-Gone), the Herbal Defense Oil Blend (to prevent bugs from biting in the first place), and Cranberry Wellness for his UT issues (apparently he has crystals in his urine that make him more likely to have bladder/kidney stones and UTI’s). I currently have him on FirstShield for fleas and ticks but I want to move away from chemical flea and tick prevention as well.

I’d really love to see how his liver and the rest of his body will react to the lack of chemicals! I’m spending so much money to do this whole chemical cleanse but it’s SO worth it!

[theBCnut]

Did you read the instructions on the natural heartworm preventions? I checked them out a few months ago and there was some reason that I decided they wouldn’t work for me.

[mah4angel]

Yes! It was probably because of the dosage and the number of times you have to administer it per day (3 times per day, 1 drop for every two pounds of body weight plus some if your dog is over a certain weight, etc.). It will probably be difficult but I’ll be able to do it, especially because Louie is so small. He’ll have 5 drops three times a day (since he’s only ten pounds), which seems totally reasonable to me ^_^

[theBCnut]

Yep, that was it. My schedule is too inconsistent to be able to give drops every 8 hours.

[mah4angel]

Yeah, most people’s are! It’s a little bit crazy ^_^ Thankfully I should be able to do that. I only work six and a half hour shifts at Costco, and I nanny at my house so I should be able to do drops every eight hours. Fingers crossed!

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