YOu and I are playing our usual game of posting on two boards at once (Outdoorschik and I have known each other for years and post on another board, too).
But I'm gonna post here what I did on Canine Club just IN CASE anyone is searching for liver infection stuff. You've already answered me -- HOWEVER -- the one point I should make is that not all vets seem to know that correllation between high cholesterol and high alt/phos ratio -- my one vet is just a particularly good diagnostician and taught me that tidbit a long time ago.
This is what I'd posted for Outdoorschik elsewhere (not on Dog.com). Essentially they're checking all the following. But the caps at the bottom is meant as encouragement to ANYONE. The liver *can* re-generate if whatever is wrong is something that can be healed.
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What was the [link
http://www.vegsource.com/animal/dogs/messages/1014631.html#]cholesterol level[/link]?? With the alt/phos that high IF the cholesterol is high as well it can point to early renal stuff (at a stage where you can still do something about it).
Rack your brain HARD -- can you identify any way she may have eaten something that was horrifically spoiled (gotten in the trash, eaten another dog's puke) ANYthing to have infected the liver? That's what happened with Foxy -- and we were able to pull him completely out of it.
Now honestly, it took a ot of Chinese herbs -- there is a Chinese herb that is similar to [link
http://www.vegsource.com/animal/dogs/messages/1014631.html#]milk thistle[/link] and they put Fox on gobs of it. Big guns antibiotics.
Foxy's Ultrasound looked HORRIBLE. I had four vets telling me to put him to sleep but I knew in my heart of hearts it came on TOO sudden and I *knew* he'd likely gone outside and eaten something somebuddy had thrown up the night before (maybe even him). But it laid in the Florida heat for 24 hours and THEN he ate it. He threw it right up again but that bacteria just tore thru him.
When we took him to the e-vet he was pantin panting panting ... and the evet was sure it was 'heart' -- until he saw his numbers and x-rays and then said "this dog is in liver failure and it's probably [link
http://www.vegsource.com/animal/dogs/messages/1014631.html#]liver cancer[/link] -- we should put him to sleep".
NO WAY. The vet wouldn't listen to me when I told him what I thot had happened. "No this liver has been bad for a long time -- LOOK at these x-rays."
Well yeah -- thay looked awful ...BUT as we proved in pretty short order it WAS an infection.
Foxy's temp at first was normal -- that's what threw all the regular vets off -- no temp = no infection.
BUT HE WAS PANTING. That little sheltie was panting cos he was feverish -- and once they sedated him to sleep and he shut that little mouth, his temp SPIKED.
Dr. D's office (the other vet that works with her) caught it when she looked at his [link
http://www.vegsource.com/animal/dogs/messages/1014631.html#]records[/link]. She pointed and said "SEE -- his temp spiked after he quit panting and went to sleep. It IS an infection."
Dr. Bailey had even done an ultrasoundw hich looked as bad, or worse, than the x-rays. But honestly I held my ground. He had NOT been acting sick. NOT AT ALL. So I got them to let me try antibiotics (with 4 vets -- not Dr. D's office, but everyone else -- thinking I was solid gold NUTS). But he resonded to them.
Don't make a decision on this fast -- please don't. And with Foxy the first one they put him on was Biaxin -- and I know it made his stomach upset--- so I asked for another antibiotic (and I know the vets just thot he was so toxic from [link
http://www.vegsource.com/animal/dogs/messages/1014631.html#]liver failure[/link] and poor Mrs. K just doesn't want to believe it ...)
but NOPE -- soon as they got him on Baytrill, which agreed with his stomach better, HE GOT BETTER.
Don't let them jump to conclusions. Foxy was on a ton of herbs and big guns [link
http://www.vegsource.com/animal/dogs/messages/1014631.html#]antibiotics[/link] for a while -- but it did the trick. Even at the advanced age of 17 1/2 he healed completely from that.
DON'T FORGET -- **** THE LIVER WILL REGENERATE ****
Good luck.