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Sam's a little puny


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Hi, All,

 

My 2 months short of 15 yrs old Samantha was not herself at all on Friday - she peed in the house 3 times after peeing outside at least 4 times over 2 hrs, (I witnessed the outside pees, and DH woke up after I'd been gone a couple hours to find 3 urine puddles in the carpet) then went out and peed again at least 3 more times in the next couple hours. She was also very tottery on her legs and wouldn't eat breakfast or even sniff at her filled kong. That last alone is a major sign of trouble for her.

 

So, off to the vet we go. Got some blood taken, she had a slight fever - I can't remember exactly what her temp was, but it was a little elevated - and she got cephalexin, as she has a history of uti. The vet called yesterday with the results of the blood work. Of course, I wasn't in the house and he had to leave a voice mail.

 

Anyway, he said the white/red cell count was fine, her kidney numbers were good, but her liver enzymes were elevated. It was a little hard to hear him clearly on the answer machine, but this is what he said, I think: Alkaline phosphase - normal is up to 150, Sam's was 174; ALT normal is up to 107, Sam's was 187. He also said that generally, you don't start to worry until the numbers are twice normal.

 

And, she's feeling better. She's got her appetite back and is able to walk up the 4 steps to the deck from the yard on her own. All of Friday and half of Saturday I had to support her hind end a bit. So it seems the cephalexin is helping, but I don't understand why it would if she didn't have an infection.

 

I'll call on Monday and see what other info I can get. Any feedback or other insights? Would milk thistle help?

 

Ruth and ancient Sam

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Sorry to hear that!

 

My dog went on a major pee-fest last winter at this time, and the vet did not suspect a UTI. He thought Buddy might have diabetes insipidus. But after a few weeks, Buddy stopped chewing his food, and the vet put him on an antibiotic for possible tooth infection. Voila! Excessive peeing stopped.

 

It does sound as though there's an infection, if the dog is feeling better on an antibiotic. Good luck!

 

Mary

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Those values aren't too alarming. The vet I work for said anything can set the ALT off and half the time its nothing at all, as long as the levels don't keep going up and up. My oldest dog has also had liver enzymes go up and down quite a few times. One time I check them and they'll be high, the next time they'll be within normal.

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Really happy to hear the positive update on Sam. :rolleyes: It's always such a relief when they feel better again!

 

(We've been working on a liver-related diagnosis for Old Man Ody these last few weeks, so I've been lurking here to keep an eye on Sam's progress.)

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