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My dog is sick :( (1 Viewer)

Keith_R

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Hey all, we just recently took my 13 y/o Golden Retriever to the vet for his annual check-up, he appeared fine from looks but we decided to get his bloodwork done just in case. Now, from that same bloodwork it has been discovered that he has a urinary tract infection and that something is off with his liver making the enzyme count higher than normal.

The urinary tract infection will be easy to cure once we get the recommended antibiotics from our vet tommorow. I'm extremely concerned about the liver problem though, in all the time we've had him nothing like this has ever happened. At this point the vet has no guesses as to if the liver problem is serious or not, she did give us the idea though that perhaps the liver thing will get better once we cure the urinary tract infection. It is really hard for me to believe that this is all going on with him since he is as perky and happy as he usually is and is not acting like anything is bothering him or he is in pain.

Are there any vets here that might have some ideas on what is going on with my dog? I personally am hopeful that curing the urinary tract infection will help the solve the liver problem. Any advice? thanks.
 

Stacy Huff

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I'm not a vet, but here's me sending all the goodwill I can so that everything will be fine. I'll be checking this thread for updates.
 

Steve_Tk

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When the dogs get to that age you start running into those type problems. And it sucks because half the time you don't even know they are not feeling well.
 

Keith_R

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He appears as though nothing is bothering him. He eats as normal and gets real hyper around dinner time as he usually does. I'm about to leave and get him his antibiotics so we can start him on those today. I'll keep ya'll updated.
 

Tony Whalen

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Wish I could give you advice Keith! Best wishes to you and your pup!
 

Dick

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The liver in a human being can heal, even if it is fairly severely damaged. Hopefully this is true of dog livers also. I feel your pain. This is a child we're talking about, for all intents and purposes.
 

Dick

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Jack, a person can have every bit as much of an emotional attachment to a good dog as he can a child. The worrying/grieving process is not much less, if any less, painful. Dogs give us unconditional love and would in a heartbeat risk their lives to protect us, and when they are in danger of dying and vanishing from our lives, the hurt is palpable. That is what I meant.
 

Julian Reville

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Elevations in liver enzymes (ALP, SGPT, SGOT) are very common in ageing canines. A 13 year old Golden is getting on up there in age. That doesn't mean that something else might not be going on.
 

gregstaten

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Keith - I'd also suspect the food. My youngest dog (now seven years old) had a urinary tract infection and stones that resulted in an $800 surgery. To solve the problem I switched his food. Previously he had been on Nutro Max Lamb and Rice (a good premium dog food that the other dog had no problem with). He went to prescription CD for a number of years until I switched them both to Canidae (a super-premium food). No stone or infection problems with either the prescription or Canidae.

Definitely check out the super-premium foods. They aren't much more expensive and they're a lot better for the dog.

-greg
 

Jack Shappa

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Dick,

I agreed with most of what you said. I've had dogs who I loved and who died in my arms that broke my heart. Yes, it can be like losing a lifelong friend, and quite devestating. That said, the pain of that loss wouldn't even come close to the pain of losing a child. Absolutely not the same thing.

- Jack
 

Jack Briggs

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Well, many would disagree with that. Meanwhile, let's focus our attention instead on Keith's dog and helping Keith through this.
 

Steve Schaffer

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Keith,

My ex's beloved Lab mix, Nabs, was first diagnosed as having liver problems at the age of 9 or 10. She did have some tumors removed from her liver at about 12, and had to go on some medication about 6 months later. She did make it to 15 however, finally had to let her go when her mobility got to the point that she could not get up on her own.

My prayers are with you and your companion.
 

Keith_R

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What has his diet consisted of for most of his life?

Have you changed it since his last bloodwork?

He eat's Nutro's Senior dog food and has always been eating Nutro's, the only thing we've changed in his diet really is the flavor food that we give him. Otherwise he has always been eating Nutro's.

At this point he is on his antibiotics and seems to be tolerating them okay, except that sometimes I believe that they may be making him feel tired or groggy after taking them.

Once again he seems to act like he did before all this and it doesn't seem like there is a thing wrong with him sometimes. I'll keep busting in here with updates.
 

Jack Shappa

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Sorry to go so OT. Keith good luck with your dog. What's his name BTW?

My cat (tabby named Jonesy) had urinary tract problems and he's on special food for it. Do they make one for dogs?

- Jack
 

gregstaten

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For dogs, the special food is Canine C/D. That's what one of my corgis was on for years.

-greg
 

Keith_R

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Sorry to go so OT. Keith good luck with your dog. What's his name BTW?

his name is Chippy or Chip. As far as I know the vet hasn't said anything about him needing special food so as it stands now he is on his normal diet.
 

Joe Spratley

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You should try the BARF diet (Bones and Raw Food). It is a natural diet consisting of meat and vegetables what a dog would eat naturally. Many dogs have made miraculous recoveries once they switched. Commercial dog food contains a high percentage of grains that dogs can not process. It also contains many chemicals and harmful agents. In addition if you start researching how the food is made and what goes into it you'll never want to feed kibble again. Some of the meat are tumours from farm animals and some is even from dead pets from vets that are picked up by rendering plants. There are several books available in which people have done studies on what is in dog food, can't remember the titles right now. Here is a link to a BARF site. http://www.barfworld.com/ It's a pretty active topic on the internet so you should be able to find a lot more. If you switch your dog will probably go through a period of detox where it will purge its system of all the chemicals that have built up over the years so you might want to wait until he is a little better. But after detox his health should improve since he'll be eating the foods that he evolved to eat over millions of years instead of grains that dogs don't need and harmful chemicals.
 

Joe Spratley

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One other thing. On the Barfworld.com site they sell food. Most people just make their own. I get chicken backs and necks for .39 lb. For 40 lbs its only around $16.00. Then you just get some vegetables and finely chop them and add in a few supplements. One of the best books is Natural nutrition for dogs and cats by Kymythy R. Schultze. In addition another benefit is less waste. You'll only be picking up about 1/3 of what you were before because the dogs body uses most of the natural food whereas most of the kibble that goes in comes right back out.
 

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