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My female Border Collie, eight years old and 36 pounds, ate some of the small shoots that come from the bottom of a Sago Palm tree, She now has severe liver damage. She is being treated by our vet with Denosyl 225mg (2 a day), Flagyl 500mg (1 a day) and Ampicillin 225mg (2 X a day). Our vet tries to be encouraging but we feel that he is not giving us much hope for her. Her Lab values are ALB 2.4, ALKP 278, AMYL 334, BUN 6, CA 9.7, CHOL 226, Crea 1.0, GLU 66, PHOS 4.7, TBIL 1.5, TP 7.1, and
GLOB 4.7. Her Bile Acid was done only once, not fasting, it was 350. Have you ever seen a dog recover with these labs? Can you suggest anything else that we can do for her or give her in the way of diet or medication? We would do anything to get her well within our means, we are retired and limited to resources. She is a very dear pet and a great cowdog. She is now drinking an excessive amount of water and urinating a lot. She seems somewhat depressed at times. The heat seems to bother her more this summer and she seems to be panting more, even when not being active. She is still eagar to get to the cows and sheep. We have removed all traces of Sago Palms from our yard, although too late. Thanks for your answer, whatever it is.

Optional Information:
Age: 8; Female; Breed: Border Collie

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Vets subscribed: Denosyl 225mg 2 a day Ampicillin 500mg 2 X day Flagyl 500mg 1 X day

Customer (name blocked for privacy)

Status: Closed Value: $8

Hello,

I'm sorry to hear about your little girl. She sounds like a great little herder!:) I first want to say I am not a veterinarian. I am a veterinary nurse, but I may be able to help you understand those blood values a little better and offer some suggestions as far as diets that your veterinaran might be able to recommend.

Just a few questions:

When did she eat the palm shoots?

How old are the blood results?

If older, has bloodwork been rerun to see if there have been any changes in those elevations?

What are your Veterinarian's thoughts on this?

Medical emergencies should been seen by a Veterinarian immediately.

If I've been helpful, please click the GREEN ACCEPT button in the right corner. For more information, please click REPLY.

Bonuses & feedback are greatly appreciated :)

Reply to Traci's Post: She ate the Palm shoots probably about six weeks to two months ago. We had a little 5 month old Border Collie pup that was also poisoned and we have already had to put her to sleep because of ascites. We are absolutely broken hearted over our much loved pets. The pup died about three weeks ago. The symptoms did not show up in the older dog until later and we felt sure that she would be alright, but when she started with the symptoms of excessively drinking and urinating, I took her to the vet. The blood work was done on 6/22/06, just a few days ago. The vet encouraged us to keep treating her and see what happens, but he really did not seem to hopeful that she would live. He said that a dog usually does not live with the bile acids so high. If you feel that it is beneficial to continue treating her more aggressively, please tell me, but if you have information that maybe it is too late, I would like to know that also. If you have any other ideas on treatment or diet I would like to know it. I just want to keep her as comfortable as possible until we loose her forever. Thanks for your answer.

Hello again,

I'm so sorry to hear about your little pup -it's a tough situation you've been in lately. Her bile acids are very very high, but at this point,her liver enzyme itself - ALKP is not that out of range. (Normal is 20 -200) Did he also test the ALT? ALT is a liver-specific enzyme. Also, AST, and GGT are also part of a liver profile.

I would ask if a diet called L/D can help keep the liver from having to work so hard. Here is information on that:

From the hills company:

Canine l/d®
For the Nutritional Management of Dogs with Liver Disease.

Your dog’s liver is its largest internal organ and is responsible for ridding the body of toxins and many other functions. Prescription Diet® l/d® was created by veterinarians specifically for the nutritional management of dogs with liver disorders that cause reduced liver function. It is highly digestible, with high quality protein sources that reduce the liver workload and aid in the regeneration of liver tissue. Added antioxidant nutrients like Vitamin E, Vitamin C and selenium, help combat oxidative stress. The nutritional formulation of Prescription Diet® l/d® may also be useful for pets with a variety of conditions.

You can also use Hill's K/D or Purina has one called NF.

Here's their website:
hillspet.com

Another thought is milk thistle: Evidence exists that milk thistle may be hepatoprotective through a number of mechanisms: antioxidant activity, toxin blockade at the membrane level, enhanced protein synthesis, antifibriotic activity, and possible anti-inflammatory or immunomodulating effects. I am not sure if this is something your veterinarian would be willing to try. It also goes by the name of Silybin in the veterinary world.

Ursodiol (Actigal Rx) is can help with bile flow and protect the liver from the toxic effects of some bile acids. I don't know if it would apply in this case but it is worth asking about.

I found this referenced on a site:
Vitamin supplementation with B vitamins is often recommended for patients with liver disease, since these are important to liver function and because
Vitamin B12 storage partly occurs in the liver. Vitamin K supplementation may be necessary at some time as liver disease progresses, as it may not be
stored properly and blood clotting problems may develop. Vitamin C is sometimes recommended for its anti-oxidant properties and Vitamin E is
sometimes recommended due to its anti-inflammatory effects.

I honestly don't know at this point if any of this will help but I think it is definitely worth talking with your Doctor about. Don't start any of this until it has been cleared with him. Your doctor is covering all the other bases with the flagyl, the amoxicillin and the Denysol.

Let me know if you have more information. I'll keep searching for other things that could possibly help you.

Reply to Traci's Post: Thanks so much for your answer. In talking to the vet, he is very serious about there not being any hope for her. She has fluid accumulating in her belly, also probably congestive heart failure as she is breathing very hard. We have another Border Collie, a male, that was the 2002 World Champion in Started dogs at a big trial in California. If we see signs in him we will use your information as soon as possible. Both of our dogs are champions and are good producers of puppies that are all good cowdogs. They are also our very dear pets, as they live on our patio and are treated like our children. We are very broken hearted over them. Thank you so much for your help. I certainly do accept your answer. There is no green accept button in the upper right hand of my post. Please advise.

Edited by Customer (name blocked for privacy) on June 25 2006 at 9:41 PM

I'm so sorry that there aren't more options for your girl. She sounds like a wonderful girl - those Border collies are so smart and athletic and have wonderful personalities. I love watching them work.

Not sure about the lack of the green button - (maybe it isn't green?) maybe if you go back to the original post? If not, the question will close, and you get sent a reminder to accept.

Please take care. If there is anything you need or anything I can answer, please let me know.
My thoughts are with you.

Traci

Edited by amaralea on June 25 2006 at 11:03 PM

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