My baby girl Bradley (border collie) of 12 years (its her birthday today!) is really sick and is currently at the vet clinic. She had a sudden onset of severe lethargy and loss of appetite. Before this she was an enthusiastic eater, was always willing to play fetch and sprinted to each toy I threw her. So I’d say she was in great health.

I took her to the ER on Sunday night and blood work showed liver and biliary enzymes were off the scale. Everything else was fairly normal considering. She also had a high temperature. X-rays and ultra sound didn’t turn up anything, though the ER vet admitted that she personally wouldn’t be able to decipher the smaller pathologies on ultra sound. Monday didn’t show any improvement other than her temp went down and she was voluntarily drinking. Monday night as I took her out to potty, she instantly perked up when she saw her arch nemesis cat and tried to chase her. But once the cat ran away, she then went back to her weakened state.

Today I took her in to her vet for more blood work and decided to go ahead and hospitalize her for fluids and anti-nausea meds. I came back this afternoon and she looked better. She even perked up when I brought her a squeaky toy. I threw it a little ways and she slowly went over to it and squeaked and shook it before bringing it back. I was told she took a few bites of wet food, but she didn’t want to chew on the birthday bully stick I brought her. Her blood work was the same as Sunday night, but they sent out her liver enzymes to get a more specific number.

The tough part is I wish I knew her prognosis. If I knew she was going to get better, than all the poking and prodding and pill shoving down her mouth is all worth it to get her back to her usual quality of life. But if this is her body giving up, I hate putting her through all this. The vet wasn’t sure but was willing to do what I wanted with her. Her perk up moments make me think she’s fighting through it all, so my plan is to help her fight through it.

I guess I just need some virtual hugs and encouragement that I’m doing the right thing ( or a reality check that maybe this is it for Brad). I’m sort of an emotional wreck right now, and I know its been made worse by the fact that my hubby is away with the military and I’m having to deal with this alone. And I've never had to deal with decision making for an old dog.

You have all the virtual hugs I can send, believe me.

"Her blood work was the same as Sunday night, but they sent out her liver enzymes to get a more specific number."

When do you get that info about the off-the-scale enzymes?

This might answer many questions:

http://pets.webmd.com/dogs/liver-disease-liver-failure-dogs

You will see how heavily the prognosis depends on the cause and stage of the damage.

I want to add that at her age, I too would be pretty focused on quality of remaining life.

I'd probably want to know the cause and extent of damage if this didn't require invasive (or prohibitively expensive) testing, but I'd also be thinking of exactly what you are: How I can best give my beloved dog the most comfortable and least anxious/stressed life, even if I have to choose a shortened span to ensure it.

All JMO.

Connie has provided a good link for some info. But it sounds like they haven't technically diagnosed liver failure...correct me if I've misread the initial post. Has she recently eaten anything in the yard that could cause liver failure? (mushrooms??). What kind of food do you feed her? Diamond recently had a recall and any treats from China are suspect. Have you ruled out all environmental toxins?

On a positive note, Brad seems to be feeling much better this evening. I'm really hoping her body is healing, and that it's not due completely to the meds and fluids they gave her. She's still weak, but she came home with me late this afternoon and showed interested in toys. I gave her a couple of tosses of her new birthday toy, and she seemed to forget that her body couldn't move as fast as she wanted it to. Im just happy her desire to play came back. She even went out in the back yard with me and trotted around while the other dogs played fetch.

Discussing Brad's blood work this evening with the vet, we suspect the problem is acute hepatotoxicity but I don't know what she could have gotten into that the other dogs in the home didn't. We're still waiting for the ALT value that had to be sent out.

I did just switch to Diamond Chicken on Thursday (2 days before symptoms showed up), interesting that you mentioned it. Though the recall was for Salmonella, and Brad doesn't have signs of salmonella poisoning. Also the two other dogs on it are not showing problems, but I guess that could be because they are much younger. The only other thing I can think of is that she got out of the yard 4 days before symptoms, and maybe she munched on sago palms in the neighborhood.

" ... acute hepatotoxicity but I don't know what she could have gotten into that the other dogs in the home didn't. We're still waiting for the ALT value that had to be sent out."

Just a shot because it's so in-the-news these past few years .... Xylitol?


"The only other thing I can think of is that she got out of the yard 4 days before symptoms, and maybe she munched on sago palms in the neighborhood."

I'm not sure I even know what these look like, but they seem to top the lists of liver toxins.

" She's still weak, but she came home with me late this afternoon and showed interested in toys."

Wow! What a wonderful turnaround! What great news!

So sorry Brad is poorly, it is a time, especially in an old dogs life when you can feel most helpless and your heart is heavy with dread.

I really hope that he can rally and be his old self for some time to come, sending a 'hug' to you both.

Great news on the homecoming. But lots of hugs and prayers.

How is she today, Michele?