Liver Disease Cases

Each dog is different when unwell and what works - my girl with micro liver shunt has responded very well to amino acids - L carnitine- L- methionine- and thank you to this group I now have added L ornithine all with meal  

I am so surprised how well it is working 

And how settled she is. 

Hope this helps others and it won’t break the purse.

Dr. Steve's Advice -  thank you for the feedback. I'm glad your little dog's microvascular shunts are improving! 

Click here to read the whole thread.

My beautiful 12 year old Jenny had an ultrasound Wednesday that revealed three cancerous tumours in her liver & one in her intestines.
The detailed report was not available but these were the initial same day findings.

I was told that maybe she might have 2 months & no treatment is available with potential results that would outweigh the pain she would endure.

She was put on pred.. twice a day to reduce inflammation.

She had been very picky with her food (raw fed since a puppy) . I have been cooking her brown rice/ cooked skinless boneless thighs. I had added heart and gizzards but changed it up to only the thigh after seeing her diarrhea wasn’t clearing up.

I read with intestinal cancer a diet higher in omega fats is beneficial? I was also wondering about products by Adored Beast Apothecary for her gut or pumpkin?

I am hoping for a miracle.
Dr. Karen gave us an additional 8 years with our Dodger who crossed the bridge at 16 and she saw Maggie Lab thru til we let her go at 15.
Jenny had been raised at the same clinic & am hoping…

Any advice would be very appreciated.

This is my beautiful girl.

Thank you

Dr.Steve's Advice - Did the diarrhea clear up with the diet change?

There are just so many things you can try that they really don't fit into one post. I would push for a final written ultrasound report that you can share here. What were the signs and symptoms that made you get an ultrasound done? If you can share the report and the specifics of exactly what is going on, I might be able to suggest a specific anti-cancer formula for your dog.

Meanwhile, omega 3s are theoretically helpful in all cancers. As long as your dog didn't get diarrhea from them, give the maximum tolerated dose. Add 1 clove of crushed garlic a day to help the body deploy those omega 3s more effectively in fighting cancer. 

Another couple of things you can use in virtually all cancer cases: Six Gentlepets by Kan Essentials, which helps fight cachexia while having anti-tumor effects; and the addition of turmeric to the diet. For a dog that size, probably half a teaspoon per meal

Regarding the diet, there's no real advantage to giving brown rice. You'd be better off using vegetables and beans that have more micronutrients that can stave off tumors and which are a more dilute form of starches, such that we don't run the risk of feeding your dog's tumors (since cancer loves carbs).

Probiotics and pumpkin are fine to add to the food to help support a healthier microbiome.

Hopefully this helps you make a start

Click here to read the whole thread.

A question please now that I have my cavoodle girl all settled with her micro liver shunt issues, she back eating human grade quality raw and veggies she is just loving it - I must say
I am looking for advice on how to build up her immune system what could I add to her diet to build her up hopefully to prevent or minimize her summer allergy reactions with eyes & skin paws issues

Thank you kindly 

Dr. Steve's Advice - for dogs fed healthy real food diets that have allergies, I recommend Cessorex (https://goldstandardherbs.com/products/Original-Cessorex-85g-p647327434) from Gold Standard Herbs. You can read more about how it works at #cessorex and #skindiseasedogs. It has a balanced effect on liver circulation so the microvascular liver shunts should remain under good control. Hope this helps you out!

Click here to read the whole thread. 

I have a 9 year male that showed slight elevated liver enzymes at his vet visit.   I opted to do ultrasound & FNA in which ultrasound showed a mass on the left lobe.  Our vet said she feels it should be benign by the way the mass looks… ( I understand they can’t diagnose from the US without cytology) The FNA came back stating Nondiagnostic sample due to insufficient intact cellularity.  

He has zero symptoms and his ALT came down quit a bit and is somewhat close to the normal range. 

(Normal is 125 and his was 173). ALP is slightly more elevated.   

Mass is 5cm x10cm left lobe which is fairly large.. mass looks encapsulated 

My question is, what should our next steps be?  I hate that his test came back without a diagnosis.    How common is this to have the test come back with this result?  

All other organs and lymph nodes were normal.   

All other liver enzymes & blood test were normal as well.     

Any advice would be greatly appreciated!   

Thank you all for giving us your time and opinions.  

Dr. Steve's Advice - the result just means that the veterinarian didn't manage to get intact cells for whatever reason. You could repeat the test if you like. 

Another option is to monitor it if your dog has zero symptoms. Do another ultrasound in a couple of months. If there is no growth, then it makes it more likely it is benign. Or, do lab tests checking ALT and ALP every six or eight weeks. If they stay stable, then likely the liver mass is, too.

Herbs are available that can shrink liver masses. A safe one you can try is Dispel Stasis from the Middle Palace by Kan Essentials, often available online at Amazon in the US. Dose according to the guidelines at https://nphc.ca/using/dosage

Hope that helps!

Click here to read the whole thread.

My senior Corgi has recently been diagnosed with liver issues. They are all on a raw food diet. But starting this time last month, Frostie started turning her nose to her beef, goat & lamb mix. Switched her to turkey & did good for 3 weeks. Then started rejecting it. Resorted to boiled chicken & rice. Something told me things were off. Had bloodwork done. Dr said her liver was not happy. Put her on a regimen of amoxitabs, prednisone, denamairn & omeprazole. She’s doing better but Dr is talking about keeping her on prednisone & denamatin permenatly. I don’t know what she got into to cause this problem. Everyone else is fine. I don’t want to see her on meds the rest of her life. She’s 12.5 years old. I need suggestions on holistic things i can use you help her.

Dr. Steve's Advice - if the liver enzyme elevations weren't too high (max 300s or so), then given the mid-spring onset, I would wonder about Liver Blood deficiency as the cause. This equates to either mild chronic active hepatitis or microvascular dysplasia, both of which are curable. 

To get there, I would source Kan Essentials' Happy Wanderer, often available online at Amazon if you're in the US. Dose according to the table at https://nphc.ca/using/dosage. If there are improvements, but not quite enough, there are other formulas to choose from that modulate the liver blood supply to help 'actively resolve' the inflammation there. 

Pred is not a long term solution, since it suppresses enzymes needed to help resolve inflammation going forward, and can actually predispose to animals getting inflamed in the first place, due to its metabolic impact. If the liver enzymes return to normal, I would certainly wean off the pred and then the omeprazole. Denamarin is just an isolate of Milk Thistle, so it's not a big problem and is not likely helping that much but not hurting either. 

Hopefully this helps you out! Let us know how it goes!

Click here to read the whole thread. 

My 4lb chihuahua has elevated liver numbers. Her ALT Zane AST are each double.  She is Asymptomatic. Her bike acid test was perfect.  I’m being told she can absolutely not give her raw anymore. Is that true. Is it still ok to suppliment her her with the mercola hormones to support her hormones because she is spayed?  I’ve started balance it suppliment (I’m not a fan because they are synthetic of course) with the recipes with low carb but I’m upset about no raw. Please tell me your thoughts.

Dr. Steve's Advice - there is no reason to stop feeding raw, as far as I'm concerned. Most dogs with liver enzyme elevations are eating kibble, not raw, so there is no scientific basis for the food change unless they gave you some specific diagnosis for which raw diets are contraindicated. I can't think of one.

Does your raw diet contain fermentable carbs and soluble fiber (i.e., an ample amount of vegetables and or fruit)? If not, then a lack of these ingredients can leave dogs prone to leaky gut or immune mediated issues. Sometimes this can lead to the transplantation of bacteria from the gut into the liver, or to things like chronic active hepatitis. To avoid that, make sure the diet has these items in it (making up about 1/6 to 1/10 of what is in the dish).

I'm not sure what hormone supplement you're using, but if it's this one (https://www.chewy.com/dr-mercola-canine-hormone.../dp/162981), compounds like the first ingredient have been associated with liver enzyme elevations in dogs. I'd suggest stopping it and seeing if that helps. Is there a specific hormonal problem with your dog? If so, let me know what it is, and we can try to address it another way, such as through plant sterols.

If this doesn't help, there are herbal formulas you can try that will probably work, but it might be as simple as just discontinuing the hormone product.

Click here to read the whole thread.