One sick dog.....Bacca, my boy!

Sacred frankeninsense

It's an essential oil I mix with the silver, if you read the bible or remember the gifts the three kings brought to Jesus and Mary, one of the three gifts was Frankinscense !interesting eh. I don't believe it's an oil sold in store like eucalyptus. But the silver alone should have a cooling effect. I know your discouraged but that rash must be so painful, please if you can try it.
 
Barb, Checking in to see about Becca and to let you know I am thinking of you both. I pray that the breeders vet can figure out what is causing this problem for Becca. Poor guy must be so miserable.
 
SheltieChe said:
ok, so u/s points to the liver problem albeit unclear what exactly?
Now you also have blood work which shows what? low BUN, low albumin, elevated ALT, AST, high bile acids?
So you are looking at either exploratory lap, which may or may not fix the issue/ intrahepatic shunts are inoperable usually while gallbladder with sludge can be easily removed/ or your second choice due to lack of $ for sx is to find holistic vet who knows some potent chinese herbs and put your pup on organic raw high quality meat because in such cases you need reduced amount of very good protein...
grrr, those are tough choices:eek2:
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Yep...that about sums it up. If its liver shunt, then its chronic but he could go years before anything happens.

If it is gall bladder/stones then it could be acute and could need immediate attention.

All of this super-impacted with his current skin condition which is truly awful.

Can't wait for another opinion. This one from my breeder's vet on Wednesday

I truly hope that they come back and tell me that this can be managed through diet. I'll try everything possible, including home cooked or raw. I don't care.

But I don't think that's going to happen. I think some kind of surgery is a given. With no guarantees, of course.
 
OntarioSheltie said:
I can vouch for the Sovereign Silver as well and yes, it is available in Canada's at many health food stores.

I'll admit to being VERY sceptical when it was recommended to me, but it really does work. Its an antibacterial, antifungal and antiviral. At worst it will do nothing, there's nothing in it that will make anything worse.

If the frankensense gel isn't available (I've never heard of it, but thats not to say you can't get it in Canada), I'm sure someone at the health food store can recommend something else that you could mix the Sovereign Silver with.

Thinking of you and Bacca and hoping you get some resolution soon!
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If it can't hurt, then I'm open to anything. I'll keep it in mind after I meet with the new vet.

Thanks for this. I really, really appreciate all the advice and support from this forum.

Thank you SO much!
 
First off, I'm going to say that I love, love, love this new vet. First thing he did was introduce himself and shake my hand. And he ended the consultation with another handshake.

During Bacca's consultation, suddenly a dog woke up from anaesatia and was screaming like crazy. He politely excused himself immediately and came back about 10 minutes later. I could see what was doing on because the door was open. Amazing staff and amazing doctors.

I arrived and he had already reviewed Bacca's file in detail (he has two Shelties himself, so he is generally interested....and one of his dogs is indirectly related to Bacca.

While there, he decided to another ultrasound of Bacca's gall bladder. He asked me to come to the surgical room to help control him. He did the ultrasound.....and no charge! I couldn't believe it.

Bottom line is that everything points to a liver shunt....the degree is TBD. He is know on 6 weeks of antibiotics for his skin funk (really bad, right now, btw), continuing with Zentional.

Surgery is still the best prognosis for him, but at $5-6k, he was honest in telling me that he would probably not do it himself because there are no guarantees. So he has committed to work with me to do all that we can do medically.

The big issue I have right now is switching him to a low protein diet. That means Medi-cal or Hills. i.e. around 12-15%. But when you read the ingredient list it starts with corn......:gaah

I've been on a hundred posts today. Some say the medi-cal diet is fine....better than dealing with a failing liver. I'm trying to decide how low protein is good enough.....Natural Balance Vegetarian is 18%. Is that good enough? I'm also considering homemade, but have to be realistic as to my ability to keep it up. I don't even cook much for myself.

Anyway, thanks for letting me write this.....its actually helping me think through my options by writing it down.
 
Congratulations first of finding such a caring vet. He sounds like mine - he factors in costs when we are discussing everything. It is great he has Shelties too.

Hope you can find a low protein food - that is such a tough thing. Keep us updated please.
 
So relieved you found a vet that you feel comfortable with. While it may not be extremely good news, at least you have a better feel for what you're dealing with and what your options are if you don't feel the cost of the surgery is justified.

As much as we love Callie, I don't think I'd even dream of paying that much for surgery. I was freaking out at $1500 for surgery when she was having issues with her tendon, but $5K would probably be way outside my limit. I guess if you had an extremely valuable show/breeding dog it might be worth it, but I couldn't justify that for a pet.

Hugs headed your way and extra pets and prayers that Bacca will be more comfortable and his skin problems will clear up a bit.
 
BarbV said:
The big issue I have right now is switching him to a low protein diet. That means Medi-cal or Hills. i.e. around 12-15%. But when you read the ingredient list it starts with corn......:gaah
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Well yeah, it's not like it's going to start with meat...

Is there a Purina alternative?? Can you use Purina N/F? (their low protein kidney diet) The quality is much better, and the ingredients list won't make you puke.
 
ClantyreSheltie said:
Well yeah, it's not like it's going to start with meat...

Is there a Purina alternative?? Can you use Purina N/F? (their low protein kidney diet) The quality is much better, and the ingredients list won't make you puke.
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Do you really think it is bettere? I saw it briefly online but is Purina any better than Royal Canin Medi-cal or Hills/Science Diet?
 
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