Cholangiohepatitis in dogs

[PsyOps]

Our dog has been diagnosed with this liver disease. There was no biopsy or ultra sound done; so the diagnosis is not absolute; but he does have a liver condition. We hope it's not cancer.

Anyway, doing some reading there is confusion about diet. His loss of interest in eating makes it difficult to get nutrition in him. I've read it's best to keep him off processed dog food, meat-based protein, and other sources of protein to a minimum; and to feed him mostly carbs. Does anyone have recommendations for diet? I read that Hill's l/d Canine Hepatic Health food is good.

 

[Roman]

I am sorry that your dog isn't well. What ever the Vet tells you he can eat is what I'd go with. I've never heard anything about this condition before, but I'll google it. I also have an old Vet Medical Manual, and I'll see what that has to say too. Well wishes to your friend.

 

[RPMDAD]

Sorry to hear about your pup Psy. Have never heard of that condition before. Maybe FF or ICIT will have some info.

 

[PsyOps]

I am sorry that your dog isn't well. What ever the Vet tells you he can eat is what I'd go with. I've never heard anything about this condition before, but I'll google it. I also have an old Vet Medical Manual, and I'll see what that has to say too. Well wishes to your friend.

I'm a little annoyed after having him in the vet for 4 days they didn't give us specific recommendations about diet type. I had to look it up. All they said was try to give him food that will interest him in eating. We bought some dog food high in carbs and good, non-meat protein and he wont eat it (PetCo didn't have the Hill's l/d). He did eat some chicken breast we cooked up and put it in the dog food, but he mostly ignored the dog food. Today he wouldn't touch his food. I've done quite a bit of google searching on this. We also have another vet appointment tomorrow to do more blood work and see if it's gotten better or worse. I'm not seeing any change (listless, wont eat, dark urine, jaundice), so I'm not confident things have gotten better. We are going through deciding at what point we want to make the drastic decision of putting him down. At this point he will starve himself to death. But we will let the vet help us with that.

 

[frequentflier]

I'm a little annoyed after having him in the vet for 4 days they didn't give us specific recommendations about diet type. I had to look it up. All they said was try to give him food that will interest him in eating. We bought some dog food high in carbs and good, non-meat protein and he wont eat it (PetCo didn't have the Hill's l/d). He did eat some chicken breast we cooked up and put it in the dog food, but he mostly ignored the dog food. Today he wouldn't touch his food. I've done quite a bit of google searching on this. We also have another vet appointment tomorrow to do more blood work and see if it's gotten better or worse. I'm not seeing any change (listless, wont eat, dark urine, jaundice), so I'm not confident things have gotten better. We are going through deciding at what point we want to make the drastic decision of putting him down. At this point he will starve himself to death. But we will let the vet help us with that.

Sorry to hear this PsyOps. At this point, I think giving him anything you can get him to eat would be better than him starving himself. Make him happy; make him comfortable. The prescription diets are only available at veterinarians. Many people tell me their animals won't eat it- my guess is it tastes like cardboard.
I hope your vet has more definitive answers for you today.

 

[ICit]

PsyOps.... clean out your message folder!!!!!

 

[PsyOps]

PsyOps.... clean out your message folder!!!!!

Done.

 

[PsyOps]

Sorry to hear this PsyOps. At this point, I think giving him anything you can get him to eat would be better than him starving himself. Make him happy; make him comfortable. The prescription diets are only available at veterinarians. Many people tell me their animals won't eat it- my guess is it tastes like cardboard.
I hope your vet has more definitive answers for you today.

I guess where I'm at with this is, not knowing if it's terminal, that it may be reversible, feeding him meat-based protein will only worsen the damage to his liver. But it is what we are doing at this point, since it seems the only thing he shows any interest in eating is chicken breast.

 

[luvmygdaughters]

Sorry to hear about your pup Psy. I don't have any recommendations for food except the chicken and maybe adding some rice for the additional carbs. Hope it helps.

 

[PsyOps]

Sorry to hear about your pup Psy. I don't have any recommendations for food except the chicken and maybe adding some rice for the additional carbs. Hope it helps.

Thank you.

This is what makes things so confusing. Everything I read says to stay away from meat-based protein as it makes the liver work harder and makes it harder to heal; but everyone is recommending chicken. But I guess the key, at this point, is to just get nutrition in him. He also rejected rice. I'm hoping the vet will have something that will attract his palate.

 

[ICit]

Thank you.

This is what makes things so confusing. Everything I read says to stay away from meat-based protein as it makes the liver work harder and makes it harder to heal; but everyone is recommending chicken. But I guess the key, at this point, is to just get nutrition in him. He also rejected rice. I'm hoping the vet will have something that will attract his palate.

LOW PROTIEN.... and LOW FAT!!!

chicken... try mashed potatos....


liver issues really suck.... as it will make them feel bad... not want to eat... then you get behind the 8ball and it doenst take them long to become dehydrated. then you are fighting a whole other battle.

 

[ICit]

your box is full again...



..... this is the first think i dont like about the new forum... it doesnt tell us when the box is full

 

[PsyOps]

your box is full again...



..... this is the first think i dont like about the new forum... it doesnt tell us when the box is full

Geez... I deleted virtually everything. It's a conspiracy to makes us go premo.

EDIT: I forgot to clear out my sent items. It should be clear now.

 

[Independence]

How about chicken broth (low sodium) on the kibble?

 

[Roman]

Could he have canned gravy over the potatoes? I know that when my dog had issues years ago, I used canned gravy over the rice, and she took to it like crazy. Maybe check the protein levels on the can, if there are any. Let us know what the Vet says today. Fingers crossed.

 

[PsyOps]

Could he have canned gravy over the potatoes? I know that when my dog had issues years ago, I used canned gravy over the rice, and she took to it like crazy. Maybe check the protein levels on the can, if there are any. Let us know what the Vet says today. Fingers crossed.

That sounds like a good idea. Thanks.

 

[ICit]

baby food is good thing to try....

 

[PsyOps]

baby food is good thing to try....

The vet in Delaware gave him this. I think he had to force feed him the food. But they never told us what kind of baby food.

 

[PsyOps]

Had the vet visit and the doctor seemed very optimistic. His bilirubin was normal. Eyes shows slight sign of jaundice, which is a positive change. He’s still not all that interest in food. We have a concoction of ground beef, eggs, bread, and rice recommended from the vet. We’ll cook that up tomorrow. She also prescribed Danamarin, which has the extract of silybin – the active ingredient in Milk Thistle. So now we just monitor for the next week and see how his appetite goes.

Thanks for all the input.

 

[acommondisaster]

I'm a little annoyed after having him in the vet for 4 days they didn't give us specific recommendations about diet type. I had to look it up. All they said was try to give him food that will interest him in eating. We bought some dog food high in carbs and good, non-meat protein and he wont eat it (PetCo didn't have the Hill's l/d). He did eat some chicken breast we cooked up and put it in the dog food, but he mostly ignored the dog food. Today he wouldn't touch his food. I've done quite a bit of google searching on this. We also have another vet appointment tomorrow to do more blood work and see if it's gotten better or worse. I'm not seeing any change (listless, wont eat, dark urine, jaundice), so I'm not confident things have gotten better. We are going through deciding at what point we want to make the drastic decision of putting him down. At this point he will starve himself to death. But we will let the vet help us with that.

I'm so sorry to hear this. I lost my Snoopy to liver disease last June and my heart still aches. Your story so far sounds exactly like what we went through with Snoops, the jaundice, elevated pancreatic levels, no interest in food. $140 for blood tests every few weeks, when I already knew she wasn't feeling any better. We tried a bunch of different antibiotics and some other meds - I've forgotten now what all we tried. I also pleaded with the vet for a suitable diet, because there was so much conflicting information online on what as safe or unsafe, until I was wary of trying anything on her, but the vet was pretty nonspecific about what to try. We kept her going on different canned dog foods for months - we'd switch as soon as she lost interest in one; I even spoonfed her when that was the only way she'd eat.

Someone here suggested a diet specifically for dogs with liver problems, but I put my faith in the vet and didn't pursue the diet when the vet dismissed the suggestion. I regret now that we didn't try it, as I have since read that others had success with it. You can do an internet search and find the diet for dogs with liver or pancreas disease. I wouldn't discontinue vet visits, though if you go that route.

You may also want to try a raw diet. I'm trying to switch my chi's over to raw (my husband is the hold up on that, so they get raw when I feed them)

I hope you have a better outcome than we did - I'll keep you and your pooch in my thoughts. Hang in there.