Sydney's Not Feeling Well

[anniemac]

I'm thinking of you. Hugs to Sydney!

[lindylou]

hi

sorry to read sydney is not well give him a kiss and cuddle from me and louie

[Nicki]

Sorry to hear this news Joyce do hope that things went well today.

[Brian M]

Hi Sydney
We are all thinking of you and the girls send hugs and licks.

[Sydneys Mom]

Update on Sydney's cardiologist appointment

According his blood work, his dogoxin level doubled from 1 month ago. It is borderline toxic. However, the doctor is perplexed that with the increased digoxin level, he wasn’t sicker and he recovered from the episodes rather quickly. The symptoms of dogoxin toxicity are chronic vomiting and chronic diarrhea and loss of appetite….he has none of those. So, he had an echo and ultra sound, and the findings were NO fluid in his lungs, abdomen, or around his heart. Kidneys are functioning normally and though this liver is somewhat enlarged, it’s no larger than the last time. Also, his the pulmonary hypertension seems better with the medication he's taking for that. His weight stayed the same, so that is good too.

There could be a small possibility that the lab could have made a mistake on the blood work. So our choices are to redo the blood test or trust the test results and play around with tweaking the meds. For the moment we decided to keep all his meds the same, watch him extra closely for toxicity, and bring him back on the 30th for another blood test. The next step will be determined by what that tells us. She did say that some dogs can tolerate a high digoxin level without becoming ill, and if that is the case for Sydney its good news for his heart, but we will have to be careful with the effect it may have on his liver. The doctor is only guessing as to what happened and her best guess is a transient arrhythmia.

Thanks everyone for your kind words and support.

[anniemac]

So glad the echo showed good results. I hope the lab made a mistake but either way, I'm thinking of you and Sydney.

[Sydneys Mom]

Another Update:

We brought Sydney in for his latest blood test and the digoxin levels are still high. Actually, it is higher than it was 2 weeks ago, so it is definately in the toxic level and not a lab error. Even though the digoxin may be helping his heart, the cardiologist is lowering his dosage as the higher dosage will hurt his liver. Right now his liver enzymes are also too high high. We need to bring him back in 2 weeks for another reading..

His appetite is still good even though he is a little pickier on the food he eats, and he is acting normally, but I still worry now what the lower dose is going to do to his heart. And now, what about damage to his liver? Can that be reversed? Are there any supplements you can suggest that will help or any special foods I could give him? The doctor also suggested that the liver problems may not be from the medication, but could be part of primary liver disease. After the next blood test, I guess we will have to explore that too.

[ashleighelizabeth]

Another Update:

We brought Sydney in for his latest blood test and the digoxin levels are still high. Actually, it is higher than it was 2 weeks ago, so it is definately in the toxic level and not a lab error. Even though the digoxin may be helping his heart, the cardiologist is lowering his dosage as the higher dosage will hurt his liver. Right now his liver enzymes are also too high high. We need to bring him back in 2 weeks for another reading..

His appetite is still good even though he is a little pickier on the food he eats, and he is acting normally, but I still worry now what the lower dose is going to do to his heart. And now, what about damage to his liver? Can that be reversed? Are there any supplements you can suggest that will help or any special foods I could give him? The doctor also suggested that the liver problems may not be from the medication, but could be part of primary liver disease. After the next blood test, I guess we will have to explore that too.

I know that for humans, milk thistle is really good for the liver, but I have no idea if dogs can take it.... Might be worth looking into??? Sonny and I are sending our love and prayers your way.

[anniemac]

I am thinking of you and Sydney and hope that his heart continues to remain strong.

I read something on another group (or here) about milk thistle for the liver. I then read about it suggested to take to help a hangover.... I'm sure pat or others might know more.

Thinking of you <3

[Sydneys Mom]

Anne, that made me smile as I'm pertty sure Sydney doesn't have a hangover.....me on the other hand could be a different story!