So the good news is that King “passed” the LDDS (low-dose dexamethasone suppression) test. He responded normally, which means he does not have Cushing’s disease. Unfortunately, this means we don’t know what’s causing the elevated liver enzymes.
So, Monday will be Ultrasound Monday. After work, I will take King in to get shaved, gelled, and buzzed. It could simply be age-related changes. Bile-duct irritation/inflammation, leading to liver inflammation (Mickey had this. Cholangeohepatitis. I will add, though, that King isn’t showing those symptoms. No vomiting, and though he is slow some mornings, his appetite is generally good. He just doesn’t want to eat his food as much as Gaby’s food and extraneous treats).
Could be Worse Things, too, but we don’t want to think about those right now.
I will also try to not beat myself up over the fact that I considered starting King on SAMe–another liver supplement–after Mickey died since I had so many blasted bottles of the stuff and the supplementation wouldn’t cause any harm even if King didn’t need it. Maybe I could have headed this off.
Oh well–Life does not come with a reset button. I have been researching liver disease diets, just in case a change is called for. And I happened to have a bottle of milk thistle in the cupboard, so I gave King one. Can’t hurt. Might start to help.
Careful, milk thistle can be overdosed. It’s great for general liver support at the right dose, though. Same thing for Vitamin E.
The sites I read stated that too much can cause GI upset/diarrhea. I found one site that recommended an adult human dose for a dog that was King’s size. For the capsules I have, that means 2-175mg (145 mg silymarin) capsules a day, which is less than other sites recommended. I figured less was better until I knew what we were dealing with.
King had a great appetite today. I started feeding him plain yogurt to settle his post-antibiotic GI tract, and it really seems to be helping.