Yesterday Bug had his ultrasound. He was awesome, such a good, good corgi.
He had to lay on his back with a vet tech holding his forelegs and a vet tech holding his rear legs. Dr. H shaved his belly and off we went.
Everything was unremarkable. His liver looked great. His gallbladder, which can sometimes be responsible for elevated GGT enzymes, looked "pristine." His spleen was large and not where Dr. H expected it to be, but it also looked great. She was unable to see his right kidney past his liver. His left kidney did show some sign of crystallization, but since he is not prone to urinary tract infections she is not worried about it.
He was down another pound on the same scale as the day before. Very, very weird.
Dr. H and Dr. M are going to confer and let me know what the next step is. Dr. M thinks the weight loss might be metabolic. Hyperthyroid is not as common in dogs as it is in cats, but it does happen. I have also e-mailed my tick list to see if they think it could be a TBD he hasn't been tested for.
His only symptom is the weight loss and loss of muscle mass in his rear. I think the bacterial dermatitis is just an indication his system is stressed. He has a voracious appetite (interesting considering the continued weight loss), his bowel movements are normal, and his activity level is very similar. He might be tiring a little bit quicker.
Does this sound like anything you've ever experienced with a dog?
He had to lay on his back with a vet tech holding his forelegs and a vet tech holding his rear legs. Dr. H shaved his belly and off we went.
Everything was unremarkable. His liver looked great. His gallbladder, which can sometimes be responsible for elevated GGT enzymes, looked "pristine." His spleen was large and not where Dr. H expected it to be, but it also looked great. She was unable to see his right kidney past his liver. His left kidney did show some sign of crystallization, but since he is not prone to urinary tract infections she is not worried about it.
He was down another pound on the same scale as the day before. Very, very weird.
Dr. H and Dr. M are going to confer and let me know what the next step is. Dr. M thinks the weight loss might be metabolic. Hyperthyroid is not as common in dogs as it is in cats, but it does happen. I have also e-mailed my tick list to see if they think it could be a TBD he hasn't been tested for.
His only symptom is the weight loss and loss of muscle mass in his rear. I think the bacterial dermatitis is just an indication his system is stressed. He has a voracious appetite (interesting considering the continued weight loss), his bowel movements are normal, and his activity level is very similar. He might be tiring a little bit quicker.
Does this sound like anything you've ever experienced with a dog?
7 comments:
I dont know what you feed him, but could the formula have changed and its not giving him enough? I hope you get if frgured out.
Very strange indeed, but so glad that they did not find anything wrong-although it has to be a little frustrating not having an answer. I am sure you already considered if you are doing more or less training and factored any training treat calories in, or any supplements that might have a base that has a lot of calories you might have cut out??? Those suggestions are just reaching...but...
The only thing that comes to my mind is pancreatic issues but that is usually accompanied by very loose stool. Still, might be worth checking. My mom's older Cardi girl has this issue and has to have enzymes added to her food so she can get the nutrition from it.
Im glad the US was normal. I know Guiness eats alot now. Its weird , when he was an agility dog and exercising a lot, I really had to watch what he ate because he would gain wt. easily. Now he excercises much less and no agility and I feed him more. Plus he has no energy. They cant figure out what is wrong with him. Everything keeps coming back normal. Very frustrating. I hope you find the answers for Bug.
I am betting you already did this - but did you run a full thyroid panel? I have another friend dealing with autoimmune thyroiditis (I think I got that right) and before they caught it he was loosing weight and muscle tone in the rear. Everything else looked fine that you would normally associate with thyroid issues - his coat looked great ...
I feed Bug a combo of Nature's Variety and Primal. Mostly venison, rabbit, and duck since he is sensitive to beef, chicken, and lamb. I have to double check if any of the ingredients have changes. I do know NV will be moving into the box stores soon, so it is possible.
He still gets a boatload of treats, although he might argue not enough!
@RDM, The vet mentioned EPI, too. I think because of th epossibility of malabsoprtion. I tend to think it isn't EPI only because of the terrible time the two dogs I know had before they were diagnosed. Their stool was greasy diarrhea and they were literally skin and bones.
@Jenn, CBC was step # 1. We got sidetracked with the elevated liver enzymes. I suspect thyroid panel will be the next step.
It is just so dang weird!
Glad the ultrasound was good news! Hope you find out the problem soon! Kisses to Bug
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