# Tessa's Six Month Odyssey - and Success!



## maggieh (Dec 16, 2007)

I hadn’t posted a lot about this because we didn’t really know what happened, and still don’t, but Tessa has had an interesting six month journey with liver enzymes! In March, she had pre-anesthesia blood work in advance of a scheduled dental. Everything was fine except for her ALT – it was 274. (Obviously we cancelled the dental.) The vet put her on Denamarin and she was fine for about two weeks, then started showing symptoms of nausea, including frantic licking and vomiting. I actually talked with the people at Nutramax and they said they have a small number of reports of “adverse events” from the Denamarin. Apparently it’s very uncommon but some dogs can’t tolerate the SAM-e for an extended period of time. Tessa is now a "case" at Nutramax - refrain from comments that we always knew she was a "case" please!:w00t:

I switched Tessa to plain milk thistle and in May, the ALT was 221. In June, I talked with Crystal and based on her advice, I put Tessa on a holistic IBS protocol of Phytomucil tincture and powder along with the milk thistle; in July it the ALT was 158. 

Finally, with Tessa still on the IBS protocol, I switched her to a low protein, grain free food (Addiction dehydrated), all grain-free treats, and switched to Animal Essentials’ Detox Blend (instead of plain milk thistle) which contains milk thistle along with some other ingredients. Last night, Tessa had an appointment to once again re-run the liver panel.
The result? 20!!!!! Her ALT is 20!!!!! :chili: :aktion033: My vet is thrilled, I am thrilled, and Miss Tessa looks quite proud of herself! What she doesn’t know, poor thing, is that now she IS scheduled for a dental on Sept. 18. :blink:

We still don’t know what exactly happened to cause this. In late December, Tessa got into some chicken and wound up with severe gastritis; at that time, her ALT was 64, so elevated liver enzymes hasn’t been an ongoing problem. 

Between January and March, it shot up. The only thing I can think of is that when we were at the Pet Expo in March, someone had a boiled chicken breast for their dog and gave it to Tessa as well (without asking my permission). She stopped immediately when I told her Tessa had bad reactions to chicken, but the damage was done – another bout of gastritis. My vet thinks the two episodes of gastritis within a short time likely upset Tessa’s GI system so badly that it over-stressed her liver and her ALT shot up. The only other thing would be if she got into something toxic, and with my little garbage digging, pond-diving Tessa, you never know. 

So for those of you who have fluffs with liver issues, what helped us is this: low-protein, grain-free diet, IBS protocol to heal the digestive system, and detox blend/milk thistle. I know it won’t work for everyone, but I wanted to pass along what worked for us.


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## wkomorow (Aug 26, 2011)

That is so great, you must be very relieved. Great advice.


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## maltese manica (Nov 6, 2012)

This is another great post! I'm sorry your baby went through all this!


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## Grace'sMom (Feb 22, 2012)

I'm glad she is feeling better


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## pammy4501 (Aug 8, 2007)

So glad she is doing better. I also had a recent bad bout of gastro with Truffles. I didn't post about it, but I am now wondering if I should just proactively have a chem panel done? I think I'll call my vet on Monday. Again, invaluable info on SM!


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## Summergirl73 (Sep 18, 2011)

Great information and so glad she is feeling better  !


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## TLR (Nov 13, 2011)

Thanks so much for sharing this great information. I am thrilled Tessa is doing well on this treatment.


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## CrystalAndZoe (Jul 11, 2006)

And don't forget to mention that Miss Tessa is acting like she feels better than she has in a very long time. Even before this last little chicken fiasco. :chili: :chili: :chili: 


Which may and may not be a good thing! :HistericalSmiley:


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## maggieh (Dec 16, 2007)

Crystal&Zoe said:


> And don't forget to mention that Miss Tessa is acting like she feels better than she has in a very long time. Even before this last little chicken fiasco. :chili: :chili: :chili:
> 
> 
> Which may and may not be a good thing! :HistericalSmiley:


Um, yeah, well there was less TP shredding when she didn't feel good. And I'd forgotten how much noise the girls make on doggy smack down and super zoomies!


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## MalteseJane (Nov 21, 2004)

Glad this worked and that she is her old self.


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## Sylie (Apr 4, 2011)

I love you Maggie. I love Tessa. I love Sweetness. The three of you are such a joy.

Oh yes, I love Crystal too....she has such good advise to help us with dietary needs.


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## hoaloha (Jan 27, 2012)

Tessa- That wiley, but so innocent looking, cutie! Maggie, I'm so glad to read that Tessa is doing better. Her ALT looks perfect  you must be relieved. Good for you for being so proactive. Hugs to your girls!


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## Maidto2Maltese (Oct 19, 2004)

What a FANTASTIC! update on little Tessa!!:chili: Thank you for sharing your 'treatment-plan'..... always good to see what works for others should the need arise for someone else!


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## mysugarbears (Aug 13, 2007)

That's wonderful news! Tessa probably has to make up for lost time...wonder if she's been dreaming up some ideas? :innocent::HistericalSmiley:


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## Snowbody (Jan 3, 2009)

Wow - quite the journey. So glad that things turned around so dramatically and that Tessa can be Tessa again. :w00t::w00t: Be careful what you wish for. :HistericalSmiley:


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## beckinwolf (Sep 2, 2008)

So glad Tessa is doing better.


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## Matilda's mommy (Jun 1, 2005)

Maggie that's wonderful news. I'm so glad Tessa is doing well, it's scarey when our babies have health issues and we can't help them get well on our own.


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## maggieh (Dec 16, 2007)

Thank you everyone! Yes, it is a tremendous relief! And yes, I'm sure she has been making up for lost time and dreaming up ways to get into trouble! Otherwise, she just wouldn't be Tessa!


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## dognut (Jun 27, 2013)

Maggie, 

I'm sorry chicken doesn't sit well with Tessa (everybody loves chicken!) but I'm really glad she is all better. It is a scary thought that just a bit of chicken can cause this much harm to our babies. I'm grateful that you are sharing your experience and tips about what could help with GI and liver issues. My baby Kaotang has some sort of mysterious liver issue herself. Her ALT and other liver enzymes have always been normal (there was one time that her AST doubled but that could have been caused by hemolysis. It came right back down less than 2 weeks later). But Kaotang tested high on BAT and and really high on blood ammonia. Before, I had no idea that too much protein could cause serious harm to small dogs. I had been giving her pure animal products like venison liver, lamb lungs as treats since I got her (because they were the only commercial treats I could find without preservatives, colorant, hormones). I wonder if that could have, in a similar way that chicken did to Tessa, caused her BA and blood ammonia levels to go up that high. What do you think?

I'm glad that you suggest Animal Essentials detox. Do you think it could work for my malt's BA and blood ammonia levels ? 

Thanks again for sharing!!


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## edelweiss (Apr 23, 2010)

Maggie, this is great! I plan to copy & file your info. but if I lose it will come back to you. I am planning to have both dogs tested when I get back to Greece early Nov. Lisi has been just a bit off color---she has never been sick really---so just want to be sure she is ok before we do the dentals there. 
This is one of the reasons I stay w/SM! Such good info. Thank you for taking time to let us know!


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## LuvMyBoys (Jan 2, 2012)

Glad to hear that Tessa is feeling better! 


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## CrystalAndZoe (Jul 11, 2006)

edelweiss said:


> Maggie, this is great! I plan to copy & file your info. but if I lose it will come back to you. I am planning to have both dogs tested when I get back to Greece early Nov. Lisi has been just a bit off color---she has never been sick really---so just want to be sure she is ok before we do the dentals there.
> This is one of the reasons I stay w/SM! Such good info. Thank you for taking time to let us know!


Sandi, every situation is different. After Maggie shared all of Tessa's history, and especially after I saw a fairly different Tessa at our last visit, I began to suspect a bit of on going IBS that never progressed to the stage of the typical symptoms associated with it. And leaky gut as well. Probably brought on by the couple of chicken incidents. The Detox is not what I would always recommend for helping to bring down liver levels. And on its own would not keep them normal once off it. We had to figure out what was causing her levels to be high and heal that. And there is an IBS/IBD protocol that I tweak depending on various symptoms. 

Btw, I know of quite a few dogs who can't tolerate Denamrin. I don't think it's as low a number as they insinuated to Maggie. I had cautioned Maggie about this before she started her on it so she could watch for it. But it's an excellent product for those who can tolerate it. 


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