01-18-2016, 03:28 PM
Hello everyone,
I have been on this site for about four months now reading and educating myself.
My female papillon, Lilo who is almost 8 (next month) was diagnosed almost four months ago with Lymphangiectasia and very mild IBD.
Here is the breakdown of our roller coaster. I am often discouraged and terrified, but I feel I am headed in the right direction. It's just the unknown that can be so hard...
Lilo's first symptoms:
Lilo didn't show any symptoms that anyone but me would notice until the very late stage. For about two weeks she was just acting "strange". I brought her into the vet and explained to him how I know my dog and there was just something "off". My vet is incredible, but even he sent me home twice thinking it was just Lilo being over dramatic...if anyone understands having a dramatic pup...mine is one of those. She would throw up one day and have diarrhea the next but no more than two times. Other than that, she had lost some weight (Approx. 1 lb) and I could feel her bony prominences more than usual. My vet is holistic and kept reassuring me there was no need to do invasive tests since she wasn't distributing any real concern of symptoms.
Exactly one week after the last visit, Lilo and I were studying (yes she was too...) and all of a sudden she wet the bed where she was laying as she slept. Of course, this shocked me...as Lilo would rather hold her pee for days than to ever pee in the house. I knew something was wrong but it was late in the evening and with all the back and forths decided to wait until morning. By morning, ascites had taken place and Lilo was extremely lethargic and weak.
We brought her in and her BUN was up, her WBC were out of wack and her albumin was at a low of 9. We were rushed to an emerge vet about an hour and a half away where Lilo was kept in ICU for 4 days with colloid therapy intravenously and watched very closely.
At OAKS Vet HOSPITAL-
Oaks did a routine of tests. First an ultrasound, then a CT scan. They then went ahead with a endoscopy and took five biopsies from my 7 pound girl. She did very well. She was responding to treatment which, was the colloid IV therapy, high dose of steroids, sulcrate and famotadine (prevention of ulcers), an antinausea, hydromorphone, antibiotics for the three bacteria they found, and a couple of other things. We were in hell those few days. We were told she either had Lymphangiectasia (Secondary or primary) or Lymphoma. With her positive response (slow but positive), we were hoping for the best. Sure enough, the results came back negative for cancer and she was ultimately diagnosed with lymphangiectasia.
Ok...so that's great....now what!?
We had ups and downs with getting her to feed properly. She was previously a raw meat fed dog so it was super hard to get her to eat canned processed vet food. I was guided by my vet and my own research to make an inhome diet. I use high protein veggies and low fat meats. I cook everything, but leave some veggies raw. I have noticed that she does not break down the veggies as well as I would have hoped. I guess dogs cannot break down cellulose...which is what the cell walls of legumes are made of. I have started to blend her veggies so it is easier for her to digest.
We have been four months on high dose pred now. We check her proteins every two weeks. We got up to 22 about a month ago, but are back down to 20 now. I believe that was because the previous week, I tried to see how she would do going completely vegetarian. Clearly, she needs animal protein and I won't do this again because it dropped her albumin but did raise her globulin. We are scheduled again for Saturday and I am nervous. I am hoping she is back up. With her being on such a high dose of prednisone, side effects will start hurting her in other ways and ultimately she will die. I am hoping she responds more positively this week and continues to improve. I can't imagine a world without both of my babies. I am doing everything in my power to prevent falling in proteins, so it is up to her little body. To the normal person you would never know she is sick...so this is good. She is very happy, and plays lots still. I am starting to see some side effects of the pred like increased hunger, increased barking and personality changes, dry flaky skin...etc.
I find there is so little to read about canine lymphan except for this site and some research articles that are old. I feel there needs to be more research done on this disease and more support. My vet has never once told me lilo will only live two most years max, so I am hoping this fact is not true. We will see.
I would love to know what everything else thinks of my current situation.
Any pointers, critiques, etc would be greatly appreciated.
THanks!
Katie and Lilo
I have been on this site for about four months now reading and educating myself.
My female papillon, Lilo who is almost 8 (next month) was diagnosed almost four months ago with Lymphangiectasia and very mild IBD.
Here is the breakdown of our roller coaster. I am often discouraged and terrified, but I feel I am headed in the right direction. It's just the unknown that can be so hard...
Lilo's first symptoms:
Lilo didn't show any symptoms that anyone but me would notice until the very late stage. For about two weeks she was just acting "strange". I brought her into the vet and explained to him how I know my dog and there was just something "off". My vet is incredible, but even he sent me home twice thinking it was just Lilo being over dramatic...if anyone understands having a dramatic pup...mine is one of those. She would throw up one day and have diarrhea the next but no more than two times. Other than that, she had lost some weight (Approx. 1 lb) and I could feel her bony prominences more than usual. My vet is holistic and kept reassuring me there was no need to do invasive tests since she wasn't distributing any real concern of symptoms.
Exactly one week after the last visit, Lilo and I were studying (yes she was too...) and all of a sudden she wet the bed where she was laying as she slept. Of course, this shocked me...as Lilo would rather hold her pee for days than to ever pee in the house. I knew something was wrong but it was late in the evening and with all the back and forths decided to wait until morning. By morning, ascites had taken place and Lilo was extremely lethargic and weak.
We brought her in and her BUN was up, her WBC were out of wack and her albumin was at a low of 9. We were rushed to an emerge vet about an hour and a half away where Lilo was kept in ICU for 4 days with colloid therapy intravenously and watched very closely.
At OAKS Vet HOSPITAL-
Oaks did a routine of tests. First an ultrasound, then a CT scan. They then went ahead with a endoscopy and took five biopsies from my 7 pound girl. She did very well. She was responding to treatment which, was the colloid IV therapy, high dose of steroids, sulcrate and famotadine (prevention of ulcers), an antinausea, hydromorphone, antibiotics for the three bacteria they found, and a couple of other things. We were in hell those few days. We were told she either had Lymphangiectasia (Secondary or primary) or Lymphoma. With her positive response (slow but positive), we were hoping for the best. Sure enough, the results came back negative for cancer and she was ultimately diagnosed with lymphangiectasia.
Ok...so that's great....now what!?
We had ups and downs with getting her to feed properly. She was previously a raw meat fed dog so it was super hard to get her to eat canned processed vet food. I was guided by my vet and my own research to make an inhome diet. I use high protein veggies and low fat meats. I cook everything, but leave some veggies raw. I have noticed that she does not break down the veggies as well as I would have hoped. I guess dogs cannot break down cellulose...which is what the cell walls of legumes are made of. I have started to blend her veggies so it is easier for her to digest.
We have been four months on high dose pred now. We check her proteins every two weeks. We got up to 22 about a month ago, but are back down to 20 now. I believe that was because the previous week, I tried to see how she would do going completely vegetarian. Clearly, she needs animal protein and I won't do this again because it dropped her albumin but did raise her globulin. We are scheduled again for Saturday and I am nervous. I am hoping she is back up. With her being on such a high dose of prednisone, side effects will start hurting her in other ways and ultimately she will die. I am hoping she responds more positively this week and continues to improve. I can't imagine a world without both of my babies. I am doing everything in my power to prevent falling in proteins, so it is up to her little body. To the normal person you would never know she is sick...so this is good. She is very happy, and plays lots still. I am starting to see some side effects of the pred like increased hunger, increased barking and personality changes, dry flaky skin...etc.
I find there is so little to read about canine lymphan except for this site and some research articles that are old. I feel there needs to be more research done on this disease and more support. My vet has never once told me lilo will only live two most years max, so I am hoping this fact is not true. We will see.
I would love to know what everything else thinks of my current situation.
Any pointers, critiques, etc would be greatly appreciated.
THanks!
Katie and Lilo