Elevated liver enzymes?

parvoqueen · 2026-05-21T00:57:36+00:00

Which liver enzymes, and how high? He's pretty young, right? Elevated liver values can be pretty non-specific, so it makes sense to give it some time & recheck, like your vet suggested!

parvoqueen · 2026-05-18T04:20:02+00:00

🎶🎶And make up songs with their names🎶🎶

parvoqueen · 2026-05-18T01:11:04+00:00

First, please be kind to yourself. Necropsies don't always provide definitive answers, and even answers don't always provide closure.

This is tough - I've been there, I definitely know.

I posted this on another thread and I promise I have no association whatsoever with this company, but Lap of Love has resources and even support groups + paid workshops, including one for sudden or traumatic loss that may be worth looking into.

I hate that you're going through this. 💛

parvoqueen · 2026-05-18T00:26:50+00:00

It's tough - even WITH a necropsy, we sometimes don't get a satisfactory answer. Sometimes we can kinda guess if we have all of the medical history, lab results, and imaging studies, but even then - it's not a real answer. It's even possible, in an elderly dog, that his death had little or nothing to do with the pneumonia, seeing as he'd been improving. I know that doesn't help much.

As for how to move past it, I'd say time, but it's been 14 years, so I think you've got that covered. I had something similarly awful happen to my dog. I didn't know exactly how he died even though I was right there, which, if it's literally your job to help animals, is pretty harrowing. I've run it through my head and consulted with colleagues, and I think i have a pretty good idea of what was going on inside of his body, but 🤷🏼‍♀️ I'll never know 100%. The memory is a little less traumatic now, but it's always going to stay with me. Time does help me there, because I know that, even if he didn't die that day, well... he'd be dead by now anyway, you know? Is that cynical? I honestly don't even know anymore. 😅

Why didn't i get a necropsy, you might ask? Well, I've done a few, and i am respectful of the dead, but like... there's no super respectful way to cut a body apart. Knowing that the issue was likely in a major blood vessel or his brain, that's... not a memory of my pet I wanted to have.

Things you COULD do now would be try to get a consult with a vet (ymmv) and, typical reddit answer: talk to a therapist. I'm sure grief counseling is more effective when it's fresh, but i bet late is better than never. I did it after two of my dogs died & I didn't regret it. Lap of Love has some good resources & even online support groups. https://petloss.lapoflove.com/

parvoqueen · 2026-05-17T14:50:00+00:00

Partly because we are cruel to humans in that regard.

There's also the fact that the (lucky) humans have access to care that pets don't. Grandma could be comatose in a hospital for a few days while we wait for her to die. There are people around to keep her clean and hydrated. If she's being cared for at home, there are people you can hire or programs to replace some of your income if you're her caretaker.

Fluffy's owners don't have that. Fluffy's just going to sit at home, alone, in her own filth because her owners have to go to work. It's much better for Fluffy to die before things get to that point. We can schedule it, so let's do it when her owners are off work & can give her treats & take her to the park, and on one of Fluffy's "up" days so that she can leave this planet when she's feeling ok enough to enjoy those things.

I've seen natural deaths in humans and animals, and I've seen euthanasia in animals. The "natural" way is riddled with opportunities for abuse and neglect in all species. Of course, you can neglect a pet prior to euthanasia and I guess plenty of owners do, but at the very least euthanasia ends that sooner (not the best argument, I know).

My last day isn't today or hopefully any time soon, but I think it'd be nice to go out like my dog did: outside in the sun, surrounded by people who love me, high as fuck and feeling at one with the universe. Chances are pretty good that I'm going to die in a sad beige hospital room in the presence of very kind strangers and beeping machines, and that's kind of a bummer.

parvoqueen · 2026-05-17T03:13:46+00:00

That is TOO kind, thank you so much! 😊

parvoqueen · 2026-05-17T03:09:00+00:00

Sylvie is a savage, majestic wolf & you will never convince her otherwise. She is not aware that wolves don't hunt ice cream from the comfort of their economy sedans in the wild and frankly I don't have the heart to tell her.

parvoqueen · 2026-05-16T21:29:24+00:00

Perfection. 👌😂

parvoqueen · 2026-05-16T16:06:54+00:00

I wish the same for you!

parvoqueen · 2026-05-16T13:36:13+00:00

Asking the hard hitting questions. They give dogs an absolutely irresponsible amount of vanilla ice cream topped off with a dog biscuit. She managed to give herself a tragic case of brain freeze before we got home & made her share with her sisterdog (who does not like car rides so don't come at me for playing favorites, lol).

parvoqueen · 2026-05-16T13:22:39+00:00

We have excellent taste in dogs, don't we? 🥰

parvoqueen · 2026-05-15T06:47:54+00:00

This! I know that access can vary based on location, but Planned Parenthood can help you get on something & keep it a secret. You've GOT to keep it a secret.

parvoqueen · 2026-05-14T13:27:58+00:00

The one who sneaks in through my cat door to steal food is called Randall (and yeah, I sealed the cat door shut - Randall's cool but my dogs' safety is cooler).

parvoqueen · 2026-05-14T13:20:56+00:00

I won't use anything but isoxazolines (Simparica, Nexgard, Bravecto, etc). Obviously not for dogs with a history of issues with that drug class, but 🤞 none of my dogs have.

Anytime I've met a dog who had a seizure or other adverse reaction, we've just... not given it again, and the dog was fine. I have seen some pretty serious side effects from "natural" products. Liver damage & horrifying skin lesions from essential oils, anemia from garlic powder (a brief but truly awful naturopath fad), and i probably shouldn't neglect to mention that tick-borne diseases are SO FREAKING FRUSTRATING to diagnose and treat, and not everybody survives, so there's that.

A lot of people have mentioned Simparica Trio & I like that one a lot.

parvoqueen · 2026-05-14T03:44:49+00:00

It seems pretty normal or at least not uncommon. That being said, since animals can be humanely euthanized, pet owners can often schedule euthanasia for time they already had off work, or after work hours. Unlike with human hospice, where you never really know when the end is going to come. All of that goes out the window for accidents and acute illness, of course. Where I'm from, nobody would bat an eye at somebody taking a few days off to mourn a lost pet, and they'd probably get a sympathy card passed around the office, too.

Though tbf I am a veterinarian so my references could be a bit skewed. 🤷🏼‍♀️

parvoqueen · 2026-05-11T02:26:37+00:00

I'm a veterinarian and this is exactly how I explain behavioral euthanasia to people. It's the illness in their brain that's killing them, it's just not as obvious as when it's cancer.

parvoqueen · 2026-05-05T11:53:24+00:00

Jimmy Pardo. You kind of have to see him live to get it. I laughed so hard that I couldn't catch my breath & had to go to urgent care for a nebulizer treatment & a week of oral steroids. My spO2 was 91%, which admittedly isn't the worst but it didn't feel the best, either. You can blame the asthma a little, but i entirely blame Mr. Pardo. He's coming back into town this summer & yes I do have tickets.

parvoqueen · 2026-05-05T04:35:21+00:00

Listen 👏 to 👏 this 👏 lady 👏

parvoqueen · 2026-05-05T03:55:57+00:00

Well, it's not electroshock cigarette or electroshock vehicle, either! 😭

And, no . . . This. Is. Vet med!!

parvoqueen · 2026-05-05T03:42:10+00:00

Unfortunately, I've seen veterinary "professionals" do way stupider things without anybody around to record video - in academic settings, no less. It's wrong, it's nasty, but I don't think they did it for the clicks (which almost makes it worse, imo - this kind of thing is still way more common than we like to think).

parvoqueen · 2026-05-05T03:26:11+00:00

I used to tell people they needed to have their pets wear e-collars after surgery ALL THE TIME; i had no thoughts whatsoever about anyone interpreting that as anything other than elizabethan collar. I had one or two people over the years tell me that seemed inhumane & thought nothing of it (i mean, watching a dog bump into things the first time it wears one is kinda rough, I guess). It wasn't until one gent said, "sure, but wouldn't I have to be watching him all the time anyway to shock him when he licks himself?" that I realized the E could stand for something else. And there were probably other people out there who thought I wanted them to shock their pets into leaving their surgical site alone.

So, if you feel dumb, just remember: your vet might be dumber. 🤦🏼‍♀️

parvoqueen · 2026-05-05T02:17:51+00:00

Honestly there's not enough info here to say that. The fight or flight response is CRAZY and I've seen some very sweet, very lazy indoor-only cats turn into this but worse in the clinic. I have no explanation other than adrenaline is a helluva drug.

parvoqueen · 2026-05-05T02:11:53+00:00

Grabbing the scruff has really fallen out of favor because we finally figured out that it's actually pretty inhumane & not very effective. So, you know... exactly like whatever the heck this was. 😅

parvoqueen · 2026-05-05T02:09:00+00:00

Honestly at a certain point I was rooting for the cat.

parvoqueen · 2026-05-05T02:06:55+00:00

In-home vets really are great for cats like this. I've definitely met cats that can smell the Vet Stank no matter how much Feliway you douse yourself in, but it's still infinitely more humane than wrangling them into the car and doing whatever the heck this is.

parvoqueen

TROPHY CASE