Question
X-ray
Hello,
I don't even know where to begin, I guess I should break this into segments.
4 weeks ago, my 14 year old cat was diagnosed with lung cancer, and liver enlargement. There was nothing that could be done, which sadly resulted in euthanasia.
2 weeks ago, my 7 year old cat started showing the same symptoms as the cat that had passed away 2 weeks prior. After a week and a half of traveling to major veterinary hospitals to find out what was wrong, they found a mass in her lungs which wasn't treatable yet again, and also resulted in euthanasia.
The major vet that we traveled to told us that these two incidents weren't correlated; they were just freak-accidents.
Two days ago, my 4 year old dog (Bichon Frise) started breathing faster than usual, and panted continuously. He would run around, or even walk around, and get tired out easily. He's eating and drinking, but his breathing is still rapid. We rushed him to our regular vet yesterday, where they took the x-rays attached (they made a copy for us).
His (abnormal) bloodwork came back as this:
LaserCyte:
WBC - 18.83 K/μL (normal levels: 5.50 - 16.90) HIGH
NEU - 14.77 K/μL (normal levels: 2.00 - 12.00) HIGH
VetStat:
HCO3(ven) - 16.6 mmol/L (normal levels: 20.0 - 29.0) LOW
PCO2(ven) - 30.0 mmHg (normal levels: 32.0 - 49.0) LOW
tCO2(ven) - 17.5 mmol/L (normal levels: 21.0 - 31.0) LOW
Catalyst Dx:
ALT - 147 U/L (normal levels: 10 - 100) HIGH
ALKP - 216 U/L (normal levels: 23 - 212) HIGH
LIPA - 4253 U/L (normal levels: 200 - 1800) HIGH
GLU - 160 mg/dL (normal levels: 74 - 143) HIGH
Our vet didn't know what was wrong. He saw that his liver was enlarged, and that he had slight fluid on the edges of his lungs. He said that the fluid was nothing major, but he was worried about his liver. We traveled to the major veterinary hospital today (as we did with our cats) and they seemed to think he was healthy; that we were crazy for thinking that the same illness that killed our cats is now plaguing him. Apparently, they cannot see that he's breathing shallowly and panting after taking two steps, which is exactly how this starts. They said that his x-ray was clear, and basically told us that our vet was ignorant for thinking otherwise (he clearly has an enlarged liver, yet they disagree with this). They told us that our 7 year old cat was fine too, but 5 days later, her disease progressed, and I'm not allowing that to happen again. We requested Internal Medicine admittance and they said that he was completely fine; that it would be pointless to run any tests. After being told that, we asked for a simple ultrasound just to make sure. Once again, they said that he's not sick, and that the ultrasound would show nothing anyway. They also advised us to stop the medications given to us by our trusted vet. After my vet was faxed a copy of the report, he was appalled by the fact that they not only disagreed with the blatant evidence of a disease spreading via toxicities in our house, or transmittance from the other animals, but he was also extremely angry that they told us to stop the meds. I'm taking him to another vet for a second opinion tomorrow, and if they can't figure out what's wrong with him, I'll travel back to the major vet and demand diagnostic tools. As for what's causing this, I'm petrified at the thought. We're getting an environmentalist to run some tests, and check out our house for toxicities within a few days. But until then, I just wanted to ask for your opinion. I'm desperate, as I need to find out what's causing this before it progresses to the point of no return.
Thank you so much,
Krista
AnswerKrista,
as much as I would love to help you I am not a vet, and this is way beyond my expertise.
I would be concerned about radon under your house as that is what can cause these symptoms. It is an odorless gas that is emitted by the soil.
Here is some info on it:
"TOXIN RADON DANGER LEVEL: HIGH [4]
It's the second-leading cause of lung cancer behind smoking.
Who's at risk: Everyone. It's an odorless, colorless gas that comes from the soil and can leak into your home. It's been found in every type of house and in every state.
What to do: Radon test kits are available at most hardware stores for $10 to $20. Place one in your basement and leave it for two days. If the level of radon in your home is high, you'll need to spend about $1,200 to have a contractor who's an expert in radon removal put in a venting system, which will direct the gas away from the house. Unfortunately, your homeowners insurance probably won't cover the cost.
If you have recently installed granite countertops, you'll need to buy a second test kit for your kitchen too, since some granite that includes uranium can emit radon gas. It's not likely that your countertop will cause a high radon reading (it affects only about 5% to 10% of granite on the market), but if yours is affected, you'll have to either revamp your kitchen ventilation or replace your granite counter. "
You should re-post this to one of the vets here or write to e-vet.com and ask Dr. Peter Knapp for help. He is a top notch vet out of the UK that answers questions like these. While your dog's blood work does show some highs and lows, none are really outrageous except the lipa which is fat in his bloodstream. That is usually from diet.
His oxygen levels are low, but could it be his heart? Most likely a 4 yr old dog isn't going to have a heart issue.
I am sorry I cannot do more for you. Please let me know how it all works out.
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