high liver enzymes

Question
my dog is 14 yrs. old, he has recently been hospitlized because he has started vomiting and could not keep anything down.  the vet has been checking his liver enzymes for sometime now and since october of 2007 it has gone from 270 to 1780.  they have on iv fluids and antibiotics and several other meds.  the ultra sound reveled a mucus pocket in his gallbladder and continue to treat him.  the enzymes are  coming down and he is alert and feeling better.  they have started him on a kidney diet and that seems to stay in him.  one vet suggests surgery to remove the gallbladder and another said the recovery time would probably end his life.  i have opted to treat him with meds without surgery for whatever time he has left.  i would appreciate an input you have.  his name is willy and a poodle mix of about 14 lbs. thanking you in advance. debbi chrisman

Answer
I'm sorry, but I am not a veterinarian so I cannot answer much of your post. However, I will say that as a breeder and dog owner that I would not subject a 14-year-old dog to surgery... but basically doing whatever was needed to keep the dog comfortable.

That said, and this is probably a totally different problem yet one worth investigating, a friend of mine had a "grand-dog" that was dying from a liver problem and was given three months to live. They totally changed his diet, and he lived for a few more YEARS. Here are a couple links to this (called "Sunny's Miracle Diet":

http://www.minschnauzer.com/diet/sunny.html

http://members.aol.com/stars4kk/miraclediet.html

Here is another one that you might find helpful:

http://www.healthyhappydogs.com/NormansStory

Best wishes with this...