It's been a long time!

I'm really regretting not keeping this blog up to date :( It would have been nice to keep everyone informed on his progress and to be able to go back and reflect on the journey.

But ... here I am and I'm very pleased to report that not only is Tucker still with me (and nearly 9 yrs old!), his most recent blood test (Oct 12th) came back with an ALT of 223 and an Alk Phos of 48. These are very good #'s even though the ALT is still a bit elevated.

Tucker is still on Prednisone, our attempt to take him off of it years ago failed miserably and his enzymes went back up. However, he now takes just 10 mg every other day instead of 20 mg per day. All other meds/supplements remain the same.

After homecooking a liver friendly diet for about 6 months which was not only expensive but very time consuming he's been on a fish based kibble. The brand has changed a few times over the years. Currently he eats Taste of the Wild Pacific Stream. He loves it and has done quite well on it.

Woo Hoo! Another great day

For the second time in a row Tuckers ALT came back at 42 !

This is such great news for him! He has now been taken off of prednisone completely and will go back for a recheck in 1-2 months.

I am very hopeful that his numbers will remain stable so he won't have to go so often for the blood tests. Poor guy gets so nervous at the vet and just shakes the whole time.

Great news!

Tucker had another blood test today and his alt is back down to 42.

I'm so happy and so was the vet, she called me tonight at 7pm to let me know the results and find out exactly what I'm giving him and how often.

Since his enzymes went up after taking him off of the Ursodiol before he'll stay on that and now we're reducing his Prednisone to once every third day. He'll have another blood test in a month so I'm keeping my fingers crossed that the numbers stay low.

I really hope that at some point he'll be off the pred all together. The potential side effects worry me quite a bit.

I had a feeling that we'd have good results today based on the way Tucker's been acting lately. Goofy ... that's my boy! He's so silly and sweet and just cracks me up. I just love this boy so much.

The roller coaster ride continues

Well, Tucker went back this morning for another liver enzyme test and his ALT is now at 370. So, not much different from two weeks ago but I was really hoping it would be lower. He'll be started back on his Ursodiol (Actigall) with tonights dinner and will be re-tested in about a month. Hopefully it'll be better then. I'm really starting to wonder if I should go ahead and have his liver biopsied so they can try to determine the exact cause of this. Honestly, the only thing stopping me from doing the biopsy is cost. The least invasive way is very expensive and the affordable way is major surgery which would be harder on Tucker. I'll have to have a chat with the vet and see what she thinks.

Friday he'll go in for a dental, nail trim and ear cleaning.

Another blood test and a bump in the road.

Tucker had another liver test today and his ALT is up to 341. I hope it's just a fluke and will be back to normal next time around. The vet wants me to keep up with the same treatment and re-test in 2 weeks.

As far as I can tell his activity level is the same and I haven't noticed any other changes in his behavior.

Still doing great!

Tucker went back to the vet for another liver enzyme test this past Monday the 22nd. This time his ALT came back at 30 ! My vet and I couldn't be more thrilled at how well he's doing thus far.

Tucker has now been taken off of the Ursodiol (Actigall) completely and his levels will be retested in another month. As long as that test comes back good then his prednisone dosage will be lowered again.

I wish you could all meet Tucker, he's such a sweet and funny boy, I know he'd steal your heart just as he stole mine. His activity level started returning to normal around week 2 and he's been his old self for quite some time now. I'm greeted every night as I return home from work by a sweet basset chorus and 3 very enthusiastic hounds. Nothing could make a person feel more loved than that.

1 month later

Tucker went today for his one month blood test and the results couldn't be any better! This time the test was done in house and the vet's machine has a normal high of 100.

Well .... Tuckers ALT was 52 !! My boy is back in the normal range and I am so happy!

My vet was pretty pleased with the results as well. Tucker will now only get prednisone once every other day and he'll have another blood test in 3 weeks. We'll attempt to reduce his prescription meds from there. I'm hoping we'll be able to get him off of both prescriptions and maintain on the vitamins and supplements so I'm keeping my fingers crossed. I don't have a problem with medications but I'm not crazy about the idea of long term prednisone use, especially at the dose he's taking.