From:
daneedv@aol.com
Date: 2002-01-01 10:37:00 UTC
Subject: Question for the Vets - extremely high Lipase
While I am writing this primarily to get some input from some of the good
doctors on this list, any thoughts would be appreciated. One of my furkids,
Honey, has an extremely high lipase value - 4630 U/L to be exact. My vet has
never seen one anywhere near this high, and asked me to see if anyone else
had any thoughts.
A brief history - Honey is a 4 year old late spay female. In the early fall,
she started having intermittent diarrhea. The stools were a yellowy brown in
color, and were watery, sometimes even foamy. After about 6 weeks the
diarrhea became constant. She was otherwise in good condition - eating and
drinking normally and active. We visited the vet, and since I already had my
ADV+ kids on Imuran, he suggested I try that, since he could not find
anything else wrong. We started the Imuran, and the diarrhea went back to
intermittent. After about 10 days, the vet had me try Baytril with the
Imuran. We started with 1/4 tab once a day (I think they are 22 mg tabs),
and when that didn't show much change, increased it to 1/2 tab once a day.
At this dosage, the stools firmed right up. We continued the Baytril for 10
days, and then stopped it, but continued the Imuran. After about 2 weeks,
the diarrhea returned. So, the Friday before Christmas, we went back to see
the vet. Honey is still in basically good condition (eating, drinking and
active) but is now somewhat thin. We decided to check her lipase and
globulins - based on the article Dr. Burgess wrote on IBD. I probably should
have had more tests run, but based on the lack of other symptoms, it didn't
seem necessary. Also, we were preparing to leave town to visit family, and I
was pushed for time. Anyway, the results came back with both elevated
globulins - 3.57 g/dl - and the high lipase I mentioned earlier. My vet was
shocked - he said that the lipase was over 3 times as high as any he had ever
seen. Because of time, I had left his office to head home before the results
were done, and so I got them over the phone. We decided to restart the
Baytril and continue the Imuran, and wait and see.
Her stools have now firmed up again, and except for being thin, she appears
fine. I have an appointment for Wednesday evening to get a Lupron shot for
another ferret, and so I am also planning to take Honey in to get a more
complete blood workup.
Have any of you ever seen such a high Lipase value? Is there anything else
you would suggest we look for? I have a great deal of confidence in my vet,
but he did suggest I post something out and ask for other opinions. We will
also rerun the lipase, just in case there was some kind of mistake in the
first test. I am also now using STAT and chicken baby food to try to put
some weight on Honey, in case any exploratory surgery is necessary.
Thanks for any help.
Danee