Aflatoxin...Long term effects

[chasha33]

I lost my little girl,Chloe 2 weeks ago, her heart had showed that she had at some point suffered a Heart attack.Even though she never showed any symptoms.Well  her liver is showing a type of subacute,mild,multifocal  granulomatous hepatitis.
Liver,There are small granulomas within the hepatic parenchyma which are composed of bile laden Kupffer cells

3 Years ago i was feeding all my fur babies Diamond.Well 3 of them got sick including Chloe.The bags of food that they where eating where actually the dates and the lot number of the bags that where testing positive for Aflatoxin.Everyones lab work came back normal,But we still treated them as a precaution.Can that have a delayed raection in the body like this.Can it take time for it to actually cause enough damage to see with bloodwork. Also i am to  scared to dare sedate her brother to do a biopsy.Especially after losing her to the Telazol.I just need to make sure that he is ok .
I miss her so much and i need to find answers.One more thing ,can that also cause problems with the heart and what should i do know for the others as far as test.My poor babies they miss her so much.It is so hard for me to see them hurting and trying to grieve myself.Please keep us in your prayers.Thankyou so much for your time.
                                                        Sincerely,
                                                            Chan

[Jim Humphries, B.S., D.V.M.]

Your veterinarian can do a good base line blood series and could practically assure you that the other dog could survive a biopsy procedure.  

However, if you do not want to take the risk that is your call.  

We are all very sorry this happened and understand your less quite well.  

Keep that good working relationship with your veterinarian.  Best of luck.

[chasha33]

I am really to scared at this time to dare sedate any of my babies again,Especially after losing her to the Telazol inject.I am just really concerned about her brother and if there is anything, that can be done if his liver has been affected to help him.She had developed a mild case of Jaundice when they where eating the exposed food.But after treating her for a few weeks she got better and we didnt think nothing of it again.Her labs where fine  so we didnt think that there could be any long lasting damage done to her.As i had said earlier we know that it was her heart,But i have to take care of her brother and give him the care that he needs.As far as a biopsy ,Is that the only choice i have for test.I know that i am going to have to get past this sedation thing,But it is really hard for me to even consider as of right now.I never imagined dropping them off that day,How i would leave there that evening.It has been 2weeks and 2 days since i lost her and all i still do is cry and wonder why i didnt ever know she was sick.Is it true that even with bloodwork that we would have never known about her previous heart problem?Well i just want to tell you "Thankyou so much for taking your time and talking to me".The way that you and the other vets take the time to talk to people on here really is impressive.It is so nice to know that some people are still left in this world that takes the time to care about other peoples feelings.May God Bless You and please keep us in your prayers...
                                                 Sincerely,
                                                    Chan

[Jim Humphries, B.S., D.V.M.]

I am very sorry to hear of your loss.  

The deaths that occurred from the Diamond recall / Aflatoxin issue typically occurred rapidly.  That was in 2005 and about 100 dogs nationwide did die from a rapid disease.  

For your dog to have a heart attack and then show liver pathology makes me think she died from her heart ailment and showed some signs of liver involvement from perhaps the tainted food years ago.  The liver has an amazing ability to compensate and the pathology you describe could be her "handling" the toxin at the time of the recall problem.  

If you have a concern for your other dogs, a liver biopsy would be in order, however, sounds like they all shed the toxin and survived the initial episode.  I'm not sure how much a liver biopsy would tell you or frankly what you could do about another dog with this same liver pathology.  

If you are extremely concerned, then I believe the biopsy could be done with minimal risk.  

Good luck.