death of my dog

[ingincuster]

My dog died yesterday of acute liver failure. She had one day of lethargy, not eating, and staggering when she walked. We took her to the vet the next day and she died. Her urine was filled with blood. I had fed her some fatty foods two days before. Could I have contributed to her death through pancreatitis? What did I do wrong?

[Justine Lee, D.V.M., DACVECC]

I'm so sorry to hear about the loss of your dog. It's unlikely that pancreatitis results in acute liver failure/necrosis (ALN)- while pancreatitis can result in ELEVATED liver function tests (LFTs), it shouldn't cause failure. Cause for ALN include blue-green algae exposure (in stagnant ponds), sago palm ingestion, xylitol sugar-free gum, a few medications, etc. Sometimes end-stage liver disease (cirrhosis) can also cause acute liver failure also.

I'm so sorry and my heart goes out to you!

[ingincuster]

Thank you for the information and sympathy. I have been wracking my brain trying to figure out his this could happen over 48 hours. My vet said she must have had underlying liver disease for sometime to cause this to occur. I had her teeth cleaned in 9/09 and her tests were fine then. I am still in shock and denial.