Labrador Retriever Receives Shocking Hepatitis Diagnosis

Nancy A. had her dock-diving Labrador Retriever Peaches insured from puppyhood in case her otherwise healthy girl had an accident. And even though Peaches had a great physical exam when she was four years old, her bloodwork showed trouble. Nancy shared her experience with us.

"I have a black Labrador Retriever, she's five years old. Her name is Peaches. She's a competitive athlete and a therapy dog and just the happiest dog you'll ever meet.

Last year, I took her in for a routine checkup, and even though her physical exam looked great, her bloodwork showed that she had elevated liver values. The vet recommended that she take medication and get rechecked after some time, but the levels kept elevating higher and higher.

With the levels elevating without explanation, we needed to do a biopsy. It showed that Peaches had chronic active hepatitis.

Peaches required a massive dose of another medication that the vet called "bringing in the big guns." But I watched her go from a happy, sweet, energetic dog to a sad lump on the floor. She lost all interest in doing her favorite activities and lost all of her muscle mass. After six weeks of waiting, we went back to the vet to recheck, but nothing had improved.

It turned out that her hepatitis was better, but the medication was causing a bad reaction, so it was decided to taper down the prescription while going through physical therapy. I took her back in while we were reducing the dose, and the vet came out showed us that her liver values were almost normal.

I watched her gain her muscle mass back and the spark come back to life in her eyes. Because of Embrace Pet Insurance, I'm able to look at her vet and say, "Do whatever it takes, I have insurance.'"