So serious!

A moment in our life with Delta:

Sometimes, usually when she’s expecting to be fed, Delta will sit very neatly on the rug.

She sits up tall and looks at you with purpose. If you don’t respond right away, she will sit even straighter and earnestly tuck her back feet closer together. You can hear quiet thumps on the rug as she shifts. Given the rather generous size of her thighs, her toes get closer while her hocks stay put.

The result is an utterly charming but extremely pigeon toed posture with a face that clearly explains one of her nicknames, Little Serious.

In other Little news… I recently brought Delta to the vet to have her ALT liver enzyme rechecked. The previous test showed it had lowered quite a bit and she was feeling fine. We had her on Milk Thistle for a month for liver support, then did the retest “just to check.” We expected to find that her normal levels were higher than most. What we didn’t expect to find was levels up to 16x normal! The vet had taken a liver biospy during her spay and held on to it in case we needed it. After getting the results of her ALT retest on Saturday, we decided it was time to send it off.

Dr. Lyons and I spoke today – there are no answers but no bad news either.  Well, unless you count the outside lab claiming they were sent a spleen sample, that was less than stellar. Dr. Lyons was certain she sent the right sample and double-checked to be sure there was no mix up on her end. Another sample would require surgery, which seemed a little ridiculous on such a healthy dog.

As we were discussing this, I had a thought. I asked if it was possible that roughhousing, I mean really roughhousing, with Aaron could be responsible. I briefly described some of the smack down that is a nightly occurrence at my house and she chuckled and said “I never would have thought of that, but YES, its possible!”

So the plan is to wait and see. Dr. Lyons ran down the common warning signs for liver issues – loss of appetite, uncontrollable vomiting, yellowing of the eyes, gums or ears. If she shows any signs of illness, I’ll bring her in (as I always do). I’ll keep giving her Milk Thistle for support. And if she continues being her happy, horseplay-lovin’ self, then we’ll just let her be.