Question Details
Elevated ALKP In A Dog
by CorinneC - June 5, 2020    View Case Report
Rosa is a 10yo FS Lab X with a chronic and increasingly more elevated ALKP. She has started panting more and more, and has become progressively weaker in her hindend. Her tongue is dark-purple, flabby and thin, fissures, wet and pulses decently toned. Her coat is beginning to thin in her sides and she has recently been more dry with tiny flakey white dander. Also in the last month she has developed hyperkeratinization of all her foot pads.

When Rosa first came to me in April 2019 with ^ ALKP (424), panting, overwt, and chronic hematuria she was truly a SP deficient, Damp, Qi stagnant girl so I put her on Xiao Yao San and a clean cooked diet. While many things got better her ALKP continued to climb (889). Her ultrasound from a few months prior suggested gall bladder “sludge” so I added ursodiol for 2 months but no real change. By fall 2019 she was really starting to drag on walks, had off/on diarrhea, and still panting so I added Si Miao San thinking I was not getting anywhere with her Damp Heat. One month later ALKP at 1666!! The owner declined further diagnostics and only wanted holistic tx. I did not see Rosa again for a few months and owner continued XYS only.

This Spring Rosa was really slowing down, panting, more Pu/pd, unwilling to go for decent walks, and her hindend was now very weak, also ALKP >2000. In April, I finally got to “see” her and (see findings at beginning of case) wonder if she’s now Cushingnoid. I added Si Miao San back as I thought her pulses were slippery. By May the owner had started to notice hyperkeritinized pads on all feet (is this Liver Bloof def?). Her hindend weakness was a real concern for the owner, she seemed duller and even depressed. I recommended a recheck and possibly further testing but o declined and wanted “another herb”. So I started on Xiao Chai Hu Tang thinking this could be a THO with hot above/cool below.

Yesterday Rosa seemed better overall but still weak in hindend. She’s also developed dry skin and dander and her fur is thinning on the sides. Her tongue is dark pink-lavender, flabby, thin, fissures, wet. Pulses are of decent tone, maybe even a little taut. Her hyperkeritinization of her digit pads may be causing her discomfort and account for her decreased joy on walks? Or it could be her hindend weakness? I’m really overwhelmed with this case and would love your opinion!!! For now I added EFAs and rec’d CBD as I don’t want to add yet another herb! She seems blood deficient now? Am I drying her out with all the herbs so far?
Replies
by naturevet
June 9, 2020
Hi Corinne,

Xiao Chai Hu Tang is what came to mind for me for this dog, so it may be a matter of time before you see more benefits. The dog has been pretty tolerant of Blood tonics, just not better on them, so you could add them back in. Maybe combine Si Wu Tang with the XCHT, in a 1:2 ratio. That should provide a deeper level of Yin tonification than the XYS was providing.

Yin deficiency is a major aggravating factor in a lot of Shao Yang cases, so making this change will hopefully propel the dog forward. You could also consider adding a bit more Ginseng to the formula, if the dog generally improves from this point, but improvements then plateau leaving her still somewhat weak.

Lastly, a lot of Shao Yang cases have chiropractic fixations in the sacro-iliac region that can really affect mobility. Make sure that region is properly mobilized and not fixated in any way using osteopathy, chiropractic, or just manual mobilization.

Hopefully this helps! Let me know if it doesn't. There is Stasis somewhere, so the next step might be exploring the utility of Blood movers on the Liver, but the case overall fits Shao Yang disharmony well, so I'm optimistic that you cracked the case!

Steve
by CorinneC
June 15, 2020
Hello and thank you Steve,

I really like the idea of adding in Si Wu Tang. We started Rosa this week with this addition! I will keep you posted! I wish more people would update on their cases. It's so great to see what is working for everyone. I sure appreciate this forum!!
Corinne
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