Advice & Suggestions please - Page 1

Wonder if anyone could help - aiming at Bob-0 really who usually "comes up with the goods". I have a friend that had a dog from me, now 4yrs + and for the last few weeks has lost weight+++ he is not eating well,willingness to feed is going downhill and she is feeding him small amount of chicken 2 2 hrly etc., - his general behaviour is fine,bowel action is fine but he`s thin, very thin. His urine is very concentrated, and he is showing signs of Jaundice - I am desperately worried because her vet has given 10/7 of antibiotic cover, tested urine and will see her in 10 days time, with progress reports in between in necessary. She loves this dog like her skin, but we all know what it is like to be in denial, she lost a dog a few years ago, in tragic circumstances, and almost seems to be taking the vets reaction as a "good sign" nothing is severely wrong. She is a very intelligent, "switched on" person and will do anything for the dog - has anyone got any suggestions we could wake this vet up with - she holds his advice on all things very dearly, and feels he is a wonderful vet. She may be right, I may be panicking, but would appreciate anyones advice or ideas on this.

When did this start? How old is this dog? Jaundice is a sign of liver failure, pure and simple, but the question would be what is causing it. When you say "showing signs" what exactly do you mean? Does the vet say the dog is jaundiced? How much weight has the dog lost and in what time period? There are many possibilities, including bacterial, viral, parasitic infection as well as environmental toxins. Blood work would be useful to rule out infection. Is the dog drinking? Did the vet do urinalysis? Did the vet look for urinary tract infection and assess kidney function? Where does the dog live? The obvious question is what, if any, bloodwork or other lab tests has the vet done? Hepatitis comes to mind immediately, but again, there are many possibilities. If the vet gave an antibiotic, hopefully it is broad spectrum. Certainly, if there is not improvement in the next day or two, it would be prudent to take the dog back and/or seek a second opinion.

Hi Hodie, Thanks for that - and the answer to most of your questions is "No" - which is why I am so worried and feel that nothing has been done on the visit to the vet concerned (UK). I would like to copy and paste your answer to me if you wouldnt mind, to the owner of the dog - she is a great friend, but as I say she is almost denying that this could be serious - and I am trying to be that "great friend" too without being overpowering - as for the jaundice, the vet told her it was apparent in gums and eye tissue !! I had hoped she was going to tell me the vet had run bloods - but he is apparently going to do this in 10 days !! Thanks again will keep you posted. Mo

looking at the above, my answer to you was a bit vague Hodie (must be the hour) - when I said mostly No was the answer I meant it for your question what had the vet done, he dipped the urine stick apparently, gave antibiotics and said see in 10 days. He looked at the tissue for jaundice. This weight loss has been a slow thing, and she has been dealing with it for weeks, but it is only now the dogs appetite is down which prompted her to go to the vet. apparently, he looks and behaves like a puppy !! so no lethargy. Mo

Frankly, I'm puzzled as to why the vet didn't pull a blood sample already, given the clinical history...If the dog is already showing evindence of jaundice, I cannot see the wisdom in waiting another ten days before rechecking, especially since the dog is anorexic now as well. That sort of weight loss, coupled with the jaundice and the inappetance, suggests something serious is going on, and needs be addressed more thoroughly than just a 'shot in the dark' antibiotic cover--which is what you've got when the only diagnostics that were done is a urine dipstick. As an example: One of my bitches picked up a bacterial hepatitis a few years back, with similar symptoms as you're describing, albeit without the jaundice; the urinalysis results were so off-scale that the vet initially assumed that the sample had been contaminated, but I'm a vet tech and I damn sure know how to obtain a clean 'free catch'urine sample...so we ran the blood and found that the bilirubin, ALT & SGPT values (these measure liver function)were off the scale as well. Had the bloodwork not been run, we likely would have been sent home with an antibiotic and a presumption of a urinary infection, and wouldn't have been treating for an infection in the liver. Instead, we were able to select an antibiotic with a clearer picture of what type of organism it needed to attack, switch her to a food program that didn't put additional stress on the liver, and get her on supplementation to help reverse the damage done to the organ. Your friend doesn't so much need to 'wake her vet up' as she needs to simply request that he run bloodwork for her peace of mind, so a more complete picture of the dog's condition can be created, and the dog can start recovering more rapidly from whatever is ailing him.

Thanks Hexe - everything points to the advice you give,I`m going to urge Carol to see some-one and quick, she will know its not just my feelings having read these posts. Will keep you informed, and thanks for your time. Regards Mo

Diffenently something connected to the liver Many years ago a man in HOuston had one of my first litterpups and his dog did same thing and the liver showed off and it was protein burn out or whatever the name for that is but the vet warned all of us to watch too much feeding of high protein even if your working your dog Might ask that and get bloodwork done asap.... Could have a tumor on the liver Yorkie breeder in Dallas just lost male to that and it was diagnosed as diabetes and pancreatic disorder She ask for a autopsy because she wanted to know what was the real cause and thats what was found....

Do a blood test, check the albumen and protien level particularly. Do the bile test to check liver function. Time is not on your side with these symptoms.

Mo, Jaundice, concentrated urine, and weight loss together suggest toxicity brought on by organ insufficiency. This is rather urgent, as it will worsen without treatment and could be life threatening (obviously). Hexe's post illustrates one such occurrence that was nipped in the bud with early diagnosis and treatment. I hope that your friend sees the urgency and gets to the bottom of this quickly. Best wishes, Jonah

Have the vet do a urinalysis (not just a dip test!)and a CBC. That should give a much better view of what is going on. Im shocked that they havent taken these steps themselves already.