Vibes please, Liver disease/ Failure

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catherine22

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Has anyone had any experiences of the above (hopefully positive!) my 12 year old weimeraner lost loads over weight over the last week, he went to the vet on thursday and had blood tests which showed very raised liver enzymes/ proteins (over 1000) he was also slightly jaundiced and drinking and weeing excessively
He has gone in today for an ultrasound to see what is actually going on and am keeping everything crossed it's not beyond repair
 
Really sorry to hear this. PM Cedars on here, as I know she's been through similar with her lab Chloe. It might be helpful having someone to discuss the ins and outs with.
Vibes for your lovely dog x
 
It depends very much on what has caused it - dependent on which liver enzymes are high it can indicate either damage to the liver cells and/or a problem resulting in blockage of the flow of bile from the gallbladder.

Ultrasound should tell you more - ask your vet about testing for leptospirosis as well, we have seen several cases recently (some in dogs who have been vaccinated too).

Fingers crossed for your dog...
 
Thanks guys, he was rushed to a referal place in winchester (anderson moores) for a more detailed ultrasound to try and work out where the problem is, it does look more like the gall bladder and his pancreas looks strange as well which could be pressing on the bile tube and slightly blocking it
He had more blood tests done last night and aspirations taken from his liver, pancreas and lymph nodes (as they're doing something strange as well)
He is looking very poorly, he was very lightly sedated at 11am yesterday and hadn't woken up properly by the time he was seen at the referal vets at 4pm. when we left him he was going on a drip to try and rehydrate him and clear the sedative.
Waiting on the bloods and aspirations around lunchtime today
Oh and as his insurance is the senior dog one it only covers £500 per condition :-~
 
Lady La La said:
Really sorry to hear this. PM Cedars on here, as I know she's been through similar with her lab Chloe. It might be helpful having someone to discuss the ins and outs with.
Vibes for your lovely dog x
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Maybe not....chloe never really showed any symptoms, so would not be helpful in this case.

You dog seems to be in the best hands and all test are being exhausted as needs be with suspect liver problems.
The liver is remarkable and can function on a small percentage of it capacity, but it plays a very important function and as suggested it would depend on the actual problem.
My friends dobe had a shunt and she got ill very quickly, infact within a week she had lost a huge amount of weight despite eating well (although she had difficulty swallowing) and was having what looked like "funny turns" and was having seizures and in a coma:( (this was the toxins building up in her body that she could not filter any longer) she had functioned very well considering her liver was minute. they took her to a specialist 300 miles away and they wanted to exhaust all options. Sadly she was inoperable as she was far to big of a breed for a successful operation to repair the shunt and the size of the liver.

I also have a friend who's dog has mild liver problems, he was obviously ill when diagnosed but is now stabalised on meds. So keep your hopes up and keep us updated:)
 
Results are back from the vets, aspirations showed nothing major and bloods haven't really chaged - all still pointing to inflammation. As the other alternative is liver biopsys and surgery, given his age (and cost) he is gong to be treated symptomatically to reduce the inflammation and hopefully release the 'squeezed' bile tube.
He is starting this afternoon, the drugs will be changed in his drip, then onto tablet form including antibiotics and see how he responds, hopefully he'll be home tomorrow, still keeping everything crossed
 
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