Jaundice - liver/kidney problem?

paultf

Darby, my 7 year old cocker, hasn't been feeling well the last few days. He is very lethargic, constipated and has a loss of appetite. I toke him to the vet yesterday and the only thing the vet found wrong was that his anal glands were full.

Today he ate his food but very slowly. He is peeing but not doing his poos. My sister called around and she noticed something wrong. I got a bit of a fright. He had developed jaundice overnight - yellow eyes, gums and skin. Toke him to the vets again. He agreed that Darby has jaundice. He gave him some injections - anti-inflammatory, antibiotic and vitamin. He toke some bloods and will do tests for kidney and liver overnight. I'll get the results tomorrow. The vet gave me a syringe to give him water as he is not drinking enough.

If the results aren't good Darby may have to stay in overnight and go on a drip.

The vet said it could be serious but at the same time he said the illness could be on a downward cycle.

Has anyone come across this before? Any advice?

EGAR

I've only ever seen *jaundice* in dogs in connection with a Leptospirosis infection: http://www.pethealthinfo.org.uk/dogs/health_leptospirosis.html

paultf

EGAR, thanks for the reply. Crikey, I hope its not that? Darby got his annual booster vacc a couple of months ago - would that not cover Leptospirosis infection?

After reading the link, I am going to keep him seperate from my other 2 dogs.

Crap, I am worried now. This is not looking good.

EGAR

I didnt mean to frighten you, I'm just saying I've never encountered jaundice "on it's own" for the lack of a better expression. Usually the boosters include Lepto but I did have vaccinated dogs who came down with Parvo as there are different strains (not sure if Lepto has different strains).

paultf

I sopke to the vet this morning. He tested Darby's bloods overnight. There is no problem with his kidney but there is a slight problem with his liver - it seems to be inflammed. The vet gave me meds for his liver and paste to help with his constipation. Darby still has jaundice and I feel so sorry for him as he is just lying around - no energy.

After a week if there is no improvement the vet said they'll have to do a biopsy of the liver and there could be a tumour.

So at this stage we don't know exactly what it is - maybe he has eaten something he shouldn't have.

(EGAR, thankfully he doesn't have Leptospirosis infection.)

Wisco

For him to actually show signs of jaundice, it'd generally be more than just slightly elevated liver enzymes. Usually a pretty serious problem by the time they look jaundiced. Don't mean to scare you, but I'd advise you to be aggressive with treatment or seek a second opinion if you feel you're not getting anywhere with your vet.