Travis and I went to see Dr. Shaw for an ultra sound. She was very nice. His liver and gallbladder look perfect she said. Everything appeared to be healthy. She diagnosed him as having the early stages of liver disease. Today, the biliruben is higher, he is jaundice (very bad sign), and this morning he vomited yesterday's evening meal and treats. It is so strange to describe symptoms that make him sound so sick, yet he's still a perky, beautiful boy who is ready to play. The vet tech said he was the most beautiful greyhound she'd ever seen.... of course I already knew that. Dr. Shaw recommended that he be given fluids for the next few days to flush the biliruben out of his system meaning he has to spend the next several days in the hospital. Luckily I can bring him home at night. She also suggested a steroid, liver supplements, and antibiotics to see if we can get him feeling better and slow the progression of the disease. Basically, she told me that he would probably ultimately die of liver disease..... most likely sooner than later. The impression I'm getting from most is that we are talking about days... maybe a couple of weeks.
I transferred Travis to a closer animal hospital to receive fluids. His case was turned over to a fresh out of school vet who was ready to test for everything. We did take some chest x-rays, but didn't find anything.
I have four greyhound/sighthound friends who are vets, so I have been consulting with them. Its so hard to digest all of the information and decide what to do. One friend is an internist who suggested a liver biopsy and a 2nd opinion from a specialist. Maybe take him to one of the vet schools. She is concerned that he may have gotten into something toxic. I am not sure what that would be since he is almost never not supervised when out of his crate. I really don't want him to spend his final days getting poked and prodded especially if he's just going to die anyway. I already feel bad enough that he has to spend 3 days getting fluids. Unfortunately, money is always a factor also. I can only afford to do so much. Even the diagnostics alone are getting pretty expensive. I just can't believe that this is happening to Travis of all dogs at only 10 years of age. We always joked that he'd die in a fiery crash because nothing was ever going to slow him down. So much for that.
