My dog has a liver infection, jaundice, and won't eat. What's next?

Question

I took my 2 yr old rescue dog to the vet as she seemed depressed/lethargic after coming home from kennels. They spotted jaundice & ran blood tests that showed liver not functioning. They hospitalised her for 4 days, antibiotics+IV. New results showed liver functioning but infection spreading. She is not eating (I've tried every food dog & human), they gave anti-nausue injection but still no change. I've spent $1000 already and they cant seem to fix her or tell me what's next - any ideas? Pet's info: Dog | Mixed Breed | Female | spayed | 3 years and 1 month old

Ann Dion, DVM · Accepted Answer

Hello and welcome to Petco Pet Education Center, formerly Petcoach. Hepatitis (infection and inflammation of liver) is a very serious condition and is very hard to treat. If there is an internal medicine specialist in the area I would recommend having Nala seen by them. Otherwise I would be talking with your vet about testing for infectious diseases. However, it looks like they have treated her with broad spectrum antibiotics as well as IV fluids. I would recommend continuing treatment. She may need a feeding tube placed to try to keep her protein up during this illness. Unfortunately, with how severe this is, she may or may not pull through it, but the best chance of her making it through is to be aggressive with her treatment. I would suggest continuing to monitor her liver and white cell count, and to have imaging done and possible samples of her liver to try to determine the cause of the infection. Otherwise I would be talking to your vet about the parasites and infections present in your area and get covered with certain antibiotics. The white cells have increased however not that much, and the liver enzymes are actually improving if I can read the dates right from your picture. This is very hopeful. I would continue with antibiotics (IV if you cannot get them in orally), as well as IV fluids and I would think about syringe feeding or placing a feeding tube. Best of luck with Nala, I hope she makes a good recovery.

My dog has a liver infection, jaundice, and won't eat. What's next?

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