Vet looking at older dog's liver. Thoughts on why?

You are not my vet.

I have an 8 year old Newfoundland, which is is at the upper end of the age range for the breed. He’s been panting a bit while moving lately, which can be a sign of pain. He’s also reluctant to go up and down stairs and get into the van. I took him into the vet to get checked out, and get arthritis medication if warranted. (Note - he’s been on Cosequin for a few years, for those interested.)

The vet took blood work, to rule out other things, and unspecified (to me) liver abnormalities have come up. She would like to have him come in for x-rays to check liver size (he’s too large for palpation) and for a day of serial blood work to look at enzymatic changes over several hours, with and without food, etc.

My question back was: what are we looking for? Cancer? Something easily treatable in an older dog? In between? I’d like to know. He gets very anxious away from me. If everything we’re looking for is terminal, I’m not sure it’s worth it. If there’s a “good” finding, then I’m all in.

I asked, and the vet is on a two week vacation (the day after I saw her). She texted back and essentially repeated what I had already been told. I’ve come here to see if anyone has any thoughts. Cancer is mine, unfortunately.

TL;DR - Blood work on older dog is abnormal. Vet wants further tests. What disease or physical abnormality is she looking for?

I don’t know the details really, but older dogs have problems digesting food, develop problems with their gall bladders i think, and liver function tests are what they look at.

What are you feeding him? Blackjack is on a low fat diet, no grains, just rice, overcooked hamburger and vegetables. He started doing much better after getting off the medicine for his leg problems. He’s a clever and willful dog, still getting around when he wants to with nearly useless back legs.

I feed him Iams or Nutro Natural for large breed older dogs. I’m fairly certain his food costs more than mine. :stuck_out_tongue:

That’s no surprise. Talk to your vet about his diet, and check the fat content in the food he’s eating.

Good news first: Older dogs may have some liver enzyme values that go above the reference intervals, but it does not mean anything is wrong. Your vet just wants to make sure the dog has a “new baseline”, and that there is nothing else (mentioned below). The exams done are more specific to liver function (along with x-rays and ultrasound). It may be nothing, but it is good to rule out anything else.
Hepatic cancer does not necessarily has blood abnormalities. Perhaps looking at some type of liver disease, as mentioned it can include gallbladder issues. It can also be some type of liver inflammation. The initial cause of the inflammation may have been long gone, but the damaged left behind may have progressively affected the liver to the point it now shows up in routine bloodwork. It can be treatable/manageable.

One specific type of inflammation, and right now I forget if Newfoundlands are one of the affected breeds, is copper toxicity. Some breeds have trouble processing this mineral and over time store too much of it, causing problems in the liver. The most well-studied breed is the Bedlington terriers, where the gene has been identified, but research shows there may be similar issues in other breeds.

I don’t get the correlation, but one of our Border Collies (deceased) had some elevated liver enzyme which made the vet suspect Cushing’s disease.

Increases in cortisol (steroid) hormones, which cause many of the effects in Cushing’s disease, also cause alteration of some liver functions and enzymes. That could be a possibility as well, especially if there are other physical exam changes that the vet may have noticed.

She mentioned Cushing’s Disease in the exam, which indicates she noticed something. Anyone have any experience with that? I will also be checking the ever helpful internet.

Your vet won’t even tell you what she suspects? How are you supposed to make an informed decision about further testing? You should be questioning her, not us.

I tried to question her via her staff. She repeated back the same non-answer by text from wherever she is on her two week vacation. I will not be getting anything substantial from her until she returns. I did ask if another vet in the practice could help, but no.

You are correct this makes an informed decision difficult. Hence this thread.

I have found the information provided in this thread valuable so far. Thank you all for chiming in.

I’m sorry for your dilemma. I could make some guesses but won’t due to lack of info. Nasty situation to be in.

Cushing’s Disease, believe it or not, is about the same in humans as in dogs. A tumor forms in/on either the Pituitary gland or one of the Adrenal glands. Either way, cortisol production is messed up (the Pituitary tells the Adrenals to produce cortisol) which causes all sorts of problems in the dog’s body. I don’t remember the name of the drug we were supposed to give, but it was very expensive and would have “only” given her a couple/few extra years. We didn’t get a chance to use it–our BC started throwing seizures and after 12 hours of it (we figured five an hour for at least 12 hours), we put her down.

I cheerfully hope KarlGrenze chimes in again and corrects the blunders I’ve made here and I apologize if I’ve scared you with this info.

Good luck with your beastie.

Yes, Cushing’s a possibility, specially if a certain liver enzyme was elevated disproportionally, and if she found other things in the exam or you told her something, even if you think inconsequential, that you haven’t told us.

I have no idea about the disease in humans, but the general gist in dogs is what burpo mentioned. I’m not sure how long ago burpo’s dog had it (sorry burpo), as I think there are various alternatives now, but it all depends on the case.

A reliable, veterinarian vetted website is Veterinary Partner.

Honestly? There are other vets in the Bay Area. I’d suggest getting a second opinion from someone who is present and willing to answer your questions. Ask around at the dog park or your groomers, maybe, if you don’t have any other source for references.

Good luck with your big boy.

The only other thing noted is that he has areas of irregular fur growth. I have had him clipped for years (Newfie’s aren’t built for Summer around here) and have been warned for years by an assortment of groomers that clipping Newfie’s could result in irregular fur. Sure enough, for years, he’s had these places where the fur is different textures and lengths.

Thank you for the website. I will check it out.

I’d check his office for some fava beans and a nice Chianti

:dubious:

(I suspect dog liver is pretty nasty anyway)

I think all liver is nasty.

How’s your boy doing?

Pooka, the big boy in question, goes in for the whole group of tests tomorrow. We’ll see how it goes from there. I just had him fully clipped, which I do every summer. The panting has subsided and the abdomen, now that you can actually see it, does not look distended. None of that really rules anything out of course. I’ll let you know as soon as I know more.

One interesting thing I’ve learned from doing more research on Cushing’s. I’m fairly certain that one of my earlier dogs did have this condition and it was not diagnosed. She panted all the time. Her abdomen distended so much that the vet actually did a series of taps to drain it to make her more comfortable. We expected to find bleeding, but no. She eventually died of a heart attack. I don’t know for certain, of course, but I have to wonder.

Fingers crossed on tomorrow’s tests, ddsun (and Pooka).