Harry is a five and half year old beagle cross. In April of this year I noticed that he was getting progressively lethargic. He had an obvious mood change and had become less interesting in everything. He is constantly thirsty and drinks large amounts of water. He often pants and likes to lie on cool / cold surfaces. He has put several kgs of weight, particularly around his abdomen.

On the first visit to the vets, a full work up was undertaken: Blood tests, urine samples were undertaken. The only thing of note was slightly raised liver enzymes. The vet suspected Cushings syndrome and undertook further tests. Two different tests were tried but both came back as negative.

Liver ultrasound was undertaken, was reported as generally inflamed but no focal disease. Harry was treated for liver disease.

Four weeks later returned to the vets as he showed no sign of improvement. He had put more weight on and blood work indicated further raised liver enzymes. Vet uncertain of cause, and referred to specialist.

Specialist vets undertook full range of tests in Chester. Again all tests normal appears normal apart from raised liver enzymes. Test for Cushings syndrome undertaken again and was negative. Ultrasound indicated normal liver and adrenal glands. The vet is now suggesting opening up Harry, undertaking a visual inspection of the liver and taking some large biopsy’s.

Can anyone suggest some advice before Harry goes under the knife. It seems pretty severe way to get a diagnosis.

Unfortunately with liver problems, if nothing significant is raised during blood tests to determine a diagnosis, a biopsy generally needs to be the next step. It is likely that Harry may require long term medication/treatment and for a dog his age, a biopsy should hopefully start to indicate what exactly is causing this problem.

Is this something your vet would do, or would it be the referral practice? Hope all goes well.