10-year old Pembroke Welsh Corgi suddenly sick... please help!

[calypso17]

My beloved corgi, Tucker, suddenly fell ill on sunday and it's breaking my heart because I don't know what else to do to help him... He was perfectly fine on Sunday morning, running around and barking and playing with our younger dog. By Sunday evening, he wouldn't eat anything and all he would do is lie on his side with his head down, panting. His stomach was distended and he was extremely lethargic... it was very difficult for me to get him up and he barely wanted to walk- I had to carry him up and down the stairs from our apartment to use the bathroom. He is still drinking and I was able to get him to eat small bits of boiled chicken and kibbles and/or rice soaked in low sodium broth, but he has thrown up everything he has eaten. I rushed him to our long-term vet first thing in the morning on monday, and they tested his blood for kidney, liver, and pancreatic functioning, and performed x-rays of his abdominal cavity and chest. The kidney, liver, and pancreas panels all came back just slightly out of the normal range and his liver was slightly enlarged, but the x-rays showed no other abnormalities. The vet gave him a shot of anti-nausea medication and vitamin B12 hoping to stimulate his appetite, and prescribed gastrointestinal medicine to settle his stomach, as well as tramadol to help with the pain (which was causing the panting). He was not running a fever and heartbeat/heart rate/breathing (other than the panting) were all normal. He seemed to improve temporarily yesterday morning and I thought he was getting better, but by the evening, he was just as bad as before... He can barely walk and he seems to be in a lot of pain, even with the tramadol. He is still drinking (more than normal) but half the time, he throws up what he drinks, and he has been urinating in the house frequently even though he has been perfectly housetrained for years (and even though I carry him down the stairs to use the bathroom every hour). It seems like he has very little bladder control. I am taking him back to the vet's office in an hour or so (they were not able to see him this morning :( )  but they don't seem to have any idea what could be causing this... They told me they may perform an abdominal ultrasound, which may provide more answers... I am desperate for ideas- I love this dog like he is one of my kids and it breaks my heart to see him suffering and not be able to help him. I've already spent $400 in vet bills (I'm a grad student right now and money is tight), but my fiance and I have talked and rebudgeted and we are committed to do whatever it takes to get some answers and hopefully treatment. My stepkids are extremely upset and keep asking why the medicine isn't making him better :( Our younger dog keeps trying to bring him his bones and food and toys- it's like he's trying to help too :( It's really breaking my heart to watch my baby suffer like this, so if anyone has any ideas or suggestions, I would really truly appreciate it...It's so hard not knowing what's wrong... Thanks for listening :(

I should mention: when I adopted Tucker 4 years ago, he was extremely overweight (60 lbs for a corgi!) and although he is at a healthy weight now and has been for the last 3 years (through slow dieting and regular exercise), it is possible that the enlarged liver was a pre-existing condition that we just didn't know about until now... we're just not sure... :( Also, I have scoured the apartment for anything and everything that he could have gotten hold of that is toxic to dogs (chocolate, grapes, peach/plum/cherry pits, fruit seeds, onions, garlic, household cleaning supplies, etc) but cannot find any possibilities... We don't have any houseplants and I always watch him carefully on walks, so I'm fairly sure he didn't any ingest any toxic plant material...

[calypso17]

Thank you for the kind response Misfits4Me... I really appreciate it... I took Tucker back to the vets office yesterday and they did a complete blood panel, as well as a repeat of the abdominal x-ray... His kidney and pancreatic tests were back within the normal range, but his liver enzymes were extremely elevated this time, and his blood calcium levels were extremely low... We think that he might have a liver infection, possibly cholangiohepatitis or something similar (even though it is far more common in cats than dogs)... Those can be caused pretty commonly by bacteria such as Salmonella, E. coli, Campylobacter, etc. Our area had a boil-water notice for E. coli recently, and although I changed their water to bottled as soon as it was announced, there is a possibility that the bowl I left for them while I was at work that day may have exposed him to some germs (announcement wasn't made until late afternoon). This diagnosis would be consistent with the elevated liver enzymes, but it's apparently really hard to diagnose cholangiohepatitis specifically without more invasive tests (biopsy and bacterial cultures). The vet gave me a round of antibiotics to start treating pre-emptively just in case- we don't want to subject him to something like a biopsy right now because we're not sure he'd make it :( The vet was really concerned by the low calcium levels, but didn't want to do an IV because of the increased stress and risk to his heart. She told us to give him calcium tablets orally twice a day, which we started last night. It is possible that the low calcium might be caused by a pre-existing condition (possibly parathyroid deficiency) that made him more susceptible to the liver infection. The new round of x-rays showed his colon is displaced a bit low, but this is likely due to the enlarged liver. He is going back for an x-ray of his thyroid glands, as well as a blood test for parathyroid functioning later this afternoon. His ultrasound is scheduled for monday- it's a mobile ultrasound technician and she was not available until then... If I can figure out a way to scrape up $1000 to see a specialist before then, I'll do it, but I just don't have it right now :( The great news, though, is that after I started the new round of medication and the calcium supplements yesterday, he seems to have perked up quite a bit.... He was super excited to eat his dinner and breakfast (just regular kibbles) and did not vomit afterwards, and this morning, he passed feces for the first time in about two days... (Never been so excited to pick up dog poop...) He still doesn't feel great, but he is walking around and looks a whole lot better than he did before, even when he hasn't taken any pain medication... He's started following me around the apartment more and getting up to greet me like he used to... He actually seemed happy to go outside for his walk this morning :)  I'm really hopeful that with the new round of tests and the ultrasound, we'll be able to pinpoint a more definitive diagnosis and come up with a better treatment plan, but for now, I'm just so happy he's started eating and drinking again (and holding it down) :) Cautiously optimistic, but if anyone has any other ideas (or any ideas of what I should ask my vet), please let me know! I'm just hoping the ultrasound doesn't show something awful like a tumor :( ( My undergraduate degree was pre-vet before I switched to research, and I worked in a vet's office for a few years, so I'm sure I've already been extremely annoying with the questions and extra tests that I've asked for, but I really love this dog and I've been super worried :/ ) Thanks for listening everybody :) (Sorry this post was so detailed, but I wanted to include all of the vet results in case it might help someone whose pup is sick in the future)

[Misfits4Me]

Hi Calypso.....My first thought is an undetected Heart condition, but now I've ruled that out......This sounds alot like a torsion or twisted intestine, because of the vomiting and water coming right back up after ingestion....Is he pooping? Is any food passing through?

Livers can be enlarged for any number of reasons.......A Tumor of the Liver would create this kind of pain and I have seen dogs fine one day & deathly ill the next from a tumor......An ultrasound would show that.....

I'm sorry, I'll kinda grasping at straws here and desperately want to help you & your buddy......I hope others will come by with suggestions, but everyone seems to be out of pocket lately & good answers have been hard to come by......

So, that leaves me with nothing else but to Pray that your Vet can figure this out.......Your probably there right now.......Please, let me know what happens.......I'll be worried about you both.........Karla