Jaundiced

This dog is jaundiced - which is to say that his gums (and other mucosae) are discoloured a bronzy yellow (from the French: "jaune"). No photoshoppery-pokerry has been involved here: the photo has not been "tampered with" and seems to give a fairly close representation of the colour in life.

Jaundice is not a disease in itself - it is a clinical sign caused by the accumulation of bilirubin in the skin. Bilirubin is a breakdown product of haemoglobin (the red blood cell pigment which carries the oxygen in our blood). Bilirubin can accumulate for a variety of reasons, usually liver disease, obstruction to the biliary tree, or red cell destruction ("haemolysis'). In the dog most conditions causing jaundice are very serious and often life-threatening.

This dog was referred to me this afternoon as an emergency by another vet.

I could take a "jaundiced" view of this "emergency."
I could roll my world-weary eyes, rub my long-suffering face, run my stubby calloused hands through my grey and thinning hair and wonder, loudly, why it is that the majority of "emergency referrals" seem to roll up on a Friday afternoon, especially those Fridays preceding bank-holidays.

But

In the grand scheme of things (is there a grand scheme?) I am a push-over for cases like this. The dog is very ill. He might have a problem which is soluble (solve-able?). He needs vigorous veterinary care. I am fortunate to have the facilities and skills to provide what the dog needs. I clients want me to treat their dog, and they are even insured to cover the costs of treatment. So...

...Well I got home late again.

The dog has a serious problem involving the pancreas, the duodenum and the biliary tree, but he now seems comfortable and will survive the night (at least).