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Background: Ultrasound-determined gallbladder wall thickness is widely used to aid in the diagnosis of gallbladder disease, but no reference values supported by published measurement data are available in dogs., Hypothesis/objective: Establish normal thickness of the gallbladder wall in dogs., Animals: Fifty-three dogs presented to a referral hospital and required abdominal ultrasound examination for reasons unrelated to primary hepatobiliary disease., Methods: Cross-sectional observational study recruiting dogs requiring abdominal ultrasound examination. A standard sequence of gallbladder wall images was recorded for later review. Inclusion criteria were normal ultrasonographic hepatobiliary, pancreatic, and small intestinal findings. Exclusion was determined by 2 European College of Veterinary Internal Medicine (ECVIM)-certified veterinary internists blinded to gallbladder wall thickness data. Dogs were excluded if they had inadequate medical records, a previous history of hepatobiliary, gastrointestinal, or pancreatic disease likely to impact the biliary system (eg, chronic vomiting, nausea, jaundice, diarrhea), unexplained increases in liver enzyme activities, hypoalbuminemia, or ascites. Gallbladder wall thickness was determined by 2 European College of Veterinary Diagnostic Imaging (ECVDI)-certified veterinary radiologists working together to generate a consensus for each dog. The final output was the maximum normal wall thickness for this population of dogs., Results: The upper limit for gallbladder wall thickness in 53 fasted (8 hours) dogs <40 kg was 1.30 mm (90% confidence interval, 1.19-1.41)., Conclusions and Clinical Importance: Normal gallbladder wall thickness in dogs is lower than previously reported. Additional studies are required to determine potential effects of body weight and the optimal cut-off to distinguish between healthy and diseased gallbladders., (© 2023 The Authors. Journal of Veterinary Internal Medicine published by Wiley Periodicals LLC. on behalf of the American College of Veterinary Internal Medicine.)

Background: Bacterial cholangitis and cholecystitis are rarely reported, poorly characterized diseases in the dog., Objectives: To characterize the clinical features of these conditions., Animals: Twenty-seven client-owned dogs with bacterial cholangitis, cholecystitis, or both., Methods: Multicenter, retrospective cases series of dogs with bacterial cholangitis, cholecystitis, or both, presenting January 2000 to June 2011 to 4 Veterinary Schools in Ireland/United Kingdom. Interrogation of hospital databases identified all cases with the inclusion criteria; histopathologically confirmed cholangitis or cholecystitis and bile culture/cytology results supporting a bacterial etiology., Results: Twenty-seven dogs met the inclusion criteria with approximately 460 hepatitis cases documented over the same study period. Typical clinical pathology findings were increases in liver enzyme activities (25/26), hyperbilirubinemia (20/26), and an inflammatory leukogram (21/24). Ultrasound findings, although nonspecific, aided decision-making in 25/26 cases. The most frequent hepatobiliary bacterial isolates were Escherichia coli (n = 17; 16 cases), Enterococcus spp. (n = 8; 6 cases), and Clostridium spp. (n = 5; 5 cases). Antimicrobial resistance was an important feature of aerobic isolates; 10/16 E. coli isolates resistant to 3 or more antimicrobial classes. Biliary tract rupture complicated nearly one third of cases, associated with significant mortality (4/8). Discharged dogs had a guarded to fair prognosis; 17/18 alive at 2 months, although 5/10 re-evaluated had persistent liver enzyme elevation 2-12 months later., Conclusion and Clinical Significance: Bacterial cholangitis and cholecystitis occur more frequently than suggested by current literature and should be considered in dogs presenting with jaundice and fever, abdominal pain, or an inflammatory leukogram or with ultrasonographic evidence of gallbladder abnormalities., (Copyright © 2016 The Authors. Journal of Veterinary Internal Medicine published by Wiley Periodicals, Inc. on behalf of the American College of Veterinary Internal Medicine.)