A great lecture from Dr. Jaffey at VetGirl Uni. He says that we are all accustomed to the kiwi pattern. The “kiwi pattern” is associated with gallbladder mucoceles in dogs. Gallbladder mucoceles are often visualized on ultrasound with a central anechoic area surrounded by a thickened, echogenic wall, resembling a kiwi fruit. This pattern can be indicative of mucous accumulation within the gallbladder. However there are truly 6 patterns and most do not look like a kiwi at all.
Treatment of acutely sick dogs:
Cholecystectomy is recommended in majority of cases regardless of the severity of signs. Always check for biliary obstruction during the surgery
If you can not do surgery, you can try medical therapy including urosdiol, a low fat diet and broad spectrum antibiotics.
- Ursodiol
- Broad-spectrum antibiotics
- Other supportive care therapy varies case-by-case
For dogs without clinical signs you either need to keep a very close eye on it with multiple evaluations or take them out prophylactically. Prophylactic cholecystectomy is a procedure with less than 5 percent complication rate and can even be done laparoscopically if the gallbladder is not too big.
Thank you Dr. Jaffey
Global Veterinary Surgery 