Just saw your post. If you can find the posts I have had here all winter and spring, you can see what my little 2 year old Emma Angel has been through. Long story short: She had a plethora of repeated blood work done (BAT tests, etc.), an ultrasound---waste of money b/c it is not 100% accurate, a scintigarphy test (radioactive dye injected---overnight visit at the hospital required) which is very accurate, and finally surgery to gradually close off the shunt. Emma's surgery was done on June 9th at Tufts University Foster Hospital for Small Aniamals in Grafton, MA----near Boston. The surgery is intense and not w/o risk but the surgeon Emma had at Tufts has an excellent record. She was kept in the hospital's Intensive care unit for 4 days to watch for complications---seizures, blood pressure issues, etc. She is a fighter and came through the surgery with an A+ and is now home and has had her stitches removed. The incision was quite long so the surgeon could see if any organs were compromised. She is on the road to recovery and just stopped taking the Metronidazole this weekend. She had been on it all winter until now to help neutralize the amonia in her system. So I pray that she continues to improve now that she is off the medication. Emma will have another BAT test in about a month. I am a bit anxious as I watch her day by day. She is very peppy and does not seem any worse for wear at this point. The expectation is that she will be better.
The only complication to date is the discovery that she had a dry eye---no tears being produced. This was determined after anesthesia was given and she ended up with an eye ulcer twice which is not common in dogs. The anesthesia does dry out the eyes so the medical personel are careful to lubricate the eyes----Emma's dry eye condition did not allow for the eye to remain most during the proceures were she was given anesthesia hence the suspicion that she had another problem. She is now on Celluvisic tears and a special eye ointment. She may not have a tear duct. Right now her eye looks good with the medication.
Diet: She is now on Iams Low residue kibble and will continue on it for a while maybe forever. Peviously she was on a very high protein premium kibble--EVO which did not agree with her system. As she became sick she was switched to the IAMS. A high protein diet is a big "No. No."
I pray that your little one willl be fine. I did not meet anyone on this forum who had used Tufts University for the LS surgery. I could not go to the University of Tenn or Cornell. My vet is a Tufts person and he reccommended that Emma go there as he said they had a high success rate with the LS surgery. Again. Emma is just one month out of surgery---she is not out of the woods yet as I have to see how she does w/o the meds. Shunts are hereditary.
Is there anyone on this forum whose puppy has had the LS surgery and can tell me how long before the ligated shunt took to close ( I understood a month or so from the surgeon) and whether or not there were any complications. How long before the BAT test was normal? The surgeon did not use the ameroid ring on Emma as he said that the smallest ring was too large for her! he used the cellophane proedure instead---I was surprised as I expected the ring to be used as it has a high success rate. Any comments?
Again, hope your baby gets better.
DAB |