my yorkies hypoglycemic, is someone else dealing with this? - YorkieTalk.com Forums

armani2007 · 04-07-2008, 05:41 PM

hi!
My yorkie armani is 9 months old and 5 pounds hes a toy yorkie. i got him as a christmas present from my fiance in the military as someone to cuddle with on lonely nights. unfortuanly a few weeks after having him my poor baby started having awful seizures. i did lots of research after the first emegerncy vet vist int he middle of the night. i had to take him to five vets before i foudn oen that would actually listen to me. he is hypogylcemic and just gets maple syrup at night and he hasent had a seizure yet!! im so happy i found somthing that works

however my concern is that can having this at his age lead to worse health problems or be signs of somthing larger? ive read thats its fairly uncommon for them to have this once they are no longer little. my grandma bred yorkies when i was little but she never had this problem so she dosent know much. im just trying to fidn someone who understands how frustrating it is to have to watch your dog have sezuires while he looks at you with those little eyes and you cant deo anything about it and who can maybe give me more information on his health problem. im feeding him science diet because the vet recomended it but i always heard that science diet was bad. so anyways any help or comments? anything would be appreciated[/COLOR]

Susan123 · 04-07-2008, 06:53 PM

There a bunch here that the moms have to watch for. Be sure to leave out food at all times. They don't need to go long periods with eating, I'm sure you know. Low blood sugar levels can be a symptom of liver shunt and probably a few more illnesses.

Science Diet is not a premium dog food. Vets sell it, so they recommend it. I use Chicken Soup for the Puppy Lover's Soul, it can be found at Petsmart. Most of the better ones (and regular ones) can be found at Petsmart.

I'm sorry that he's having seizures....I could not imagine what that must be like, how awful.

Patti · 04-07-2008, 07:04 PM

Cali, my soon to be 3 year old had hypoglycemic episodes until she was 8 months old. I fed her every 3-4 hours even during the night. Cali was diagnosed with MVD an internal liver shunt but thankfully it was so mild that it doesn't need treatment. I would see about having bloodwork done if you haven't already just to make sure everything is ok. Good luck

armani2007 · 04-08-2008, 06:38 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Patti

Cali, my soon to be 3 year old had hypoglycemic episodes until she was 8 months old. I fed her every 3-4 hours even during the night. Cali was diagnosed with MVD an internal liver shunt but thankfully it was so mild that it doesn't need treatment. I would see about having bloodwork done if you haven't already just to make sure everything is ok. Good luck

yea the vet did blood work to check for it all and it was all fine. the sezuires have pretty much stopped since i put the maple syrup in his water and his food does get left out its just hard to pick a dog food! they all say theyre the best lol i noticed ukenuba makes one for yorkies maybe ill try that. i was feeding him organic dog food but i dont knwo if that has everything he needs. what is a liver shunt? would it show up in the blood work? hes otherwise a very happy playful boy and the seizures only happen at night so i dont think its anythhing larger but i dont knwo much about disorders with dogs so i dont know if it can cause somthing else. like how if people are diabetic theyre prone to other health problems. i assume all the sugar he gets and the food could eventually cause some puddgyness but hes still at a healthy weight for now thanbks for your guys help

Yorkieluv · 04-08-2008, 08:45 AM

Liver shunt would not necessarily show up on the bloodwork because the liver would have to be 70% damaged before it would show up...The best way to check for liver shunt is with a bile acid test...Blood is drawn before a meal and 2 hours after a meal...If the numbers are elevated, then there's a problem in the liver.

One of the symptoms of this is hypoglycemia. Many times liver shunt is misdiagnosed as hypoglycemia and the pup may seem to get better at first but later on symptoms may begin to appear.

I always recommend that anyone who gets a yorkie has him/her bile acid tested, especially if there are any hypoglycemic issues.

My yorkie was also severely hypoglycemic when he was a pup and he did indeed have a liver shunt which caused the seizures...

nikkinack · 04-08-2008, 05:40 PM

Lily was severely hypoglycemic when she was a pup until she was about 4 months old. She improved greatly with good food, she is on Innova and I think it is the best, but I always keep nutra cal(spelling) just incase. Good Luck

cyndi03 · 04-10-2008, 07:06 AM

My Lulu had a few hypoglycemic attacks when she was around 5 months old. Our vet ran bloodwork & it did show she had low sugars - even though the bloodwork was ran after a meal. We were then sent to a specialist who did an ultrasound & ran the bile acid test for liver shunt or mvd . They had her stay in the hospital for a few hours during the fasting stage of the bile acid test so someone was monitoring her sugars at all times which did drop only after a few hours without food.

Everything did come back normal other than she was a small girl prone to hypoglycemia but they want to run the bile acid test again in a few months. I made sure she ate well & gave her nutrical about 3-4 times a day until I felt comfortable she was growing out of it. Nutri-cal is a great product to have on hand for these little ones.

My Lulu is currently on Royal Canin - Yorkie food. She is a very picky eater & this is the only one I could count on her eating alot of. Royal Canin is an okay food, but there really are much better choices - I'm hoping to switch her to a better food in the future, but for now she is doing very well with the hypoglycemia. I also have science diet a/d on had should she decide not to eat a meal - it's syringable which is great for a quick feeding.

Good Luck!

Ladymom · 04-10-2008, 09:47 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Yorkieluv

Liver shunt would not necessarily show up on the bloodwork because the liver would have to be 70% damaged before it would show up...The best way to check for liver shunt is with a bile acid test...Blood is drawn before a meal and 2 hours after a meal...If the numbers are elevated, then there's a problem in the liver.

One of the symptoms of this is hypoglycemia. Many times liver shunt is misdiagnosed as hypoglycemia and the pup may seem to get better at first but later on symptoms may begin to appear.

I always recommend that anyone who gets a yorkie has him/her bile acid tested, especially if there are any hypoglycemic issues.

My yorkie was also severely hypoglycemic when he was a pup and he did indeed have a liver shunt which caused the seizures...

Routine blood work will not necessarily show a liver shunt or MVD. He needs to have a bile acids test done. They are easy and inexpensive, around $50-100 depending on where you live.

Did you know that Yorkies are 36 times more likely to have a shunt than all other breeds combined? Dr. Center recommends that all Yorkie puppies have a bile acids test done before even going to their new homes.

Here's a good article for you to read:

http://www.vet.utk.edu/clinical/sacs/shunt/faq.shtml

Yorkieforme · 05-02-2008, 07:31 AM

Hi,

I am so sorry to hear of your pups siezures! I am a new (Feb 08 ) Yorkie mom and KiKi was 1 lb when I picked her up. It was a 6 hr drive and she had 3 siezures in the car...and 1 more when I got her home...I then rushed her to the vet hospital who told me she was in hypoglocemic shock.....thankfully she recovered....and she has had 2 other severe episodes of low blood sugar since then....( no more siezures )
It is so unpredictable....she can play hard and be fine....

and the next day she can be lazy and it hits....

I monitor every morsell of food that she eats so that I know how much she is eating and what she is eating....I have learned to read labels and avoid a lot of the dog food out there.
I have found a great "kibble" for her

It is called Wellness for puppy's and comes in a bright yellow bag....this is all natural....and she has this in her bowl all day

I also give her a wet canned food...

called

Puppy Plate

made my Merrick

I think I have her stablized now...I know how terrifying this is...I have spent many tearfull days worrying.

Best wishes.

Yorkieluv · 05-02-2008, 08:11 AM

Yorkieforme, I would definitely have a bile acid test done on your baby to check for liver function. Hypoglycemia is a symptom of liver shunt/mvd and liver shunt is many times misdiagnosed as hypoglycemia. My baby had severe hypoglycemia when he was a pup, and we finally seemed to get it under control with small frequent meals and no red meat of any kind, but symptoms returned later on and we found out that he indeed did have liver shunt. Bile acid tests should be done on all yorkies. They are 36 times more likely to have liver shunt than all other breeds combined.

Yorkieforme · 05-02-2008, 08:14 AM

What exactly is a liver shunt?

Yorkieluv · 05-02-2008, 08:54 AM

A liver shunt is a blood vessel that bypasses the liver instead of going through it. Let me elaborate a little bit...The liver is a powerhouse that detoxifies and filters just about everything that enters the body. When a dog eats protein, it produces ammonia which is then supposed to be filtered by the liver, but when a dog has a liver shunt, the ammonia bypasses the liver (where it's supposed to be filtered) and enters the bloodstream. When the ammonia enters the bloodstream, it builds up and causes neurological symptoms like seizures...Symptoms can be as small as being a picky eater to as severe as seizures.
The reason dogs with liver shunts are so picky is that regular dog/puppy foods are high in meat protein which produce high amounts of ammonia which end up in the bloodstream which cause nausea, pickiness, etc. Dogs attribute this sick feeling to the food and rightfully so.
Another thing that happens with liver shunt is the following: The liver helps regulate blood glucose levels. When the liver is not functioning properly as with a liver shunt, glucose is not stored properly and the dog may become hypoglycemic from not having small, frequent meals to prevent the hypoglycemia.
This is why the symptoms of hypoglycemia mimic the symptoms of liver shunt/mvd/liver disease so closely.
Does this help?

Yorkieforme · 05-02-2008, 10:02 AM

Thank you so much for the information. You told me more than what I learned from the Vet! It is always good to be informed.
And at her age ( 5 months ) the vet will be able to test for this?

Yorkieluv · 05-02-2008, 10:08 AM

Yes, definitely. This test is done in pups as early as 9 weeks. Just ask for a Bile Acid Test. Also, you can inform your vet that Dr. Sharon Center who invented the Bile Acid Test does not require a 12 hour fast. The important thing is to have a paired sample.

Make sure they do not do an IDEXX Snap test. You want a regular serum bile acid test.

The way a bile acid test works is that they take one blood sample before eating. Then they feed the dog. Two hours after feeding the dog, they take another blood sample. This will give you two numbers. These numbers will help indicate if there is a problem in the liver.

Most vets think that the first test HAS to be done after a 12 hour fast, but as I mentioned before, this is not the case. If the vet has any questions, I'm sure Dr. Center from Cornell would be more than happy to explain that it is not necessary. Or if they just research a little bit they can find this information on their own.
So again, a pre-meal blood draw and a post-meal blood draw are important.

Good luck!! If you have any questions, please ask.

Yorkieforme · 05-02-2008, 10:30 AM

I think I need to look for a NEW vet. I just called the vet that I go to and the VET that I usually deal with was not in...but another was available to give me information.
My usual vet recommended that if KiKi continued with low blood sugar problems past 7 months....to have complete blood work up.
The vet i just spoke with said that she would have to fast for the Bile Acid test...then she would eat and be retested. He told me to have a full blood work up done (NOW) and see if that shows anything....I did not like this guy....
I will wait and talk to my regular vet to see what he says :-( frustrating!

04-07-2008, 05:41 PM	#1
armani2007 Yorkie Talker Join Date: Apr 2008 Location: griffith indiana Posts: 23	my yorkies hypoglycemic, is someone else dealing with this? hi! My yorkie armani is 9 months old and 5 pounds hes a toy yorkie. i got him as a christmas present from my fiance in the military as someone to cuddle with on lonely nights. unfortuanly a few weeks after having him my poor baby started having awful seizures. i did lots of research after the first emegerncy vet vist int he middle of the night. i had to take him to five vets before i foudn oen that would actually listen to me. he is hypogylcemic and just gets maple syrup at night and he hasent had a seizure yet!! im so happy i found somthing that works however my concern is that can having this at his age lead to worse health problems or be signs of somthing larger? ive read thats its fairly uncommon for them to have this once they are no longer little. my grandma bred yorkies when i was little but she never had this problem so she dosent know much. im just trying to fidn someone who understands how frustrating it is to have to watch your dog have sezuires while he looks at you with those little eyes and you cant deo anything about it and who can maybe give me more information on his health problem. im feeding him science diet because the vet recomended it but i always heard that science diet was bad. so anyways any help or comments? anything would be appreciated[/COLOR]

04-07-2008, 07:04 PM	#3
Patti Donating YT 30K Club Member Join Date: Oct 2005 Location: Illinois Posts: 35,509 Blog Entries: 6	Cali, my soon to be 3 year old had hypoglycemic episodes until she was 8 months old. I fed her every 3-4 hours even during the night. Cali was diagnosed with MVD an internal liver shunt but thankfully it was so mild that it doesn't need treatment. I would see about having bloodwork done if you haven't already just to make sure everything is ok. Good luck __________________ Cali Pixie Roxie : RIP Nikki; RIP Maya;RIP my sweet Dixie girl 1/17/08 http://callipuppyscastle.bravehost.com/index.html

04-08-2008, 08:45 AM	#5
Yorkieluv Donating YT 3000 Club Member Join Date: Feb 2005 Location: USA Posts: 7,178	Liver shunt would not necessarily show up on the bloodwork because the liver would have to be 70% damaged before it would show up...The best way to check for liver shunt is with a bile acid test...Blood is drawn before a meal and 2 hours after a meal...If the numbers are elevated, then there's a problem in the liver. One of the symptoms of this is hypoglycemia. Many times liver shunt is misdiagnosed as hypoglycemia and the pup may seem to get better at first but later on symptoms may begin to appear. I always recommend that anyone who gets a yorkie has him/her bile acid tested, especially if there are any hypoglycemic issues. My yorkie was also severely hypoglycemic when he was a pup and he did indeed have a liver shunt which caused the seizures... __________________ Miko 's his Mommy

04-08-2008, 05:40 PM	#6
nikkinack YT 1000 Club Member Join Date: Jan 2008 Location: Mid Michigan Posts: 1,510	Lily was severely hypoglycemic when she was a pup until she was about 4 months old. She improved greatly with good food, she is on Innova and I think it is the best, but I always keep nutra cal(spelling) just incase. Good Luck __________________ Member of Petite Pups United and Spoiled Rotten Club Proud member of the CrAzYcLuB

04-10-2008, 07:06 AM	#7
cyndi03 Yorkie Talker Join Date: Sep 2007 Location: Canada Posts: 15	My Lulu had a few hypoglycemic attacks when she was around 5 months old. Our vet ran bloodwork & it did show she had low sugars - even though the bloodwork was ran after a meal. We were then sent to a specialist who did an ultrasound & ran the bile acid test for liver shunt or mvd . They had her stay in the hospital for a few hours during the fasting stage of the bile acid test so someone was monitoring her sugars at all times which did drop only after a few hours without food. Everything did come back normal other than she was a small girl prone to hypoglycemia but they want to run the bile acid test again in a few months. I made sure she ate well & gave her nutrical about 3-4 times a day until I felt comfortable she was growing out of it. Nutri-cal is a great product to have on hand for these little ones. My Lulu is currently on Royal Canin - Yorkie food. She is a very picky eater & this is the only one I could count on her eating alot of. Royal Canin is an okay food, but there really are much better choices - I'm hoping to switch her to a better food in the future, but for now she is doing very well with the hypoglycemia. I also have science diet a/d on had should she decide not to eat a meal - it's syringable which is great for a quick feeding. Good Luck! __________________ Cyndi, Lulu, & Maggie

04-07-2008, 06:53 PM	#2
Susan123 YT 1000 Club Member Join Date: Aug 2005 Location: Florida Posts: 1,455	There a bunch here that the moms have to watch for. Be sure to leave out food at all times. They don't need to go long periods with eating, I'm sure you know. Low blood sugar levels can be a symptom of liver shunt and probably a few more illnesses. Science Diet is not a premium dog food. Vets sell it, so they recommend it. I use Chicken Soup for the Puppy Lover's Soul, it can be found at Petsmart. Most of the better ones (and regular ones) can be found at Petsmart. I'm sorry that he's having seizures....I could not imagine what that must be like, how awful.

05-02-2008, 07:31 AM	#9
Yorkieforme YT 1000 Club Member Join Date: Apr 2008 Location: Windsor, Ontario Canada Posts: 1,138 Blog Entries: 1	My Yorkie has Hypoglocemia Hi, I am so sorry to hear of your pups siezures! I am a new (Feb 08 ) Yorkie mom and KiKi was 1 lb when I picked her up. It was a 6 hr drive and she had 3 siezures in the car...and 1 more when I got her home...I then rushed her to the vet hospital who told me she was in hypoglocemic shock.....thankfully she recovered....and she has had 2 other severe episodes of low blood sugar since then....( no more siezures ) It is so unpredictable....she can play hard and be fine.... and the next day she can be lazy and it hits.... I monitor every morsell of food that she eats so that I know how much she is eating and what she is eating....I have learned to read labels and avoid a lot of the dog food out there. I have found a great "kibble" for her It is called Wellness for puppy's and comes in a bright yellow bag....this is all natural....and she has this in her bowl all day I also give her a wet canned food... called Puppy Plate made my Merrick I think I have her stablized now...I know how terrifying this is...I have spent many tearfull days worrying. Best wishes. __________________ Natalie & KiKi

05-02-2008, 08:11 AM	#10
Yorkieluv Donating YT 3000 Club Member Join Date: Feb 2005 Location: USA Posts: 7,178	Yorkieforme, I would definitely have a bile acid test done on your baby to check for liver function. Hypoglycemia is a symptom of liver shunt/mvd and liver shunt is many times misdiagnosed as hypoglycemia. My baby had severe hypoglycemia when he was a pup, and we finally seemed to get it under control with small frequent meals and no red meat of any kind, but symptoms returned later on and we found out that he indeed did have liver shunt. Bile acid tests should be done on all yorkies. They are 36 times more likely to have liver shunt than all other breeds combined. __________________ Miko 's his Mommy

05-02-2008, 08:14 AM	#11
Yorkieforme YT 1000 Club Member Join Date: Apr 2008 Location: Windsor, Ontario Canada Posts: 1,138 Blog Entries: 1	What exactly is a liver shunt? __________________ Natalie & KiKi

05-02-2008, 08:54 AM	#12
Yorkieluv Donating YT 3000 Club Member Join Date: Feb 2005 Location: USA Posts: 7,178	A liver shunt is a blood vessel that bypasses the liver instead of going through it. Let me elaborate a little bit...The liver is a powerhouse that detoxifies and filters just about everything that enters the body. When a dog eats protein, it produces ammonia which is then supposed to be filtered by the liver, but when a dog has a liver shunt, the ammonia bypasses the liver (where it's supposed to be filtered) and enters the bloodstream. When the ammonia enters the bloodstream, it builds up and causes neurological symptoms like seizures...Symptoms can be as small as being a picky eater to as severe as seizures. The reason dogs with liver shunts are so picky is that regular dog/puppy foods are high in meat protein which produce high amounts of ammonia which end up in the bloodstream which cause nausea, pickiness, etc. Dogs attribute this sick feeling to the food and rightfully so. Another thing that happens with liver shunt is the following: The liver helps regulate blood glucose levels. When the liver is not functioning properly as with a liver shunt, glucose is not stored properly and the dog may become hypoglycemic from not having small, frequent meals to prevent the hypoglycemia. This is why the symptoms of hypoglycemia mimic the symptoms of liver shunt/mvd/liver disease so closely. Does this help? __________________ Miko 's his Mommy

05-02-2008, 10:02 AM	#13
Yorkieforme YT 1000 Club Member Join Date: Apr 2008 Location: Windsor, Ontario Canada Posts: 1,138 Blog Entries: 1	Newbie....Learning Thank you so much for the information. You told me more than what I learned from the Vet! It is always good to be informed. And at her age ( 5 months ) the vet will be able to test for this? __________________ Natalie & KiKi

05-02-2008, 10:08 AM	#14
Yorkieluv Donating YT 3000 Club Member Join Date: Feb 2005 Location: USA Posts: 7,178	Yes, definitely. This test is done in pups as early as 9 weeks. Just ask for a Bile Acid Test. Also, you can inform your vet that Dr. Sharon Center who invented the Bile Acid Test does not require a 12 hour fast. The important thing is to have a paired sample. Make sure they do not do an IDEXX Snap test. You want a regular serum bile acid test. The way a bile acid test works is that they take one blood sample before eating. Then they feed the dog. Two hours after feeding the dog, they take another blood sample. This will give you two numbers. These numbers will help indicate if there is a problem in the liver. Most vets think that the first test HAS to be done after a 12 hour fast, but as I mentioned before, this is not the case. If the vet has any questions, I'm sure Dr. Center from Cornell would be more than happy to explain that it is not necessary. Or if they just research a little bit they can find this information on their own. So again, a pre-meal blood draw and a post-meal blood draw are important. Good luck!! If you have any questions, please ask. __________________ Miko 's his Mommy

05-02-2008, 10:30 AM	#15
Yorkieforme YT 1000 Club Member Join Date: Apr 2008 Location: Windsor, Ontario Canada Posts: 1,138 Blog Entries: 1	I think I need to look for a NEW vet. I just called the vet that I go to and the VET that I usually deal with was not in...but another was available to give me information. My usual vet recommended that if KiKi continued with low blood sugar problems past 7 months....to have complete blood work up. The vet i just spoke with said that she would have to fast for the Bile Acid test...then she would eat and be retested. He told me to have a full blood work up done (NOW) and see if that shows anything....I did not like this guy.... I will wait and talk to my regular vet to see what he says :-( frustrating! __________________ Natalie & KiKi