For people with LIVER SHUNT babies

[Chato's Mama]

Hello I am trying to know a little bit more about liver shunt and provide something useful for those ones who has it or had it. I have seen lost of threads that are asking for help on liver shunt and maybe we can make a little summary of the liver shunt forum talkers for quick reference. I wanted to post it here because I think this is the section that has the most views . Please let us know

**your name and your babies name
** breed and is it purebred or mix
**what symptoms did you observed
**how old was your puppy
**what was the immediate treatment
**did you performed surgery? if not reason.
**Where did you take them for surgery and when
**WHat was the surgery cost including tests,surgery and post surgery.
**And how are they doing now
**What do you feed them
**Any additional info, tips you wanna post.

Hopefully this will be useful for the people out there with liver shunt babies.

THank you for taking time. If you think about another thing that can be useful please post it.

[Chato's Mama]

Here I go,

**your name and your babies name. ERIKA AND MY BABY IS CHATO
** breed and is it purebred or mix .PUREBRED YORKSHIRE
**what symptoms did you observed.DROOLING, DISORIENTED,UNRESPONSIVE,LOOKING AT THE WALLS
**how old was your puppy 3 MONTHS
**what was the immediate treatment LACTULOSE AND LD PRESCRPTION DIET
**did you performed surgery? if not reason.YES
**Where did you take them for surgery and when UNIVERSITY OF TENNESSE ON MARCH THE 8TH
**WHat was the surgery cost including tests,surgery and post surgery. 1,500
**And how are they doing now CHATO IS DOING GREAT. WE WILL TEST FOR BILE ACIDS THE NEXT MONTH TO SEE IF THEY GOT TO NORMAL
**What do you feed them CHATO IS ON LACTULOSE 3 TIMES A DAY STILL AND IN HILLS L/D DIET. THE VET HAS NOT ALLOWED ANY OTHER FOOD YET
**Any additional info, tips you wanna post. HERE IS A GOOD RESOURSE ON LIVER SHUNT http://www.vet.utk.edu/clinical/sacs/calendar/

[Yorkieluv]

**your name and your babies name. Miko
** breed and is it purebred or mix purebred yorkshire terrier
**what symptoms did you observed. We didn't realize he was having symptoms until later on, looking back...urinating dark yellow, orange color...drooling when he was a pup, head pressing, seizures...
**how old was your puppy? I can't remember exactly, but I believe he was around 8 months old when he was diagnosed.
**what was the immediate treatment? Royal Canin Hepatic LS 14, lactulose, denosyl**did you perform surgery? if not reason? The vet went in for exploratory surgery and was not able to find the liver shunt...**Where did you take them for surgery and when? My vets office
**WHat was the surgery cost including tests,surgery and post surgery? Not sure, it's been awhile...The cost is probably $1500**And how are they doing now? Miko is doing well now, and it's been over 2 years since he was diagnosed...His medical condition is managed through diet, medication, and supplements**What do you feed them? Royal Canin Hepatic LS 14, which he has done extremely well on...He did not do well with Hill's products...Even though the RC Hepatic is really good for him, we are home cooking for him now in light of all the recalls.
**Any additional info, tips you wanna post... Lactulose after meals is extremely important, it pushes the toxins out of the body so that the ammonia doesn't build up and cause seizures...Denosyl(Sam-E) and milk thistle or marin are very important as well..They help the liver function better and they prevent further damage to the liver and help repair the damaged parts of the liver...These are supplements that can be purchased in the health/vitamin section...Dosage is about 1/4 of the human dose...Also, low protein, non-animal protein is very important. Animal protein produces more ammonia causing more chance of seizures...
http://pets.groups.yahoo.com/group/L...d_MVD_Support/
That link takes you to a liver shunt/mvd support group. The people on there are extremely knowledgable about liver conditions and will help you. Also, their files section is full of wonderful information for liver compromised dogs...One more thing, go to a vet that has extensive experience with liver shunts and liver conditions...I cannot stress that enough. University of Tennessee is the best place to go, as Dr. Karen Tobias is the vet who heads up the liver shunt research and has many years experience

[ButterflyYorkie]

Originally Posted by Chato's Mama

Hello I am trying to know a little bit more about liver shunt and provide something useful for those ones who has it or had it. I have seen lost of threads that are asking for help on liver shunt and maybe we can make a little summary of the liver shunt forum talkers for quick reference. I wanted to post it here because I think this is the section that has the most views . Please let us know

**your name and your babies name
** breed and is it purebred or mix
**what symptoms did you observed
**how old was your puppy
**what was the immediate treatment
**did you performed surgery? if not reason.
**Where did you take them for surgery and when
**WHat was the surgery cost including tests,surgery and post surgery.
**And how are they doing now
**What do you feed them
**Any additional info, tips you wanna post.

Hopefully this will be useful for the people out there with liver shunt babies.

THank you for taking time. If you think about another thing that can be useful please post it.

I have experienced the heart ache of having a liver shunt baby in the past.
His name was Dru and I purchased him from a very caring breeder who went out of her way to make our terrible ordeal easier. She completely compensated us for him and had his parents spayed/neutered as well.
He was barely 2 lbs at 10 months old. I did not purchase him for his size...I purchased him because I fell in love as he was a normal size for his age when I obtained him... He just suddenly "stopped" growing or gaining. First red flag and that's when we first took him in for a physical. He began having seizures around 5 months. He was in and out of our vet's office so much, it was really hard on him. To make a long story short he was diagnosed and scheduled for surgery. We were waiting on a couple different factors before having his surgery. He needed to have alot of strength before doing so. 2 weeks before we were ready to take the plunge he went into a seizure which resulted in convulsions...and we rushed him to the vet and had to make a very hard decision...he was in a coma and our hearts could no longer take the look in his eyes, which appeared to be glazed over like glass. We ended his suffering and sent him to the rainbow bridge. I've lost two of my cherished yorkies over the last few years one was little Dru and the other was one of my girls and her problem was totally un-related to liver shunt.
I guess I'm not answering your original questions very good here, so lets see, he was on an Id prescription diet after his diagnosis (low protein)...he would sieze out for no reason several times a week, he was often sleepy, slept way too much. Surgery was going to be around 1100 but we never made it that far. He was a purebred with a little face that is forever embedded in my mind and on my heart.

[pooh]

this is a great thread to start everyone and anyone that knows anything should post i don't know anything and hope i never have to go through it with one of my baby o yes i have heard that the animal hospital in knoxville Tennessee has a liver shunt specialist there

[rox626]

Are you aware of this group?

http://tsfannymaelivershuntfund.home...iverShunt.html

You ought to join them. They already have a lot of information in place and anything you can do to contribute will only help. Best wishes for all that have to deal with this heartbreaking condition.

[PuppyLovinNurse]

What is "head pressing."

What does it look like to seize w/o convulsions? I have never seen this...

Thanks

[Chato's Mama]

Originally Posted by PuppyLovinNurse

What is "head pressing."

What does it look like to seize w/o convulsions? I have never seen this...

Thanks

Wandering the same.

IS there any treat that we can use on our shunty babies other than their presciption diet food? I have baked his own with his own LD food but sometimes he does good stuff and I can not treat him because he does not have baked treats ready. Any suggestion?

[Susan123]

**your name and your babies name, Roxy, baby in Avatar (was not looking for a tiny, but she never grew over 1 1/2 pounds)
** breed and is it purebred or mix purebred
**what symptoms did you observe lack of balance (couldn't stand at times), lethargy, hypoglycemia
**how old was your puppy 14 weeks old
**what was the immediate treatment Lactulose, and special diet, antibiotic
**did you performed surgery? Was told she too small. She passed away a month later.

[Yorkieluv]

Originally Posted by PuppyLovinNurse

What is "head pressing."

What does it look like to seize w/o convulsions? I have never seen this...

Thanks

Head pressing usually occurs after meals...They walk along furniture or walls or the carpet, kind of pressing the side of their head into them...
Seizure are most commonly not detected because everyone expects convulsions...Staring off into space or staring blankly at the wall, drooling, shaking a bit, each of those things on their own can be indicative of a seizure.

[Yorkieluv]

Originally Posted by Chato's Mama

Wandering the same.

IS there any treat that we can use on our shunty babies other than their presciption diet food? I have baked his own with his own LD food but sometimes he does good stuff and I can not treat him because he does not have baked treats ready. Any suggestion?

Of course There are plenty of treats that our liver compromised babies can have...Examples: apples (cut into small pieces and peeled), watermelon(without the seeds), yogurt is very good for them , steamed veggies (ie carrots), little pieces of bread, stuff like that

[Booboo'smommy]

Originally Posted by Chato's Mama

Hello I am trying to know a little bit more about liver shunt and provide something useful for those ones who has it or had it. I have seen lost of threads that are asking for help on liver shunt and maybe we can make a little summary of the liver shunt forum talkers for quick reference. I wanted to post it here because I think this is the section that has the most views . Please let us know

**your name and your babies name Maria(BooBoo'smommy) My yorkie is Boo-Boo
** breed and is it purebred or mix Purebred
**what symptoms did you observed None. Mine doesn't have any symptoms b4 a seisure
**how old was your puppy 10 weeks old
**what was the immediate treatment He actually died at the vets but they resuscitated and was put on IV and lactulose and valium
**did you performed surgery? if not reason. No, he will go in for the surgery within the next 3-4 weeks
**Where did you take them for surgery and when N/A
**WHat was the surgery cost including tests,surgery and post surgery.N/A
**And how are they doing now B/C he hasn't had the surgery yet, he is the same, keeps having seisures
**What do you feed them Very strict diet

Hope this helps.Please pray for my baby's surgery!

[sunyluvsma]

Originally Posted by Chato's Mama

Wandering the same.

IS there any treat that we can use on our shunty babies other than their presciption diet food? I have baked his own with his own LD food but sometimes he does good stuff and I can not treat him because he does not have baked treats ready. Any suggestion?

I have also done sugar smacks and cottage cheese, plain oatmeal. The sugar smacks keeps up the blood sugar and I would feed meals 3 times a day with two snacks.

[tdavis]

**your name and your babies name Tammy and Bobo
** breed and is it purebred or mix Yorkshire Terrier
**what symptoms did you observed No appetite, hypoglycemic attacks
**how old was your puppy 4mos
**what was the immediate treatment Science diet LD food, Lactolose and antibiotic tx
**did you performed surgery? if not reason. Yes, Ameroid Constrictor surgery
**Where did you take them for surgery and when Univ. of Florida Vet School
**WHat was the surgery cost including tests,surgery and post surgery.1500.00
**And how are they doing now Doing much better now although bile acid levels are still not in the normal range, but his appetite is much improved and may have to stay on special food forever.
**What do you feed them Science Diet LD
**Any additional info, tips you wanna post.

[Chato's Mama]

THank you all for your information this definitely let us know we are not alone and we can get very very useful tips out of this thread. Please keep it up letting us know how are your babies doing. Thanks for all of those who have posted.
Mikos mama thanks for those tips!

Did you hear that Dr. Tobias is planning to make a research with liver shunt babies where they will breed only liver shunt yorkies so that they can know further info about this disease?

Eri.