I'm bumping this thread rather than creating a new one.
I did a search to find out what the symptoms of liver shunt were as Suzy has been runbbing her head with her paws a lot recently. She's 5 months old tomorrow. She has none of the other symptoms and according to the breeder there are no cases of liver shunt in her lineage. It has quite the history of Australian Champions along the way and she's a very responsible, loving breeder who has bred pups with the sire and dam who created Suzy before without any problems. That was the first thing I asked about when inquiring, and she said no. The breeder kept one of the pups from Suzy's litter for herself for showing, just as she kept a pup from the litter the previous year for the same purpose. I doubt she'd do that if she was lying.
The only symptom Suzy has is the head rubbing, it's not pressing just rubbing the paws on her head. She plays hide and seek occasionally, when she's play fighting with my partner she hides and puts her paws up on her face, so she's quite playful with her feet at the best of times.
I'm hesitant to put her through testing if it's something that puppy's do, of course if she develops any other symptoms she'll go straight to the vet. My only concern is that none of the other symptoms match - she's otherwise very healthy, eats very quickly and eats everything, a little heavier than she should be and although they don't have to have all the symptoms is it possible to just have the one?
Is it just her scratching her head? Do dogs with liver shunt only press their heads with this or does scratching count?
I'm sorry for all the questions but I'd like to know as much info as possible.
Thanks in advance!
Quote:
Originally Posted by Yorkieluv  I'm going to list some of the symptoms, but keep in mind that sometimes the symptoms aren't obvious, and they don't have to have all symptoms.
-Lack or appetite
-Head pressing
-Dark urine
-Frequent UTIs
-Urinary crystals/stones
-Drooling
-Blank Stare
-Seizures
-Lack of growth (keep in mind that this does not mean that only tiny dogs can have this. Miko is 11 lbs and he has serious liver problems)
-Symptoms can mimic hypoglycemia |