After getting sky-high results for a couple of blood tests, and a bile acid test at about 248 and 150 (instead of 10 and 20), we took Lacy to a specialty internist vet about three hours' drive away. She did an ultrasound, and couldn't tell definitively, but thought she could see a shunt outside of her liver, and could not see the normal vein capacity inside the liver. Her portal vein, which should be large, appeared tiny, if it was there at all. Lacy is only two years old, and is totally asymptomatic. She only got the first blood test because she was a little sick for another reason. The vet mentioned the surgery, but didn't really advise it because Lacy is so tiny (4 lbs, 3 ounces), and because even if they close the shunt that portal vein might not be able to carry all that blood through her liver. I had no idea until about a week ago what this condition was or that yorkies were predisposed to it. We told the breeder, and she had never heard of it, but she said she would advise to the owners that they test their dogs.
We are going to try to manage her dietarily, because the surgery fatality rate is just so high, and we don't want to put her through that stress if she doesn't even have any symptoms. She's totally fine, and all she wants to do is play. She's always gotten homemade food anyway, she'll just get it with less protein now.
Anyone else who has had experience with this disorder want to share some thoughts? What was your opinion of the surgery? I think the best thing we can do with Lacy now is hope that she stays as happy as possible for the few years that she can probably live.
