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?
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