[puppy_Love08]

Originally Posted by Oscar's Mummy

I was told that "Protein C tests were useless", so my vet didn't recommend I go that route. That's the first time I've heard anything negative about the Protein C test, a lot of people have recommended it. I was leaning towards a scintigraphy test but found out today that it costs $1400 dollars!!! and that they have to keep her for 3 days because it causes her body temperature to rise?? I said no. At this point, we already know that she is liver compromised. A scint test isn't going to tell me how big the shunt is, how MANY shunts there are, or if it is inside or outside of the liver. I can't afford to shell out that much money for another inconclusive test. If I'm paying that much money I want to know exactly what, where, how big, etc.

I've questioned my vet about every possible thing I can think of — and I actually have great faith in him. Ruthie's tests have come back TWICE with the same results, and she was symptomatic ('small' symptoms, nothing neurological) BUT, Oscar has had ZERO symptoms, and I do wonder if there are any other factors that could cause his test to be slightly elevated like that. Tomorrow morning we will perform a BAT on him and get a better idea of what's going on.

I've done a lot of reading on this topic because Logan is being tested for liver shunt. I read that a high protein diet can cause the results to be higher than normal.