Please don't assume that if your Yorkie doesn't have symptoms or has normal liver values on a CBC he does not have liver disease. We have had two Maltese on a forum I belong to in the past year who had a blood panel done with completely normal ALT, ALKP and BUN values. They also had BAT's done which revealed abnormal bile acids. Both dogs were diagnosed with MVD.
Dr. Center recommends all Yorkies have a BAT test done as puppies. She previously recommended getting it done at sixteen weeks, but as a result of her findings in her AKC grant to look for genetic markers, she has revised this recommendation to eighteen weeks.
A BAT test is just a simple blood draw and very inexpensive. There really is no reason not to get one done IMO. |