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Originally Posted by MyFairLacy   I feel like incorrect information is being given regarding doing a blood panel instead of a BAT if liver issues are truly suspected. A blood draw is a blood draw...no more safer to take a blood draw for a blood panel than a BAT...and honestly, the risk from a blood draw is very low. If a dog is sick with no specific issues suspected, go for the full blood panel. But if specific liver shunt symptoms were showing up, then a BAT is in order to get the best idea of what's going on. |
I agree 100%. We had long thread recently about a puppy who tragically died shortly after having a routine BAT test done. Did anyone read the thread after that with the results of the necropsy done on the puppy?
The puppy did not die from the BAT test. The puppy died from Cryptosporidium, a particularly nasty form of Coccidia.
Cryptosporidium http://www.yorkietalk.com/forums/bre...sy-teaser.html
The risk from a BAT test is very low. The real risk is
not to BAT test Yorkies. Please remember that Yorkies are thirty-six times more likely to have a liver shunt than all other breeds combined and that Dr. Center recommends that all Yorkie puppies have a BAT test. (She has recently revised the recommended age to 18 weeks.)
Hopefully with the grant form the AKC, Dr. Center will find a genetic marker to screen for liver shunts prior to breeding. Until then, a BAT is the only test available to detect this deadly condition.