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Originally Posted by Ellie May  I totally agree and I am going to be done posting in this thread now because it is just a waste of time.
What I do want to say though is Dr. Center, Dr. Tobias and Dr. Dodds are the experts on liver disease. They have the experience diagnosing and treating it as vets, not me or anyone else on YorkieTalk, so if a liver problem is suspected, please listen to them.  |
If a dog has symptoms of liver shunt like staggering, low blood sugar, head pressing, etc., would it not be dangerous to run a bat test if not for the fact that it takes several days to get the results back? When a dog is showing these symptoms wouldn't the vet want to know immediately if the liver was compromised and if the liver is compromised don't they immediately put the dog on antibiotic, a liver cleansing diet and lactutose? Wouldn't the vet then wait until the dog is stable before going any further? Just running a BAT test will not let you know what kind of shunt it is, it just lets you know that the dog most likely has a shunt but we also know that bat tests can be wrong so then you go to the next step after that. These things take time so the most critical thing is to get the dog stable then proceed from there. To me the advise of running a bat test on a sick dog and not a blood panel first is incorrect. I don't know of any vet that would do that. When you have a tiny sick puppy, time is critical. It takes time to diagnose a liver shunt and surgery is not always and option. Many ls dogs live relatively good lives if on the proper medication and diet.