hi linda, i am so sorry to hear about your little emily!
my little max was diagnosed with a liver shunt when he was 4 months old (he's 8 months old now). he was completely normal and seemingly healthy until he started having seizures one night. we rushed him to the emergency vet and after we got the bile acid test back it indicated a liver shunt. he never had any other signs of a liver shunt except the seizures - lots of times dogs with this condition and not gaining weight too. we were absolultely terrified as you are right now! a couple of days later we scheduled his surgery. you are correct, there are 2 different kinds of liver shunt...shunts outside the liver and shunts inside the liver. the ones outside the liver are easiest to correct. also, they do a biopsy of the liver while they are in there to test for MVD (liver disease) and make sure the liver hasn't been damaged. luckliy our little max had one big shunt outside his liver that they were able to correct and no other liver problems. it has now been 4 months after his surgery and you would never know anything was wrong with him.....he is a normal happy little puppy!!
i just wanted to share a happy store with you to maybe help you feel a little better about what emily is going through. here are a couple of really good websites that tell all about liver shunt.
www.livershunt.com www.tsfannymaelivershunt.com
also you can join a yahoo group about liver shunts by emailing
LiverShuntChat-subscribe@yahoogroups.com.
these are some great resources for you. please let me know if you have any questions or need any more guideance!
you and emily are in our prayers!!
brooke & "max"