Quote:
Originally Posted by Woogie Man 
Ladymom, I wasn't attacking you in my earlier post but I think you can see my point just as I can see yours. LS is the big bug-a-boo for the breed, to be sure. I'm not sure I would have ever gotten my first Yorkshire if I had seen that statement early on. The actual data is concerning enough but that one statement is downright alarming taken by itself.
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I didn't feel attacked.
Since the statistic is taken directly from the UT website, though, it's hard for a lay person to dispute.
I think the high incidence of liver shunts in Yorkies, whatever the statistic, should be alarming.
This information from Dr. Center needs to be posted again and again IMO. It doesn't seem like Yorkie owners are routinely getting a bile acids test done as Dr. Center recommends.
2: The best approach to avoid "over diagnosis" is to test bile acids in young dogs of highly affected breeds (at 4 mths of age) while they are clinically healthy and before they are adopted into pet homes. Highly affected breeds include: Yorkshire Terrier, Cairn Terrier, Maltese, Tibetan Spaniels as well as many other "terrier" type breeds (Miniature Schnauzer, Lhasa Apso, Shih Tzu, Dachshund, Bichon Frise, Pekingese, Toy and Miniature Poodles, and Havanese and others). Proactive assessment of serum bile acids will limit the awkward circumstance imposed when an MVD dog, with minor health issues, is suddenly recognized to have abnormal bile acids by a pet owner's veterinarian. This circumstance can lead to unnecessary diagnostic confusion and unwarranted invasive tests such as liver biopsy and portovenography. How old dogs should be at he time of initial testing has not been established. Typically, abnormal bile acids DO NOT normalize as a dog ages ..... (all emphasis added by Dr. Center)