Quote:
Originally Posted by Brodies Mommy  Brodie update:
Bile acid test results:
Pre meal - 290
Post meal - 366
He has no external liver shunts so they believe it is an internal liver shunt that is causing him the issues. The only way they could find this is to do a liver biopsy which is very dangerous and costly. My vet has recommended Hills LD and has ordered me a bag of dry and a case of wet food as well. He is going to monitor Brodie's urine and blood once every 3 months. He said Brodie could have lots of complications down the road but right now he is playful and healthy and he sees no reason to do a very dangerous surgery that could kill a 3lb dog if it can be controlled by diet and constant regulation. He said Brodie could have Hepatic micro dysplasia. :'(
What to do now?
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sorry but not real thrilled with vet
just being honest anything over 100 is usually an external shunt in a yorkie not an internal. Internal shunts happen is large dogs not small dogs so i really have a red flag up about this vet and have since your first post as i knew this was liver shunt related. Mvd or hmd is what my dog has and that is usually when a dog is asymptomatic meaning no signs and bile acids are below 100 anytime it is above 100 usually is a shunt and one is easy to correct if your dog blows more shunts due to one shunt not being corrected then you will not have surgery as an option. The next thing i recommend is a scintigraphy as that is more precise in determining if shunt or not NOT AN ULTRASOUND. These dogs are tiny and shunts are almost impossible to see on an ultrasound. The scintigraphy cost about $390 and only certain specialists can do it as it is radioactive dye- if this were my dog I would have the scintigraphy done next and i would go to ut because if it is a shunt and shows up in scintigraphy i would want dr tobias to do the surgery immediately so my dog could live a normal life. Have you joined this group as they can help you alot as they helped me out alot when dd was diagnosed with mvd.
Liver_Shunt_And_MVD_Support : Liver Shunt & MVD/HMD Support
here is what a scintigraphy is
Portal Scintigraphy in Veterinary Medicine
basically they put a dye capsule in your dogs butt and it travels through the body and they take hundreds of pics to see if it bypasses the liver if it does then there is a shunt if it does not then no shunt. It is the only true test for liver shunt that is accurate. Protein c is a blood test for it but a dog with 3 shunts showed negative for a shunt so i do not think that test is so accurate anymore. The dog does not have to be sedated if calm and you have to leave for entire day as all dye has to be out of them before they can come home.