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Originally Posted by christiers  i had just finished reading your posts when i noticed this one. thank you. i have joined the liver shunt and mvd yahoo group. we did the biopsy, because my vet here felt Coco had a shunt and the specialist at U Penn felt that she was perfectly fine given all other labs were normal and she was asymptomatic...she never mentioned or seemed to consider mvd. i don't like putting my babies under anesthsia for any reason, but with the biopsy or ultrasound either would have required it. after speaking to one of the in-take nurses at UT (i was going there if it was a shunt), my husband and i decided on the biopsy for what we thought would be a shunt diagnosis. we are still fairly novice to liver shunts & mvd...although not for long. after losing the one baby so suddenly last year, i am fearful of not doing the right, best thing. my inexperience is why i am seeking information, so i ask the right questions and do the best things for her. i agree about invasive procedures, but i feel that sometimes to gather the best information they are necessary. Elissa was correct, you do have a wealth of knowledge in regards to this topic. i truly appreciate all of your information. where is Dr. Dodds located, is a phone consult an option? as for RAW diets, i meet those that swear by it and those who completely oppose it. thank you again for replying to this thread. any and all information shared is greatly appreciated.  |
When you say anesthesia would have been required for a biopsy or ultrasound, so you mean an ultrasound guided biopsy or just one to visualize the liver? IF it's the latter, anesthesia does not have to be used unless they just cannot hold it still (which is not the majority of the time).
I'm not really into the biopsy route if the dog isn't already opened up (for apay or whatever), but there are other things that can cause high bile acids and it's really the only way to know for sure. I'm thinking of one (not too common in dogs though) that would require higher protein, not lower. So while (imo) a biopsy should not be rushed into, there are a few cases that it is needed with high bile acids if things aren't adding up or whatever...