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Old 06-27-2010, 08:40 AM   #9
Ellie May
And Rylee Finnegan
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Join Date: Apr 2007
Location: Metro Detroit, MI
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Welcome to Yorkie Talk.

In my opinion, routinely bile acids testing Yorkies is commendable! Sometimes dogs with liver shunts or microvascular dysplasia (small shunting throughout the liver) don't show symptoms. This can be a problem because some drugs can be dangerous to use when these problems are present. Yorkies are 36 times more likely to have liver shunts than all other breeds combined.

Thirty post is not that high. It's a concern, but so many things can skew bile acids test results. Had she taken any medication recently? Is she on a very high protein diet? Ultrasounds are good for showing bladder stones (can be secondary to liver problems), the size of the liver, etc., but they aren't really accurate for diagnosing shunts. And microvascular dysplasia (MVD) can't be diagnosed with a regular ultrasound. Since the post number is nowhere near 100, it is very unlikely a large shunt, but more likely MVD. Also, so many things can cause liver functioning issues. So it may be neither.

You could retest in a month, or retest in a month after a liver friendly protocol is tried (diet and supplements), or go with the ultrasound, or see a specialist, etc. I would not let it go, but would talk about other options besides ultrasound. Of course if the vet is worried about something else that they think would show up on ultrasound, that would be different.

But I do want to say this is not that far out of reference range and it sounds like she will be just fine.
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Crystal, Ellie May (RIP), Rylee Finnegan, and Gracie Boo🐶
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