I guess the shunt bypasses the liver, it normally goes through. Our little batman seemed retarded - some of the time. I thought maybe he had a neurological problem. The vet kept saying he was fine. He didn't gain weight for the first 4 days of his life. He was much slower than the rest of the pups, we just thought he was the runt. As he grew, he would stagger sometimes, he would act like it hurt to be held, sometimes, trying to jerk out of your hands.
The night before he died (saturday), he was coughing, my vet said to give him cough syrup. At 4 am he was staggering a little, I called every vet in the phone book until I got someone to call me back and talk to me. She met me at her office right away. His temp was down a little and his oxygen was down a little. She started calling emergency clinics to find one (an hour away) that could do a scope. It was too late for him. They worked on him for 4 hours, he stopped breathing, they suctioned his lungs and sucked out blood.
My new vet says that if a puppy is retarded it is 'all the time'. I guess what I really am trying to say is we knew for 4 months that something was wrong with him. It was obvious to everyone. I would say 'well, he can find his food and water, so he's ok.' He did not die of the liver shunt, but I think if we had known and been able to control it, he would possibly not have gotten sick. |