I'm sorry to hear about your dog. My dog, Teddi, had a liver shunt that I didn't discover until she was 1 year old. She was perfectly fine until one day when she got sick. I took her to have surgery at University of Tennessee (we live in California) about 3 weeks after her diagnosis and she is now 4 years old and perfectly fine!! You need to join the yahoo liver shunt group to read all about it...they are very knowlegeable. Here is my Teddi's story:
Teddi's Story