Quote:
Originally Posted by Karebear  Sadie had an ultrasound last week. The vet said the next step would be exploratory surgery because the shunt is internal and possibly inoperable. Right now i have her on a low protein diet and she's taking lactulose.
The only symptom she has shown for years was vomiting and recently she had a seizure. |
My dog Daisy was diagnosed at around the same age as your dog. We also had an ultrasound but she did not undergo exploratory surgery given her age and the results of her bile acids testing since they were slightly over the cut off for a single portosystemic shunt vs. microscopic shunting or "MVD". We opted instead to first try medical management at the suggestion of our vet. She is now 10 1/2 years old and has done very well. Her bile acids were pretty high to begin with, and went down with the Hill's L/D diet and Marin, and have gone to completely normal on a home cooked diet (she did not do well on L/D when it was her exclusive diet).
In our dog's case, given her symptoms that were mild and waxed and waned over the years and consisted of diarrhea and vomiting, exploratory surgery did not seem like a good first step in our almost 6-year old dog. But she also never had neurological symptoms, leaning toward MVD rather than single shunt as a "probable" diagnosis.
What were your dog's bile acids test results?
Was your vet able to pick up a single shunt on the ultrasound? What were the findings of the ultrasound?
Is she on Hill's L/D?
Did your vet suggest Marin or Denosyl (or the combined product Denamarin)?
I will keep your dog in my thoughts.