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Originally Posted by Annabel  Hello. My furbaby was going to get spayed, after the blood results showed her liver was at 358 when it should be 10-100. She was only 8 months old. The vet gave her "Science Diet Hill's L/D food" to lower her ALT levels. She hated that food so bad we tried the soft food and the dry she would not eat it. The vet said to not give inn and she would eat it. She would go a day or two with no food. So I researched online and found "Royal Canin L/S food" she love's it she is now 5 y/o and will be soon spayed. When she was 3 years her liver went down to 108, and she had a few double teeth and double molars witch where hurting her mouth. I decided to pull her teeth out before she would get spayed since my vet recommended doing 1 thing at a time (for her case). She did great. Now I’m getting ready to get her spayed and I’m very scared. My vet told me that 4 out of 5 Yorkies have liver shunts and there is nothing to be worried about. I didn’t have to go through a liver shunt surgery so I’m not sure if this will help you. But I just wanted to share. Sending prayers for Ellie and for you  |
I'm sorry to disagree with your vet; but I've read no statistics that confirm your vet's opinion of 4 out of 5 Yorkies have liver shunt. That is a very large percentage = 80% of Yorkies have liver shunt. Perhaps a more reasonable percentage is any where from 3-5%.
Secondly Liver Shunts are definitely something to worry about. Particularly shunts that go undiagnosed, or heaven forfend diagnosed but untreated. They will definitely curtail both the longevity and health of your dog.
There is another condition called MVD, which is non operable, but can be managed by diet. The dogs so affected can live happily for many years, but do NOT have the life expectancy of an unaffected dog.