Basic blood work does not always show a liver shunt. My vet and I were both stunned that Teddy Bear had a shunt....he had blood work done yearly for 7 years at her office and there was NEVER any alteration in the studies at all!
Bile Acid Testing is around $80 That is a relatively inexpensive test to rule this out and I strongly encourage you to speak with your vet about it.
General vets often don't see that many liver shunts....the specialist told me that it is VERY common for them to have pups come to them with liver shunts the way that Teddy Bear did...with bladder stones and no previous history of symptoms or alterations in blood work. Maybe you can ask her if she knows a specialist she can confer with? I know my vet does that with any questions she has....she either calls the specialist she knows in the area or she calls Texas A&M Your vet could place a call to Penn to their small animal clinic .. there is no cost to her to do that. They could advise her on your pup. |