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jerseymo7 · 01-30-2014, 05:44 AM

Hi all-

I am going through the same thing with my 7month old baby. A few weeks ago we had an "episode" that lead us to believe he could have had a mild seizure of some sort and after being admitted to the hospital that night for monitoring and doing bile acid testing, we started by changing his diet to Hills KD. His only symptom was increased sleepiness about 3 hours after eating where he would curl up and pass out for a good hour or so. Mind you, my pup has never taken a nap in his life! lol.

Fast forward to last night. We did the ultrasound and the internist explained that based upon Brody's "boring" and mild, but elevated bile acid levels (34/77), she was pretty certain she wouldn't see a shunt with the ultrasound. however, it was still a good idea to do one so we could see if there were any kidney stones or crystals forming plus see the size of his liver and compare it to what a regular size is supposed to look like. She was pretty certain Brody could have MVD but the only way to really know for sure would be to either do a CT scan, an exploratory surgery or a liver biopsy. Being that Brody still has to get neutered and have his one undescended testicle removed, we thought it would be an ideal situation to go in and do a "shunt hunt" and fix whatever they found since we had to go into his abdomen anway. But of course it turns out, that testicle is not located in his abdomen, but in his thigh area, hence that whole idea changes.

Now the options are to either get just a basic neuter and remove that testicle, or do the neuter/testicle surgery and do a CT scan under the same anesthesia, or do the neuter/testicle surgery and do an exploratory surgery plus a liver biopsy. Theres alot at stake and being that theres no other real reason to open up his abdomen, I'm not sure thats the route I want to go. Its risky and not to mention very expensive. The internist is going to call me today with some estimates on the different scenerios so i can think about what to do. Its so hard because Brody really has been so good and not shown much abnormal behavior except the sleepiness after he eats. otherwise he's playful, vocal and eats/pees/poops regularly. For now, the internist suggested we put him on lactulose and metronidazole with the Hills KD for a couple of weeks and see how he does. Perhaps by then I will figure out which surgery to do.

I swear, its never easy with these furbabies, but they are SO worth it!

01-30-2014, 05:44 AM	#21
jerseymo7 Yorkie Talker Join Date: Sep 2013 Location: Neptune, New Jersey, USA Posts: 10	Hi all- I am going through the same thing with my 7month old baby. A few weeks ago we had an "episode" that lead us to believe he could have had a mild seizure of some sort and after being admitted to the hospital that night for monitoring and doing bile acid testing, we started by changing his diet to Hills KD. His only symptom was increased sleepiness about 3 hours after eating where he would curl up and pass out for a good hour or so. Mind you, my pup has never taken a nap in his life! lol. Fast forward to last night. We did the ultrasound and the internist explained that based upon Brody's "boring" and mild, but elevated bile acid levels (34/77), she was pretty certain she wouldn't see a shunt with the ultrasound. however, it was still a good idea to do one so we could see if there were any kidney stones or crystals forming plus see the size of his liver and compare it to what a regular size is supposed to look like. She was pretty certain Brody could have MVD but the only way to really know for sure would be to either do a CT scan, an exploratory surgery or a liver biopsy. Being that Brody still has to get neutered and have his one undescended testicle removed, we thought it would be an ideal situation to go in and do a "shunt hunt" and fix whatever they found since we had to go into his abdomen anway. But of course it turns out, that testicle is not located in his abdomen, but in his thigh area, hence that whole idea changes. Now the options are to either get just a basic neuter and remove that testicle, or do the neuter/testicle surgery and do a CT scan under the same anesthesia, or do the neuter/testicle surgery and do an exploratory surgery plus a liver biopsy. Theres alot at stake and being that theres no other real reason to open up his abdomen, I'm not sure thats the route I want to go. Its risky and not to mention very expensive. The internist is going to call me today with some estimates on the different scenerios so i can think about what to do. Its so hard because Brody really has been so good and not shown much abnormal behavior except the sleepiness after he eats. otherwise he's playful, vocal and eats/pees/poops regularly. For now, the internist suggested we put him on lactulose and metronidazole with the Hills KD for a couple of weeks and see how he does. Perhaps by then I will figure out which surgery to do. I swear, its never easy with these furbabies, but they are SO worth it!