My 15 month old girl had shunt surgery 3 weeks ago and is doing great! Total cost including CT (she was also spayed at same time) was about $3400. The surgery saved her life. Luckily we did this before she started showing any cognitive symptoms and her liver biopsy was fine so no damage there from the shunt. In 2 weeks, we are having a bile acid test done and Vet said if numbers are down (down, not perfect); we can stop the Lactulose and then start introducing regular food in her diet.
For past 6 months she has been on Hills L/D food and Lactulose along with treats such as carrots, peas, oranges, cheerios. Ten days before her CT scan and surgery, she was on anti-seizure medicine.
For the poster who said after the surgery, dog would be on low protein diet for life -- this is NOT so. Dogs cannot stay on low protein diets for long. When the liver shunt is closed and bile acid numbers are "normal", you absolutely must start giving your dog protein. Also, a CT is necessary, not an ultrascan to confirm the shunt.
I have done a lot of research on liver shunts and if anyone has any questions, I would be happy to answer. |