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Yorkieluv · 05-07-2005, 07:19 AM

I'm new to this site

...I became a member in Feb, but never actually got on here til last night. My 1yr old yorkie baby has a liver shunt. We noticed what looked like blood in his urine and took him to the vet; they did urinalysis and urine culture and decided it wasn't a UTI but that it wasn't a big deal and that he just had a couple of stones so they sent antibiotics. A few months later it happened again, and I wanted answers so we did the same tests, bloodwork, and I also requested that a bile acid test be done b/c I had read that blood in urine might be a symptom of liver shunts. 2 weeks later, he stopped urinating...he would just race from one pee pad to the next trying to urinate, but nothing would come out and he started crying so I took him to a new vet that I had heard was the best (and he is). They put him on a urinary catheter and did an ultrasound and they found MANY bladder stones in there with signigicant size. You could literally see tons of stones going through his catheter. It was horrifying to me. So, after 3 weeks of testing and being hospitalized they decided to do the liver shunt surgery. Well, they weren't able to find the shunt which means it's probably intrahepatic and it's a very delicate place to get to. The doctor said it's very possible that he could live for many years with the liver shunt as long as he's on his special diet and medications because he wasn't having any of the side effects, just the bladder stones. The vet actually went in and took out the bladder stones he could find and made my yorkie a new pee hole at the base of his penis so that he wouldn't have to struggle and be in pain to pass the stones. The stones will never stop coming because they are a symptom of the liver shunt so that's why he did that. I know it sounds weird, but it works. He's no longer in pain and he doesn't have to be on a urinary catheter all the time. Is there anyone out there that has a yorkie baby with liver shunts. It would be nice to hear other people's experiences with this problem.

05-07-2005, 07:19 AM	#1
Yorkieluv Donating YT 3000 Club Member Join Date: Feb 2005 Location: USA Posts: 7,178	Liver Shunt I'm new to this site ...I became a member in Feb, but never actually got on here til last night. My 1yr old yorkie baby has a liver shunt. We noticed what looked like blood in his urine and took him to the vet; they did urinalysis and urine culture and decided it wasn't a UTI but that it wasn't a big deal and that he just had a couple of stones so they sent antibiotics. A few months later it happened again, and I wanted answers so we did the same tests, bloodwork, and I also requested that a bile acid test be done b/c I had read that blood in urine might be a symptom of liver shunts. 2 weeks later, he stopped urinating...he would just race from one pee pad to the next trying to urinate, but nothing would come out and he started crying so I took him to a new vet that I had heard was the best (and he is). They put him on a urinary catheter and did an ultrasound and they found MANY bladder stones in there with signigicant size. You could literally see tons of stones going through his catheter. It was horrifying to me. So, after 3 weeks of testing and being hospitalized they decided to do the liver shunt surgery. Well, they weren't able to find the shunt which means it's probably intrahepatic and it's a very delicate place to get to. The doctor said it's very possible that he could live for many years with the liver shunt as long as he's on his special diet and medications because he wasn't having any of the side effects, just the bladder stones. The vet actually went in and took out the bladder stones he could find and made my yorkie a new pee hole at the base of his penis so that he wouldn't have to struggle and be in pain to pass the stones. The stones will never stop coming because they are a symptom of the liver shunt so that's why he did that. I know it sounds weird, but it works. He's no longer in pain and he doesn't have to be on a urinary catheter all the time. Is there anyone out there that has a yorkie baby with liver shunts. It would be nice to hear other people's experiences with this problem.