Hi all fellow yorkie lovers. My name is Amanda. I live in western N.Y. I am a 25 year old student, studying speech-language pathology. I have a brilliant husband, George. Our 1st anniversary is coming up Oct. 21st. My precious yorkie, Ruby is 4 years old and is a mere 3 lbs. I absolutely love Ruby to pieces. I rock her to sleep, in my arms every night. She is a special little girl. Shortly after I bought Ruby, approx. 4 years ago, I noticed she was having these scary "episodes". She would lie down on the floor, stiff, and unresponsive. At first, I had no idea what was wrong. I rushed her to the vet, where she was administered a shot of dextrose. Bile acid tests revealed that Ruby's bile acid levels were extremely elevated. The vet suspected liver shunt. My family unded up taking Ruby to Cornell Animal Hospital in Ithaca, NY. The staff and facilities were excellant. A liver biopsy revealed the presence of a extrahepatic portosystemic shunt. The shunt is an extra blood vessel that was bypassing the majority of Ruby's blood completely aroung the liver, instead of thru it. Thus, her blood was't being purified by the liver. To make a long story short, we had life-saving surgery performed on Ruby. That was over 3 years ago. Today, she is healthy, happy, and EXTREMELY full of energy and love. She maintains a low protein diet, and has to take 2 doses of lactulose everyday. Like many yorkies, she thinks she should be the center of attention. She is often naughty- a little rascal, in other words! The only thing that really concerns me is that she has EXTREME seperation anxiety. Whenever anybody leaves, she gets VERY upset- yapping, whining, growling, trying to get out the door. I just don't know what to do to calm her down and soothe her anxiety. I've heard that seperation anxiety is common among yorkies. I've always thought that it could possibly be from what she went thru when she was younger. Perhaps she was somewhat "traumatized" when she was left at the hospital for her surgery. Does anyone else have this problem with their little sweethearts? If so, how do you handle it? Please help!Thanks. I look forward to "meeting" fellow yokie lovers and posting pics of me and Ruby.
