Hello from Kingston - YorkieTalk.com Forums

Rory's Ma · 05-18-2005, 04:56 AM

Rory and I got together on December 18/04. Love at first sight of course.
He came home with me to the astonishment of my three large cats. He's 7 lbs. and just a perfect little companion. He loves the cats and they are most tolerant and can be very playful with him.

I am having trouble finding something he'll eat. He's had a couple of hypoglycemic episodes and is currently being tested for liver shunt. Anyone out there had any similar problems?

Thanks.

lily's mom · 05-18-2005, 06:52 AM

Oh, no!! I hope everything turns out ok. Let us know what you find out. Glad you found YT. Get some pictures up, we love to see everyones babies.

Rory's Ma · 05-18-2005, 07:09 AM

Thanks for our first reply. I expect to hear the results of the bile acid tests today. He's such a dear little soul I cannot imagine anything happening to him.

Yorkieluv · 05-18-2005, 07:17 AM

If he does have a liver shunt, you need to get him on a hepatic diet because protein could actually be deadly to him. My yorkie has a liver shunt, and he's on Royal Canin Hepatic Diet. He's a finicky eater and he actually loves this food!

You might try that...it has everything he needs, low protein (and the protein it has comes from vegetables), zinc, it's high in carbohydrates. It also has a lot of other things he needs, but I can't think of everything. Good luck with the bile acid tests!!! I hope they come back below 25, like they're supposed to be. Let us know how the results come back, and if you have any other questions, don't hesitate to ask, I'm dealing with the same situation right now and have been dealing with it for the past few months.

Rory's Ma · 05-18-2005, 07:35 AM

Yorkieluv,

Would you be able to tell me what symptoms your Yorkie had that led to the Liver Shunt diagnosis? Rory has been extremely healthy and joyous other than these two episodes of the hypoglycemia. RM

Yorkieluv · 05-18-2005, 07:58 AM

Our yorkie was hypoglycemic, and then he seemed to get better because we always made sure he ate. He became a very energetic, very happy dog!!! He seemed super healthy but one day he was urinating a bit darker (kind of orangish) and we took him to the vet, they said it was probably a UTI, but they didn't find a bacteria after the urinalysis and urine culture, they found a couple of crystals in his urine though. The vet acted like it was no big deal and sent him home with antibiotics. His urine wasn't orange anymore until a couple of months later(when he was 10.5 months old). This was a Sunday...By then, I had decided that I wanted to get him bile acid tested just to find out if he had a liver shunt because I wanted to have peace of mind since one of the symptoms of liver shunt is orangish urine. We had an appt. for that Wed., but Monday, he had a seizure. He was on a high protein diet which is good for pups but is very bad for liver shunt babies, which of course we didn't know he had at the time ....We were freaking out, and took him to the vet immediately...they gave him valium and put him on an IV and got the seizure to stop. I told the vet to run urine tests, blood tests, and the bile acid test. Normal for a bile acid test is below 25, his liver enzymes were over 300. I didn't understand how this was possible because he was the most energetic, most seemingly healthy dog!!

Yorkieluv · 05-18-2005, 08:00 AM

There's more to the story if you're interested...I just didn't want to take up the whole page with a long post.

Rory's Ma · 05-18-2005, 11:55 AM

Thank goodness, I just heard from my Vet. My little Rory is fine. No liver shunt problems. Just have to find something he likes to eat on a regular feeding basis to keep the hypoglycemia from happening. I am glad I was able to share this with other Yorkie worshippers, it's very scary. RM

lilliput · 06-08-2005, 10:19 AM

Honey, I am very interested

, anyone with a yorkie should know the signs and symptoms, so please go on!
RM- I'm so relieved that your baby boy is OK! They really do become your babies and when they are sick you are sick. Take care

Rory's Ma · 06-09-2005, 05:27 AM

I'm sorry lilliput I'm not sure I understand your first sentence, do you want me to describe Rory's hypoglycemic symptons? RM

lilliput · 06-09-2005, 07:16 AM

Actually, I wanted more information on liver shunts, what to look out for, S&S.

Rory's Ma · 06-09-2005, 09:06 AM

lilliput, when I was searching for information I found this site helpful. Hope it gives you an idea what the condition is. RM

http://www.yorkierescue.com/livershunt/liverwhatis.html

Yorkieluv · 06-10-2005, 10:25 AM

Lilliput, I'll continue my story since you want to hear it

My husband and I are college students, so we don't exactly have a lot of extra money, so I called a lady that I had met a month back that is very involved with rescue and I asked her what to do. She made a couple of calls and found a lady that was willing to donate the costs of the ultrasound and meds for one month...She also referred me to the most wonderful vet I have ever met! He has helped us all the way through and helped us financially by cutting many of the costs because he knows how much we love our baby and he has grown quite attached to him.
Anyway, Miko (our yorkie) was put on denosyl (a liver supplement), lactulose, and he eats Royal Canin Hepatic LS 14 veterinary diet (especially for dogs with liver shunts). He didn't have anymore seizures and he got back to his normal, happy, hyper self.
About two weeks later, I noticed that he was having trouble urinating. He would squat, but nothing would come out. This happened for about two hours, and I decided I needed to take him to the vet immediately.
The vet said that he had many bladder stones of significant size that were blocking his ability to urinate. They put him on a urinary catheter. It was awful to see all the stones coming through the catheter, they were all throughout his urine.

A few days later, the vet said that we could take him home that night and see what happens. We took him home, and he was able to urinate only once, and then he couldn't urinate anymore the whole night. He was miserable, so in the morning, we took him back to the vet. He spent almost a month at the vet's office without being able to get off of the urinary catheter. The vet said that as long as Miko has the liver shunt, the bladder stones would continue to form. So we set up a surgery day to remove the bladder stones that he had and to repair the liver shunt. The stones were removed, but the bad news is that the vet was not able to find the shunt! Apparently, it's an intrahepatic liver shunt and it's very difficult to work with the liver because too much poking and prodding around there can cause him to bleed to death.
So, with our consent the vet proposed that in order prevent the stones from continuing to block his ability to urinate, he could open him a new hole to urinate from at the base of his penis. This hole is about 1 inch long and will allow him to urinate without pain or discomfort from the stones and it will allow the stones to pass freely. We said fine. So, he did that surgery and Miko is completely fine! He doesn't urinate blood anymore and he's never in pain from the stones and his urine seems to be a normal color now.
The medication and special low protein diet (where the protein comes from soy and vegetables) keep him completely healthy. I've spoken to many vets and they all say that as long as Miko isn't having any symptoms he should be fine for many years (of course not as long as a completely healthy yorkie, but still at least 5-9 years). His attitude is very positive and he has had a very rough start in life (even when he was a pup he had coccidia and was hypoglycemic), but he has shown us that he WANTS to live. He's been a very strong boy!! Also, we are going to find a specialist that is very experienced in dealing with small dogs with intrahepatic shunts and try the surgery again a little bit later.
For now, you would never know that he has any problems with his liver. The vet said that he checked all his organs while he was in there and that everything looks good, even his liver. The liver will start to shrink when there is a shunt, but he said Miko's looks great right now!

Yorkieluv · 06-10-2005, 10:27 AM

I forgot to mention that every day that he was in the hospital, we went to see him and spent at least 2 hours with him everyday!

He is the happiest and sweetest dog you can imagine...

Brady's Mom · 06-13-2005, 10:59 AM

Poor little angel, I'm so glad he's ok. That must've been so hard for you. Brady spent one night in the hospital and I was going crazy, I swear I would've stayed there all night with her if they would let me.

05-18-2005, 04:56 AM	#1
Rory's Ma Yorkie Talker Join Date: May 2005 Posts: 24	Hello from Kingston Rory and I got together on December 18/04. Love at first sight of course. He came home with me to the astonishment of my three large cats. He's 7 lbs. and just a perfect little companion. He loves the cats and they are most tolerant and can be very playful with him. I am having trouble finding something he'll eat. He's had a couple of hypoglycemic episodes and is currently being tested for liver shunt. Anyone out there had any similar problems? Thanks.

05-18-2005, 06:52 AM	#2
lily's mom Lily Loves Maximus Donating Member Join Date: Apr 2005 Location: Missouri Posts: 2,633	Oh, no!! I hope everything turns out ok. Let us know what you find out. Glad you found YT. Get some pictures up, we love to see everyones babies. __________________ Lily and Dawn

05-18-2005, 07:09 AM	#3
Rory's Ma Yorkie Talker Join Date: May 2005 Posts: 24	Thanks Thanks for our first reply. I expect to hear the results of the bile acid tests today. He's such a dear little soul I cannot imagine anything happening to him.

05-18-2005, 07:35 AM	#5
Rory's Ma Yorkie Talker Join Date: May 2005 Posts: 24	Symtoms Yorkieluv, Would you be able to tell me what symptoms your Yorkie had that led to the Liver Shunt diagnosis? Rory has been extremely healthy and joyous other than these two episodes of the hypoglycemia. RM

05-18-2005, 11:55 AM	#8
Rory's Ma Yorkie Talker Join Date: May 2005 Posts: 24	Good News Thank goodness, I just heard from my Vet. My little Rory is fine. No liver shunt problems. Just have to find something he likes to eat on a regular feeding basis to keep the hypoglycemia from happening. I am glad I was able to share this with other Yorkie worshippers, it's very scary. RM

05-18-2005, 07:17 AM	#4
Yorkieluv Donating YT 3000 Club Member Join Date: Feb 2005 Location: USA Posts: 7,178	If he does have a liver shunt, you need to get him on a hepatic diet because protein could actually be deadly to him. My yorkie has a liver shunt, and he's on Royal Canin Hepatic Diet. He's a finicky eater and he actually loves this food! You might try that...it has everything he needs, low protein (and the protein it has comes from vegetables), zinc, it's high in carbohydrates. It also has a lot of other things he needs, but I can't think of everything. Good luck with the bile acid tests!!! I hope they come back below 25, like they're supposed to be. Let us know how the results come back, and if you have any other questions, don't hesitate to ask, I'm dealing with the same situation right now and have been dealing with it for the past few months.

05-18-2005, 07:58 AM	#6
Yorkieluv Donating YT 3000 Club Member Join Date: Feb 2005 Location: USA Posts: 7,178	Our yorkie was hypoglycemic, and then he seemed to get better because we always made sure he ate. He became a very energetic, very happy dog!!! He seemed super healthy but one day he was urinating a bit darker (kind of orangish) and we took him to the vet, they said it was probably a UTI, but they didn't find a bacteria after the urinalysis and urine culture, they found a couple of crystals in his urine though. The vet acted like it was no big deal and sent him home with antibiotics. His urine wasn't orange anymore until a couple of months later(when he was 10.5 months old). This was a Sunday...By then, I had decided that I wanted to get him bile acid tested just to find out if he had a liver shunt because I wanted to have peace of mind since one of the symptoms of liver shunt is orangish urine. We had an appt. for that Wed., but Monday, he had a seizure. He was on a high protein diet which is good for pups but is very bad for liver shunt babies, which of course we didn't know he had at the time ....We were freaking out, and took him to the vet immediately...they gave him valium and put him on an IV and got the seizure to stop. I told the vet to run urine tests, blood tests, and the bile acid test. Normal for a bile acid test is below 25, his liver enzymes were over 300. I didn't understand how this was possible because he was the most energetic, most seemingly healthy dog!!

05-18-2005, 08:00 AM	#7
Yorkieluv Donating YT 3000 Club Member Join Date: Feb 2005 Location: USA Posts: 7,178	There's more to the story if you're interested...I just didn't want to take up the whole page with a long post.

06-08-2005, 10:19 AM	#9
lilliput Senior Yorkie Talker Join Date: May 2005 Location: Israel Posts: 131	Tell us more!! Honey, I am very interested , anyone with a yorkie should know the signs and symptoms, so please go on! RM- I'm so relieved that your baby boy is OK! They really do become your babies and when they are sick you are sick. Take care __________________ Lisa's Furfamily Miss Daisy and Hershey Last edited by lilliput; 06-08-2005 at 10:22 AM.

06-09-2005, 05:27 AM	#10
Rory's Ma Yorkie Talker Join Date: May 2005 Posts: 24	I'm sorry lilliput I'm not sure I understand your first sentence, do you want me to describe Rory's hypoglycemic symptons? RM

06-09-2005, 07:16 AM	#11
lilliput Senior Yorkie Talker Join Date: May 2005 Location: Israel Posts: 131	Actually, I wanted more information on liver shunts, what to look out for, S&S. __________________ Lisa's Furfamily Miss Daisy and Hershey

06-09-2005, 09:06 AM	#12
Rory's Ma Yorkie Talker Join Date: May 2005 Posts: 24	lilliput, when I was searching for information I found this site helpful. Hope it gives you an idea what the condition is. RM http://www.yorkierescue.com/livershunt/liverwhatis.html

06-10-2005, 10:25 AM	#13
Yorkieluv Donating YT 3000 Club Member Join Date: Feb 2005 Location: USA Posts: 7,178	Lilliput, I'll continue my story since you want to hear it My husband and I are college students, so we don't exactly have a lot of extra money, so I called a lady that I had met a month back that is very involved with rescue and I asked her what to do. She made a couple of calls and found a lady that was willing to donate the costs of the ultrasound and meds for one month...She also referred me to the most wonderful vet I have ever met! He has helped us all the way through and helped us financially by cutting many of the costs because he knows how much we love our baby and he has grown quite attached to him. Anyway, Miko (our yorkie) was put on denosyl (a liver supplement), lactulose, and he eats Royal Canin Hepatic LS 14 veterinary diet (especially for dogs with liver shunts). He didn't have anymore seizures and he got back to his normal, happy, hyper self. About two weeks later, I noticed that he was having trouble urinating. He would squat, but nothing would come out. This happened for about two hours, and I decided I needed to take him to the vet immediately. The vet said that he had many bladder stones of significant size that were blocking his ability to urinate. They put him on a urinary catheter. It was awful to see all the stones coming through the catheter, they were all throughout his urine. A few days later, the vet said that we could take him home that night and see what happens. We took him home, and he was able to urinate only once, and then he couldn't urinate anymore the whole night. He was miserable, so in the morning, we took him back to the vet. He spent almost a month at the vet's office without being able to get off of the urinary catheter. The vet said that as long as Miko has the liver shunt, the bladder stones would continue to form. So we set up a surgery day to remove the bladder stones that he had and to repair the liver shunt. The stones were removed, but the bad news is that the vet was not able to find the shunt! Apparently, it's an intrahepatic liver shunt and it's very difficult to work with the liver because too much poking and prodding around there can cause him to bleed to death. So, with our consent the vet proposed that in order prevent the stones from continuing to block his ability to urinate, he could open him a new hole to urinate from at the base of his penis. This hole is about 1 inch long and will allow him to urinate without pain or discomfort from the stones and it will allow the stones to pass freely. We said fine. So, he did that surgery and Miko is completely fine! He doesn't urinate blood anymore and he's never in pain from the stones and his urine seems to be a normal color now. The medication and special low protein diet (where the protein comes from soy and vegetables) keep him completely healthy. I've spoken to many vets and they all say that as long as Miko isn't having any symptoms he should be fine for many years (of course not as long as a completely healthy yorkie, but still at least 5-9 years). His attitude is very positive and he has had a very rough start in life (even when he was a pup he had coccidia and was hypoglycemic), but he has shown us that he WANTS to live. He's been a very strong boy!! Also, we are going to find a specialist that is very experienced in dealing with small dogs with intrahepatic shunts and try the surgery again a little bit later. For now, you would never know that he has any problems with his liver. The vet said that he checked all his organs while he was in there and that everything looks good, even his liver. The liver will start to shrink when there is a shunt, but he said Miko's looks great right now!

06-10-2005, 10:27 AM	#14
Yorkieluv Donating YT 3000 Club Member Join Date: Feb 2005 Location: USA Posts: 7,178	I forgot to mention that every day that he was in the hospital, we went to see him and spent at least 2 hours with him everyday! He is the happiest and sweetest dog you can imagine...

06-13-2005, 10:59 AM	#15
Brady's Mom Senior Yorkie Talker Join Date: Mar 2005 Posts: 123	Poor little angel, I'm so glad he's ok. That must've been so hard for you. Brady spent one night in the hospital and I was going crazy, I swear I would've stayed there all night with her if they would let me.