Bella's First Scare :(

[LaurenMarie]

So last night, out of nowhere, Bella went from a happy energetic puppy to a puppy that was lethargic, dizzy, couldn't stand on all fours without falling to the ground, drooling and bobbing her head around. I don't really know what happened to her or why it happened. She didn't gradually get this way and the onset was instant.

We immediately went ot the ER (where I walked out with a $300 bill), where they did blood glucose and regular blood tests. All were fine. She had a slight fever, but nothing more. They urged me to give her xrays and told me it was most likely Liver Shunt. Now, after studying about Yorkies years before I acutllay got one, I never had heard of this disease in Yorkies, but they seemed to make me feel like it's a very common (and serious) disease.

All night I watched Bella, despite the fact that I had work early in the AM. At 9, my parents brought her to the Vet. They did an Acid Bile test and the results aren't to come in until Monday. The vet did tell my parents that the ER's usually make a big fuss of little things to make money and that he didn't see any visual symptoms of Liver Shunts and that it could have just been an allergic reaction to something or something she might have ate that is toxic (no clue how she got into something like that), or just a 24 hour virus.

I am so scared that it is Liver Shunts as it is a disease that, to fix, can cost thousands and will cut the life of my poor baby. I was crying hysterically (I am soooo going to be such a nuerotic mother, haha). Has anyone had any pupy with Liver Shunts, or based on what you read above as far as the symptoms I saw in her last night (which are now fully gone and she is acting normal again), what else could it have been?

With me being a new dog owner, I am nervous about every little thing.

Thanks in Advance!

[jeanietoo]

How old is your dog and how much does she weigh?

[LaurenMarie]

She is 10 months and weighs in at about 3.5-4lbs.

[Yorkiekids]

I know it's hard to wait, but I'd wait till you Vet gives you the results of the test. In the meantime I'd keep her warm, and maybe give her a little nutracal.

[Ellie May]

The ER vet was correct to be concerned about this.
The symptoms match exactly and it is very common in Yorkies.
I would not be happy with the vet who thinks they were making a big thing out of something small. Those symptoms aren't a little thing... If it was no hypoglycemia, liver shunt has to be ruled out. If it is microvascular dysplasia (small shunting throughout the liver), it is managed by diet and supplements. Liver problems are not a death sentence.

At what age did you bring her home?
When is the last time she had eaten before this happened?
What did she eat?
Did you give her sugar before you took her to the ER?

[LaurenMarie]

It made me feel better to know that liver problems are not a death sentence. Everytime she sleeps, I watch her breathe to make sure she isn't dying, I'm so very scared to lose my puppy.

She was 12 weeks old when I brought her home. She had aten at 6pm her regular food, seconds before it happened we gave her a peanut. I gave her a very small dosage of the nutracal before I brought her.

With the bile acid test, will I be able to know if it is a shunt and what kind of shunt it is?

Another question I have, is this supposed to have such a sudden onset for no reason? It just seemed really odd that it happened out of the blue. And will it happen again and what should I do?

[Ellie May]

Originally Posted by LaurenMarie

It made me feel better to know that liver problems are not a death sentence. Everytime she sleeps, I watch her breathe to make sure she isn't dying, I'm so very scared to lose my puppy.

She was 12 weeks old when I brought her home. She had aten at 6pm her regular food, seconds before it happened we gave her a peanut. I gave her a very small dosage of the nutracal before I brought her.

With the bile acid test, will I be able to know if it is a shunt and what kind of shunt it is?

Another question I have, is this supposed to have such a sudden onset for no reason? It just seemed really odd that it happened out of the blue. And will it happen again and what should I do?

Seconds before the episode happend she had a peanut?
We can always hope it was some type of allergic reaction.

If you gave her nutrical, the glucose testing at the vets was close to useless because you had brought her sugar back up.

It can happen out of the blue and if it is ls, it will likely happen again. If you are worried that it is ls and you want to try and prevent neurological symptoms from recurring, watch what she eats. Red meat shouldn't be given to liver compromised dogs. They produce too much ammonia (toxins) and this doens't get filtered by the liver and causes symptoms. Vegetarian protein is best and fish works well for some. The only meat I would consider giving to a dog with symptoms is chicken but that is pushing it. So the amount of protein and the type of protein is very important. Restricting protein too much is not healthy though. What food is she on, what are the ingredients and what percent of protein does it contain?

[Princes mom]

Ellie May's mom,
You sound so knowledgeable. Is your field vet medicine or nutrition? I learn a lot from you.

Thank you!!

[LaurenMarie]

Yes, nearly minutes before, she had 4 little peanuts. Would allergic reactions be the listlessness, falling over and not being able to hold herslef up and the head jolting?

I only gave her very little nutrical, is that still a factor?

I do not give her red meat, I only feed her innova kibble. SOmetimes we give her bits of egg, carrots, and apples. But nothing else.

Im so scared it's LS....

[Ellie May]

Originally Posted by Princes mom

Ellie May's mom,
You sound so knowledgeable. Is your field vet medicine or nutrition? I learn a lot from you.

Thank you!!

No
Most of what I know about liver issues is from Yorkieluv (member of YT).
Otherwise there are sites written by vets, books and vet textbooks.

[melissa912]

your story sounds so familiar.. jan 11 prince had the Same EXACT symptoms esp the head bobbing left to right and falling over. it was a sunday so i couldnt bring him to my vet. i gave him karo syrup and rushed him to the er vet as well.. they kept him over night on iV and i cried hysterical just like you. i only have prince for 3 weeks now, how about you? anyway his glucose and blood work came back normal just like your baby.(but i did give the karo b4 the test) they did the bile acid test as well and i had to wait 3 days for the results.. the waiting was horrible. his test results finally came back on the 14th and they were neg (no liver shunt) thank god! i hope your baby gets the same results but now i am in a position where i dont know what happened that night when he got so sick. i brought him to his regular vet for a checkup and he wants to do an EKG on his heart on the 20th.. if your vet is telling you those symptoms are not serious i would be looking for another vet. my vet wants to run more tests just to find out what this could have been.. hopefully just a hypo incident.

im going to pray for your baby and hope you get a no shunt result as well.. please keep us posted i am interested to see how everything turns out for you..

[Ellie May]

Originally Posted by LaurenMarie

Yes, nearly minutes before, she had 4 little peanuts. Would allergic reactions be the listlessness, falling over and not being able to hold herslef up and the head jolting?

I only gave her very little nutrical, is that still a factor?

I do not give her red meat, I only feed her innova kibble. SOmetimes we give her bits of egg, carrots, and apples. But nothing else.

Im so scared it's LS....

Giving any sugar at all could've potentially skewed the results but of course that was the right thing to do.

When Ellie had a vaccine reaction, 20 or 30 minutes after injection she threw up, collapsed, went into shock, she was unresponsive and her eyes were "far off".

What Bella went through does sound a bit close to LS though.

[LaurenMarie]

I just cant stop searching and reading and thinking. I can't afford surgery and I feel so bad that this could be happening to her and Im so sorry it may. I'm so scared and I cry every time I think about it. I just want to know she's okay.

Right now she's barking at the heater dish we have because its new, she acts pretty normal but here and there is kinda tired when she usually isn't. But maybe that's just because I didn't notice in the past her being sleepy because it wasn't really an issue or concern. Is her acting normal now normal in puppy's with liver shunt? Or does that not really matter.

I'm making myself sick just thinking about it.

[LaurenMarie]

I'd also like to add, that she did have a slight fever (don't remember if I said this).

Could it be that she had a low blood sugar (Because of a change in environment. I was away from her for 10 days on vacation to hawaii and she was going back and forth sleeping with my parents or my sister. now that i'm back, her routine changed to what it was before I left-- keeping in mind I was back only a day when this happened.)

[Ellie May]

Originally Posted by LaurenMarie

I just cant stop searching and reading and thinking. I can't afford surgery and I feel so bad that this could be happening to her and Im so sorry it may. I'm so scared and I cry every time I think about it. I just want to know she's okay.

Right now she's barking at the heater dish we have because its new, she acts pretty normal but here and there is kinda tired when she usually isn't. But maybe that's just because I didn't notice in the past her being sleepy because it wasn't really an issue or concern. Is her acting normal now normal in puppy's with liver shunt? Or does that not really matter.

I'm making myself sick just thinking about it.

Acting tired more often would be consistent with a liver issie, but maybe tou just didn't notice before. They can act perfectly normal with a liver issue. Watch for symptoms not long after eating

Please try not to worry about the expense. The test could come back perfectly normal. If medical expenses are adding up, have you thought about Care Credit?