Im so sorry to hear the news about emily, she is in our thoughts.dianne and prudence)

I am praying that Emily has a less severe type of shunt that can be controlled by diet. My thoughts are with you.

Linda, I am so sorry to hear the diagnosis for little Emily. I had an experience with Auburn Univeristy's hospital a lot of years ago. Our poodle, Nicole, injured her back jumping off my neighbor's sofa and my vet sent her down to Auburn. I have not been as impressed by a human hospital & staff as I was by Auburn's!! The place was spotless and there were the most caring, loving people I have ever met. She was assigned two Neuro docs and a team which was headed by an RN that I knew as a flight nurse from UAB! [She had always wanted to be a vet so was making a career change. It is a teaching hospital.] They had asked me to bring some "personal items" for Nicole so she would not be so frightened ... I took her favorite blankie, bowls, etc. They called me every single evening to give me a report on everything for the day. After her stay there, she was fine and never had another problem until the day she died at 13 yrs. They kept her clean and even washed her blankie if she soiled it. This in addition to the excellent medical care meant so much to me. Hope this might help you a little in making such a tough decision for Emily's care ... I know it won't be easy.

Remember, you are all in our prayers and we really appreciate the updates. We only wish there were more we could do. Toto sends puppy kisses to you and Emily!

I'm SO SO SORRY and hope the LS isn't serious ! Poor baby and poor you - you must be so upset - Hang in there and please let us know how she's doing.

I am so sorry to hear about the diagnosis....but my prayers are still with you that now the next update will be that this can be treated by diet!!!! Keep us posted!

hi linda, i am so sorry to hear about your little emily!

my little max was diagnosed with a liver shunt when he was 4 months old (he's 8 months old now). he was completely normal and seemingly healthy until he started having seizures one night. we rushed him to the emergency vet and after we got the bile acid test back it indicated a liver shunt. he never had any other signs of a liver shunt except the seizures - lots of times dogs with this condition and not gaining weight too. we were absolultely terrified as you are right now! a couple of days later we scheduled his surgery. you are correct, there are 2 different kinds of liver shunt...shunts outside the liver and shunts inside the liver. the ones outside the liver are easiest to correct. also, they do a biopsy of the liver while they are in there to test for MVD (liver disease) and make sure the liver hasn't been damaged. luckliy our little max had one big shunt outside his liver that they were able to correct and no other liver problems. it has now been 4 months after his surgery and you would never know anything was wrong with him.....he is a normal happy little puppy!!

i just wanted to share a happy store with you to maybe help you feel a little better about what emily is going through. here are a couple of really good websites that tell all about liver shunt.
www.livershunt.com
www.tsfannymaelivershunt.com
also you can join a yahoo group about liver shunts by emailing LiverShuntChat-subscribe@yahoogroups.com.
these are some great resources for you. please let me know if you have any questions or need any more guideance!

you and emily are in our prayers!!
brooke & "max"

Such wonderful help!!
 

i just wanted to share a happy store with you to maybe help you feel a little better about what emily is going through. here are a couple of really good websites that tell all about liver shunt.
www.livershunt.com
www.tsfannymaelivershunt.com
also you can join a yahoo group about liver shunts by emailing LiverShuntChat-subscribe@yahoogroups.com.
these are some great resources for you. please let me know if you have any questions or need any more guideance!

you and emily are in our prayers!!
brooke & "max"[/QUOTE]

Good Morning Linda, Brooke had such wonderful help here and a wonderful
story of encourgement. I was reading in Sandra Lemire's book Head to Tail
Yorkies last night that most leading canine experts agree that shunts are
genetic,but there is also the possibility that they can develop later in life.
Geenetic shunts are generally diagnosed in dogs less than 6 mos or the
most a year old but acquired shunts can happen at any age. She also
mentioned Color Flow Ultrasound where the the dog does not have to
be put to sleep for further diagnosis. You and Emily have been in my
thoughts and prayers. Also don't worry about answering each person
who posts in an individual way. Most of us post one general message
unless there is something very specific and we'll show you how to do
that when Emily is on the mend.

crystalsmom is right - there is further testing you can get done to get an exact diagnosis of liver shunt. they say an elevated bile acid test does not mean 100% livershunt. in our case with max, his bile acids were extremely elevated - fasting was 74.2 (normal is <10) and 2 hours after meal was 323 (normal is <20). after discussing this with our surgeon, we opted not to put max thru more testing and decided to go straight to surgery. our surgeon said he wanted to take a biopsy of his liver anyway which would require surgery so he may as well explore for the shunt then. we knew surgery was going to be expensive (ours was $1200).....not sure how much it will be in your area. it really is a decision you will have to make when you meet with your surgeon. each case is different. but i know you will do what is best for emily! please keep us updated!!
brooke & "max"

I pray that Emily's LS isn't a serious one and can be fixed. Keep us updated! We're all thinking about you!

This is the first time I have seen this thread about Emily and her liver shunt. I am so sorry to hear she is sick. I am lucky in that I have no experience with this disease, so I have no advise to give you. But others here have given good advise and help. All I can do is tell you to hang in there and pray for the best.

This is one reason I was so happy to find this site. The advise and help and just plain good wishes from everybody when someone has a problem with their little ones. The moral support is wonderful, and I hope it makes you at least feel a little better to know that others have gone through what you are going through and their puppies have come out fine. I am confident that little Emily will be fine, too.

Emily
 

Emily was well over a year, a healthy 5 pounder, no early symtoms and now she has a stunt...I am going into my closet and scream!!!!
I spoke to vets and have found Yorkies accquire one, I thought they had to be born with it.....this is so hard for the breeder and pet owner to deal with...I have no desire anymore to breed more then one or two litters a year..that is all I can afford to gurarantee. Vets are telling me a bile acid is not accurate until at least 6 months...anyone with thoughts on this???? best wishes to you.

My prayers are with you! Oh how terrible! I can't imigine the terror you are going through! At least you can get her to a good Dr. We have very few vets in my area, and I shudder to think if something really bad happened to Snoodles! I will pray that it is the lesser of two evils and can be fixed relatively simple. We are all thinking and praying for you and hope everything comes out good!
Pat

unfortunatly yorkies are one of the breeds that are more prone to liver shunt. there is alot of research going on right now to find find out if this is genetic. most vets tend to think there is some sort of genetic link. therefore they recommend anyone that has a dog with liver shunt do not breed them. and the parents of the yorkie with liver shunt should not breed anymore. it is also recommended that puppies have a bile acid test before they are sold. my surgeon said that some dogs born with liver shunt don't show signs until years later. he said that they are usually born with them. now that max has had his liver shunt surgery, there is a chance that he can develop acquired liver shunts if he body doesn't know how to reroute the blood.
i know this is all very confusing and hard to understand. i felt exactly like you when max was diagnosed. i am by no means an expert on liver shunt, but i have done lots of research after my little one was diagnosed. let me know if you have any questions!
brooke & "max"

Pat, I've read you have to do the bile acid test with the ammonia challenge test at
the same time to get a more accurate reading?? The YTCA is doing alot of research
and the last I talked to the vet here I trust the most ( there are five in the practice)
he said that the bile test is hard to determine in Yorkies because their normal bile
levels tend to vary so much. Yes, I would scream too. Breeders like you try so
hard and it is a labor of love for you, I know, but it's not for everyone . I hope research can find something soon that will help this little breed we love so much.

shunts
 

Thank you for you input...some breeders are so unconcerned about LS. I have not seen it in a long time and hope to never again. I have been lucky and known before letting the pup go that something was wrong.
I just do not like this stuff showing up so late..but that is what we have to deal with..thanks again