Hepatic Encephalopathy
 

I just wanted to bring some hope to any of you lovely Yorkie owners who's babies have become victims of this very common in yorkies disease.

In February, my seven year old yorkie Harry was diagnosed with a mild liver problem. He was given some supplements and told that eventually he could come off them.

Six weeks later, he started to vomit again, but also began circling, swaying, and was very lethargic. We took him to the vets again, and were told, by a very young, uncaring vet that 'you can try him on some medication, but I don't have much hope' when asked if he could survive, she shrugged and pulled a face, and said you will probably have to have him put down. This was one of the worst days of my life. That was april 8th. We started him on lactulose (a liquid laxative), antibiotics, a liver supplement and the Hepatic diet by the Royal Canine brand. We noticed small changes in him within 24 hours.

Fast forward two months and he is back to his old self. He is off the antibiotics and all symptoms disappeared within his first week of treatment. He will have to stay on the lactulose and supplements for life, along with the special food, but the vet said this is fine, and having had his third check up today, the vet has no plans to see him again unless things change. She was very happy with his progress and has no concerns.

The first vet wrote my baby off, this one didn't. We did all we could and luckily, it would seem we maybe caught it in time.

All the googling in the world (let's be honest, we all do it) told me that this would be a death sentence for him.

I wanted to post Harry's story to warn people of this terrible disease, which with yorkies I have been told is often hereditary, and to maybe bring comfort for owners who have recently had their pets fall ill to this disease. :aimeeyork :animal-pa

I am glad Harry is doing so well!

Inspiring story! I'm glad you didn't give up when the 1st vet did! Harry did a wonderful job proving that vet wrong.

Welcome to YT too! I'm glad you found us!

Hi and Welcome to YT!

Has your dog had an Ultrasound to determine if he has a liver shunt, or a Bile Acids Test? My dog was 2.5 years old when she was diagnosed. All symptoms and bloodwork pointed to LS, but during surgery it was found to be a blocked Bile Duct, which is easily treated with a medication. Tink's been off all meds since December... no problems. Prior to her surgery, she had one episode of Hepatic Encephalopathy... she had been on Lactulose but the toxins still built up in her system. Her vet adjusted her diet which took care of the problem, along with the Lactulose, Denamarin, and probiotics.

Sometimes older dogs can develop kidney stones, an ultrasound would show if he has any.

I also thought Tink would be on Lactulose forever. After 2 years of taking the Lactulose, she developed some side effects from it and stopped eating. Her stomach became swollen and her abdomen became very tender. As soon as I stopped giving it to her she started eating again.

My Tibbe has had GI problems with lethargy and spitting up bile occasionally once he got to age 4 or so, high had Bile Acids in an April 2013 test but a negative nuclear scintigraphy a week or so later and negative abdominal sonogram except for some small kidney stones which were not significant to the radiologist but thank goodness he was negative for liver shunt. It is suspected he has microvascular dysplasia(MVD) but that has to be diagnosed by a liver biopsy and his vets have said his symptoms don't warrant the procedure and he would be treated conservatively for it anyway. He's on a Hill's I/D Gastrointestinal Health(dry) and Hill's I/D Hepatic(canned) and I mix them half and half. So far he's doing very well on that and all his symptoms have disappeared.

If you haven't, I would get testing to confirm a liver shunt and go from there with a board certified internist to decide what to do if the little guy has any more problems. So glad you have some answer and he's doing well. It's really so scary when they aren't well.

I've googled the various liver problems and found most of the websites offer hope if the dog is treated early enough before liver damage is severe. Many liver shunt patients' mommies have started threads here and we've had many successes. There is hope to be had! Take heart!

Harry's story
 

Thank you so much for the enlightening story of little Harry. Thank goodness you persisted with treatment and that he is responding so well. How sad for you to get the depressing news from the young vet. Praying that with your excellent care and love he will live a long and happy life. Experience pays it seems!

Thanks everyone for the heart warming responses. The vet, whom we took Harry to for a second opinion, out of desperation really, but thank God we did, has looked at Harry's original test for s liver disease and said the report did not really concern her.

I guess I will never know whether the original young vet was right or not, as she diagnosed my boy with HE and didn't even EXAMINE him or do any tests. She went purely off symptoms.

@yorkietalkjilly - I did read up on MVD and the vet also agreed that given Harry's complete turnaround, it would not be worth putting him through various biopsies etc, however, should he become ill again (touchwood) that could be looked at.

I must admit, the night of his original diagnosis, I cried into his fur, devastated that we might lose him. He was given ten days to live, and two months on it really is hard to believe that. My boy is running around, eating and playing like there is no tomorrow and I am so grateful that he had a second chance. :-)

Glad to hear Harry is doing well. Brandi was diagnosed with liver shunts about 8 months ago, she has been on the same meds as Harry except she is on the prescription hill L/D diet (I've been thinking of switching to Royal Canin). Anyway she has not had any symptoms since her last "episode" (similar to Harry's) back in Novemember. She use to have them like every two weeks. Now I know it was the toxins building up in her system. She would stop eating, the toxins would go down I guess and she would be back to her normal self....rinse and repeat. She is doing great now and is so much more happier.

Yavenay, I am pleased you have seen improvement in brandi. This has all been so surreal, it was over a space of about five days we noticed these changes before he went to the vet and told he had HE, that was five days of continuous episodes, his first and only.

Thanks. Brandi was diagnosed later in life at 12 yrs old (she will be 13 in July) so surgery for her would definitely be a last resort option. The vet was concerned about her age and wanted to stick with this treatment plan for now. I also read that yorkies that are diagnosed later in life as Brandi was have an excellent chance of living a long normal life just by being treated medically.

Because she is a senior, she has regular wellness checkups every 6 months anyway along with any bloodwook such as bile acid test.