Knowledge Needed Please!
 

As you may know or not my baby boy Boo-Boo has been diagnosed after his surgery with MVD. Now I don't know many things about this, like what is he allowed to eat, how this will affect his life and all the rest. If someone can help me with some advise I would really appreciated. I am afraid my vet told me that he can't have anything ealse besides his diet food, but that's because he's not a specialist in this type of ilness. Any advise or information?
Thank you so much everyone.
Boo-Boo and Maria

No one?

Cali was diagnosed with mild MVD at 8 months old. The specialist felt hers was so mild that she didn't need special diet or meds. But I try and watch her protein intake. Watch treats they can have a high protein count.

Thanks for that. I don't give mine treats at all, but I would like to. Would something like cheerios be ok or what kind can I give him? Sorry about Cali. Hope she's ok now.

I wish I could help....I am going through having a million questions too. I did have a good talk this morn with a YT Friend....she has made me feel better. I will pm u her name and maybe you can pm her and have a good talk. she calmed me A LOT! let me know if you want to pm her

I am sorry
 

Mvd
 

Our Yorkie was diagnosed with this at 6 months. He is eating Hills Diet food which has no protein. Our vet recommends to give him small pieces of carrots as treats and he loves them. Hope this helps you.

Treats that are safe: Watermelon, cheerios, apple(cut up and peeled), carrots, zuccini, most veggies except onion
He can't have things like bully stix or anything that has animal protein...
Also, I know of a dog that lived to be 17 yrs old and had MVD, so depending on the severity, they can live a fairly normal life :)
As far as foods, protein on a dry matter basis needs to be under 18% if your baby was having any symptoms of liver shunt before the surgery.
There are other foods that your baby can eat...Royal Canin Hepatic LS 14 is another that your baby can have. And after a few months, if your baby is symptom free, you may choose to switch him to a vegetarian diet by Avoderm or Natural Balance or something like that as long as it's vegetarian and under 18%.
Also, the lactulose is extremely important...The amount needs to be based on the stool consistency. Stool must be soft, not firm...Difficult to pick up, but not diarrhea.
Also, you should give your baby supplements like milk thistle and sam-e (also known as denosyl)...These help with liver function...They help protect the liver from further damage and help to repair the already damaged parts...
Sam-E should be given on an empty stomach and food can be given an hour after taking it.

This is just my opinion and I base it on our personal experiences, research that I have done, and experiences from others who have dealt with this.

Also, I want to warn you about canned foods. Most canned foods say that they are under 10% protein, but in actuality, once you take out the moisture, they are actually much higher in protein like between 30-50% on a dry matter basis. This could really hurt your dog...The way you calculate this is by taking the amount of protein that the can says and divide by the reciprocal of the moisture...This gives you the amount of protein on a dry matter basis. Example: A canned food has 8% protein and 80% moisture...So take 8 divided by 20 = 40%
Once you have converted it, you can compare it to the amount of protein on a bag of dry dog food.

Yorkieluv are you a vet???? The information you gave was fantastic. The information on this website is phenominal.
BooBoomommy, prayer sent for your baby.

She sure knows her stuff, She gave me great advice on Mickey too. Thanks Yorkieluv

Oh no, I'm not a vet...I've just been dealing with my baby's health issues for about 3 years now and have done lots of research to make him better. I've joined different groups and read a ton of articles and things to educate myself as much as possible. I've listened to other's experiences and I try to learn as much as possible about dog nutrition because I believe that with proper diet and supplements, a dog can greatly improve their health conditions. There's a liver shunt/mvd group on yahoo groups that has been a wealth of information for me.

Thanks YorkieLuv. That really was knowledge.I got the lactulose just the right amount now for the last 2 months. I am thinking of doing some homecooked meals for him. What would you recommend. Is the protein for dogs the same as the one for humans? Also do you know from where I can get some of the diet food in BIG cans and also where can I get the Milk Thistle from?
Thank you so much for your advice!
Boo-Boo and Maria

Milk thistle, you can purchase anywhere that sells vitamins and supplements, like a GNC, vitamin world, or even a regular drug store. Generally, the dose for a dog is 1/4 of the human dose. The canned food, I'm assuming your vet has Booboo on l/d?? You should be able to order it from online or any petsmart that has a Banfield should carry it. The homemade diets....I don't know if I'm allowed to post it here, but if you join the liver shunt/mvd group on yahoo pet groups, you should be able to find it there. There's the Sunny Mae liver diet and Dr. Dodd's liver cleansing diet. Dr. Dodd's "revised diet" is what I use most of the time but instead of cod, I use eggs or cottage cheese because Miko also has bladder issues, and cod or any type of fish is not good for a dog with urate stones.
As far as protein, eggs, nonfat yogurt, nonfat cottage cheese, vegetable protein, rolled oats, plain noodles all have "safe" protein for dogs with liver problems, but you have to monitor how much protein your dog can have in one day. Your vet should be able to tell you how many grams of protein your dog can have in one day. No red meat though.

I'm so happy you are getting so much important information from YorkieLuv. YT is so wonderful is this way.

My prayers for all your babies quick and full recovery!