Thanks for your awesome advice. I am getting a lot of good advice from all of my new friends at YT. Who is your vet? Is he good. I feel like my vet is not very knowledgeable about liver shunts and isn't giving me the most comprehensive advice. I got more advice from YT. I feel like I am suggesting options and then he says, "Yeah, we can so that". I need for someone to tell me what I need to do medically. I don't want to be offering him advice.

well sadly i am not 100% with any vet right now :( i tend to go to specialists -- dr jean dodds is the main person i work with and she is out of garden grove, ca by knotts berry farm

sorry for the delay
 

Sorry for the delay in getting back on here with an update on Jaxon. He had a bile acid test ran and the results came back inconclusive. We have eliminated a few things in his diet that we think may have caused him to have seizures. We noticed he first had a seixure after having a few treats, and those were thrown away. I gave him another brand and flavor of treat and that night, the next morning and afternoon, he had another seizure. Those treats had BHA in them, not sure if the first ones did or not. I threw those treats away, and found him organic treats that did not contain BHA or BHT and thought that these would be good for him. The first night I only gave him one treat and he did fine. Then a week or so later I was trying to train him and in doing so he received two treats in the process of learning how to sit (which he now does on command 80% of the time!!), and he had a seizure in the middle of the night. I am thinking that he may have a problem digesting proteins completely, after having that seizure he had the bile acid test done and his post came back at 37. The vet said that this did not indicate for sure that it is a shunt so she put him on the liver disease diet and seems to be doing good. I noticed that when he had the last seizure he did not poop between meals, he usually goes between feedings, and this time i noticed that he hadnt. Which leads me to believe that the protein may be the culprit for his seizures? Im not sure, maybe that is wishful thinking? Thought I would update anyone whose been curious as to how Jaxon is doing, he learned how to sit on command, and I am looking forward to training him further. Does anyone have any good training treats that would not upset him? Thanks for all the advice that has been given.

Interesting...I will keep Jaxon in my thoughts and prayers. Way to go with the training....Keep up the good work.
Wish there was more I could offer in the advice area...but unfortunately, I don't have the answer. Winston started having seizures at the age of 2...he is now 4...and I still don't know how to prevent them. My vet says it's low blood sugar, I'm not totally convinced...but that's how I treat it. Frequent small meals throughout the day, trying to keep him somewhat calm to conserve energy/sugar and using NutriCal when they occur. Hope you are able to figure out what's going on with your little guy. Winston's post-bile acid was 27.2...

The inability to handle protein is a classic sign of liver disease. It's not the protein itself, but the ammonia in protein. A liver that isn't working properly can't filter it and it gets into the system and can cause neurological symptoms like head pressing, disorientation and seizures.

Since true epilepsy is so unusual in puppies, I wouldn't rule out a shunt even though his BAT wasn't that high. Did your vet mention a Protein C test to you? They are very inexpensive (under $40, I think) and would be the next step.

Here is some information:

Comparative Coagulation -- NYS Animal Health Diagnostic Center

Interesting! Does your baby still go in circles often? What other symptoms does he reveal?

another update
 

Jaxon was doing good, the vet prescribed him potassium bromide, which at the time we thought was an anti-seizure medicine. We found out otherwise when Jaxon had several seizures this week, the most frightening one yet lasted an hour. We called another vet, as his usual will not be in until Wednesday, and we now know that it potassium bromide was prescribed to restore low serum levels of some sort in his liver...? This vet prescribed an anti-seizure medicine, and an antibiotic. Now Jaxon is on four different meds. We are looking into taking Jaxon to Colorado University (the University of Colorado, whichever it is), to have an imaging test done to verify or rule out completely a liver shunt, and if he is found to have a liver shunt, set an appointment to have it removed. We're hopeing for the best. The cost to cover the exam and surgery are expensive, I have read somewhere of different funds to help out the parents of dogs that need life-saving surgeries that the dog would otherwise have to go without. If anyone knows of any that deal with specifically yorkies or surgeries of this sort, or any other organizations that would help out, the information would be greatly appreciated. Sorry for the delay again, and thanks in advance for taking the time to provide me with any more information and help.

There is a sticky pinned at the top of this section about financial aid for sick and injured dogs:

http://www.yorkietalk.com/forums/sic...vet-bills.html

Best wishes to you and for Jaxon...I will keep you both in my thoughts and prayers.
Please do keep us updated! Get well quick little one!!!

Taking action...
 

Jaxon has been doing better now that he is on anti seizure medicine, he did have a single seizure since he has been on it, and is lethargic after taking it. Other than that, he seems to be the same old spunky Jaxon. We are looking into getting the procedure done in Colorado, as it is the closest place to New Mexico... More on that later, however, the breeder that Jaxon was purchased from is selling inbred pups, and was featured on the ABC news here in Albuquerque when a grandmother purchased a yorkie from Judy Corbin for her granddaughter for Christmas. The yorkie had parasites and gray gums (if you google Judy Corbin + yorkie you can read the numberous reposts of the news article...). Jaxon's mother received a phone call from her vet today with information from another woman who purchased a yorkie from the same lady, with parasites. The lady did a little checking and believes that this Corbin is inbreeding her dogs, and that the parents are quite possibly brother and sister. Ms. Corbin told the lady that she is being overly paranoid and that the vet is out to get her money and if she wanted, her money could be refunded and at which point the returned pup will be sold to some other family. In my mind, it goes without question or hesitation that this breeder needs to be shut down. I have read posts where people have come to her defense with false information, saying that Judy Corbin does not own a kennel and things of that matter. I guess my question after this rambling is where can I find information on how to get the correct authorities involved, if Ms. Corbin is knowingly selling sick puppies and breeding bloodlines with major health problems, and inbreeding the parents, can criminal and/or civil charges be brought against her? I am aware that a civil law suit could be filed, but was wondering if anyone knows of any precedent. I know this is a long post, but this lady is selling inbred sick puppies to unsuspecting families. I know we cannot do anything about the puppies that she has had bred into this world with the health issues that are all to common in her puppies, but she should not be allowed to bring another puppy into this world that is going to be unhealthy. Thanks for reading, and I hope everything goes well with everyone's pups. thanks again...

he does, but we have come to realize that seizures do not always follow his running about in circles. it's his personality, if he runs in little circles it means he is about to go pee, and he runs in big circles when he is in the room at night with the door closed to burn off some energy. he will usually wake from his sleep and have a seizure, when he has them, so it is hard to pinpoint the exact symptoms, when I have witnessed his seizure it had already begun and woke me from my sleep...

I am glad Jaxon is doing better. Drowsiness when first starting anti-seizure medication is very common, but it usually goes away in a month or so after the body adjusts to it.

I recently checked into New Mexico law after a woman on another forum got a very sick puppy who turned out to be only 5.5 weeks old and sick with parvo. There is not much legislation in NM that protects either animals or buyers - no minimum age of sale law, no puppy lemon laws. :mad:

No states have laws preventing people from inbreeding, breeding dogs with genetic faults, etc. That's why it is buyer beware when shopping for a puppy. A prospective owner should do their due diligence and thoroughly research a breeder before buying a puppy from them.

Update on Jaxon
 

Jaxon went to Colorado this past week to have an imaging test done, an ultrasound, and found, have the liver shunt removed. We found out that his liver was small for his size, and that he most likely did not have a shunt. In about 1 percent of the cases, we were told, there still might be a liver shunt present but not seen during the imaging test. The only way to know for sure would be to have abdominal surgery. Opted against that. While he was there they ran another bile acids test, the one done here did not hold definitive results, and upon running the test in Colorado his post results were off the charts, over 100. The vet there said that his liver is too small to process all the protein that Jaxon gets, and put him on a new dog food, with less protein than the L/D food. She also informed Jaxon's mom to not expect him to live to be a full adult :(. I was wondering if anyone has had similar results with any dog, and if so, what diet are they using. I'm pretty sure his seizures can be regulated with a strict diet, but was wondering where exactly to start, he has had a few siezures since being home, and I am hopeing that we can prevent any further siezures with a strict diet... Thanks for reading back...

Microvascular dysplasia is still possible which can cause symptoms identical to liver shunt. If a dog is suspected of having LS and it cannot be surgically corrected or MVD (which can't be surgically corrected), they should be on a low protein food with the right kind of protein (L/D canned is fine as is Royal Canin LS 14), Denosyl or Vetri DMG, milk thistle, vitamin e, lactulose, etc.

PLEASE ~ PLEASE ~ PLEASE

Join this Yahoo Group:
DogLiverDisease : Dog Liver Disease

The group has lots and lots of helpful guidance, support and experience. Some are liver shunt babies that had surgery, some are liver shunt babies that are not a candiate for surgery, some are liver disease babies.

With the proper food and supplements I believe Jaxon can live longer than predicted. :)