My yorkie has liver problems.

[TLC]

Originally Posted by smbritton

Ok I just got some results back,

Protein C test was 4.7 normal range is 0-7.6

BAT test after fasting was 193.6 then 2 1/2 hours after eating was tested again and was 179.3.

He has never had head pressing, seizures, or any other syptoms of shunts.

The options are the Liver biopsy, Scintigraphy or the MRI?

They are sending all the results to VA Tech and refering me there?

What should I have done? I feel like I'm getting no where with the Vets?

I do not think they did a correct Protein C test. The results come back as a % - The Vet MUST send the blood draw overnight to Cornell University (they do the testing). Under 75-80% leans towards Liver Shunt. Above 80% is either MVD or normal.

Is he neutered?

[Ladymom]

Originally Posted by TLC

I do not think they did a correct Protein C test. The results come back as a % - The Vet MUST send the blood draw overnight to Cornell University (they do the testing). Under 75-80% leans towards Liver Shunt. Above 80% is either MVD or normal.

Is he neutered?

Here is the information you need:

Comparative Coagulation -- NYS Animal Health Diagnostic Center

[smbritton]

They Vet said it was overnighted to Cornell and in the special container etc... I'm not sure why she said 4.7 and said 0-7.6 is normal???

Yes the dog is neutered.

I think I'm going to take him to VA Tech and have the Scintigraphy done which will determine once and for all if he has a shunt.

[Ellie May]

That's what I was thinking about the Protein C test.
That reference range doesn't look right at all.
If he couldn't gain weight before and his liver is mottled, then a scint is fine if that's the way you want to go. Still not really sure why two ultrasounds were done. It seems that your testing bills have been very, very high for no reason.

[dwerten]

Originally Posted by DAB

Zucchini and celery------ does your yorkie drink it w/o any side effects? Has any one else here tried it? I may drink it myself! Thanks.

DAB

you juice it and put the pulp and juice over the food - it is very healthy for humans and dogs - my friends bull mastiff got into a toxic plant and his liver enzymes were extremely high. She juiced the zucchini without celery and did this and milk thistle and liver enzymes went way down fast. A lot of dogs do this on the liver shunt/mvd group

[dwerten]

Originally Posted by smbritton

He is on low protein Hills LD dog food and loves it!

The first ultra sound did show two small stones although the Vet said they were so small they weren't an issue. The Liver looks mottled under ultra sound.

My dog is fine, couldn't be better. He has put on 1 pound in the last couple of weeks and he only weighs 7.6 pounds. If it wasn't for the BAT test results I wouldn't think anything is wrong with him?

Although, I have read how some dogs can have shunts or MVD and show no signs, so maybe the Hills LD and some kind of Milk Thistle or Densyl for the rest of his life maybe fine???

I'm so freakin confused

Also he has had puppies which we have given to family members and Charlie his daughter lives with us. Will they now inherit whatever he has? I may have to contact everyone who has his puppies?

yep my dd acts totally normal no issues and only had bile acids as new vet requires it on all yorkies and maltese and dd was going on a new drug atopica so we needed to test her liver after he reviewed all her blood work he felt it was a good thing to do.

I honestly think they did not do the tests correctly and are you going to do surgery??? why put the dog through scintigraphy if not having any symptoms and if no symptoms why put the dog through surgery. I would again wait 6 months on diet and then do pre and post biles on him with va tech later in 6 mos to see what happens and if any issues then pursue it further. If he is neutered and did well under anesthesia it is not that horrible. Also monitor how puppies are doing and see if anything progresses with them. I think running a bunch of tests and stressing a dog out when the dog is doing fine is not necessary. Now if he starts showing signs then pursue it further - my gut is they screwed up the tests as i know the post was done wrong if done at 2 1/2 hrs and from what others said the protein c was not correct so sounds like you need a new vet as not many vets know alot about liver disease and i think they are just running in all different directions and wasting your money.

At this point either in 6 mos do blood work with an internal medicine specialist which is what i would do or the va tech which is a teaching hospital but i would do the internal medicine specialist and have them consult with dr centers and dr tobias if numbers are off.

Did they do the 12 hr fast before doing the pre bile acids ?

[dwerten]

Originally Posted by smbritton

He is on low protein Hills LD dog food and loves it!

The first ultra sound did show two small stones although the Vet said they were so small they weren't an issue. The Liver looks mottled under ultra sound.

My dog is fine, couldn't be better. He has put on 1 pound in the last couple of weeks and he only weighs 7.6 pounds. If it wasn't for the BAT test results I wouldn't think anything is wrong with him?

Although, I have read how some dogs can have shunts or MVD and show no signs, so maybe the Hills LD and some kind of Milk Thistle or Densyl for the rest of his life maybe fine???

I'm so freakin confused

Also he has had puppies which we have given to family members and Charlie his daughter lives with us. Will they now inherit whatever he has? I may have to contact everyone who has his puppies?

stones are associated with liver disease -- is he a picky eater or does he vomit after eating? The L/D will probably help with stones as i believe low protein is important for stones -- also juicing the celery with the zucchini will help with the stones - what type of stones are they did they say? as depending on the type of stones will depend on diet - was just reading to be careful with broccoli, carrots, green beans in dogs with certain stones

[dwerten]

have you joined Liver_Shunt_And_MVD_Support@yahoogroups.com

i would do that and ask questions about the stones, etc as they helped me a ton when they wanted to do scinitigraphy on dd and after learning from them never put her through the test. Due to it being radio active dye there are not many able to do this and i believe only one guy in california Dr Broome does it. I know dr Tobias has this at her facility

here is the info on it - this is the facility we were referred to by vet - they keep the dog all day and do not keep over night - they shoot a dye capsule through the butt and take hundreds of pics as it travels through the body to see if it by passes the liver. If the dog is restless they will sedate if not they do it when dog is awake - the reason you have to wait all day is all radio active material has to be out of body before they can let you take the dog home

AVMI- Portal Scintigraphy

[DAB]

My Emma had the scinitigraphy done after her ultrasound showed no sign of a shunt. She continued to vomit foamy bile afterward and her Bile Acid numbers continued to be high. Other than that she never semed siick.

The protein C test was not done and sent to Cornell as my vet was pretty much certain she had a shunting issue---at that point she had had few BA tests. That is why the scintigraphy was ordered. BINGO---the shunt was found. She stayed overnight at Tufts University to be monitored for the radio active dye.

After a consult and discusion with the head of soft tissue surgery there, Dr. John Berg an appointment for Emma's surgery was made. Dr. Berg did the surgery.

Good luck with your baby furball. I have received good advice to consider on this forum from other group members. It all has been very helpful especially when I need to consult with the vets----I always have good /intelligent questions I can ask.

Thanks to everyone.

DAB

[dwerten]

Originally Posted by DAB

My Emma had the scinitigraphy done after her ultrasound showed no sign of a shunt. She continued to vomit foamy bile afterward and her Bile Acid numbers continued to be high. Other than that she never semed siick.

The protein C test was not done and sent to Cornell as my vet was pretty much certain she had a shunting issue---at that point she had had few BA tests. That is why the scintigraphy was ordered. BINGO---the shunt was found. She stayed overnight at Tufts University to be monitored for the radio active dye.

After a consult and discusion with the head of soft tissue surgery there, Dr. John Berg an appointment for Emma's surgery was made. Dr. Berg did the surgery.

Good luck with your baby furball. I have received good advice to consider on this forum from other group members. It all has been very helpful especially when I need to consult with the vets----I always have good /intelligent questions I can ask.

Thanks to everyone.

DAB

the scintigraphy is most accurate for the shunt ultrasounds are a waste as hard to find and most radiologists doing it cannot find unless they are doing it all the time like at u of t - that is great they found it and your dog is doing well.

[dwerten]

Originally Posted by smbritton

OK so I'm new to the site. I found the site by googleing for information about Yorkies and this site came up so I figured I may get some answers from here.

For the last couple of weeks my 3 year old Yorkie Scout has been losing weight. We took him to the vet last week and they took some blood tests. The Liver test were extremly concerning so they referred us to a specialist to perform a ultra sound because the Vet suspected a shunt. The specailist couldn't find the shunt although she said she finds 70% of them if they are outside the Liver. She has put him on Metronidazole and Hill LD perscription low protein food.

Here are the concerns from his Liver results:
Actual. Desired.
ALT 606 10-118
GGT 5 0-7
BA 140 0-25
ALB 2.2 2.5-4.4
CHOL 82 125-270

We changed his diet 4 weeks ago from IAMS to Kible n Bits because he was having trouble chewing the IAMS and the Kible n Bits are easier to chew. But he never really took to the Kible n Bits. When we bought home the Hills LD food we mixed it with his Kible and Bits and he methodically seperated all the Kible N Bits away from the Hills and devoured the Hills. Now he eats the whole bowl of Hills in under 30 seconds, he loves it. I haven't seen him eat like this in 2 months (since the kible n bits came along). He is full of energy and shows no signs now of illness although I can't get the test results out of mind

My questions is:

Could changing his diet have caused this much problems to his Liver? Or is something else going on?

I realize the BA of 140 is really bad...

So, now that he is eating again what are the chances of his next Liver tests once he has completed his Anitbiotcs returning back to normal?

I appreciate any advice I can get becuase both Vets really don't have an answer for me?

If my dog is running around fine, eating fine, and showing no signs of illness do I just ignore the tests and go on if he is fine?

reading this more closely so your dog never vomits just would not eat the food? first off kibble n bits and iams are not good foods. The protein could be too high and was making him feel sick to his tummy so he refused to eat it knowing it did not make him feel good. Dogs are very smart they will not eat what does not make them feel good and why so many owners reported with the pet food recall the dog would not eat the food as if they knew something was wrong with it. They have a very strong sense of smell and they also know if something makes them sick to their tummy they will not eat. So what happened is when you gave the low protein L/D your dog did not feel sick to tummy and would eat it -jmo

so sounds like only sign of liver issue was the stones and not eating kibbles and bits ? Just trying to make sure i am giving you the correct info based on what i would do if it were my dog