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09-03-2009, 07:16 PM | #1 |
Senior Yorkie Talker Join Date: Dec 2004 Location: Salt Lake City, UT
Posts: 124
| Liver Shunt in Adult dogs. I am looking for people who have been through Liver Shunt with dogs that were older when diagnosed. My Cecilia has just been diagnosed with portosystemic shunt and she is 5 and a half years old. The surgeon says it is unusual to get this old without it being discovered. She has always been very calm and mellow but other than that had not had any other symptoms. She has been to the vet many times in the last 5 years for dentals, and vaccinations and spaying and other minor illness issues all regular stuff. Is the Bile acid checked on routine blood work? I know she has had blood work several times before. Just in the last month she started having seizure episodes and vomiting. Doc says that she is higher risk due to the amount of time that her liver has been affected. She is scheduled for surgery next Wednesday. I would love to talk to people that have any input. Thanks Camille
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09-03-2009, 07:22 PM | #2 |
Donating YT 10K Club Member | A routine CBC won't show anything...a full blood chem panel may. Sometimes it's dependent on the amount of damage the liver's already suffered. Shunts can also be acquired vs genetic...that usually happens when the liver is compromised by something else. Good luck and sending prayers
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09-03-2009, 07:33 PM | #3 |
Senior Yorkie Talker Join Date: Dec 2004 Location: Salt Lake City, UT
Posts: 124
| Thanks for your reply. It is a single congenital extrahepatic shunt. A lot of people on here talk about Dr. Tobias and I have read her articles. Is she a practicing vet/surgeon or just doing research? I left a message at the UT for someone to call me the other day and have not heard anything back.
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09-03-2009, 09:33 PM | #4 | |
BANNED! Join Date: May 2007 Location: USA
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09-03-2009, 09:36 PM | #5 |
BANNED! Join Date: May 2007 Location: USA
Posts: 11,073
| our vet bile acids all yorkie and maltese as it is so common in these breeds. Join yahoogroups.com and search liver shunt and there are two groups i recommend going on there as you will learn a ton and i believe dr tobias asst is on there as well - these people really know a ton about liver shunt so sorry this happened to your baby -- my yorkie is mvd so i do know about this as learned a ton from those two groups. the only thing on the cbc that shows is high ALT but they can have a normal alt and still have a shunt that is why the bile acids are so important in these breeds |
09-04-2009, 05:55 AM | #6 | |
Slave to My Rug-Rats Donating Member Join Date: Jun 2005 Location: Long Island
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09-04-2009, 01:26 PM | #7 |
Senior Yorkie Talker Join Date: Dec 2004 Location: Salt Lake City, UT
Posts: 124
| Ultrasound. Her liver is 50% what it should be. Doctor says it is clear that this she was born with this. Is it the "Single" "Congenital" or "Extrahepatic" that your wondering about?
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09-04-2009, 01:27 PM | #8 |
Senior Yorkie Talker Join Date: Dec 2004 Location: Salt Lake City, UT
Posts: 124
| How do you get in touch with her?
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09-06-2009, 05:41 AM | #10 |
Donating YT 500 Club Member Join Date: Apr 2008 Location: Texas
Posts: 664
| Have you heard back from UT? I think when I first called I spoke with Danielle. Of course, that was 6 months ago. When I called, I explained that my dog had a suspected LS and I needed to speak with someone about the procedure, etc. It took them a couple of days to call me back. I never spoke with Dr. Tobias prior to my appointment - only this assistant. |
10-11-2009, 09:40 AM | #11 |
Yorkie Yakker Join Date: Apr 2006 Location: Baltimore, MD
Posts: 28
| Our dog, Lacy, was diagnosed when she was a little older than two, which is still much older than almost all dogs that are diagnosed as young puppies. She had absolutely zero symptoms other than the occasional vomiting, which we were told was caused by acid reflux, and we thought she was completely normal. One day she had some severe diarrhea for whatever reason, and it was fate that the vet on staff that day decided to do an ALT enzyme blood panel. It was also fate that when we came back to get the results, Lacy's vet happened to be the one there with the most experience with liver shunts and walked into the room going "Of course it's a liver shunt! She's a yorkie!" She then sent us on our way to a specialist in Virginia, where they did an ultrasound, where the vet told us there was probably an extrahepatic shunt, but her liver was so small it was hard to see. She advised us to skip the surgery because of Lacy's size and the fact that she seemed outwardly completely fine. For a bit longer than a year, we waited it out on Denosyl and a homemade vegetable protein diet, and Lacy stayed her same healthy self (with her bile acid values still sky-high). Eventually, we ended up with a very kind new vet who just glanced over her file and asked us why we hadn't considered surgery. We looked back into it and knew the only place to go if we were even thinking about it was Tennessee. We made an appointment at the front desk for about two months from then, at the end of July. We didn't ask for Dr. Tobias specifically, and ended up with Dr. Bohling, an equally skilled senior surgical member of their staff. We drove a whole day down the Tennessee from Maryland with Lacy in the back seat, and checked into a cute little bed and breakfast in Knoxville. Lacy's surgery went great, they found a single extrahepatic shunt as they were expecting, stitched her right up, and she was up and running around again in a week. Now, almost three months later, her bile acids are 100% normal, Lacy's doing great, and they told us she'll live a full, healthy lifespan! If you think surgery is the right option, don't go anywhere but to Dr. Tobias's team in Knoxville. They have the highest success rate in the entire world, and their staff are fantastic. If you have any more questions about our experience, please feel free to PM me! |
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