Liver Shunt/Vaccines - Issue?

[twilson28]

What started all of this was his pee being orange, which I noticed because he pees inside on wee wee pads. I went to Vet and we did urine tests and he had crystals in his pee -- they didn't see stones, but he has the crystals.

We only did parvo vacc once and distemper once, (both when he was a puppy). He's 2 now and we haven't done again. He was going to get Bordatella, but because of everything going on, my Vet said, no way, no vaccines right now.

Thanks Bella for your kind words and advice...I demanded and pleaded with the Animal Medical Center in NYC to get an appointment asap, all they could give me was Tuesday at 9:30 AM so my Mom is going to come with me and we're going to head there and give reports to my Hubby and father and grandparents throughout the day...my whole family loves this boy so so much...

I appreciate all your help and prayers....I hope, hope hope my little boy will be OK. Right now, I don't care what it takes, I just want the scintagraphy and surgery and to get him on his way to health and a happy life.

Good thing we have going for us, he's a lhasapoo and a big health sturdy boy...a big 15 pounds and he's strong and muscular so I'm hoping that will help with the surgery and recovery. I went to Vet and got the LD Diet yesterday - I got the cans and dry, and I mixed it up and gave it to him, and he gobbled it down! Funny..he LOVED it. And my Hubby said he was the same this morning....gobbled it all down. He's never been a finicky eater, loves food, all kinds, and always always has had a HUGE healthy appetite.

[twilson28]

Is there a difference in outcome/results/surgery options between the shunt from birth and the shunt later acquired? Like at 2 yrs. old? Also -- is it possible he had it from birth but it was so tiny, no symptoms at all showed, but after long enough with it the symptoms started to show?

[Robin Lodal]

Originally Posted by dwerten

I think it is a shunt too I hope not multiple like this other yorkie owner i just helped Personally if this were my dog i would go to dr tobias at university of tennessee as she is the BEST surgeon for this and she does a ton of these and it is MUCH CHEAPER than anyone else only $1200 for the shunt surgery and most charge 4-6k so it is worth the trip and she is THE BEST in my opinion.

This week I was quoted 1800-2200 for the surgery at UT. Their prices must have gone up. I would highly recommend UT though. I have nothing but wonderful things to say about them!

[dwerten]

Originally Posted by twilson28

Is there a difference in outcome/results/surgery options between the shunt from birth and the shunt later acquired? Like at 2 yrs. old? Also -- is it possible he had it from birth but it was so tiny, no symptoms at all showed, but after long enough with it the symptoms started to show?

yes it can come up later in life and that is when it is not as good as then it can be more than one and this is my concern so hopefully you will have answers soon. Crystals are a sign definitely - this other dog was completely normal i just helped and no issues just had some diarhea and went in and it spun out of control and he is 3 and they just caught it and he has 4 shunts now

[dwerten]

Originally Posted by Robin Lodal

This week I was quoted 1800-2200 for the surgery at UT. Their prices must have gone up. I would highly recommend UT though. I have nothing but wonderful things to say about them!

ok thanks that is good to know as 2 years ago it was 1200 so that would make sense but still cheaper than her as they want 4k-6k and that was 2 years ago so my friend flew to ut - plus I would only trust Tobias with my dog as she does alot of these and the surgeon out here told my friend she did them in new york but none here so my friend said heck no I am flying to ut and she was so happy she was treated so well by everyone there and she said she made the best decision as her teddi was treated like a princess and they treated her as if she were there own and i have heard that from many on the liver shunt groups

[dwerten]

Red bank is where my friend had her liver shunt dog repaired by Katherine Salmeri is the surgeon 732-747-3636 and she did her dog and he had it done 9 years ago and doing well. She said she can call for referral for you if you need but she really trusts this surgeon if you want someone closer

[twilson28]

Hi all,

So we went to the Animal Medical Center in NYC yesterday and I had an ultrasound specialist look at Chewy, and sure enough, even though my Vet saw nothing, the specialist saw a extrahepatic, portosystemic shunt, and he assumes Chewy has had it since birth after I told him about some of Chewy's strange behaviors.

So it looks like, its operable, and we're going to just keep him on the food and meds for a good 3-4 weeks to get him real healthy and devoid of any neurological signs before we move forward and get him the surgery.

Any help, advice, info anyone can provide who has gone through this liver shunt surgery would be greatly apprecaited!

Thank you!
Tania

[dwerten]

Originally Posted by twilson28

Hi all,

So we went to the Animal Medical Center in NYC yesterday and I had an ultrasound specialist look at Chewy, and sure enough, even though my Vet saw nothing, the specialist saw a extrahepatic, portosystemic shunt, and he assumes Chewy has had it since birth after I told him about some of Chewy's strange behaviors.

So it looks like, its operable, and we're going to just keep him on the food and meds for a good 3-4 weeks to get him real healthy and devoid of any neurological signs before we move forward and get him the surgery.

Any help, advice, info anyone can provide who has gone through this liver shunt surgery would be greatly apprecaited!

Thank you!
Tania

my suggestion is to take your dog to dr tobias to do surgery as she is excellent on this breed and i would ONLY trust her with my dog with a liver shunt surgery -- she is at university of tennesee -- it will be much cheaper even including travel and in my opinion she is the best at it