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Emee's BAT results - HELP! Emee had pre op blood tests performed last week for her spay and it came back with an elevalated BAT results (47). Dr has RX as Liver Shunt and prescribed Hills LP food, Lactulose (1x day) and Denamarin (1/2 tablet 1x day). My little girl won't eat the food and will not chew the tablets. I am able to get the lactulose in her with the dropper. She has no symptoms yet my vet feels not further testing is necessary. :confused: Her blood work also show an infection so she is on antibotics. HELP!! I don't know where to begin. This overwhelming. She acts so healthy, very active and eats like a horse. I would really like more testing to be done before she can be diagnosed with Liver Shunt. My questions are: * Can anyone recommend a vet knowledgeable about liver disease in the Chicagoland area? * Is Emee at risk if she doesn't eat or take the Denamarim? * Is there anything else I shoud be doing for the time being. Thanks guys for any help you can give me. In the meantime I have registered with the LS yahoo group and am researching UT for more information. I don't understand what is going on. I am so worried. |
Sorry to hear this news, I know how upset you must be. I'm a bit confused myself. Normally a BAT result shows a pre-meal number and a Post-meal number. The terms are preprandial and postprandial. If her post number is 47, this is not indicative of LS, but more likely MVD, which presents similarly to LS, but there is no shunt present. MVD can be managed through diet alone if no symptoms are evident. If symptoms show, then meds can be added. I can't recommend a vet in your area, hopefully someone else will see this and have suggestions... or maybe call around to find a specialist. The U of Tenn is great, there's a ton of info on their site. If you can get copies of her pre-op bloodwork and the total BAT result, we may be able to figure this out. Main thing right now is to stay calm, if the BAT results are post 47, this is not a death sentence, many YTer's pups have liver problems and are being managed very successfully. My dog tested way higher than this and she's doing fine. |
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What you can do now is check her regular food that she's on... no super high protein. Safer to be on food that's between 18-22% protein. Assuming she has a problem, you can add more easily digestible proteins to her food, like cottage cheese, egg whites (only whites). Stay away from meat proteins, they are harder to digest and harder on the liver, but at this point, she may do fine on her normal food, if not over 22% protein. And research for another vet, maybe one that specializes in small dogs, and have the bloodwork repeated in a month or two. |
CJ...first thing I'd do is get a new vet! There is NO way LS can be disgnosed with a BAT! They have to see the liver and the vessels. My Sweet Sophie just had BATs 53/57. I took her to a specialist and they did an ultrasound. It was a relief to find out that she MAY have MVD. No perfect but a lifetime better than LS. See like your baby Sweet Sophie has absolutely no symptoms. She's a happy bouncy 2 year old. Dr Smith asked that I get her BATs done again in 3 months just to monitor it. After that once a year. He put her on a regular maintenance diet...no more LD (which she hated) and no more denamarin. Of course I monitor the amount of protein she gets. He also said if she shows any symptoms, and there are specific symptoms, to call him immediately. It was worth the $432 for piece of mind that my little girl is "almost" perfect! |
Thank you Thank you everyone for your help. I too think I might be dealing with MVD. I have gotten a name of a good doctor and clinic that I will be call tomorrow. In the meantime, I did give Emee her normal food with the Lactudose on it. She eat so fast I thought she would choke. After she was done, she felt GOOD! She played catch and was her puppy shelf. Thank you again and I will give the group an update tomorrow as we figure this thing out. |
Glad to hear she's doing good, and that you found another vet. Hoping all works out well! |
Appointment for Wednesday Emee is scheduled for an appointment on Wednesday at a Veterinarian Specialty Center in the Chicagoland area. They only take referrals so I called my vet and told them I wanted a 2nd opinion and to fax over Emee’s file. No problem. This center sounds great! They told me to have Emee fasted for 12 hours so I know they will be taking a before and after BAT. They also have an ultrasound machine and the doctor we are seeing was recommended by another Yorkietalker. You guys are great! Both Emee and I are feeling better aready :) I will post on Wednesday what we find out from the new vet. I think we are on the right track. |
CJ you are doing the right thing for Emee. I hope you get the same relief from the specialist as I did. Keep us posted! |
Emee does not have liver shunt GREAT NEWS! !! Emee had an ultrasound done on her liver today and with 96% accuracy she does not have a shunt. We are estatic! The specialist took one look at her; took her vitals and said she was way too healthy to have a shunt.:) But of course still needed to do the ultrasound to confirm. They are now doing the fast and feed BAT. The rests will be in on Friday. They are thinking it is MVD.....just as everyone said. If necessary, the next step would be to have a liver biopsy taken when she is spayed. I will post the BAT results once I get them on Friday. Thank you again everyone for the great support here on YT |
YEA! WONDERFUL!!! Sophie's Doc said that they could do a liver biopsy but he didn't recommend it. For some reason I think the biopsy is for LS...which he was 95% sure she didn't have and that's why he wasn't recommending it. |
We chose not to biopsy. Repeat BAT's indicated a diagnosis of MVD. We initiated the lower protein diet and that was that. I guess my vet's thinking on that was why put your dog through an invasive biopsy to determine what you already know? |
That is great news! :) Our dog Daisy also has MVD - she is almost 10 and is very well managed on a home cooked vegetarian diet formulated at 15% protein, 6% fat and 16% fiber. She has IBD and allergies so the diet she is on takes these other medical problems into account. We have seen her BATs go from over 100 postprandial to normal limits with diet alone. We chose not to do a biopsy on our dog because of various reasons and opted to try diet changes first. Initially, we used the Hill's L/D diet but were dissatisfied with it and the dog was not in optimal condition. Good luck with your baby! |
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We are not sure if we will do the biopsy. The thought is that we will be having her spayed (most likely by the specialist) so we will see what the cost will be. If too much $$, then like you said, why do to know what you already know. Thanks again. |
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That's good news! My 9 year old Maltese was dx w/MVD 8 years ago. We had the ultrasound to see if it was a tumor. It wasn't. Then the radio assay to check the blood flow and that showed it was NOT a shunt. Then, rather than do a biopsy we (my vet, who has an MVD Maltese of his own, and the Surgical Vet ) all agreed to assume MVD and treat Pico that way. I home cook for him so I know exactly what he's getting, I give him Marin, Denosyl, a probiotic and salmon oil and he has been remarkably healthy ever since. His fur his thick and glossy,which is always a good sign. However, he does get tummy cramps occasionally which we treat with Reglan. Good luck with your furbaby........ |
I am so glad you received good news. Keeping fingers crossed for good bile acid results Friday. |
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