liver shunts Has Anybody dealt with their yorkie having a liver shunt? If so how did you find out, what caused you to look into it. Also what type of food do you feed them? I have an apt for monday for an ultrasound so I have to see what kinda of shunt it is first. Very scared and thoughts?:confused: |
Many of us have dealt with liver shunts in one fashion or another. My Lucy has very mild 'internal shunting' called MVD. We ended up doing a bile acid test on her when she began acting strangely after eating some canned beef. We bile acid tested her twice - her numbers were low enough both times for the Vet to suspect the MVD as opposed to an external shunt. She is now on a low protein diet and doing fine. Have you had the bile acid test? Usually, that comes before the Ultrasound. |
My Cami has been having liver problems since I've adopted her 6 years ago. First, your vet needs to do a complete blood work up, bile acid test, and urinalysis. Cami's bile acids test is extremely high. Last week, she had an ultrasound done and it did not show any thing remarkable except she has a very small liver which suggests a portal shunt. The specialist and surgeon are recommending exploratory surgery which I can't seem to make up my mind to do. Cami is 9 years old. Cami eats Hill's L/D canned. She takes Denamarin 90 mg. 1 x a day; Lactulose 2 mls. 2 x a day; Pepcid AC 10 mg. 1/4 tab 1 x day and Amoxitabs 50 mg. 2 x a day. Good luck with your little one. I hope everything works out for the best! |
Hi and Welcome to YT! My Tink had problems with the anesthesia during her spay surgery, then she had some elevated liver enzymes on her bloodwork, then she had a Bile Acid Test, and was put on Hill's L/D diet, lactulose, Denamarin, probiotics and a round of antibiotics for a recurring UTI. Then she has an Ultrasound, and then surgery. |
We had the blood workup done on tues and the bile acid on thurs. Both test showed his levels high so my vet recommended me taking him to get an ultrasound because he was pretty sure it was a liver shunt. I ended up making the apt for monday but last night we had a sudden turn. Brutus ended up having a seizure and couldnt walk so I rushed him right over. They ended up keeping him last night and did the ultrasound this morning. She said he is a good canidate for surgery and that she thinks he has the the one on the outside so thats good news. She wants me to put him on hill l/d and give him the medication to lower his ammonia levels. There is a couple of medicines but i'll get more information later I can go pick him up at 4:30. So thank god and thanks so much for the info since nobody I know personally had any idea what I was talking about. |
UC Davis has a top notch reputation for doing liver shunt surgery. Even though I live in Canada if my dog had an external shunt; I'd hightail it to Tennessee for the surgery. There are LS support groups on Yahoo; I'll see if I can find the link. Also it is my understanding that a scintography is the best diagnostic tool to find out if the pup has liver shunt. Ultrasound accuracy is very dependent upon the skill of the technician doing the US, and an LS specific skill. |
Quote:
Brief clinical history 1 year old yorkshire terrior with a history of stunted growth, elevated liver enzymes, low albumin,elevated bile acids were 1.1 and post prandial bile acids were 56.3 last week was worked up for possible portosystemic shunt, radiographs and ultrasound revealed a small liver. Nuclear scintigraphy was performed which was within normal limits, the suspected diagnosis is hepatic microvascular dysplasia today. liver biopsies were obtained in surgery with biopsy forceps in order to obtain the diagnosis.. Micah was diagnosed with MVD |
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