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Need advice please - very sick yorkie My yorkie, Kirby, has had health problems since the day I got him at age 2. He's a rescue. He's currently 5 and he's very sick right now. He had been having periodic seizures about every 6 months, and his quality of life was just fine. Then he had two a couple weeks ago and he's been going downhill since. They put him on phenobarb. He's now developed pancreatitis and he had two more seizures. While they were testing him for that, I asked them to do a bile acid test. It came back high and they referred me over to a specialist this morning. A specialist that I can't really afford, but I'm taking him anyways. They told me to start with the neurologist and go from there. He has an appointment next Tuesday. If we're looking at a potential liver shunt situation here - what are my options? Would surgery be effective? What kind of tests should they do on him? And, what things can I do between now and Tuesday to help my little guy? I just need some advice so I go in there able to make an informed decision. |
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Not sure why they would advise a neurologist for starters; but I am not a vet nor do I know the full history. It just seems logical to me that an internal med specialist might be the place to start since he had elevated BATs. Whatever you do, I wish you the best and will say a prayer for your Kirby. |
I hope you can get some answers and it is nothing serious. Do you know what his bike acid test results were? Generally if they are under 100 post it can mean MVD (internal shunt) and can usually be treated with medicine and diet. My Cali has MVD and all I have to do is keep her on a low protein diet. I will keep Kirby in my prayers. |
I called and got the bile acid results: pre meal was 20.6 (reference <10) post meal was 53.7 (reference <20) I also called the specialist back and told them I wanted to see internal medicine instead of neurology. They said they had not received the results of his bile acid test yet and assumed he was being referred for his seizures. I'm being told since he has both pancreas and liver problems right now, he needs both a low fat and a low protein food. They gave me RC Gastrointestinal low fat. I'm not a fan because it looks like corn pops to me, but they said it would help him, so I'm going with it. So is MVD a different kind of shunt that doesn't require surgery? Is it something they find on an ultrasound? Sorry, Google is not helping me much with this. |
I received a fax copy of the lab work today and his pre meal bile acids were 28.6, not 20.6. I must have misunderstood them on the phone. |
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Maybe a neuro would be a better choice to find out why he seizes... MVD does not usually cause seizures by itself. |
I said the same thing to the vet about pheno and his liver - but they told me that since he'd only been on it for two weeks, it would not have caused the liver values to be off. They told me that pheno is metabolized in the liver but liver damage would only occur with long term usage. I'm not an expert though. He only has 2-3 seizures a year usually, and I actually called the vet on Monday to take him off the pheno. In the 2 weeks he's been on it, his health has severely deteriorated. They told me to keep him on it, but by Tuesday he was vomiting and lethargic and I took him to the vet. That's when he was diagnosed with pancreatitis and I asked for the bile acid test. Honestly, I wasn't that concerned with the seizures, and his other health problems come and go... but in the last couple weeks he's become sicker than I've ever seen him. |
MVD Again I have no experience with this but did find this site with what seems like some good info. |
Here is some information about MVD from the Academy of Veterinary Surgeons: ACVS - Hepatic Microvascular Dysplasia or Portal Atresia I would still start with Internal Medicine, but that is only my opinion....if you go to a facility that has all specialties they can refer you to neuro if needed. I would discuss this with your vet. |
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Diagnosis of Portosystemic Shunts |
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