Portosystemic shunt
 

Well, I've spent quite a bit of time on this site so far looking for something...anything to help with what we are facing. Our Sampson will have his first birthday in 25 days. During his neuter surgery in October, his heart stopped for 45 seconds. They were able to resuscitate him, and he took a while to recover fully. On Thanksgiving day we had to take him to the ER. He had an episode where he was stumbling, had barely any strength in his hind legs. ER doc gave him Nutrical, said his blood sugar was low. Said they were finicky eaters. He did mention a shunt, but Sampson got better so quickly that we put off those tests. We had no issues until Monday. He wouldn't eat or drink and slept all day. By the end of the day he could barely stand up without his hind end wobbling and falling over, staggering like he was drunk. Hindsight shows he's a poster child for a portosystemic shunt. We had the bile acid test done, and we are headed to the specialist on Monday, and they will likely do an ultrasound. Btw, Sampson is pretty normal today, although still a bit weak in hind end and staggering a tiny bit. The cycle is hard to understand.

I found posts from 2008 and they consisted of people posting pre and post numbers of 19/147 or 20-something/260. Sampson's pre was 12 and his post was 26. That seems low in comparison to others. He truly fits every symptom of a shunt (minus head pressing). Is it possible that it's something else or that it's a small shunt? Maybe he will be in the small percentage that responds to meds/surgery/diet?

Sorry for the long post. I just needed to reach out in hopes of comparisons, experience w/ this ... something to help me think positive.

I'm sorry no one has responded to your post. I think your baby may possibly have MVD - tiny little shunts that can't be surgically repaired, rather than one large shunt that can. I am no vet and your vet can explain the difference. Here is a quick link that may be helpful. I think with MVD, babies can be medically managed with diet and medication. I would suggest that you go to a specialist so you don't waste any money on tests that won't give you answers.

MVD

Thoughts and prayers for Samson.......

Thanks, Lolasmom. I will check this out as well. We are going to the specialist on Monday. I want to cover as much as possible with him. :)

Very sorry to hear! It sounds as though his bile acid tests are very low? Ours was recently diagnosed with a probable liver shunt but had BAT of 68/175. Hopefully you can work with your vet to stabilize him while you do more tests and search for answers. I am sure that you will find the help and solution to his troubles. All the best!

I am sorry he is going through this. I do not have any experience with it. I hope one of the other members can help

This was my thought, Charlie has MVD his BAT when dx was 30.3 pre testing and 71.3 post but I thought to myself "that's not so high" compared to what others had posted here. Charlie does very well on the low protein diet and lactulose and the metronidazole, but we have to be diligent about it.

My Lola had a very large shunt that was surgically repaired several years ago, but her bile acids were very high 43/247 before surgery and 2.5/46 after her surgery. I think (less than) 13/(less than) 26 is normal. Even though Lola had the surgery and is MUCH better (it saved her life), she has MVD and I have to manage her diet very carefully. Good luck with your baby - thank goodness you are taking care of this now before he gets worse! He's a lucky boy!!!

Thanks, everyone. It's 1am and it's difficult to sleep. We made Sam chicken and rice tonight, and it just made things worse. He even became aggressive toward our 2yr old yorkie-bichon, and he absolutely loves him. The thought was to cut out all the extra ingredients in his food. The idea was a fail. I feel like I can't do anything right for him. Tomorrow is our appointment with the specialist. Hopefully we will get some answers. :(

Good luck at your appointment. Hopefully they will put your baby on a low protein diet and lactulose to get rid of the toxins in his little body. I'm so glad you are seeing the specialist. Keep us posted...

Hey! Well, there's good news and bad news. At this point he sees no signs of a shunt (good news). He also checked all of his other organs, which are fine.
Bad news is neurologically he's at about 85%. He either sustained brain damage when his heart stopped during his neuter surgery...OR he has some swelling in his brain, which is causing his neuro symptoms. We're going to put him on meds for a couple of weeks to treat that and see if he gets better
Sadly, we are now on seizure watch.
The specialist said, "Don't give up on this ship yet. There's still a lot we can do."
So here I am...not giving up.
Thank you all.

Awwee
 

Ooooh poor baby :( it is good that the vet knew to check for this type of issue. I will keep you in prayer hope ne has no seizures what meds did they give him to take?

The medication is dexamethasone (which scares me), but something has to be done if there's swelling in his brain. If he has seizures, we will try meds for that. Poor guy probably feels like, Hey, can I get some privacy? LOL We all keeps following him around and watching him like a hawk. I will continue to update...even if it's just for myself. This forum has been helpful. :)

I'm so sorry to hear about your little guy. I have no experience with neurological problems. Perhaps you should start a new thread with that title - you might get more help. Praying for you and your baby.

i am praying that the meds help sam and you see much improvement.

Thanks, everyone, for your words and prayers. Starting a new post is a good idea. ;)

Update -Not good news - kyphosis scoliosis
 

Just wanted to update those of you who stopped by to give me support. Turns out it wasn't a shunt. Internal specialist concluded it was definitely neurological. We made an appt w/ neuro specialist for next week, but Sampson started showing signs of pain last weekend. We took him to the neurologist on an emergency visit. They took specific x-rays and discovered that he has a "severe" case of kyphosis scoliosis. He said he usually sees it in English bulldogs, French bulldogs, etc., but not really Yorkies.

He said without an MRI, it's hard to determine the injury to the spinal cord. Kyphosis can end up severing the cord in some cases. He may not even survive the MRI because he is sensitive to anesthesia. (His heart stopped for 45 seconds during his neuter surgery.) Even if he was a candidate for surgery, it entails taking off part of his spine ... just a horrible, painful event. We don't know if he injured himself while playing with our other dog or if his growth spurt possibly caused compression on the spinal cord (which could sever) or if a disk has burst...this situation is so crazy. He was born with it and sometimes it doesn't show up until a growth spurt. We have video of him playing in the snow at Christmas, and he was fine. Now we watch him struggle to walk. He grunts when he's in pain. It's absolutely heartbreaking. The vet talked to us also about the fact that there just wasn't a lot that could be done in some of these cases, and in the end you have to make that decision to let go.

I cried in that exam room for three hours. They were kind and didn't rush us as we weighed out what to do, what we could afford (8,000 after MRI & surgery...that may not even save him) So we are continuing with the steroid and managing his pain with medication for the next three weeks, and we will see the specialist again to assess his condition. He's not improving yet. I fear we are going to lose him. <tears> His first birthday is Tuesday, March 5th. So if anyone is reading this, think of us on Tuesday and send a prayer up. We will be celebrating our precious Sampson's day. He is truly the best puppy ever. His personality is unmatchable.

If anyone really did read this far...thank you.

Oh, I am so, so sorry. Your Sampson is adorable. What a sad story...I hope you have informed his breeder about this.

I will definitely keep your baby in my thoughts and prayers and you as well ... may you have the strength and wisdom to do what is best for your Sampson.

Our thoughts and prayers are with you, Sampson sounds like a very special strong little dog, hoping and praying for improvement.