Mild MVD

[Deezy]

Thanks to everyone. Mickey seems fine, but I am a bit out of sorts. I have not been the same since. Hopefully, I can shake this feeling.

[sunyluvsma]

[QUOTE=Deezy;1036938]Does anyone else have a Yorkie that has a mild case of MVD? Since
Mickey's portal scan showed no signs of liver shunt, our internist has
suggested that we monitor Mickey, keep him on the special diet with no
animal proteins and retest his bile acids in three months. Therefore,
they suggest that I don't give Mickey any additional proteins such as
cottage cheese or yogurt. She was not willing to prescribe hepato
support at this time because they do not know if it is necessary at
this point. I was just wondering if anyone else is having a similar
situation.

I just adopted a Yorkie to a wonderful family. He has MVD. Along with his LD canned 3 times a day he is being fed plain pasta,cottage cheese 4% and oatmeal.
The only way to know for sure is if a biopsy is done although if he has stabilized on this kind of diet, why do surgery?

Good luck!

[Deezy]

I agree. We are not rushing to do a biopsy until our internist suggests that we do so. I probably will never do one. He is happy, healthy and a ball of joy! I call Mickey my little vegetarian. That is what he is. No different than a human who is a vegetarian or vegan. He'll be fine.

At this time the Vet said I do not have to give Mickey any additional proteins. He loves Carrots and apples. I am going to try that recipe where you bake the Hill's L/D and cut it up and use it for snacks or treats.

Thank you!

[Deezy]

Has anyone tried any vegetarian treats? I give my Yorkie carrots and apples, but I have not purchased any vege treats online. I got confused when I started to look.

Just wondering...thanks!

[Yorkieluv]

With all these recalls going on, I do not trust any dog food company to make a safe treat....I'm only feeding human treats which the furbabies like much better. Apples, yogurt, steamed veggies, cheerios, corn flakes, watermelon...Stuff like that

[jerseymo7]

Hi all-

I am going through the same thing with my 7month old baby. A few weeks ago we had an "episode" that lead us to believe he could have had a mild seizure of some sort and after being admitted to the hospital that night for monitoring and doing bile acid testing, we started by changing his diet to Hills KD. His only symptom was increased sleepiness about 3 hours after eating where he would curl up and pass out for a good hour or so. Mind you, my pup has never taken a nap in his life! lol.

Fast forward to last night. We did the ultrasound and the internist explained that based upon Brody's "boring" and mild, but elevated bile acid levels (34/77), she was pretty certain she wouldn't see a shunt with the ultrasound. however, it was still a good idea to do one so we could see if there were any kidney stones or crystals forming plus see the size of his liver and compare it to what a regular size is supposed to look like. She was pretty certain Brody could have MVD but the only way to really know for sure would be to either do a CT scan, an exploratory surgery or a liver biopsy. Being that Brody still has to get neutered and have his one undescended testicle removed, we thought it would be an ideal situation to go in and do a "shunt hunt" and fix whatever they found since we had to go into his abdomen anway. But of course it turns out, that testicle is not located in his abdomen, but in his thigh area, hence that whole idea changes.

Now the options are to either get just a basic neuter and remove that testicle, or do the neuter/testicle surgery and do a CT scan under the same anesthesia, or do the neuter/testicle surgery and do an exploratory surgery plus a liver biopsy. Theres alot at stake and being that theres no other real reason to open up his abdomen, I'm not sure thats the route I want to go. Its risky and not to mention very expensive. The internist is going to call me today with some estimates on the different scenerios so i can think about what to do. Its so hard because Brody really has been so good and not shown much abnormal behavior except the sleepiness after he eats. otherwise he's playful, vocal and eats/pees/poops regularly. For now, the internist suggested we put him on lactulose and metronidazole with the Hills KD for a couple of weeks and see how he does. Perhaps by then I will figure out which surgery to do.

I swear, its never easy with these furbabies, but they are SO worth it!

[tokipoki]

Originally Posted by jerseymo7

Hi all-

I am going through the same thing with my 7month old baby. A few weeks ago we had an "episode" that lead us to believe he could have had a mild seizure of some sort and after being admitted to the hospital that night for monitoring and doing bile acid testing, we started by changing his diet to Hills KD. His only symptom was increased sleepiness about 3 hours after eating where he would curl up and pass out for a good hour or so. Mind you, my pup has never taken a nap in his life! lol.

Fast forward to last night. We did the ultrasound and the internist explained that based upon Brody's "boring" and mild, but elevated bile acid levels (34/77), she was pretty certain she wouldn't see a shunt with the ultrasound. however, it was still a good idea to do one so we could see if there were any kidney stones or crystals forming plus see the size of his liver and compare it to what a regular size is supposed to look like. She was pretty certain Brody could have MVD but the only way to really know for sure would be to either do a CT scan, an exploratory surgery or a liver biopsy. Being that Brody still has to get neutered and have his one undescended testicle removed, we thought it would be an ideal situation to go in and do a "shunt hunt" and fix whatever they found since we had to go into his abdomen anway. But of course it turns out, that testicle is not located in his abdomen, but in his thigh area, hence that whole idea changes.

Now the options are to either get just a basic neuter and remove that testicle, or do the neuter/testicle surgery and do a CT scan under the same anesthesia, or do the neuter/testicle surgery and do an exploratory surgery plus a liver biopsy. Theres alot at stake and being that theres no other real reason to open up his abdomen, I'm not sure thats the route I want to go. Its risky and not to mention very expensive. The internist is going to call me today with some estimates on the different scenerios so i can think about what to do. Its so hard because Brody really has been so good and not shown much abnormal behavior except the sleepiness after he eats. otherwise he's playful, vocal and eats/pees/poops regularly. For now, the internist suggested we put him on lactulose and metronidazole with the Hills KD for a couple of weeks and see how he does. Perhaps by then I will figure out which surgery to do.

I swear, its never easy with these furbabies, but they are SO worth it!

I would recommend starting a new thread so that more people might look and be able to give advice (the original post is pretty old).

So sorry you're going through all this and trying to figure out the best course of action. My Toki has asymptomatic MVD...no neurological symptoms like seizures or the others like diarrhea/vomiting/lethargy etc. We had no idea she even had MVD until we went in for routine blood work which showed elevated liver enzymes. We did the BATs (elevated but not outrageous) and ultrasounds and had a scintigraphy done at NCSU vet school to rule out liver shunt. The next step would have been a biopsy to confirm the MVD but we did not feel it was necessary since she was asymptomatic and we would not have changed the plan of care anyway.

Do you have a facility or vet school near you that does scintigraphy? That is one reliable way of differentiating between MVD and shunt.

This link explains it pretty well. They basically inject radioactive dye into the spleen and they can determine the blood flow and if it goes straight to the liver (no shunt) or if it goes to other organs first like the heart and lungs (shunt).

Portal Scintigraphy in Veterinary Medicine

CT scans are expensive and I would have of course paid for one at the time if it was necessary but I wanted to go through my other options first. Scintigraphy is less invasive than exploratory surgery and not as costly as a CT scan. If the scintigraphy had indicated some type of shunt, I would have then proceeded with a CT scan and/or exploratory surgery as recommended by my vet/specialists. Luckily, the results indicated no shunt so we did not proceed any further. Just giving you some food for thought. Definitely ask your vet about the scintigraphy.

I hope that others will be able to give you more advice on how to proceed with (exploratory surgery vs. CT scan etc.) or what they would do...we have a lot of pups here with liver conditions and different experiences.

[Elliott]

My little man has MVD. We had biopsy and CT scan to confirm. He was showing neuro symptoms we actually found out he had MVD in the process of finding out he had a couple of herniated disc in his neck. It has been a long road. He was doing well on his meds and diet but has been sick this week, not eating, throwing up not sure if it is liver related. His system seems to be very sensitive so we have had a very hard time with food and treats. I can't offer much help as we are still trying to figure this all out. I will say a prayer and follow this thread to offer any help I can and hope to find out some new information myself.