Bikini is alive - Possible liver shunt
 

Hello Everyone and thanks for everyone that supported me with my little Bikini being sick!

So she is getting better but still has no energy! My vet thinks she has Liver Shunts but is not sure...

Here is the story... She was acting completely normal before Thanksgiving( In Canada). I think she ate too much food that fell on the floor. And all my visitors probably gave her treats!
Than she started being sick on the Tuesday. He opened her up on saturday and notice a pancreatic, a blocked gall bladder and inflammed intestine. She was vomiting quite a bit and we putted her on fluids. She almost died. But she is slowly recovering and now she started eating again ;) Which is good. She's a tuff one let me tell you. She recovered really well from the surgery! She is starting to be her old self but without the flying energy she had... normal she lost almost a pound! She did not eat for almost 5 days and she was vomiting cause of her pancreas...
But my vet did a bile acid test and it was up to 300 (i think it has to be in the 10 range).

Could the test be wrong if she has been vomiting for a while? Could it be false if it was done during a pancreas problem or while she was very sick?

Any other indications? Could it be damaged now?

Thanks for you help,

300 is extremely high. Was that premeal or postmeal? What meds is she on because those can cause it to go up.

I don't know for sure but I think she was on a medication to prevent the infection after her surgery. She was on IV fluids with a mixture of things in it. Could it be this?

I don't know what food they were giving her. And I think they pushed food in her mouth before... but i'm not sure! Maybe I will ask him.

Alos she sleeps really hard sometimes... I had problems waking her up this morning. Could it be because she is recovering and she is tired... She slept with me for the past 2 night...

Your poor baby. I hope she recovers soon and is back to normal.
Whenever I have company I make it a point to tell everyone Buddy
is to have nothing to eat from anyone.
Visitor's are very understanding and comply to my wishes.

Yes, certain medications, antibiotics, flea med and heartworm med can skew the results. That doesn't mean it happens every time though. In fact, with a number like 300 I would be very, very worried.:( Has your vet mentioned running other tests? Could you post blood panel results?

I know nothing about this, but wanted to send my get well wishes for little Bikini and hugs to you!!!

I just called my vet and the number was 31 and that was with no food since a few days ;) So I think this is a better number no?
We had other blood tests done and nothing was alarming... My vet said that he was surprise of those number after what she has gone through! Everything that was elevated a bit was explainable with her pancreatic and digestive problems...
Is that normal?

Thirty-one is tons better.:)

The vet said that he will test her again in a month to give her time to recuperate...
But does 31 is an absolute liver shunt you think?

No, 31 is not an absolutely liver shunt.

So just to get this straight...

Is 31 her Premeal #?

OR

Is 31 her Postmeal # - the 2nd time doing the BAT?


b/c if 31 is premeal and 300 is postmeal - I'd be very concerned at this point!

I think that the pre is 31 and they didn't do a post. Is that right?

Pokche, the Idexx reference range is preprandial 7 and postprandial 15.

Yes that is right they did a pre and they did not do a post because she didn't eat. She was vomiting for the past 5 days when they did the test. She was on medication plus IV fluids with glucose and protein in it... She was in a bad condition but it was due to a pancreatic inflammation. He noted something is her urine but he told me that is normal because she lost a lot of weight fast... Her glucose was high but she was on IV so that was normal. Her white cells where up but normal too in her condition. Besides the Renal system was great and the rest was normal.

But now the only thing she wants to eat is chicken for baby... she would eat the whole jar and she doesn't want to eat anything else... What should I do? She drinks water as well :)

I tried giving her Hill's UD foods... she took a little but wanted the chicken again ;) She doesn't want rice or vegetable!

So this is the pronostic for now... what do you think? By the way thanks for your help. It is greatly appreciated :)

By the way, there is no more 300... that was the number in my head... it was 31 for 4 days of starvation with a full gall blader and a saturated pancreas :)
I don't know how she survived but I'm happy and my vet too ;) We think she had too much snack during the thanksgiving... now I will let my visitors know not to give her food ;)

Why did your vet prescribe U/D? It is for stones.

a pre-prandial result is not as important as the post-prandial. Many dogs have pre-prandials that are normal, but post-prandials are through the roof. If I were you, I would as that a pre- and post-prandial bile acid test be done, but wait until the meds are out of her system.
Did they say she had stones or crystals in her urine?

Because it has low protein it it I think... he never talked about stone.
Here is what he gave me:
Medi-Cal vegeterian formula canine
Medi-Cal reduced protein canine
Hill's U/D canine

But she only wants the blended chicken so far ;)

nope they did not talk about stone or crystal. He said there was something in her urine but it was because she lost weight very fast. She went from 1.5 kilo to 1 kilo or if ou want from 3.5 pounds to 2.3 ish pounds about. She had it very rough I tell you. My vets thinks its a miracle she is alive :)

Usually Science Diet L/D is given for liver problems. I am not saying that I recommend it though. I have no idea why you have the U/D because it doesn't make sense. There are other foods with low protein.

ok I will phone him. Maybe they gave me the wrong can ;) It happens. We were so excited she was up and running and her tail was going... we just must have not paid attention. The whole clinic was excited ;) She charmed everybody while she was there! They really pampered her to the max. Like I said before the vet brought her home with him and monitored her 24 hours... It saved her i'm sure..

What other food should I try on her?

I'm not sure since she does not for sure have a liver problem. If she does have a problem you could use Royal Canin LS 14 or you could use the L/D (canned, not dry). There are a couple vegetarian ones like Natural Balance and Avoderm that may be acceptable depending on symptoms. Maybe that is why the vet gave you the medi-cal. That might be okay.

Basically he gave me that right now just to have her going on food... she didn't want to eat anything. So he just asked me to try these. He didn't say that would be her diet for the rest of her life. He said that this could be the condition she has... but by reading about it, she could just have had a really bad indigestion or something. He told me to stop the puppy food has it is high on protein. Maybe he wants me to leave her on a low protein diet until we test her again.
I heard Natural Balance is really good. Maybe I'll go and look for that. I just received Canidae sample food. Is that good?

Canidae is too high if he wants her on low protein. You could let her eat the U/D if that is what the vet wants to do for now. I wouldn't because there is pork in it.

My vet just told me UD can go for a low protein as well. They use it for the renal and the liver. But he will exchange it. He doesn't have any in stocks right now. But I have some other food. Pork is high in fat.
She is still a pup. If she have a liver shunt, can she live without the surgery? Will she die young?

When I read the symptoms she never had any before this episode... I don't know what to think anymore.

Yes, u/d is low protein, but the protein source is pork liver which is extremely high in purines...Foods that are this high in purines are not good for dogs that are suspected to have liver problems. I would ask him to switch to L/D.