To Ladymom, Thanks for your input and links. I know some people strongly advocate bile acid testing, but I'm unclear as to just how helpful that is. It's my understanding that it COULD point to a problem in a very young puppy but is still inconclusive. Can it be used to rule out shunt in a 16 week old, so that 2 months later when a vet says "he has a big liver shunt" we can figure the vet is lying or made a mistake?

Duh I dont know why I thought a Redmond was in Oregon....lol

I am just the chosen lucky one to have 2 sick babies. They are litter mates too. I just pray that the surgery goes well and works! Its so hard to watch them so sick and tired all the time.

scintography test liver shunt
 

Hello to everyone!

My Yorkie had another blood test done ( before and after eating) which was sent to the IDEXX lab, the results were again high. 35o before eating and 250 after eating. This problem has been ongoing since around the holidays when she was put on metronidazole. My yorkie girl has had an ultrasound done at Tufts and they also tested her blood before and after eating. Everything was negative! However, she did in up with an eye ulcer which took nearly a month to clear on a strict regiment of eye antibiotics.

She continued on the medication and had the above mentioned blood work was done this week. Please note, other than the vomiting of bile and diareah she experienced in December, she has been completely without symtoms! She eats well and plays and has had no problems.

Tufts university has been notified and now step 2 is to have a scintogography test done with the dye injection. She will need to be in the hospital for 3 days. I am concerned because she is under 6 lbs. and this is an invasive procedure. The doctor/case manager has been notified about the eye ulcer which supposedly is a rare event. Hmm.

Also, does anyone have an approximate cost? I will phone Tufts on Monday and they will certainly have a definite answer. I am just wondering about different experiences people may have had.

My husband would like to bring her back to Tufts for another blood test before and after eating just to confirm IDEXX's results before putting our baby through the scintigraphy. After all, the blood work tests they did there after the ultrasound were, again, negative. After all, they are a top rated hospital and they have all the state of the art equipment. If everything is done on site, hopefully, all is done correctly. Has anyone out there been to Tufts for liver shunt problems?

Thoughts? All input is appreciated. My yorkie, Emma, will be 2 years old in March.

Thanks again. This is a wonderful forum.
DAB

I'm sorry it came back abnormal again. :(

Since she did have the vomiting and diarrhea, it may be best to proceed. I thought scintography was about $600 but it varies. From my understanding, anesthesia is usually used but it isn't extremely invasive. I have also never heard of having to stay for three day. They are usually kept til the dye is eliminated which takes about a day.

What are the chances of going to Cornell instead? They are very familiar with liver issues there.

My Yorkie had a liver shunt surgery on February 3, 2009. It cost us $2,750.00. She just needed to stay overnight. The next day she was discharged. They spayed her, did a liver biopsy, and drew blood. The surgeon gave us a very detailed list of everything.

Good luck to you. What state are you in?

My Little boy blue
 

I am hopeful for you!

liver shunt
 

My 2 year Yorkie was just diagnosed with bladder stones and liver shunt. I am horrified as he came from an excellent breeder with NO history of any of this. I've started my own search for "the best" surgeon for precious Micah. Any hints for me. Wish I had answers for you. :(

liver shunt
 

My Emma Angel was diagnosed with a liver shunt when she was about 2 years old. The surgery was done at Tuffs University, Foster Hospital for Small Animals in North Grafton, MA. Dr. John Berg operated on her and repaired the stint. Her diagnosis was failure to thrive....but now she eats well and is healthy!! She turned 5 years old in March. My husband and I were very pleased with her care....all staff members were very kind and understanding.

Prior to surgery her BAT numbers were very high. She saw Dr. Michael Stone, an internist, and had 2 ultrasounds which were negative but finally, after a scinctigrafy (spelling?), it was determined that she had an external liver shunt which could be repaired....internal ones can not be repaired...however, most small dogs have the repairable shunts. I would say to save money and time, have the scinctigraphy first.....the ultrasounds are not reliable no matter what the doctors say. As soon as emma had the dye injected in her and the procedure done, the doctors saw the shunt right away.

I hope this helps you......we were pleased with Tuffs but maybe another university hospital closer to you can help. Dr. Tobias (very famous for her work on liver shunts) is in Tennesee but we were not able to get our Emma there. Please note that Emma takes metronidozole daily with her breakfast and probally will continue that for life. She eats very high quality dog food..... the protein count should not be too high. also, emma needs a good fiber count in the food.

Good luck. Please keep me posted. My prayers are with your littl one. :aimeeyork

Suspicion of a liver shunt
 

I took my dog, Cooper, to the vet because I suspected he had a urinary tract infection. The dr. told me that they were going to do a quick scan ultrasound to see what was going on. They found a bladder stone so they ran bloodwork. The bloodwork is pointing toward liver dysfunction and the urinalysis says the stone is struvite. Now they want to do an abdominal ultrasound which will cost $300 and that may not be conclusive. In which case they would do another series of blood tests and some kind of a scan with contrast. All I know is this is getting very expensive very fast but I love my dog. I am wondering if any facility in TX will do these procedures less expensively and if he needs liver shunt surgery who in TX might do it for a more reasonable price. Cooper and I are in San Antonio. Please help!

Robyn
(Cooper's mommy)

Liver shunt - Cooper
 

Hello! My Emma - now age 8 - had surgery to repair a liver shunt when she was 2 yrs old. Surgical repair was done by Dr. John Berg at tufts University at the Foster Hospital for Small Animals. We had repeated blood work done at my vet's office and then x-rays, ultrasounds, and finally the scintigraphy (sp?) done to finally determine that she actually had a shunt. Here is my advice: skip the ultrasound and go right for the more expensive scintigraphy. Why? We had 2 ultra sounds and they kept saying no shunt. But Emma got sicker and sicker - failure to thrive. It seems that with an ultrasound the dog is not really put under anesthesia - so if said dog does not stay perfectly still - the shunt won't show. We had their "expert" do the ultrasound. :( Anyway, had we just went ahead and insisted on the scintigraphy ( that is the procedure where the dye is injected before the film is taken), we would have found it right away! That would have saved us the cost $$ of the 2 ultrasounds - money we could have used toward the scintigraphy. It took people on this wonderful forum to explain this all to me. The scintigraphy at the time was about $300. the ultrasounds were about $150 each. The shunt was found and it was then surgically repaired. Not cheap though. But it saved my Emma's life and she is thriving just fine now. Thanks to St. Francis and the wonderful staff and vets at Tufts, especially Dr. Berg. I am from Massachusetts and do not know about texas. Please join Crazy Yorky Ladies on Facebook as well as other yorky sites there; You may be able to find someone in Texas who has had this done and perhaps either on this site or there some funding help. Not sure.