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When Sadie was very young, they diagnosed a heart murmur with her - and my vet wouldn't perform any surgery (even spaying) until she had a transesophageal echocardiogram performed on her. A vet from another ciy had to perform this procedure - and the results were fairly benign - she haxd her surgery performed with incident - THANK GOD |
Help me understand the test results, PLEASE Just got the results back, and bile acids are 2.1 fasting, then post prandial is 47.5. Urinalisis was all good. They are suggesting ultrasound as the next diagnostic test, and we discussed it's limitations, however they still recommend it in case it does see a shunt, then we'll know. If it doesn't then we'd do Protein C, and liver biopsy. They said it won't hurt to start denosyl w/milk thistle, and lower her protein/fat intake. On xray, liver appears slightly small. How bad are these results so far? A reminder, Tiki is 7 months old, 7 lbs., and has no symptoms of liver disease. It may be 4-6 weeks until the vet who does ultrasound comes over to our island, and the cost will be $350 & up. Please help me interpret these results, and guide me to the next steps. Many Thanks |
I'm so sorry to hear about your dog. I would definitely join this group: Liver_Shunt_And_MVD_Support : Liver Shunt & MVD/HMD Support My Teddi had LS surgery 1 year ago. She had absolutely NO symptoms for one year and then I came home one day and found her drooling and then started our adventure. The people on that group are so knowledgeable and will be your best bet for help with this. Good luck!! Here is Teddi's story: Teddi's Story |
Shunts are not always seen on an ultrasound, so I don't usually recommend that people spend the money on it unless they're checking size of liver and if they're checking for stones. A small liver is not a good thing, so they should probably check into that... Those BAT results aren't outrageous, but they ARE above normal. Did they do a blood panel? If so, was ALT elevated? |
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Thanks for your input. |
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I'm sorry you're going though this. I wish you the best and will keep you and your baby in my thoughts. |
Elevated ALT signifies liver cell death, so it does concern me that both ALT and the BAT results were elevated. Let us know what the specialist says next week... |
The BAT itself isn't too bad but the high ALT would make me nervous. While I might be talked into an ultrasound in this case, I don't think it is the best way to go. Why don't they do scintography or are they looking for bladder stones? If a scintography shows no shunt and the vet thinks it's MVD, there is really no good reason to open her up for a biopsy that I know of. It would probably be a good idea to do one when she is spayed though... |
I don't even know what scintography is, but will ask about it tomorrow when I pick up supplements. Even with ultrasound, I'd have to wait until the vet from Big Island comes to Maui which usually is every 4-6 weeks. They also mentioned that biopsy would be done when they spay her, once they determine it is safe. They suggested switching to a lower protein/fat diet. Any quick suggestions for a kibble since I have to go buy some tomorrow? I was ready to move Tiki and Meika (6 lb. Morkie) off puppy food, into adult anyway. Thanks for input; this is really shaking me up. |
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Portosystemic Shunts FAQ Scintography is explained here. Did they offer you a prescription diet? You can go with Natural Balance vegetarian if now or there are a couple others that I either have looked into or don't like peronally. One of htem is Avoderm something or other. I think California Natural is low in protein (don't quote me) but it really isn't the right kind of protein, especially the lamb. I would stay away from all red meat, pork and even exotics until this is figured out. |
Wellness Super Mix for seniors is low in protein: WELLNESSŪ - Healthy Dog and Cat Food Solid Gold also has a low protein kibble: Holistique Blendz Adult Dog (fish) |
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Good luck and keep us posted!! Keep your chin up...I know it can be scary, but just try to learn as much as possible about liver disease so that you can be prepared. |
I am so hesitant to say that I wouldn't do ultrasound because it can show some shunts and stones but after what Ellie's been through, I'm hesitant to say go for it too. We did an ultrasound. We got a diagnosis...pancreatitis. Great to know about it but not what we were looking for. The liver looked okay. We did a biopsy during spay. Only one sample was taken but it was pretty large...shows no MVD. Just because the ultrasound showed no shunt doesn't mean there isn't one and since several samples of the liver weren't taken, only widespread MVD can be ruled out. So, a whole lot of money later and we are treating sort of like MVD. We don't have answers but Ellie was having bladder issues too and stones were ruled out. So, every dog is different it can be very difficult to decide which tests to do. In Ellie's case, ultrasound did need to be done. |
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