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11-07-2009, 02:40 PM | #1 |
YorkieTalk Newbie! Join Date: Nov 2009 Location: OH, USA
Posts: 1
| Yorkie with Liver Shunts and no appetite. Questions about Liver Shunts! We have a two year old Yorkie named Cupcake. A few months ago, she was acting strange. She was shivering so so much, and we would wrap her in like three blankets, and she would still shiver. She was also acting what i call 'quiet'. That is when she just lays around instead of playing all of the time and biting our pants when she's excited, just different than normal. We took her to the vet and they did tests on her and they said she has a minor case of Liver Shunts. Now, they did not give us very much information at all, so the little bit that i do know about Liver Shunts is what i have looked up and absorbed. When i look up people who have yorkies with liver shunts, they seem to be like the dog is doing wierd things with their eyes or walking around weird, or running into things. We have never had this problem, just an occasional couple of days when Cupcake acts 'quiet'. The vet did give us a perscription food to put her on. It is called 'Hill's Perscription Diet' and at the bottom of the bag it says "g/d". I don't know what that means. They also gave us canned food by the same company, but i hate to have Cupcake eat soft food because then she wont eat her hard food. Is it okay for her to just eat her hard food? Also, when reading other cases of Liver Shunts, i have recognized that people talk about different perscriptions and/or supplements the vet has prescribed for their yorkie. That has never even been brought up to us by our vet. Cupcake is only on her perscription food and a prescribed Fish Oil pill for her dry skin. Should she be on more than what she is on? I also read that many people who's pets have liver shunts get the surgery for their dog. Is this neccessary? Does Cupcake need the surgery? What happens if she doesn't get it? and Does Liver Shunts effect the quality of like and the number of years my little girl will live? Cupcake also hates to eat. We give her a small treat everytime she goes to the bathroom outside, but besides that, she hates eating her dog food. We give her no table food, so she could go many days only eating tiny little treats. We say 'Cupcake, eat your food!' and we put a morsel in her mouth. She usually ends up eating after we do that, but for the last two weeks she has been acting really 'quiet' and has gone days without eating. The most has been 4 days in a row with maybe 2 full treats a day. We have tried what usually works, by putting morsels in her mouth, but she is acting like she can't eat. We tried mixing a tiny bit of juice from a soft food from the store in with her hard food, and that didn't work. We also tried cruumbling half of a peanut butter treat all through her food, and that did not work. All of those methods have worked when we really could not get her to eat, but nothing is working this time. There are a few times when i can get her to eat about 10 morsels, but that is very difficult. We get little homeade biscotti's for dogs down at the Strip District, and she always loves those. This week, we gave her two little pieces and she wont eat them. We also gave her a few Old Mother Hubbard peanut butter bones, and she wont eat them either. She will eat soft treats, though. i wonder if it hurts her to chew or something, but i looked in her mouth and nothing really stuck out to me as unordinary. We are calling the vet on monday, but it's always so so much money, so we have been trying to fix her ourselves. In the meantime, why isn't Cupcake eating? Sorry this is so long and i have asked so many questions, but we don't get these answers from our vet. i feel clueless and really worried. Thank you for your help! |
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11-07-2009, 06:52 PM | #2 |
And Rylee Finnegan Donating Member Join Date: Apr 2007 Location: Metro Detroit, MI
Posts: 17,928
| Your girl is likely not eating because in dogs with liver shunt, toxins build up from certain foods and make them feel sick. Unfortunately your vet made a bad choice by using the G/D. Canned L/D or Royal Canin LS 14 kibble are better choices for liver compromised dogs. Red meat, organ meat, exotics, and pork can be very hard on the liver. Foods high in ammonia (toxins) like red meat aren't a good thing because ammonium builds up in their system from it causing neurological symptoms (hepatic encephalopathy). Shaking is one of these. What tests have been done? What were the results? Can you post them? Yes, in most cases of extrahepatic LS (common in Yorkies...meaning the shunt is outside of the liver as opposed to inside the liver), surgery is recommended. Microvasular dysplasia or MVD (small shunting throughout the liver) is not operable and it is treated with diet and supplements. Yes, since your girl is symptomatic and quite lethargic, she should be on SAMe, lactulose, and milk thistle wouldn't hurt.
__________________ Crystal, Ellie May (RIP), Rylee Finnegan, and Gracie Boo🐶 |
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