Liver Problems - Help please! My Zoey is almost 5 months old and our vet suggested she have her liver checked for a common problem that they see in yorkies so we did and her before food # was 5 and the after food # was 30. Now he wants us to get a ultrasound to check the liver. Does anyone have information reguarding this? I am not sure if my vet is trying to get money from me for tests that are not necessary or if the numbers are serious and I need to worry. |
What specifically is he trying to test for? |
I would ask questions and ask more questions:) How does you dog act? |
It sounds like your vet did a bile acids test. THis test is usually done to see more detailed information on how the liver is functioning. Did your baby have any other liver tests? Those numbers are not terrible, but they are over normal ranges. My dog had a post number of over 100 and she has liver disease. We manage it with diet. If you could give some more info here, you might be able to get some more detailed suggestions. BTW - welcome to YT! |
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He is checking to see if she needs a liver shunt. She acts like a normal puppy, very sprited and happy. |
I would have never thought that there was a problem. I took her to the vet to get shots and to start the Frontline for fleas and ticks. Then the vet was telling me that yorkies commonly haveproblems with the liver and that I should have her tested. So I took her in and they did a before food blood test and a after food blood test and now that one of you say it it was a enzyme bile test. |
#30 after a meal is just slightly above normal. 25 is the cutoff for normal/abnormal. A number as low as 30 would indicate MVD if anything which requires no special treatment.. PSVA and MVD Research Summary I wouldn't panic at all. If you are concerned, just retest in about a month. |
Usually liver shunts (large shunts) are suspected when the post number is over 100. Your vet could also be looking for microscopic shunting -- called microvascular dysplasica (or MVD). That is what my dog has and this is a common condition in yorkies. However, not all bile acids elevations mean that your dog has liver shunt or MVD. An ultrasound may help with figuring some of this out but ultrasounds do not always find shunts. I did an ultrasound in my dog because it was the least invasive test and we learned other information from this test. This is what the lab Antech has to say about bile acids results -- FASTING BILE ACID CONCENTRATIONS Elevated fasting bile acid concentrations can occur with inadequate fasting, spontaneous gall bladder contraction and with hepatobiliary disease. The probability of hepatobiliary disease increases when fasting bile acids exceed 25 umol/ L. Fasting bile acids may be higher than those of postprandial samples. Potential causes include gall bladder contraction and delayed gastric emptying. If either result exceeds 25 umol/L, abnormal liver function should be considered. POSTPRANDIAL BILE ACID CONCENTRATIONS Elevated postprandial bile acids are supportive of hepatobiliary disease. The majority of animals with congenital or acquired portosystemic shunting have markedly increased postprandial values (>100 umol/L). |
Welcome to Yorkie Talk. :) In my opinion, routinely bile acids testing Yorkies is commendable! Sometimes dogs with liver shunts or microvascular dysplasia (small shunting throughout the liver) don't show symptoms. This can be a problem because some drugs can be dangerous to use when these problems are present. Yorkies are 36 times more likely to have liver shunts than all other breeds combined. Thirty post is not that high. It's a concern, but so many things can skew bile acids test results. Had she taken any medication recently? Is she on a very high protein diet? Ultrasounds are good for showing bladder stones (can be secondary to liver problems), the size of the liver, etc., but they aren't really accurate for diagnosing shunts. And microvascular dysplasia (MVD) can't be diagnosed with a regular ultrasound. Since the post number is nowhere near 100, it is very unlikely a large shunt, but more likely MVD. Also, so many things can cause liver functioning issues. So it may be neither. You could retest in a month, or retest in a month after a liver friendly protocol is tried (diet and supplements), or go with the ultrasound, or see a specialist, etc. I would not let it go, but would talk about other options besides ultrasound. Of course if the vet is worried about something else that they think would show up on ultrasound, that would be different. But I do want to say this is not that far out of reference range and it sounds like she will be just fine. :) |
praying everything is ok with you baby. |
Okay so if 30 is not that bad and I should be safe to wait and retest, I will wait on the ultrasound for now. Does the ultrasound cost a lot? |
Some of you mention that if it is MVD it can be controlled by diet. I currently feed her Iams puppy food, what do you suggest for food to control the MVD? |
Ultrasound will run $250 give or take plus specialist consult. You'd have to ask the vet if it can wait... Thirty is not very high. |
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Hi and welcome my Micah has MVD and his test #s were much higher than your baby's are, he was tested at UT and is on a low protein diet. I would not forget about this, but i would certainly put him on a low protein diet and wait a few months as long as he is not sick or acting out of the ordainary Micah was BAT twice by 6 mos of age vet decided to wait until he was 1 yr old to test again still being high we went to UT where he had he was diagnosised with MVD after many test were done your baby may be fine after the next test |
Did the Vet send it out to the lab for results...or did he do the " in house" way???? |
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