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In regards to Liver Shunt Disease.. Can a Yorkie get this at anytime during their life or is it something they are born with ? |
It is a congenital condition that they are born with, depending on the severity of it determines when symptoms first appear. My vet diagnosed one dog at 12 years of age. Many are between 8 months and 5 years of age when first diagnosed. The worst cases show symptoms earlier then 8 months. |
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Dogs can also get acquired shunts at any time due to high blood pressure in the liver. |
Our little sweetie was dx'd with a liver shunt the month she turned five years old. Apparently it's typically a congenital issue, and most are caught in the early years but if the dog doesn't present 'normally' for liver shunt, it can be missed. Missie used to vomit every 2-3 weeks, and otherwise was fine until we took her in for blood in her urine back in September. Since then, she's had to have the liver shunt repaired and a kidney removed; I guess a liver shunt can lead to kidney stones as the toxins are filtered properly. If we'd only known sooner, we'd have had the liver shunt fixed before we did. Now she's running around healthy and with more energy than we've ever seen, but having only one kidney, we have to watch her closely. She sees a specialist 2.5 hours away every 8 weeks or so to have an ultrasound (as there's still a stone in the remaining kidney that we have to be sure isn't moving/blocking/causing infection) and she's on daily medication to prevent the buildup of further stones and bladder stones, as they had to clear out her bladder too. Yorkies are tough little animals! |
There are TWO types of liver shunts: congenital (present at birth) and acquired (develops after birth). Acquired shunts are usually secondary to cirrhosis of the liver, which causes hardening of the organ, which results in high blood pressure in the liver and shunting develops to relieve the high blood pressure in the liver. Congenital shunts are usually SINGLE vessel shunts that are present at birth, being formed in utero. Small breeds and toys breeds usually have extra-hepatic shunts, in which the shunting is located on the outside of the liver....large breeds usually have intra-hepatic shunts which are located on the inside of the liver. |
One of Tinkerbell's problems is that the duct from the liver to the gall bladder gets filled with sludge and moves too slow, which can also cause pressure to build up in the liver. All her bloodwork and the ultrasound indicated liver shunt, which her surgeon did not find during her surgery. |
thx everyone, my oscar had a full blood panel when he was nuetered and everything was normal. hopefully he will not ever develope this problem.. |
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