Abnormal Clotting Test?
 

Hey Everyone.

Today I took Paisley in for her long awaited and highly dreaded spay appointment. Paisley was scheduled to have her pre-op blood work done this morning and they said they would give me a call when everything was done. I got a call around lunch time saying that they wouldn't be able to spay her and they would explain in person. The vet told me that Paisley's clotting test had abnormal results. He explained that they ran the test twice. The first time they ran the test one number was normal and the other one was slightly out of normal range, so he had them run the test again and the second time both numbers were out of range. He said he didn't want to take any chances and wanted to investigate further. He recommended completing a liver function test or bile acid (he used both names so not sure which test it is) but basically she has to fast overnight and they will take blood initially and then feed her and take more blood. He said if that is normal Paisley will have to go see a specialist?

Has anyone else experienced this or something similar? I'm happy that they aren't rushing anything and are concerned for her. I just worry that we won't find an answer for this and it will prevent her from getting spayed, which is something that is important to me.

<3 Daylyn and Paisley:animal-pa

I think it was very reasonable of your vet to inform you of the problem and recommend other testing. It sounds like the vet is most suspicious of liver shunt that is very common in the breed and wants to check the bile acids as a way to see if that could be causing the clotting factors to be off. I think an immediate referral to a specialist is great advice. She may need an ultrasound or other diagnostic type of testing. A specialty hospital may be more comfortable to spay her as the hospitals usually do more high risk type of procedures. Please keep us posted.

Welcome to Yorkie Talk! I hope that all goes well with Paisley's testing and you find out what is up with the clotting issue. Thank goodness that blood work was done prior to the spay!!
Please keep us posted...I will say a prayer for your girl.

Thank you all! I started doing research and have become really anxious at the thought of her having a liver shunt, as everything I have read shows a poor prognosis. Has anyone else gone through this? I can say that she doesn't show any of the signs or symptoms that I have read about.

Pre-anesthetic blood work was required at my vets office, and I asked them to run the clotting profile as an extra precaution as I have read about it. I have a fantastic vet so I feel extremely comfortable with them.

I'm very nervous so prayers and thoughts are so greatly appreciated!

My vet also runs PT test before procedures and after hearing your story I'm glad. As for liver shunt, if that's what she has, surgery can fix the issue in most normal cases and the dog can go on to live a long life. LadyJane will hopefully share her Teddybear's story with you. Some dogs also have microscopic shunting called MVD or nowadays called portal vein hypoplasia and those dogs can live for a long time with diet and meds.

I've never heard of clotting factors being off due to shunt. I suppose it's because prothrombin is a protein synthesized in the liver. So I think it's great to do bile acids.

Liver shunt does not have a poor prognosis if surgery is done. It is only in cases where it is not surgically corrected that pups have a shorter life.

Here is a great link about liver shunt and microvascular dysplasia.

http://www.vet.utk.edu/clinical/sacs...2013-04-10.pdf

My Teddy Bear was not diagnosed with a LS until he was approx 8 (he is a rescue so I dont know exact age) and he had surgery in Feb 2013. He is fine now! Here is a link about his diagnosis and surgery:

http://www.yorkietalk.com/forums/sic...ver-shunt.html

Daylyn, My little girl Bella just went through the liver shunt surgery. Since you are close by, the BEST advice I could possibly give you right now is to get an appointment at the UF Small Animal hospital on the UF campus.
They were absolutely outstanding to deal with and the Drs there are top notch. I went there because for a surgery like that, I wanted the person who was good enough to teach every other vet in the area how to do this procedure. They got her through it and at least now 10 days after her surgery, she is acting like the happy healthy puppy we have been trying for all along! Keep us informed and good luck!!

I think it is great that the vet is doing a BATS test. How-ever that looks at liver shunt potential issues. Sometimes the liver is *off* for other reasons and here at least we call it an expanded liver blood work. This is not the same as a BATS test. I am not aware of blood clotting issues as being a normal for a liver shunt. But it sounds like your vet is very much on top of things.


My prayers go out to you both for good results from the testing.

Thank you guys so much. I have been so concerned. Paisley goes in tomorrow morning for her Bile Acids test. I've been doing a lot of research on various reasons of why clotting times could be delayed, and it seems like there are so many things that can contribute. While I know that many dogs can be asymptomatic, Paisley doesn't show any signs of illness, including those common with clotting disorders or liver shunts. No vomiting, diarrhea, she has a great appetite, great energy levels, and she has never had nosebleeds, blood in her urine or stool, or bruising.

I know this is a personal question, but do you mind sharing approximates of how much the surgery was? I want to do everything for Paisley that she needs to have a long, healthy, and happy life, but am interested in costs so I know how much I could be looking at.

Hi Guys.

I wanted to follow up on what has happened with Miss Paisley. I went to the vet today as I hadn't heard anything on Paisley;s Bile Acid test results. The vet came out to talk with me and told me that her Bile Acids are definitely elevated, but her levels are not anywhere near the levels that dogs with a liver shunt have. She said that liver shunt dogs are normally over 100, where Paisley was 35. She said she could send me to a specialist for further imaging, but she thinks results would most likely be ruled inconclusive and would end up being a waste of money. She had me put Paisley on Royal Canin Hepatic Formula, Denamarin, and Tea Pills (my vet uses both holistic and regular medications, whatever shows best results). She would like to retest Paisleys Clotting Times in a 3 weeks and she thinks being on this regimen for a few weeks will help things out. She thinks Paisley should be on the food for a while though or until her body shows signs of no longer needing it.

Is anyone familiar with the Royal Canin Hepatic Formula food? I typically feed my pups grain free diets, and this food has some ingredients that I would typically stray from, so I'm curious to read of anyones experiences with it.

Thank you!