River | 10-22-2006 06:52 AM | I haven't been on for a couple days so I missed your post. I have a yorkie that just had his 2nd liver shunt surgery in a year. He was diagnosed with his first one when he was 6 months old. His liver was a little compromised, it was small but still in the normal range. He did not have any kidney or bladder stones. The shunt was an extrahepatic shunt which is when the shunt is outside the liver and has the best chance of being fixed. I read about Henry and it sounds like this is what he had. Indy did fine after the surgery. It took about 6 months for his bile acids to return to normal, but at every test they kept coming down. I had one done at just about a year and to my surprise they were high again. We put him back on the prescription diet and tested in 6 weeks and they had almost doubled. New ultrasound showed another extrahepatic shunt. Odd thing was, his liver had almost doubled in size and the veins going into it were big and healthy. The surgeon was puzzled why another shunt had formed. I was told that a second shunt in a dog with a normal size liver was rare, 1 in 200 dogs. Indy had a second surgery in Sept and everything went well. He is fully recovered and back to his normal lifestyle, but this time he will remain on the Hills L/D prescription food. His first post op bile acid test is in a week. I think my situation was not a normal situation for liver shunts, and also, my Yorkie is 14lbs so he was not as fragile as a puppy the size of Henry. My advice to you would be READ, READ, READ!! There are many good websites out there. Dr. Karen Tobias is the leading researcher on liver shunts in Yorkies. She is a vet at the University of Tennessee and I highly recommend you read her findings. I don't know her site off hand, but if you google her name I am sure it will come up. Also understand, a liver shunt dog will always need a little bit more in the way of care. Probably a special diet and they should have the bile acid test done more frequently to monitor the liver and that is an expense. Also, with the small size of Henry, as the website said, you will have to monitor him closely and take him to the vet for anything out of the ordinary. This can get expensive quite quickly. Indy is 1 yr 7mos old and I have over $4000 in him (this includes the 2 surgeries, bile acid tests, ultrasounds, special food). I am not saying you shouldn't adopt Henry, just go into it with open eyes. Read about the condition and consider the medical expenses that could go along with him. It sounds like your home would be the perfect place for him as far as the environment goes. If you would like to IM me with any questions, please do. I got alot of help and support from this website while I was going through everything with Indy. Good luck.
Kim |