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I was extremely discouraged by all the stories with unhappy endings I found when looking for information on liver shunts. This is my attempt to show that it IS possible for your dog to have a positive outcome.
7 comments:
It's very encouraging to find a blog like yours! We are currently right in the middle of finding out what exactly is wrong with our 10 week old Yorkie, Mac. All of a sudden, Mac went blind and we weren't sure why. Within a few days of the acute sudden blindness, he showed a lot of the same symptoms Leeland did... very lethargic, not wanting to play at all. Most of the time he just whimpers and cries in what sounds like pain, but most likely is anxiety and frustration. After finding many things online about the liver shunt, and now after reading your blog, we were prompted to take Mac to the vet for the bile acid test, which hopefully we'll know the results this time next week. We're ready to have the old Mac back... hopefully the surgery will restore his eyesight as well.
Did Leeland happen to have any eyesight problems during any of this?
Thanks once again for a very encouraging story! We're praying the best for Leeland and hoping Mac has a great success story much the same!
Steven Jeffrey
Hi Steven,
I am so sorry to hear about Mac. I've heard that liver shunts are very common in Yorkies so I'm glad you decided to get his bile acids tested. Leeland was very unresponsive for a while and wouldn't look at us when we called him. It was hard to tell if he was just disoriented or if he was having problems with his eyesight. But there was never a sudden loss of vision that was noticeable to us.
He didn't fit the mold in a lot of ways, most liver shunt dogs are under weight and underdeveloped. Leeland is HUGE for a miniature schnauzer and has no trouble keeping on weight.
There is another liver related problem that is common in Yorkies called Hepatic Microvascular Dysplasia. I haven't done much research on this, but I've heard that dogs will often act blind, drunk, or overall wobbly.
I'll be thinking about Mac, and hoping for the best. Please keep me updated on his situation.
Thanks for writing,
Kathy
Hello again Kathy!
Thank you for commenting back.
Unfortunately this past Sunday, we had to put little Mac down. He was in so much pain and was messing with his central nervous system.
We took him in this past Saturday night, as he'd been barking and howling in pain for nearly 4 hours straight. The doctors were able to give him a sedative to calm him down, but when he woke up and the sedative had worn off, he was back to howling in pain again.
I am still encouraged by your posts though! Mac's tests did come back positive for the liver shunt, and even afterwards, the vet called to tell me that she did find a large liver shunt on Mac's liver.
Just wanted to keep you updated Kathy! Thank you!
Steven,
I'm very sorry that Mac had to put down so early in his life. I can't imagine how terrible it was to see him suffer like that. I'm sorry you, your wife, and Mac had to go through that.
Thank you so much for keeping me udpated, I really appreciate it.
Let me know if you decide to bring a new little guy into your family. If you do I hope he/she has a much more comfortable, long life.
All the best,
Kathy
Kathy!
We decided to dive right back in and we brought home a little Yorkie last weekend... she's a 9 week old pup and we named her Macy, after Mac. She's definitely a healthy one, jumping off the walls and as energetic as ever.
I appreciate your kindness through everything! Hope Leeland is doing well!
Thank you!
Steven
Hi there... We have just been told that our 11 month old puppy has a porto systemic shunt.. we are sooooooo worried about the operation.. we rushed him 2 hours away to a very good animal hospital and they have run all the tests yu have mentioned and it has come back that he has this.. He means EVERYTHING to our family and your story has given our entire family hope.. No-one seemed to know what was wrong... he seemed unable to gain weight but otherwise ok he loved playing ball and was a very active dog the we noticed he started pacing around and didnt seem to be able to sit still or get comfortable, he started walking into the walls and we just put it down to exhaustion but aparently he was having intermittent blindness, he started drooling heavily and more, i first took him to a local country vet who gave him a tranquilizer but that nearly killed him so thats when we rushed him to the animal hospital.. it is now sat night and he has an ultrasound to determine WHERE the shunt is then on Tues or Wed they are going to operate.. PLEASE keep us in your thoughts and prayers for our little "BEAR" and i will keep you informed on how he goes, please tell me that there is a good chance that he will pull through...
Thank you so much for listening
Kylie Collier
Coonabarabran... Australia
Kylie,
I am so sorry to hear about Bear. I will definitely be keeping him in my thoughts. I'm glad Leeland's story can give a little hope. I know that ever case is different, but it sounds like you caught it pretty early. Hopefully Bear will be strong and pull through the surgery and have a successful recovery. They didn't have much information for us in terms of success rates of the surgery, but we went for it anyway because there was no way of telling how long he'd live without it. We're very glad we did it and I'm happy to report it has been over a year since the surgery and Leeland is doing wonderfully. I hope the same is true for Bear! Please keep me updated on the situation. I'll be hoping for the best.
Kathy
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