Bumping up

 

No direct advice (beyond hugs)
But a search for 'liver shunt' shows several threads that might be helpful to you.

 

I have never had this problem with any of my dogs,. The Great Pyrenes I have now was diagnosed with hepatitis last Dec. She was 11 1/2 at the time. My Pyr before her was diagnosed with liver disease at 9 1/2, given 6 months top, he wouldn't eat the hepatic food and between disease and not eating except a mouthful, he dropped from 115 to 78 pounds. I researched and found a diet for him and got him back up to 92 pounds and we ha him 23 months instead of the "6 months tops"> I also gave him milk thistle which is suppose to help clean the liver. I know these are not the same as with your beautiful boy, but just to wih you luck and keep the hope.

 

can you locate a holistic vet and work together along side with them and or a pet nutritionist as well? I've seen diet, medication and homeopathic remedies help a lot in dogs with liver diseases, so hopefully it can make a difference with the liver shunt. I second 3 goldens, and have also used milk thistle to help with the liver ( although my Chihuahua's values were just a slight alleviation.)

 

We didn't get the CT Scan as I'm skeptical that they would find an external shunt. I'm going to try Milk Thistle, but I'm trying not to make too many changes at once. We've been weaning him down on the lactulose because his stools were very loose when we started him on it. His stools are about like soft serve ice cream now. He did rub his head on the wall today for the first time in a couple weeks. I'm wondering if we've dropped the lactulose too low. I saw a University of Illinois report that yogurt with active cultures was as good as lactulose for some dogs. I need to find a holistic vet to give us some guidance on Milk Thistle, SAMe and perhaps switching to yogurt from lactulose.

 

As someone with liver issues and ordered to take lactulose by my dr. I will say with certainty that your dog prefers yogurt. The milk thistle is an interesting addition, it works but will skew liver test results if that is a concern.

 

Check this site to see if there is a Holistic Vet near you-

VetFinder – Find a Holistic Veterinarian – American Holistic Veterinary Medical Association (ahvma.org)

 

I'm so sorry you have this very difficult choice to make.
I wish I had some answers. You are correct in that external shunts are not as common.
Playing the odds, it's better to put your money on a specialist who can work with fewer diagnostics... I mean, sure we'd like to rule everything out but what would we do if it were intrahepatic- that's a better place to put limited funds. I'm sorry.

 

Thanks for the link, but no holistic vets within 100 miles of us on that list. I started milk thistle last night and will see if that helps.

 

This is a link to a long time member of this forum, she lives in the northeast and has had success with a puppy with a liver shunt. She is quite knowledgeable and could be a good resource if you reach out to her. Milbrose Golden Retrievers

 

I had a discussion with Shalva of Milbrose Golden Retrievers via e-mail, and she strongly encouraged me to get the CT scan. We did so this week at a cost of $1K, and we found out our boy has a single extrahepatic liver shunt. Now, we're trying to find a surgical center that can perform the shunt ligation surgery without costing an arm and a leg. I spoke with UC Davis, and they gave me a rough cost estimate of $6K to perform the surgery, but they're not even scheduling new appointments because they are so booked up.

To be honest, $6K is more than we would spend on surgery. So far, the special diet and medication are making him appear to be almost back to normal, maybe 80% of where he was previously. I'm considering just keeping him under med management with a special diet. Per this veterinary blog: Portosystemic shunts : to operate or not to operate? – Vet Practice Support, a long term survival study on 597 dogs with liver shunts at Cornell University found no difference in life expectancy for dogs with extrahepatic shunts treated with surgery vs. medical treatment. Given other research in the same blog post, we would still prefer surgery if can afford it.

 

Just saw this thread and I am in a similar situation. what was outcome?

 

By 2 1/2-year-old pog may have liver. Shawn put them in the same situation. They’re giving us the option of the CAT scan, which I could get done soon, but I’m so scared of her getting sedated because of her breathing issue. Has anyone ever encountered this? How was your dog after sedation if they were bracepheleptic ? I told the vet that she really doesn’t have any signs of a Shawn. It’s very odd. Her bloodwork consistently shows elevated liver enzymes, elevated liver acid, but her C protein test is only slightly low. Not bad at all.
we are looking for a different vet right now. A second opinion, etc. Right now just managing things medically and she seems to be doing OK. I don’t wanna rock the boat, but I also don’t want to do nothing. This sucks.