2 year old yorkie liver problems!!!

[ashleyrose36]

Hi, my name is Ashley and I am new (to posting) on Yorkie talk!! I often search the threads when one of my boys is sick. So I was hoping that you wonderful people may be able to help me. Here, goes...

So this past weekend my 2 year old yorkie Winston was running up the stairs and literally just collapsed on his side. After getting him calmed down, he was very shaky and vomited twice and continued to salivate heavily. He was unresponsive so we rushed him to the emergency vet. AFter waiting an eternity they concluded he likely had a seizure.

So this led to a follow up visit with his regular vet this week that revealed elevated bile acids (58 pre-prandial and 68 post-prandial) which my vet is convinced is not a true liver shunt. We are scheduling an ultrasound next week, but the concern is that it may be microvascular dysplasia. Has anyone dealt with this before?? I've read all the information about diets/supplements/etc and I am considerably worried.

I guess my ultimate question is why was this not recognized earlier. We have done routine blood work and nothing was ever revealed. He has not presented with any of the classic symptoms of liver shunt or MVD. Is it possible that his bile acids may just be high as with other small dogs (i.e. Maltese)?

Thank you so much for any advice/encouragment/help!!!

Ashley Rose & Winnie!!!!

[Ellie May]

This sort of thing sometimes isn't caught in routine blood work because usually the liver has to be considerably damaged for the enzymes to go up. This is why all Yorkies should be bile acids tested after 20 weeks of age.

Some dogs live their whole lives without anybody ever realizing MVD is present. They are just asymptomatic. There was one dog that I know of that had LS and wasn't diagnosed until age 8.

While it is likely MVD, high bile acids don't always mean that. Anything that affects liver function can show up as high bile acids. An ultrasound is good to see the size of the liver and to rule out bladder stones secondary to liver disease but it is not the most accurate test to rule out a shunt.

I would at least do a Protein C test in addition to the U/S if the vet is insisting on the U/S.

Since he is symtpomatic and his bile acids are high, I would feed no red meat, organ meat or exotics for now.

[Patti]

I am sorry to hear about your baby. My Cali was diagnosed at 8 months with MVD. Her BA scores were 0/89 or around there and on retest 0/49 ish. She then had an ultrasound and a liver biopsy. Her MVD is very mild and she needs no meds or diet but I do watch her protein intake. Cali is now almost 4. Hopefully your baby will be fine and it was a one time incident.

[TLC]

Yes I agree with Crystal.

I would do a Protein C test first and then go from there...maybe doing a U/S next, but a U/S will NOT show MVD and it isn't even guarenteed to show a LS, so it may be a waste of money. The Protein C test is inexpensive and it will guide you more toward MVD or LS.

Roxy has MVD and we found out when she was about 2.5 or 3 yrs. old. All her blood work until then was normal. I had heard some things about other pups from the same breeder, so I went ahead and did a BAT. Her first BAT was 43 (pre) and 100.9 (post).

With a diet change (I consulted with a Pet Nutritionist from Cornell) and supplments to aid her liver, I have gotten her BAT to less than 5 (pre) and 61 (post).

I can tell you more later...I have to leave work now to go home

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