Super Sick Pup - YorkieTalk.com Forums

fomopopo · 02-22-2005, 05:27 PM

Hello,

After wanting a Yorkie for a long time, we just bought one last week. We have two older puppies (German Shepards 8 & 7 years), and this is our first "little" guy.

After bringing him home, we brought him to our Vet and he checked out fine. He had the runs, but was told this was expected due to the change. This isn't our first rodeo, and have seen this before in our other puppies through the years. Two days later my wife noticed that he was very tired, after waking up, and decided to bring him to the Vet to be looked at. The Vet advised that the little guy was dehydrated, and his Glucose was VERY low. Normal is around 200, he was at 20...! He stayed the day, and was given a IV.

Upon picking him up we were told that he might have a Shunt, but they could not be sure until they ran a test. This was on a Friday, and was told to feed him every 2-3 hours, and the make sure he drank. We were also given some additives for his water to help with the Glucose issue. His spirits seemed to pick up, and he appeared to be recovering. Eating well, but still had stool issues. The doctor again said to keep going with our current plan, and the tests for the Shunt would be Monday morning.

Sunday arrived, and again the little guy seemed to be feeling a little down. Another trip to the Vet showed he had a 1005 Temp, and he was left over night. They could not tell what his exact issue was, but antibiotics were given.

Monday the Shunt tests were done, and today we found that his blood levels were WAY off. The Vet said this could be either a deformed liver, or the Shunt. They now what to do a Ultrasound.

We have had four Vets involved, and all appear very professional. Even thou we have only had this little guy a little over week, we have grown fond of him, and the loss would be very heart felt. Has anyone had simular issues, and what was the outcome? If the Shunt corrective surgery is done (if the problem), what is the outcome prognosis? I've read up online, but I'm looking for some "Real World" insight. Is this 100% fixable?

orinskye · 02-22-2005, 05:39 PM

i know shunts can be common in yorkies.... someone on here had a yorkie with a shunt and they gave it meds and it lived a happy life (from what i remember), but that is the only case i have heard of where they didnt die.... im soooooo sorry about your sick puppy, i know how quick it is to get attached, but if i were you i would contact the person that sold you the pup and see if they can give you a new puppy or compensation on vet bills, again this is only my opinion but i wouldnt keep the sick pup, the prognossis isnt good

CC's · 02-22-2005, 05:56 PM

I believe shunt repair has a sucess rate of about 90-95%. Once the shunt is fixed they may need a special diet but most do well after. The prognosis is good if treated in time.

The breeder should refund your purchase price to help cover the cost of repair if it is a shunt.

I hope its something else that has him out of wack. Sometimes illness can cause abnornmal blood tests as well. I hope for the best for your pup.

schatzie · 02-22-2005, 06:24 PM

fomopopo - Welcome to YT. I about held my breath the entire time reading your story of your little one.

I am sorry to say that I cannot give you any insight over liver shunt as i am not too familiar with it. However I can bet you will be given some great information about it.

I just want you to know that your little Yorkie will be kept in thought and I hope you keep us updated on his progress.

debi_s · 02-22-2005, 06:26 PM

I agree with the comment about illness causing labwork to be abnormal. I am a pediatric nurse and I know if an infant (and this is true in adults also) is dehydrated the labwork can read incorrectly....because of the dehydration the blood cells are concentrated and there is less plasma..(the clear portion of the blood).
I do hope it is not a shunt problem...I have heard and read many places that University Of Tennessee (Knoxville) has the premier liver shunt MD.
Best of luck to your little one....we will be praying for you all...let us know how things turn out.

debkopo · 02-22-2005, 07:36 PM

I purchased a female Yorkie just last July from "Le Chic Pet Boutique". This was my very first puppy and unfortunately did not know all the right questions to ask before making my purchase. Of course we fell in love with her the moment we saw her, she was just a little over 1 pound. Little did we know that her being that small was going to become so expensive.
Within one week we were at the vet, she was diagnosed with a upper respiratory infection.
Within another month the vomiting started, within a couple of months she was vomiting anywhere from 3-4 times a week. We never had problems with diarrehea though. I had brought her in to the vet a few times to make sure she wasn't dehydrating or anything and they gave us some medicine to help calm her tummy.
We also had an episode in August which was two months after we got her, where she went in to this...I'm not sure how to explain it, but it was like a fit. She would walk in circles, she was acting very odd, could not focus on anything and could not sit still. This went on for about an hour. We just thought maybe she played to hard with my daughter's puppy that day and due to her size she just got warn out.
Within another month she had another fit, again I thought she just played to hard. Then in September she was just laying on my lap, I got up to go and do something so I put her down on the floor. She just dropped down and went in to convulsions, she was having a seizure. Now I knew there was something wrong.
I contacted the vet and the lady at the front desk told me that there was really nothing they could do and I should just start journaling if she has any more seizures. Well I immediately got on the internet and started researching all of the symptoms our little baby had and I found this wonderful article by Dr Karen Tobias. She was researching liver shunts in Yorkies and everything that I was reading was what we were going through with our little Honey. I immediately contacted the vet and made an appointment for that afternoon. I had printed off the study by Dr Karen Tobias and brought with me and I requested that they start testing Honey right away.
They first ran complete blood count test on her and found that something was not rightand had me set up another appointment to have a Bile Acid test done on her, plus xrays. The Bile Acid test was consistent with a shunt, but there was still one more test that need to be done before they could be sure.
We then set an appointment at the University of Minnesota to get a second opinion. They put Honey on a special diet (KD prescription dog food) and put her on Lactulose hoping that we could get her to gain some weight before surgery, because she was just so small.
In December we brought Honey in for surgery, they needed to open her up and preform a Portogram first, this is where they inject a radioopaque dye into a vein from her intestines allowing the abnormal vein to be seen. I was informed that if they found that it was a internal shunt they would have to just close her back up, because the surgery is very risky, but if it was external they would place an ameroid ring around the shunt. The exteranl shunt is more common in yorkies supposedly.
We were very fortunate, it was an external shunt that was found so they were able to use the ameroid ring. We had to keep her on the special diet for a couple of months after the surgery, but in January we brought Honey in for another Bile Acid Test and everything came back looking good. We just took her off her diet last week and she seems to be doing just fine. I think she is up to 3 pounds now and fiesty as ever.
This is a very costly surgery, but I would do it again if I had to. Sorry to say, but the woman we purchased her from...well like I said earlier she didn't care two hoots about our little one. Back in September when I initially contacted her and I requested a refund on our puppy, I didn't request anything for the vet bills. She came back at me and said no she would not refund the money but we could send her back and she would give us a new puppy. There was no way, we already were very attached, we had her for 3 months already, we had gone through so much with her and had already spent so much on vet bills trying to make our baby healthly.

Good Luck with your little sweetie! I pray that it is not a liver shunt and it is just something minor that can be corrected without surgery.

princecharlie10 · 02-22-2005, 08:04 PM

I'm very sorry for all your going thru with your angel. My prayers will be with you. & I agree the breeder or store where you purchase her should help you with the vet cost..

donna · 02-23-2005, 04:35 AM

So sorry to hear about your unwell pup - it's sad and worrying and I so know how you feel. It could be a shunt. My Yorkie had a suspected shunt and his bile acid tests were very high, it turned out he actually had MVD which is another Liver disorder.

I lost him last week due to a brain tumour - but he had been living happily and well on a special diet to support his MVD. It's likely he would have gone on living for a long time if he hadn't had the brain disorder.

So sometimes there is manageable treatment even if no cure - don't give up hope and let us know what happens. I've found out quite a lot from living with an MVD baby so will help as much as I can.

luvdorkyyorkies · 02-23-2005, 06:18 AM

If I was the breeder I would give a refund. My contract reads a complete refund if a life threatening condition is diagnosed within the first 2 weeks, but I only give a 6 month guarantee. After the two weeks, it is a replacement puppy.
I am so sorry for the heartbreak you are going through.
I have noted that alot of yorkies who have problems usually develop them early, I think the stress of leaving their first home tends to show their health (JMO)
My contract used to read in exchange for puppy but I no longer will have that in it.
Seeing the heartbreak, the cost etc.... thru this forum and others.....no exchange will be needed. To me its just a way of keeping the buyer from asking for it, because they are already in love with their sick puppy, 9 out of 10 will never discard that puppy.

Pebbles and Me · 02-23-2005, 07:30 AM

I kind of know what your going through. I just want to say good luck and I will keep you and the pup in my prayers. Hopefully your's will pull through. I my self was not aware of all the things to look for with buying a puppy, as soon as I get my money back from Pebbles.

(after court) then hopefully I will start looking for another one. Anyways good luck and make sure that he/she doesnt stop eating. that is very important.

02-22-2005, 05:27 PM	#1
fomopopo YorkieTalk Newbie! Join Date: Feb 2005 Posts: 2	Super Sick Pup Hello, After wanting a Yorkie for a long time, we just bought one last week. We have two older puppies (German Shepards 8 & 7 years), and this is our first "little" guy. After bringing him home, we brought him to our Vet and he checked out fine. He had the runs, but was told this was expected due to the change. This isn't our first rodeo, and have seen this before in our other puppies through the years. Two days later my wife noticed that he was very tired, after waking up, and decided to bring him to the Vet to be looked at. The Vet advised that the little guy was dehydrated, and his Glucose was VERY low. Normal is around 200, he was at 20...! He stayed the day, and was given a IV. Upon picking him up we were told that he might have a Shunt, but they could not be sure until they ran a test. This was on a Friday, and was told to feed him every 2-3 hours, and the make sure he drank. We were also given some additives for his water to help with the Glucose issue. His spirits seemed to pick up, and he appeared to be recovering. Eating well, but still had stool issues. The doctor again said to keep going with our current plan, and the tests for the Shunt would be Monday morning. Sunday arrived, and again the little guy seemed to be feeling a little down. Another trip to the Vet showed he had a 1005 Temp, and he was left over night. They could not tell what his exact issue was, but antibiotics were given. Monday the Shunt tests were done, and today we found that his blood levels were WAY off. The Vet said this could be either a deformed liver, or the Shunt. They now what to do a Ultrasound. We have had four Vets involved, and all appear very professional. Even thou we have only had this little guy a little over week, we have grown fond of him, and the loss would be very heart felt. Has anyone had simular issues, and what was the outcome? If the Shunt corrective surgery is done (if the problem), what is the outcome prognosis? I've read up online, but I'm looking for some "Real World" insight. Is this 100% fixable? Last edited by fomopopo; 02-22-2005 at 05:32 PM.

02-22-2005, 06:24 PM	#4
schatzie *Moderator Emeritus* Join Date: Sep 2004 Location: Tontitown Arkansas Posts: 4,909	fomopopo - Welcome to YT. I about held my breath the entire time reading your story of your little one. I am sorry to say that I cannot give you any insight over liver shunt as i am not too familiar with it. However I can bet you will be given some great information about it. I just want you to know that your little Yorkie will be kept in thought and I hope you keep us updated on his progress. __________________ ~~~~ Schatzie and Ransom ~~~~

02-22-2005, 07:36 PM	#6
debkopo BANNED! Join Date: Feb 2005 Posts: 1	I purchased a female Yorkie just last July from "Le Chic Pet Boutique". This was my very first puppy and unfortunately did not know all the right questions to ask before making my purchase. Of course we fell in love with her the moment we saw her, she was just a little over 1 pound. Little did we know that her being that small was going to become so expensive. Within one week we were at the vet, she was diagnosed with a upper respiratory infection. Within another month the vomiting started, within a couple of months she was vomiting anywhere from 3-4 times a week. We never had problems with diarrehea though. I had brought her in to the vet a few times to make sure she wasn't dehydrating or anything and they gave us some medicine to help calm her tummy. We also had an episode in August which was two months after we got her, where she went in to this...I'm not sure how to explain it, but it was like a fit. She would walk in circles, she was acting very odd, could not focus on anything and could not sit still. This went on for about an hour. We just thought maybe she played to hard with my daughter's puppy that day and due to her size she just got warn out. Within another month she had another fit, again I thought she just played to hard. Then in September she was just laying on my lap, I got up to go and do something so I put her down on the floor. She just dropped down and went in to convulsions, she was having a seizure. Now I knew there was something wrong. I contacted the vet and the lady at the front desk told me that there was really nothing they could do and I should just start journaling if she has any more seizures. Well I immediately got on the internet and started researching all of the symptoms our little baby had and I found this wonderful article by Dr Karen Tobias. She was researching liver shunts in Yorkies and everything that I was reading was what we were going through with our little Honey. I immediately contacted the vet and made an appointment for that afternoon. I had printed off the study by Dr Karen Tobias and brought with me and I requested that they start testing Honey right away. They first ran complete blood count test on her and found that something was not rightand had me set up another appointment to have a Bile Acid test done on her, plus xrays. The Bile Acid test was consistent with a shunt, but there was still one more test that need to be done before they could be sure. We then set an appointment at the University of Minnesota to get a second opinion. They put Honey on a special diet (KD prescription dog food) and put her on Lactulose hoping that we could get her to gain some weight before surgery, because she was just so small. In December we brought Honey in for surgery, they needed to open her up and preform a Portogram first, this is where they inject a radioopaque dye into a vein from her intestines allowing the abnormal vein to be seen. I was informed that if they found that it was a internal shunt they would have to just close her back up, because the surgery is very risky, but if it was external they would place an ameroid ring around the shunt. The exteranl shunt is more common in yorkies supposedly. We were very fortunate, it was an external shunt that was found so they were able to use the ameroid ring. We had to keep her on the special diet for a couple of months after the surgery, but in January we brought Honey in for another Bile Acid Test and everything came back looking good. We just took her off her diet last week and she seems to be doing just fine. I think she is up to 3 pounds now and fiesty as ever. This is a very costly surgery, but I would do it again if I had to. Sorry to say, but the woman we purchased her from...well like I said earlier she didn't care two hoots about our little one. Back in September when I initially contacted her and I requested a refund on our puppy, I didn't request anything for the vet bills. She came back at me and said no she would not refund the money but we could send her back and she would give us a new puppy. There was no way, we already were very attached, we had her for 3 months already, we had gone through so much with her and had already spent so much on vet bills trying to make our baby healthly. Good Luck with your little sweetie! I pray that it is not a liver shunt and it is just something minor that can be corrected without surgery. Last edited by debkopo; 02-22-2005 at 07:42 PM.

02-22-2005, 08:04 PM	#7
princecharlie10 Senior Yorkie Talker Join Date: Feb 2005 Posts: 113	oh fomopopo I'm very sorry for all your going thru with your angel. My prayers will be with you. & I agree the breeder or store where you purchase her should help you with the vet cost..

02-23-2005, 07:30 AM	#10
Pebbles and Me Yorkie Yakker Join Date: Feb 2005 Location: San Marcos, Texas Posts: 29	Good Luck I kind of know what your going through. I just want to say good luck and I will keep you and the pup in my prayers. Hopefully your's will pull through. I my self was not aware of all the things to look for with buying a puppy, as soon as I get my money back from Pebbles. (after court) then hopefully I will start looking for another one. Anyways good luck and make sure that he/she doesnt stop eating. that is very important.

02-22-2005, 05:39 PM	#2
orinskye YT 2000 Club Member Join Date: Nov 2004 Location: California Posts: 2,990	i know shunts can be common in yorkies.... someone on here had a yorkie with a shunt and they gave it meds and it lived a happy life (from what i remember), but that is the only case i have heard of where they didnt die.... im soooooo sorry about your sick puppy, i know how quick it is to get attached, but if i were you i would contact the person that sold you the pup and see if they can give you a new puppy or compensation on vet bills, again this is only my opinion but i wouldnt keep the sick pup, the prognossis isnt good

02-22-2005, 05:56 PM	#3
CC's YT Addict Join Date: Aug 2004 Posts: 402	I believe shunt repair has a sucess rate of about 90-95%. Once the shunt is fixed they may need a special diet but most do well after. The prognosis is good if treated in time. The breeder should refund your purchase price to help cover the cost of repair if it is a shunt. I hope its something else that has him out of wack. Sometimes illness can cause abnornmal blood tests as well. I hope for the best for your pup.

02-22-2005, 06:26 PM	#5
debi_s YT Addict Join Date: Jan 2005 Location: Upstate S.C. Posts: 309	I agree with the comment about illness causing labwork to be abnormal. I am a pediatric nurse and I know if an infant (and this is true in adults also) is dehydrated the labwork can read incorrectly....because of the dehydration the blood cells are concentrated and there is less plasma..(the clear portion of the blood). I do hope it is not a shunt problem...I have heard and read many places that University Of Tennessee (Knoxville) has the premier liver shunt MD. Best of luck to your little one....we will be praying for you all...let us know how things turn out.

02-23-2005, 04:35 AM	#8
donna Yorkie Yakker Join Date: Feb 2005 Location: UK Posts: 48	So sorry to hear about your unwell pup - it's sad and worrying and I so know how you feel. It could be a shunt. My Yorkie had a suspected shunt and his bile acid tests were very high, it turned out he actually had MVD which is another Liver disorder. I lost him last week due to a brain tumour - but he had been living happily and well on a special diet to support his MVD. It's likely he would have gone on living for a long time if he hadn't had the brain disorder. So sometimes there is manageable treatment even if no cure - don't give up hope and let us know what happens. I've found out quite a lot from living with an MVD baby so will help as much as I can.

02-23-2005, 06:18 AM	#9
luvdorkyyorkies BANNED! Join Date: Feb 2005 Location: Illinois Posts: 1,681	If I was the breeder I would give a refund. My contract reads a complete refund if a life threatening condition is diagnosed within the first 2 weeks, but I only give a 6 month guarantee. After the two weeks, it is a replacement puppy. I am so sorry for the heartbreak you are going through. I have noted that alot of yorkies who have problems usually develop them early, I think the stress of leaving their first home tends to show their health (JMO) My contract used to read in exchange for puppy but I no longer will have that in it. Seeing the heartbreak, the cost etc.... thru this forum and others.....no exchange will be needed. To me its just a way of keeping the buyer from asking for it, because they are already in love with their sick puppy, 9 out of 10 will never discard that puppy.