Liver Shunts

[chevs]

Hi

I apoligise this is a bit of an essay!!

Hoping some of you may be able to give some help. My Black lab bitch was diagnosed by the Vet school last Jan after many tests and scans as having a liver shunt. She will be four in April. She is very small for a lab, altho she is from working stock.

Her symptoms were that she drank, and pee'd a lot She needed to pee every couple of hours during the night. We bought her at 12 months old from a working kennel. When we got her home she had "issues" having spent her life in a kennel only being taken out to do training. She's what you would say, slightly imbalanced.

Having had her diagnosis we believe that her personality may be due to her illness. She is great in the house, car and with my 3 year old son. We have horses and pet sheep and she is great with them too. We got another dog a year ago and he has really helped her to develop her personality but recently she has started to snap at him when he enters a room that she is in. He is a total coward and completely backs off.

She has always been very sociable with other dogs but this past couple of weeks whenever any dogs approach her she is growling, snapping and if they dont retreat she launches at them.

I'm really concerned. Has anybody had a dog with a shunt?

I'm really getting tired of getting up in the middle of the night to let her out to the toilet. My son has been really ill this past couple of weeks so between them both i've had next to no sleep. Any suggestions greatfully received

Thanks

 

[FinnishLapphund]

Glad to hear she's been doing so good with living in the house and with your son and animals, but sorry to hear she has a medical problem. I know liver problems can affect the behaviour but I've only read about Liver shunts, still I don't like the fact that her behaviour have changed in such a drastic manner.

Have you talked to the vet about this change recently? Since the liver "cleans" the blood from toxins and a Liver shunt affects the livers capacity to function, even if you checked her a few weeks ago, things that didn't show in a test then maybe shows now?



Since your son also have been ill, have you had time and/or energy to think about if anything have changed in her environment? Has her walks been shorter/longer? Have you changed food? Do you feed her three, four smaller meals a day, instead of one or two large meals? Is it more likely that she snap at the other dog for instance x amount of time after feeding or can it happen at any time during the day?


Doesn't know if it's any help to you, but one of my old dogs with an age affected liver, was fed 5 to 6 small meals of "mild for the liver" sort of food a day and it made a big difference for her. But she behaved more like a robot without enough energy when her liver had to work to hard, it happened when she had refused to eat the new food that was better for her and I was stupid enough to let her have the food she wanted for only two, three days. Third day she wasn't interested in sniffing at the walk just walked like a robot, stopped when the other dogs stopped, walked when they walked and I went straight home and changed back to the new food and she came "back" to her usual self again.




Again sorry to hear she has a problem and it sounds very difficult even without having an ill son as the same time.

{{{Hugs and sympathy}}} and hope your son gets better and that you find something that can help your dog.

 

[chevs]

Thank you for your kind reply.

I have spoke to vets who suggested re-sampling her. She gets freaked out by going there so dragging my heals slightly!!

I feel sorry for her, although she is very contented with her lot having come from kennel life. She's lying on a mat in front of the fire just now.

I know it's not that common but had hoped to gain some more info from people that had experienced it.

The vets haven't seen many cases either so it's all info from the text books and not what they've seen.

Appreciate your reply, thanks