Liver shunt?

[LilahRoot]

Hey guys, I know that I haven't been around much, but I need some chazzer advice.

I hope that it's alright to post this here instead of the health section. I wanted it to be more visible. If that's not okay, mods feel free to move.

.............

My fiance's dog and BEST friend was just diagnosed with a liver shunt. He has had urinary problems since my SO found him in the woods while he was working for the forest service. Roscoe was about 6 months old at the time. (and had been living in the woods by himself since he was a puppy)

We thought that he had kidney stones, and took him to the vet. He had blood work and an ultrasound which revealed the shunt.

Switching him over to a raw diet has seemed to help quite a bit, and he hasn't been drinking and urinating as much, but we are still so worried about him.

I have read that the surgery to correct this can be expensive, risky, and not always a cure-all.

Does anyone have any advice or experience with this? Any advice is appreciated. I'm sick with worry.

 

[elegy]

I have read that the surgery to correct this can be expensive, risky, and not always a cure-all.

It depends a lot, iirc, on the location of the shunt and the severity.

Who did the ultrasound? A specialist or your regular vet? I think my course of action would be to seek out the advice of an internal medicine specialist, someone who deals with liver shunts on a regular basis, who does the surgery and can speak to the pros and cons and likely outcomes.

What a crappy situation. I'm really sorry.

 

[LilahRoot]

It depends a lot, iirc, on the location of the shunt and the severity.

Who did the ultrasound? A specialist or your regular vet? I think my course of action would be to seek out the advice of an internal medicine specialist, someone who deals with liver shunts on a regular basis, who does the surgery and can speak to the pros and cons and likely outcomes.

What a crappy situation. I'm really sorry.

It was a specialist who did the ultrasound. He had to drive in from pretty far away to get to the clinic that we use. They didn't seem like it was a big deal. The vet told us that the surgery can wait, but Roscoe is about 35 lbs and has kidneys the size of a golden retriever. His urine isn't bloody anymore, and the smell is gone since he's been on antibiotics and had a change of diet, but we are both still so worried. Especially about his kidneys.

We're looking into milk thistle as well. I have come across several dogs at the kennel that I worked at that were on that and seemed to be living healthy, happy lives. We just want the best for him.