Mini Schnauzer with liver shunt

[Bonnie4+Ross]

Hello everyone ,I am new here and feeling a bit lost. I have a mini called Bonnie she is 41/2 months old. My bonnie over the past few day started having seizures,
The vet had blood tests done and Bonnie has a liver shunt. Our vet has been marvelous and had made us an appointment at the Highgrove vet hospital tomorrow .
I wonder if anyone else on the forum has had any experience of this ? this has obviously been devastating for us. Any thoughts would be welcome.

[zeta1454]

Hello Annie and welcome to the Forum!

I am so sorry to hear about little Bonnie’s diagnosis and can understand how shocked and frightened you must feel.

I have no experience with this condition in our dogs but there are others on the Forum who have gone through this with their minis and hopefully they will be able to give you some direct advice and support. If you use the ‘search’ at the top right hand side on the Forum header to look for liver shunt you should also be able to find topics from the past on the Forum where this has been discussed.

Good luck at Highgrove vet hospital tomorrow and sending hugs to you and to Bonnie

[Bonnie4+Ross]

Thank you Zeta for your reply , I will have a look at the posts x

[Dinkum]

Hi Bonnie

Welcome to the forum and sorry to hear the news about Bonnie. Our young Watson had a liver shunt. He was 16 months old when it was diagnosed. His primary symptom was bladder stones. I documented the whole saga here on the forum and what we went through. This was all back in 2014. You'll be able to find the full story through the search function.

With all that he went through and having the shunt repaired, Watson will be 11 in February 2023. It's a scary time, but they are strong little dogs.

Good luck and let us know how you get on.

[Bonnie4+Ross]

Bonnie went to Highcroft vet Hospital in Bristol on Friday. She had CT and MRI san plus a lumber puncture. All of these test were normal, so no problems with her liver. The Urologist came to the conclusion that Bonnie has Epilepsy. She put her on medication for the seizures and will be on them for life .We are just trying to get our heads around all of this, but at least we have diagnosis . I will now find the epilepsy posts to see how others cope ,I am glad the forum exists , I shall not feel so alone. Thank you for your posts.x

[zeta1454]

Bonnie went to Highcroft vet Hospital in Bristol on Friday. She had CT and MRI san plus a lumber puncture. All of these test were normal, so no problems with her liver. The Urologist came to the conclusion that Bonnie has Epilepsy. She put her on medication for the seizures and will be on them for life .We are just trying to get our heads around all of this, but at least we have diagnosis . I will now find the epilepsy posts to see how others cope ,I am glad the forum exists , I shall not feel so alone. Thank you for your posts.x

That is a frightening diagnosis in such a young puppy and do have a search through posts on the Forum for relevant topics that may help you. Did the vets give you a more detailed explanation of what had triggered the seizures as there are a number of possible causes which would need to be ruled out:

“Seizures may occur due to an identifiable cause; like intoxication, kidney disease, liver disease, brain malformations, tumours or inflammation (so called ‘symptomatic’ epilepsy). When an underlying cause cannot be identified, primary or idiopathic epilepsy is the presumed diagnosis………… Primary epilepsy is most likely in young animals (1-6 years of age) that are neurologically normal (normal behaviour, normal gait, etc) between the seizures.” (Fitzpatrick Referrals) …..but for dogs under a year old it would seem to be less clear cut:
“Dogs with idiopathic epilepsy usually start having seizures between ages 1-4 years old, so in a puppy under age 1, other diagnoses would be more likely.” (From the Spruce Pets link below)

I would also research as much as you can about the condition elsewhere too as the implications of long term medication and even the diagnosis will mean you will have to be careful to avoid giving Bonnie any products that may trigger seizures such as chemical anti-parasite treatments (flea/worm treatments) and also repeat vaccinations which are only recommended for healthy animals and are potentially a neurological risk too. Some of these products are not recommended for dogs that suffer seizures but many do have the ability to cause seizures in dogs with no prior history of epilepsy:

https://www.fda.gov/animal-veterinary/a ... oline-flea

There is also little research on the effects of ‘heavy duty’ epilepsy treatments on young puppies who have not yet fully matured:

“ Seizure management in immature (i.e., younger than 6 months of age) dogs or cats can be a challenging clinical problem. Clinicians presented with puppies or kittens (i.e., 3 to 12 weeks of age1) having seizures are faced with unique considerations. The underlying cause of a seizure disorder may be distinct in mature animals but sometimes vague in immature animals. Developmental concerns must also be considered before administering drugs to immature animals. Immature patients require special consideration regarding growth and development of various organ systems responsible for drug metabolism and elimination. Limited information is available regarding optimal treatment of seizures in neonatal (younger than 2 weeks of age1) and immature dogs and cats. Every attempt should be made to identify the underlying cause of seizures.” From the link below:

https://www.vetfolio.com/learn/article/ ... management

There are a few other links here that have more information you may find useful:

https://www.thesprucepets.com/seizures- ... es-5271382

https://www.fitzpatrickreferrals.co.uk/ ... /epilepsy/

http://www.canine-epilepsy-guardian-ang ... efault.htm

P.S Over the past 25 years of dealing with a range of vet practices from the excellent to the poor, I do have some concerns when I hear of a puppy being given a diagnosis that requires ‘lifelong medication’ unless this is an incontrovertible diagnosis and absolutely necessary. Sadly nowadays far too many veterinary practices have been bought up by corporate businesses whose main focus is making profits for their shareholders and pharmaceutical sales are a good money-making venture. Highcroft Vets are owned by the multi-national CVS corporation who are rapidly buying up vet surgeries, pet crematoria and even marketing their own range of pet medication among a number of other financial ventures.This is, of course, not to say that the diagnosis you have been given is not correct but, if I was in your situation, I would be researching this fully. Take care and sending hugs to you and Bonnie

[Bonnie4+Ross]

Hello
It has been a while snice I posted. Bonnie is nearly 1 year old on Sunday. Since we have had her there have been many bumps in the road with her health. She suffered another bout of seizures a few weeks ago, so back on more medication , this has now been tapered of, and just on phenobarbital. Bonnie started her season back in November but was still bleeding in the middle of March. After our vet giving her a scan , she found Bonnie has an enlarged uterus. She needs to be spayed.
We have also noticed that Bonnie has an unusual posture and that she does not jump or attempt stairs, up or down. we took her to see a recommended dog physio
this weekend who examined her and she said Bonnie has overdeveloped muscles on her hind Quarter, as she is over compensating for something something wrong with her front legs or something internal maybe causing this. She is going to speak to the vet to work out what we do next. Poor little thing she has really been through it. She has cost us a lot of money so far and more to come, we are not rich but , She is the most loving ,sociable and happy little girl and we love her to bits.
Lovely to have this forum to connect with like minded owners, so thank you.
Best wishes Annie

[zeta1454]

Sad to hear that Bonnie has suffered so many health issues in her first year of life. Have you discussed these issues with her breeder as she does seem to be a very sickly dog and really they should know how much Bonnie has suffered and the financial as well as emotional cost to you.

I do hope that you can get veterinary help to improve Bonnie’s quality of life. It is at least reassuring that she is happy and sociable and hopefully will be able to lead a better life health wise very soon