JulesP

Unless the breeders are breeding with a dog that has a liver shunt that they know about then no it isn't their fault. It is just one of those sucky things that happen. There are signs. The puppy is usually small and will be a fussy eater. But at that age you don't tend to think it is anything sinister. The breeder does need to be told though. And a good breeder will offer support. Deciding whether to do the surgery is your choice alone. People can only tell you what they would do. If he survives the surgery but the shunt doesn't close properly then you will be in the same position as me. Special (expensive) diet for the rest of the dog's life. Various medications. Several small meals a day. Worming, vaccinations etc can upset the liver and are not recommended. If the dog gets sick with something else it is hard to treat it. Operations are a problem as the dog may not survive a general. The dog will be skinny as it is hard to get weight on a dog with liver issues. Saying all that my girl is very happy and has a great life but it is hard work and a constant source of worry. Lifespan is also dramatically reduced.

The puppy must be pretty bad to be displaying those sort of symptoms at 12 weeks. Amber didn't start having seizures until her liver had died to about quarter of the size it should be. The symptoms she had as a pup were pretty vague. The cost of the Op is $5000+. I think I agree with Dancinbcs Very hard to do though.

Hello, sorry you are going through this. I have a border collie with multiple shunts, which means she can't be operated on. She has had a lot of the symptoms that you describe and it is very distressing to watch. The seizures etc are caused when toxins build up in the brain. If the shunt operation is successful then I can't see any reason for your pup to have seizures after the operation. My understanding is the dog is normal after the operation if it works. I'm controlling my dog with medication and food and she hasn't had a seizure for over a year. I get a few head pressing issues still. The operation doesn't always work and sometimes dogs don't make it through the op. Has the specialist told you all this? One of our members has a dog that had the operation successfully, I'll try and get her to talk to you too.

Just be careful Aussie, I pick all the fruit now as it is just not worth the risk. Maybe pick up the fruit off the ground.... The weird thing is, Bella has never in 10 years eaten the plumbs It was difficult to diagnose to begin with, I had no idea that she had been eating plumbs and didnt mention it to the vet, at first they thought she had had a stroke. I saw the seeds in her stool and which led us to cyanide poisoning. Bella was at the emergency vet in a very bad way, it was terrible. Thank god she pulled through, I adore the monkey! Thanks Nic, I think I will! Pick the ones from the lower branches too. When he doesn't find any on the ground he might start jumping up and picking himself! A couple of my borders used to do this.

My dogs scoffed plums for years! They used to jump up and pull them off the tree if there were none on the ground. 5 of them did that and none suffered any ill effect. They were a smaller variety of plum than normal plums.

Sorry for the loss of your dog. But it definitely would not have been caused by Dahlia tubers. Dahlias were originally from South America, where they were cultivated as a food crop. When the Spanish took some tubers back to their botanical gardens in Spain, they were planted in the food section, but after they flowered and were seen to be so pretty, they transferred the dahlias to the flower / ornamental section, and that is how they were introduced to the European gardener - as a flower, rather than a food. They are listed as toxic to dogs and cats though. Bees have a problem with them too!

It was bait. Still don't know how. It has just made me really paranoid about keeping the dogs safe and one reason that I moved. So when the guy told me 2 dogs had died here I flipped out a bit. I haven't worried too much about plants in the past as so many are poisonous. So I was just wondering if other people considered plants. Was just about to plant tomatoes which are poisonous!

I never used to worry but have rather a bit anxiety after Brock

If you want to be a smart arse it is a good idea to get your facts right first! And mixeduppup for your info seeing as you were not around, I lost a young dog to poisoning so do not find this subject an amusing one!

Went back and asked the neighbor and it was wandering jew! I haven't heard of that killing dogs before.

Hi, Can you take a photo and post.......also have a look at some websites.....just google poisonous plants in aust I can't find any such plant in the garden. Or pictures of what it might be.

How much do you fret about poisonous plants in the garden? The neighbor has just informed me that a previous owner of my house lost 2 dogs to some plant in the garden. The last owner pulled it up but it has deep roots or something and he thinks there might be some there still. Something that has green leaves with black spots on them. Any idea what that would be? There are so many poisonous plants, my gardens have always been full of them. The dogs eat grass and that is about it. I haven't seen them chomping on other plants. Except as puppies and then that is normally plants in pots. Constantly worrying about pets is driving me batty!

Can only speak about my breed, border collies, but it isn't easy to train a sheepdog! Most people also do not have access to sheep. I trained one of mine to a certain herding level and due to lack of time on sheep really can't go any further. And people working on a farm would say that the herding I do is crap anyway.

This is your only option if you want them all in the sun room. I knew someone who had them on her dogs. Did the trick but they look quite cumbersome on the small dogs. I think the cat would dart out with the dogs. Her fav hobby is trying to escape!

The laundry opens on to the sunroom. Here is the current cat run: This is the sunroom, which would be really easy to set up for the cat except the dog's beds are in there too and they need to be able to get in and out.

No not really.

In my last house I had a great setup for the pets. cats and dogs had separate uncover areas. New house has one enclosed sunroom type thing and a enclosed carport. Having a little bit of angst with providing dry areas for both the dogs and cat. I need the cat not to be able to get out of the sunroom but the dogs to be able to get in and out when they want. If it was the other way around it would be easier!!! I can't have the cat in the house, bad allergies. And am having pc issues with just letting her out in the garden, which would be the easiest solution as then both cat and dogs could share the sunroom. I could build a cat run off the sunroom but would also need to divide the sunroom up so that the dogs could get out in the garden but not the cat. I could build another undercover area, but not sure if I want to enclose my courtyard yet. I'm doing a heap of annoying juggling at the moment. Dogs are currently locked out of the sunroom until I carry the cat out to her run, which isn't waterproof at the moment but has a big kennel for shelter. Then at night time I have the same issue. Dogs are either locked in or out of the sunroom once the cat is in. Not sure if that makes sense! Is there a simple solution I have missed?

Yes and it is also against forum rules.

No she was born with the condition. She was almost one when she nearly died from it.

Shunts can be acquired as well as the dog being born with them. There are other liver conditions too. The symptoms can be a bit vague until the disease is quite advanced. It is an easy thing to rule out with a simple blood test. I think a general blood test is a good place to start looking for answers.

Get his liver checked. My dog was shaking after meals due to toxins in the blood because her liver wasn't working properly. Liver issues would also explain the weight issue, fussiness and throwing up.

Very proud of the girls today. Took for a walk in an offlead spot. It is massive area so pretty easy to keep away from other people. I was doing a bit of change of direction to keep away from an offlead Husky. The husky saw my guys and ended up crossing nearly 2 football fields to see us. The girls just sat and let it sniff them. Owner had no control at all and didn't hurry to come and get it. I walked further away to see if it would go back. Nope. I ended up walking them all back close to her. My little angels heeled along offlead with this husky sniffing at them. When we were close enough she finally got her dog back. So grrr for stupid owners but big pats for my dogs. They knew they had done good too!

Very exciting. It is a wonderful experience. Enjoy!

IMO grains are only bad if your dog is allergic to them. The BEST food is the one that your dog does well on. My dogs have not done well at all on some of these super dooper grain free feeds and have done well on supermarket brands. Listen to your dog :)

I like this site for border collie colours - http://www.bryningbordercollies.com/Border-Collie-Colours