WoofnHoof

Yes there is a better chance of success for the op in dogs under 1 y/o, mine was about 10 months when he had his op. it's great to hear he has picked up considerably :) I'd still be ringing Werribee as suggested just to double check that it's all good to go. I can't really comment on the breeder I couldn't get hold of mine by the time I'd learned about the shunt, unless they are registered with the state canine council there is no one to report to and the test isn't mandatory in the breed so I'm not sure there's much avenue to stop them rebreeding the dogs I'd just explain that it would be better if they didn't given there is thought to be a generic component to the condition. Yes I thought you were brave taking on two huskies at once they are a full on breed for sure :laugh:

Don't panic testing her is a good idea for peace of mind if nothing else, since she's not urgent at the moment I wouldn't think there would be a great hurry to have her checked right away anyway, just worry about one problem at a time :)

Thanks Impatiens :) Gotta watch the big chestnut he's figured out the latch on his paddock gate so I had to buy a fastener today as once he knows how to open a gate there is no stopping the old bugger *sigh*

Thanks for your thoughts missymoo :) I'm not sure whether husky breeders should be worried about testing at this stage, mine came from byb/petshop so I don't really count him as a representative of husky breeding in general even though he is undeniably a husky if you know what I mean? I remember downloading the UKC breed health survey and it was mentioned there but nowhere near the top of the list of health issues reported so I'm not sure whether is something that could be considered an 'issue' in the breed at this stage. Anyway that is up to clubs and breeders I guess and it's worth keeping an eye out for it just in case it does crop up a bit more. Jednkirrasmummy I don't know anything about Victorian vets but I would definitely recommend ringing around some of the specialists, you want to ask to speak to someone experienced in liver shunts, it is a really good idea to get as many opinions as you can on this because they can vary and it can really help you work out what the best plan is. If I hadn't asked around and gotten second opinions I wouldn't have even gotten a diagnosis, my local vets had no clue what was wrong with my dog as they'd never seen it before. Let your fingers do the walking you want to talk to the specialists in this area as they would see these things more often than general vets, their advice will either match what you've been told or offer a different angle, either way it will help you to have as much info as you can.

My boy had been out of the coma and was relatively stable for about a month before his op if I remember correctly, he was up and down while we were waiting for the op and would vary between almost normal to depressed and flat the day before the op he was off colour and pacing again, it was a worry but the surgeons were confident that he was stable enough to operate. If your vets are advising to wait I'd go with what they suggest, he won't be completely well but hopefully he will be feeling a bit better than he is now, it sounds like they are just hoping his system will settle a little after the seizure. Ideally before any surgery you want the dog as healthy as possible so if he's improving at the moment then it may have just been a freak thing that made him extra sick, he may have gotten into some food or found something to eat in the yard they can be a bit sneaky like that. Their condition can be associated with pica-like symptoms so they will eat everything and anything so you have to watch them and make sure there is nothing around he can put in his mouth. When my boy was on the table the surgeon noticed that his stomach wasn't empty even though he'd been fasted for surgery, they opened the stomach and found all sorts of bits and pieces in there including milk bottle tops and pieces of foam from a mattress he'd chewed up! Anyway your vets are the ones who will know the best timing for surgery if they aren't comfortable doing it just yet then try not to worry and just go with what they think, if you trust your vets that is, you can also get a second opinion give someone from SUVH a ring and see if you can get their perspective over the phone I found most of the specialists I talked to really helpful and generous with their time and information, if Bruce Mackay is still at Brisbane Specialist Vet Centre you can try him he was great with my dog. The main thing is don't be afraid to ask questions and try and get as much information as you can :)

Totally agree Jumabaar :)

It doesn't have to be heart v head you can look at the odds and work out if you like those odds or not, if the vets are optimistic I would also take that into account. There is plenty of info out there about shunt surgeries and their success rates complications etc when I get home ill try and find some. I think 70% is not bad odds but I was willing to go with 50/50 so that probably doesn't mean much :) Dancinbcs I'd have to disagree with you about attachment thing it's very individual I get very attached very early in the piece, my boy was a little older than the OPs but still well under a year so I don't think it's accurate to say you can't be that attached in all cases. I'm pretty sure Sonny would disagree with you about nature not intending all to survive, lucky we have good vets ;)

I think the severity of the symptoms can depend on the type of food as my guy got worse when he was on a higher quality puppy kibble (obviously higher protein than the el cheapo stuff he got prior to that) his symptoms were classic shunt but as they popped up at different times in different ways it took a long time for us to put together a diagnosis initially I just thought he had an upset tummy. I was quoted between $3 and $6k for the surgery, they don't know until they get in there how hard or easy it will be to get to, mine ended up at $5k because they had to follow the shunt through the diaphragm and shut down breathing etc, it was a very long op and then 3 days on 24 hour seizure watch but that was all included, I wasn't allowed to see him in that time so he didn't get too excited. If it doesn't finish closing off completely they can do another surgery to finish the job, I used to have a heap of papers with the stats on survival rates etc but my external hard drive has gone AWOL so I'm not sure where they are but f you google a bit you can often find veterinary papers on it they give some good info. It's hard to know I don't know anyone else whose had the surgery so I've only got my experience which obviously colours my view, at the time the decision was easy to make because I had a sick dog and that was the only thing that could fix him long term so I took the punt knowing the risks and now you would never know anything had been wrong with him his hair hides the scar running right down his chest.

So sorry to hear this DR You've done the best thing for your boy all the way through and he was a lucky dog to have you.

Hi there I've replied to your PM but I will add a bit more info too, Jules is correct the seizures should stop once the liver is doing the job it's meant to do, when my husky fell into a coma at the time it was I diagnosed he had also started with the pacing and head pressing, when he came out of the coma he couldn't see or hear and the vets didn't know if he would have long term damage but he recovered well enough to be diagnosed and have the surgery. Maybe they were talking about post-op seizures? These are a pretty major risk with this type of surgery I don't know whether the risk is higher if they have had a seizure but like I said my boy had one and the vets didn't mention anything about an increased risk for him just that there is a risk for all dogs undergoing this surgery. When my boy was done the success rate for the surgery was about 50/50 so it looks like the odds are getting better. Did they explain what type of surgery they are planning to do? At the time (2007) they weren't having good results with the ameroid constrictor rings which are good for extra hepatic shunts so they used a simple partial ligation of the shunt vessel closing it off partway to reduce the blood flow through the shot and increase the amount of blood going to the liver. As a result there is a danger of portal hypertension which is caused by the liver not coping with the new workload, that is the risk but the younger dogs do better as the liver is still good, after a few years an unused liver will start to shrink. So anyway the long and the short of it is the operation is costly and risky but if it works and there is no residual brain damage from the seizures then you should have a perfectly normal husky, there are no guarantees so you need to be aware of that but my dog is proof that when it works it works well and he returned a perfectly normal biochemistry profile a few months after the surgery on a normal diet (he is the redhead in my signature pic) :) I'm assuming that they've put him on lactulose, antibiotics and Hills L/D? That's the standard treatment as far as I can tell, it helps but it doesn't fix the problem that's why he's still having symptoms. See if you can get onto one of the specialists at the Sydney Uni vet centre that used to work with Dr Geraldine Hunt, she's the best so hopefully someone there will give you a bit more info mine is possibly a bit out of date being 5 years ago my guy had the surgery. Hope that helps and I hope your boy is feeling better soon :)

Thanks GV :)

Great to hear she's doing well, love the droopy bottom lip!

Awwwww all bubbas are gorgeous gapvic! :D

Score! :) Yeah it's a bit spesh :)

Thanks Mish :)

I have shared on my facebook but might be worth putting a photo up to share?

Thanks tlc :) It's a Sony Nex 5 I bought it from my mum she got it at the start of the year and has never used it so I convinced her to let me buy it :D

Some more:

I only just saw this thread Don good to hear your little girl is feeling better :)

I also love this one of B with his messy drinking I don't think I've ever been able to photo water droplets before so that's pretty cool :)

The crew: And of course pretty B: This one is just beautiful Tiny and Lou having a D&M Even little Saffy got excited enough to trot :) Tiny of course had a ball

Got a new camera so thought I'd test it out, I'm still lacking in ability but the camera is very cool so that's something lol :) All the horses got to run around in the bigger paddocks today so it was very exciting I love this sequence of Lou having a hoon:

Dingo to wolf comparisons may be a little off base, they are very different. They are also quite different to many wild species of animal. The species Canis lupus (sorry no italics on the iPhone for the pedants) is a very rare phenomenon in that many of its members have come to share the same ecological space as humans. The fact that gray wolves or the proto dog descendants of gray wolves sought out and maintained a close relationship with human habitations over thousands of years is indicative of the unique characteristics which have allowed them to be so successful as a domesticated species. I think that many of the traits which existed in the proto dog also exist in the dingo and that is why they can be tamed with a certain degree of success, they do benefit from their relationship with humans and that's not under dispute, domestics and tamed ferals enjoy longer healthier lives than their free living counterparts. If an animal can have its physical and emotional needs met though an alliance with a human then that is nothing more drastic or distressing than has been happening for millennia, if we are going to disagree with the taming of those species which are amenable to it (and most are not) then it then follows that we must disagree with the domestication of the original species. As to why people would own one? Well who knows, I only speak for myself when I say that I love the independence of huskies, their natural presence and beauty and that little touch of something that could be a remnant of their wild origins, it sets them a little apart.

So sorry to hear this Kiwi I'm glad you got to be with him at the end.

I'm pretty sure I can speak for most dog owners when I say we would love to be able to spend all day with our dogs and not have to go to work :)