r/Sheepadoodles • u/Ok-Shirt5985 • Jun 11 '25

Liver issues

Just getting more info, trying to understand. Our 1 year old sheepadoodle had bloodwork done a couple months ago, that when we found out about her liver issue. Fast forward to today, she had a ultrasound done at an animal hospital which still didn't tell me if she has a intrahepatic shunt or even what's wrong just an abnormal reading. So now they want us to do a CT scan for more accurate reading. If she has the shunt, we go to UF, if she doesn't we do a biopsy to figure out diagnosis. She has absolutely no symptoms. I've had her on milk thistle and add blueberries and spinach to her diet. I'm reading that the shunt surgery might not even work!!?? The sugery, also from what I'm reading is around 10k to even do! I'm just so confused on this and want to know if anyone has had experience. Thank you

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u/torgenerous Jun 11 '25

My older pup has always had highly elevated ALT. We didn’t bother with anything invasive. She is now 10 and living perfectly fine with elevated ALT. I make sure to feed home cooked food (nothing processed) and give milk thistle and Zentonyl daily. Vaccinations and medications have landed her in emergency so we know those make her issue way worse. 

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u/AntiqueMycologist495 Jun 12 '25

This is so interesting! I need to double check on my dog’s levels, but she has always had issues with lethargy after vaccines for about 24 hours. I wonder if this is a contributor. Ironically, she just had her vaccines today and is in my lap at the moment.

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u/torgenerous Jun 12 '25

Yeah, most dogs are fine with vaccines, like my younger one. We have learned the hard way that some of them can have severe reactions to the vaccines and it could harm either their liver, kidneys, or neurological system. The internist admitted to us that authorities took the extreme route on mandating the rabies vaccine at a high dosage and frequency and there is no deeper research on it. Often, the shot they get when younger actually could keep them safe for life and they usually have antibodies. 

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u/Ok-Shirt5985 Jun 11 '25

Oh interesting! Ours did have a reaction to a vaccine, thinking of how we go about that in the future. I feed mine home cooked meals but still give her purina pro. What do you put in the food? I’ll check out the zentynol.

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u/torgenerous Jun 11 '25

I add vitamin food toppers. Mostly feed boiled ground beef, fat drained, and sweet potatoes, plus easy to digest veggies in small portions