Dog Liver Shunt - In Depth Explanation

Veterinarians' focus of treatment for the initial symptoms of liver shunt and MVD is through a low animal protein diet and the use of antibiotics and other drugs and supplements.

 

Commercial prescription dog food formulas are given to reduce the amount of animal protein in the diet and thus ammonia in the body. However, I know from experience that this kind of diet as a treatment helps to perpetuate the problem, NOT solve it. It may take away the symptoms your dog is having, but the lack of symptoms is NOT true health and this approach will NOT promote true healing of the liver. 

 

Furthermore, your vet will think that a liver shunt is the CAUSE of your dog's symptoms. You will see below, that a liver shunt is not the cause of your dog's symptoms but merely a more serious symptom itself of poor liver health.  So the traditional treatment for liver shunt or MVD is not getting to the root cause of your dog's problems. In fact, this treatment may just be masking the symptoms while at the same time making the underlying problem worse.  This means that while you think your beloved pet is doing OK on the outside, they are actually getting worse on the inside. Their health becomes a ticking time bomb.

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Let's Get to the Real Cause of Dog Liver Shunt and MVD.

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Granted that too much ammonia in the body is blamed by veterinarians for being the main cause of liver shunts and MVD symptoms, but the real questions should be these – “Why is this ammonia not being dealt with in the body?” and “What is causing the liver's poor health that then causes these liver shunts or microshunts to form?

 

The answers lie in your dog's digestive tract. Your vet will look here to kill any bacteria that may be producing any excess ammonia, but this is the wrong approach that only adds to the problem

 

The digestive tract is your dog's first line of defense. The liver is your dog's second line of defense.

 

The small intestine serves as the first line of the body’s defense against germs, harmful foods and toxins. The liver is the body’s master chemist, also the fuel storage, house keeper, and poison control center. The liver stores the most important alkaline elements in the dog’s body and as a result, the liver is the body’s second line of defense.

 

The liver is responsible for many important functions including the removal of by-products from the digestion of food, the absorption of food and the production of proteins necessary for normal blood consistency and clotting as well as other key functions involved in metabolism.

 

Most all Functional Medicine doctors believe that liver health is dependent on gut health. Therefore, the beginning of liver dysfunction starts with gut dysfunction. If the first line of defense which is the small intestine is not working properly, then the second line of defense, which is the liver, will carry its burden for digesting foods. The stress on the liver eventually will take a negative toll on the liver’s daily function especially its detoxification job.  

 

The liver will fail to filter blood and toxic material will enter the general circulation. The liver will fail to remove the normal by-products from digested and absorbed food from the circulation ( ie ammonia). Therefore, these by-products remain in the circulation and can lead to metabolic and clinical abnormalities. This is when you start noticing the many well known and written about symptoms of acquired and congenital liver shunts.

 

So what causes gut dysfunction leading to liver dysfunction?

 

Based on our experience in working with congenital and acquired liver shunt dogs for many years, we find that all of these dogs that suffer from gut dysfunction show symptoms of frequent bacterial infections (proliferation of harmful bacteria or candida) leading to frequent urinary tract infection, bad mouth odor and/or bad urine odor (strong ammonia smell), bloated stomach, less than normal weight (nutrient deficiencies), lack of energy, hacking, vomiting and diarrhea or constipation.

 

When gut dysfunction is addressed naturally through a change of diet and the intake of whole food supplements, dogs with congenital and acquired liver shunts will no longer exhibit any negative symptoms and can end up leading a normal and long life.

 

In fact, many times once the liver is no longer overburdened, it starts to heal and regenerate itself and return to normal function. And once this happens the liver shunt or MVD is no longer necessary. 

 

That which is no longer necessary in the body is gotten rid of.  The liver shunt or MVD closes naturally and is gotten rid of. 

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What is Wrong With My Dog's Diet?

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In healthy dogs, food is broken down, processed and digested in the intestines and absorbed into the blood stream, where it is transmitted to the liver and other organs. The liver then processes the food that it receives into proteins and chemicals. In this process, the liver gets rid of the toxins and foreign substances that the dog might have ingested.

 

When dogs eat commercial foods that have no enzymes, no friendly bacteria and no organic minerals, such foods ferment, putrefy and go rancid inside the body where they are not broken down properly, leading to a leaky gut.  Such toxic food particles leak from the gut into the blood and the toxins are carried to the liver.  

 

These toxic food particles are very acidic and in order for the liver to buffer such acidity it will use ammonia.  Ammonia as a neutralizer is an emergency backup system. Ammonia is more highly alkaline than minerals.  It has a pH of about 9.25.  Does your dog’s urine smell like ammonia? Does your dog’s urine burn the grass when she/he pees? All of these symptoms indicate ammonia in the urine because the liver is using ammonia to buffer the acidity coming from undigested toxic food waste.  

 

So we have a strong acid toxic food waste that the liver needs to eliminate and it has two methods for neutralizing such toxins: (1) it will use the mineral reserve it has stored in the body, which is mostly sodium, and when it is all used up, then it will use (2) the emergency backup, ammonia. This will cause the development of single or multiple shunting blood vessels to relieve high blood pressure on the liver. 

 

I have already said this but it bears repeating. The body does nothing by accident. The liver shunt(s) does not grow for no apparent reason. The body does not say "Gosh, I think I will grow an extra hepatic blood vessel today." NO - The liver shunt grows because the body is trying to keep your dog alive! The body grows them it to relieve the dangerous blood pressure that has built up because the flow of blood through the liver is greatly reduced. The liver shunt is an emergency measure that the body is using under duress. If it didn't happen your dog would likely be dead.

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Why My Vets Approach May Not Work?

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Traditional treatment for suspected or diagnosed liver shunt is to put dog’s on a prescription diet that is lower in animal protein, plus typically use antibiotics. Additional supplements like stool softeners and liver support drugs are common. The conventional thinking is that the lower animal protein and antibiotics will mean less ammonia, thus fewer symptoms until surgery can be performed. This thinking may add to the underlying problem which is the leaky gut permeability, thus leaking undigested food into the bloodstream that is sent to the liver to be processed.  This overburdens the liver and reduces blood flow through it. The highly acidic nature of the commercial food compounds the problem, as does the use of toxic drugs and supplements that the liver has to deal with further.  This is no formula for healing and regenerating the liver.

 

Please consult your veterinarian for advice on the use of any prescription medications

 

I believe that the prescription diet should not be used at all and will contribute further to the underlying problem of a leaky gut and an overburdened liver. Please consult with your Veterinarian about this as they are the ones licensed to advise you on the use of prescription medications. Antibiotics destroy friendly bacteria, thus compounding the problem and making it worse. 

 

A change in diet to a balanced acid/alkaline whole food diet along with whole food supplements is necessary to heal the digestive tract and take the burden off of the liver. Furthermore, as many toxins as possible must be eliminated from being ingested (medications, vaccinations, synthetic vitamins/minerals, tap water etc). 

 

Only in this way will your dog maybe say goodbye to their liver problems FOREVER.

 

To Summarize the Main Causes of Liver Shunts and Microvascular Dysplasia

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90% of the dogs I have consulted with having congenital liver shunt and acquired liver shunt were fed commercially prepared diets of either canned or dry dog foods.   

 

10% of the dogs that have poor liver health are eating a high meat diet. This is also an improper diet in my opinion as meat breaks down into ammonia in the body and puts a tremendous strain on the  liver and intestinal tract.

 

As a result of an improper diet that does not get digested well, increased intestinal permeability or leaky gut syndrome will result. This will lead not only to increased absorption of xenobiotics, but also in the increased absorption of endogenously produced toxins (endotoxins), antigens, immune complexes and intact microorganisms normally confined to the intestinal system. It is by this mechanism that chronic permeability defects have been shown to contribute to the development of liver dysfunction.

 

Under normal conditions, intestinal endotoxins and xenobiotics absorbed from the gut are principally detoxified by the liver. Liver detoxification pathways transform toxic molecules into less toxic metabolites which can then be excreted. The liver's capacity to handle detox functions can be impaired due to excessive exposure to toxins and high acidic toxic waste as well as deficiencies in key nutrients. Ammonia is the liver’s final attempt using an emergency system to keep going. This will cause the development of multiple shunting blood vessels to relieve high blood pressure on the liver.

 

Traditional veterinary treatment may only treat the symptoms caused by the poorly functioning liver. Prescription dog foods only compound the problem and create other problems. Antibiotics kill friendly bacteria and may further contribute to leaky gut permeability. Expensive and traumatic surgery to close a shunt may only be treating a symptom. Thus, with or without surgery, your dog and your vet may continue to see a lot of each other in the years ahead.   

 

Only in getting to the underlying cause of the problem with a proper diet and whole food nutrients will you likely be able to say goodbye to your dog's poorly functioning liver – and perhaps your high vet bills – once and for all.  

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The only thing you have to lose is your dog's poor health.

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