Yorkie 17 months old on 3/5/2009

Question
Hi good evening, I have a 17 month old yorkie that had her first dental on Thursday, March 5th. They did pre-surgery bloodwork and found that her liver levels were abnormal and I was prewarned by the Vet of a possible Liver Shunt. She is 4.4 pounds and when I researched the signs of Liver Shunt she does not really have any of those, she loves being in our lap and is kind of laid back but I have been battling Lyme disease and bedridden so I think she became used to kind of lounging around. She still chases our cats and eats like a horse with no issues. Here is what the vet said. Her level in December was 73 and now in March she is at 117. I was told today normal level is to not exceed 100, and while 117 is not extremely high it is a yellow flag because she is small, and yorkies are prone to have problems with Liver Shunt.

So here are my questions.
1. Should I be worried about the Liver Shunt of one high blood test? We have caught her eating cat food and cat litter which we are monitoring more closely.
2. This is the day after surgery and she is not drinking water and is panting(she never pants) I am putting warm water in with her dry food to make it soft so she is getting some water from that and I am feeding her ice cubes but she will not drink out of her water bowl, any need for concern? I mean she did just have 8 puppy teeth pulled yesterday around noon. She is also on clavamox for a small puss pocket around one of the teeth that was pulled and a liquid pain killer.

Answer
Well I would would worry about a shunt but not from one blood panel. However I would get an ultrasound to find out for sure and I would watch her blood work and have it done every 6 months or whatever your vet recommended. Liver shunts can cause seizures from an ammonia build up in the blood. So they need to be addressed.

She is small for a Yorkie. Why were these baby teeth not pulled when she was spayed? It would have saved a lot of pain for her, work and cost to you. We always pulled these teeth at the time of spaying, usually at 6 months old.

I am sorry you had to acquire extra cost like this.
Panting is usually a sign of pain in dogs. You are doing the right thing by putting water in her food and giving her the ice cubes.
I would continue with what you are doing until Sunday. If she isn't feeling better by Monday then call your veterinarian.