congenital disease

Question
Dear Joyce:
I recently found out my line of Miniature Schnauzers might have a congenital disease/defect.  It's called Porto Systemic Shunts.  I have been unable to find information on this.  Is this something I need to have my dogs screened for?

I'm very worried.  Please, if you have any information on this, please share.

Thank you
Anxious in Florida
Robin Q.

Answer
A portosystemic shunt is an abnormal vessel that allows blood to bypass the liver so then the blood is not cleansed by the liver.  

In the fetus a shunt is present and the mother can cleanse the blood for the fetus.  Once the fetus is born the shunt closes within three days after birth and the puppy's liver must work on it's own  Sometimes the shunt doesn't close off.  

These dogs also have much less blood that flows to the liver which causes the liver to remain small.  There are many variations of congenial portosystemic shunts that are found at surgery, the two are shunts located in the liver and shunts found outside of the liver tissue.   

Signs you can watch for are

Abnormal behavior after eating
Pacing and aimless wandering
Pressing the head against the wall
Episodes of apparent blindness
Seizures
Poor weight gain
Stunted growth
Excessive sleeping and lethargy
Straining to urinate due to bladder stone formation
Patient with a shunt may have many clinical signs and some have only a single clinical sign
Some dogs do not show signs until they are older

What you can do is outcross your lines and bring in blood that is clean and clear of the defect.

For more information, check out this website http://vetsurgerycentral.com/pss.htm

Good luck