What tests diagnose liver shunt in a tiny puppy? How long for results?

Question

My Pomeranian puppy is now 12 weeks old. He was born a week premature. He weighs 1 pound 7 oz. The vet believes due to his small size he may have a liver shunt so he's been monitoring him Although, he hasn't shown any signs of having it besides him being tiny . They want to hold him longer to make sure he doesn't have one. What tests should I make sure to ask the vet about to make sure he doesn't have one . Would also love to know how long it would take to find out results if he has one or not. Pet's info: Dog | Pomeranian | Male | unneutered | 2 months and 27 days old | 1lb

Dr. Heidi DVM, CVA, CCRT, CVTP, CVSMT, CVCH · Accepted Answer

Congratulations on your new baby! He is adorable! The most common tests we start with to evaluate for liver shunts are baseline labwork (which includes a full chemistry, complete blood count and urinalysis) as well as a pre and post prandial bile acid profile. The bile acid profile is to specifically look at the liver function. Any of those tests results are available within a couple of days. Unfortunately, sometimes those test results are inconclusive, and we have to do additional testing. I have included a link below with more information about liver shunts. https://www.veterinarypartner.com/Content.plx?P=A&S=0&C=0&A=2533 Good luck! I hope that was helpful! Thanks for using PetCoach.

What tests diagnose liver shunt in a tiny puppy? How long for results?

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