Low Protein Diet For Dogs With Liver Shunt

Liver shunt in dogs portosystemic shunting can be congenital or acquired.
Low protein diet for dogs with liver shunt. Canine low protein diet for liver disease revised by dr. Low purine a liver shunt is a congenital condition in which a dog is born with a mutated blood vessel that carries blood around the liver to the heart instead of through it. Special diets that are low in protein and medications to help a dog tolerate protein are often used since dogs with liver shunts cannot metabolize it well. A portosystemic shunt causes a bypass of blood from the gastrointestinal tract directly into the systemic circulation avoiding the normal detoxifying process that happens in the liver and reducing nutrient input into the liver.
Liver shunt diet home made diets can be used for dogs with congenital portosystemic shunts and other liver diseases. A diet for a dog with a liver shunt should have no more than 18 percent protein and this should come from high quality egg milk or vegetable protein. The source of protein alongside the amount a dog with a liver shunt consumes can vary from dog to dog so a veterinary nutritionist may be involved in creating the ideal treatment plan for. Remember that each commercial diet has been formulated to meet the lifelong nutritional needs of a pet.
Claudia kirk diplomate of the american college of veterinary. Liver shunts can be congenital defects failure of closure of the ductus venosus or inappropriate vascular development or acquired development of extra vessels.