Hi everyone,

A friend of mine had a 12 week old puppy that all of a sudden had 2 seizures back to back. Took it to the vets and he ran blood tests. He said there was nothing showing up on those. He fed the puppy and as soon as it was done eating it had another seizure. Now the vet said he thought it had something to do with a shunt from it's liver to it's brain and that they would have to send it out of state to specialists to have it tested further and that it would cost them thousands of dollars for all the testing. She did not have that kind of money and asked the vet what he would do in this situation and the vet told her that he would probably have it put to sleep because it was so young and they couldn't afford all these tests.

My question is, did she do the right thing or should she have gone to a different vet and had a second oppinion. Also, is this something that is hereditary in dogs? And last but not least, should the breeder she bought the puppy from pay her the money back for the pup?

Thanks!!!!

Oh how sad, has she had this pup put down yet? if so then there is no point in going on about it? If not then i would see another vet and find one that knows more, as it could just have been some thing in the food? was it a complete food. i could go on but?.

What breed was it? There are breeds that are prone to liver shunt, and if it was one of those I would expect both parent dogs to be clear of the condition.

The breed is Keeshond.

If it is a liver shunt only some of them are operable. It's very sad, but for a 12 week old puppy to have seizures the prognosis is not very good, regardless of the cause.

An ethical breeder would be horrified and would give the money back for the puppy. However, the breeder should be told before the puppy is PTS and also be given the opportunity to talk to the examining vet. It is possible that the breeder will want the puppy back in order to make the decision for themselves.

Stacey

Thank you for all the replies. I believe the breeder told her she would give (no charge) her the pick of the next litter. I know the breeder and she felt just awful about the whole thing, but by the time my friend called her, it was too late, she had already put the pup down.I also have Keeshonds and have never heard or seen anything like this. I feel so sad for both parties.

Okay, the vet said he suspected Portosystemic Shunt and that the pup should be tested to make sure. Instead of testing, (being that she couldn't afford the tests) she had the pup put to sleep, because the vet said that's what he would do if he didn't have the money for all the tests.This puppy never showed any other signs for the 3 weeks that she had it then all of a sudden it starts to seizure. Should she have taken it somewhere else and gotten a second opinion? Did she act too fast in having it put down?She needs to know if she should be reimbursed from the breeder.