I posted recently regarding epilepsy in my weimaraner, he has had 3 seizures in the past 8 months or so, however on having recent blood tests which show no abnormalities my vet has mentioned the possibility of him having a liver shunt.
I have read up on this and some of his sypmtoms tally with the liver shunt symptoms, seizures caused by build up of toxins in the body, not gaining weight properly,due to liver not receiving proper nutrients, aggression, i also posted on him snapping at other dogs occassionally which could be due to this.
Unfortunately my vet has not given me any indication on what our next course of action is going to be and has left it open as my boy is currently healthy.
I have read that puppies are usually born with this, and obviously are usually unwell, but other than the 3 seizures he is ok.
His weight is approx 26 kg, he is slightly underweight but he is not a particularly large dog, you can see some bones in his spine but his rib cage cannot be seen.
I have just changed his diet recently to Arden Grange because i thought it would be better for him and it seems that this would also help with a liver shunt apparently.

I just wondered if anybody has any knowledge of liver shunts.

I have no actual experience of liver shunt, but I know basically what it is as Deerhounds have to be tested for it at 8 weeks. Without getting too technical (cos it's early and I just took some pain killers) it's where a vein is "shunted" around the liver, where it should be going through the liver, if that makes sense?? It means that blood is not being cleansed by the liver, which leads to a build up of toxins. The toxins cause some brain dysfunction, general listessness, and failure to thrive. I don't know of any Deerhounds who survived past 3 with the condition.

Sometimes it can be operated on, if the shunt is accessible and not too big, I believe vets now are willing to try and repair. I have no experience of that so do not know what the success rate is.

The test for liver function at 8 weeks entails taking blood samples after seeing pups eat, and evaluating liver function from that. I'm not sure if that test could be carried out on an older dog, your vet should be able to advise you.

I'm afraid if it is liver shunt the prognosis is not good, I hope it is something that shares some of the symtoms you describe, and I hope your vet gets it sorted out for you