BARNEY IN ILLINOIS LIVER SHUNT FUNDRAISER 22 OCTOBER 2015
A liver shunt is a blood vessel that carries blood around the liver instead of through it. In some animals a liver shunt is a birth defect (congenital portosystemic shunt). In others, multiple small shunts (acquired portosystemic shunts) form because of severe liver disease such as cirrhosis.
On 12 November, Shell Lewis writes: CRUSA foster dog Barney in Illinois needs your help! In early October, I was contacted by the director of the animal shelter in Quincy, Illinois: For the past two months, a darling eight-year-old Cairn boy named Barney had been living at the shelter.
Poor Barney! His owner, an elderly gentleman, had owned Barney since he was just a pup and adored him. But the owner had to go into an assisted living facility; still hoping he would be able to return home and intent on keeping Barney, he had Barney's dog walker come in three times a day. The dog walker had cared for Barney for many years and was as fond of him as the owner was.
Unfortunately for Barney, the owner's daughter intervened. She felt her father was spending too much on Barney's care and took Barney to the shelter.
Barney was very distraught at the shelter. Day by day, he became more and more unhappy and eventually he started acting out aggressively towards the staff. He simply could not be shown to the public because he had become so unpredictable.
The dog sitter came by every other day to visit Barney; those were the only times Barney was happy and wagged his tail. Barney became so depressed and sad that the shelter put him on Prozac . . . and reached out to Cairn Rescue USA; Barney came into CRUSA on 22 October.
Because Barney's recent behavior had been unpredictable, I did not want to put him in a foster home with other dogs. Thankfully, a Chicago couple who are CRUSA Facebook followers and who had recently lost their terrier, offered to foster Barney. Barney was transported to Janet & Larry with the help of Jim Hamrick who has adopted from me twice. Barney over-nighted with Jim and his wife and then brought up to Chicago to meet Janet & Larry I'm happy to report that Barney has done wonderfully in foster care under the watchful eye of Janet & Larry Eaton. Almost immediately, he displayed a playful side; he has even made friends with some of the neighborhood dogs. He has become a neighborhood favorite and we were looking forward to putting him up for adoption after a much-needed dental. However, the pre-surgical lab work revealed some troubling values and further testing (a bile acid test and an ultrasound) showed that Barney had a liver shunt. Surgery has been recommended and will fix Barney's potentially life-threatening issue. Surgery to correct a liver shunt is not inexpensive and must be done by an internal specialist. We are still in the process of getting quotes from surgical centers at University of Wisconsin, University of Illinois as well as VCA and Chicago Veterinary Specialty Center. So far, estimates are coming in in the $3300 - $4500 range. Barney with foster parents Janet & Larry

UPDATE ON BARNEY HERE