My Yorkie puppy is dizzy, wobbly, and shaking her head. What's wrong?

Hello, sorry to hear about S. Depending on your location, this may be associated with cold weather. Toy breed dogs whom are geriatric can lose body temperature rapidly. Alternatively, if he has progressive elevation of his ALT and other liver values, pets can develop hepatic encephalopathy and will begin to show neurologic signs such as twitching, lethargy, or even seizures. However, progressive elevation of liver values can also and often causes other clinical signs such as vomiting, anorexia, and lethargy. If you note any of these signs, or are concerned that S may be having hepatic encephalopathy, then he should be seen by your veterinarian tomorrow. Otherwise, make sure S is warm during the cold weather. Hope this helps and best of luck.

These are certainly scary and concerning symptoms. I'm sure you are very worried about Bella as am I. I would recommend that Bella be seen by a veterinarian right away as the symptoms you report could be signs of something serious like low blood sugar. She is a tiny little dog and a Yorkie as well so there are some breed related issues that can cause similar signs. Seeing a veterinarian right away will help to rule out many things and hopefully get her feeling better as soon as possible. I hope this helps and thank you for using Petco Pet Education Center, formerly Petcoach!

She is a puppy. An elevated ALP is normal in puppies. ALP can go up because of liver problems, but also increases during bone growth. I see this elevation in about 80% of puppy bloodwork. I do not treat this as it it is not a problem and the value becomes normal when they stop growing. If there are other liver values elevated, then I am concerned, but ALP alone is not generally a problem. Per IDEXX, one of the largest veterinary pathology services in the United States, ALP values in puppies can be elevated 4 times normal (which is about where Luna is.) Denamarin, Vitamin B, and a low-carb diet will not hurt Luna, but they probably won’t change the ALP either. Best wishes to you and Luna.

So, potential serious concerns would be 1. poisoning (ie antifreeze, pot, chemicals, rotten carcasses, etc.) 2. seizures (dogs get epilepsy and it commonly presents in puppies 3. metabolic issue like a liver shunt can cause neurologic symptoms 4. trauma to the brain like being hit by a car. Any neurologic symptoms are very serious and I would take him to an emergency veterinarian for a full workup.

Poor guy. This breed is high risk for having a condition called a portosystemic (liver) shunt that causes unexplained neurological symptoms like this. Drunken walk (ataxia) is one of the symptoms we often see. I would highly recommend at least taking him in to your local vet for some baseline bloodwork to check his liver enzymes. The vet can also do a thorough exam of his ears and make sure there is no debris deep in the canal, which would not be visible without special instrumentation (otoscope) that your vet carries. I hope that get to the bottom of your pet Mansy Man's weird neurological symptoms soon! Best of luck and take care.

There is really very little sense in speculating. Even a positive bile acid test will not definitively diagnose a portosystemic shunt. Only advanced imaging techniques can capture this condition. Alkaline phosphatase is an enzyme that is sometime utilized to support diagnoses of the liver and bile duct system. However, alone the number doesn't tell us much particularly in a young and from what it sounds like otherwise healthy puppy. The elevation you mentioned is also very mild, and we frequently see elevations in this enzyme in young growing animals. Just as it is found in the liver, it is also found in the bones which is why it is elevated during the time that pups are getting larger. I obviously don't know the whole situation and there is always the possibility your dog could have a shunt. However, so far you have given me no reason to suspect a serious problem. Please feel from to obtain a consult if you want to discuss the case in any greater detail.

Thanks for the picture! Unfortunately the way they have it printed out, it doesn't include what is normal for their lab machine, so I still can't fully interpret the results. From the lab that I use, the liver values that you have gotten would be considered normal, or very close to the normal range. Did the vet that ran the bloodwork give you any indication that they were abnormal? Seizures in a young dog could be caused by many things, including portosystemic or liver shunt (which may need ultrasound or bile acids testing to diagnose), epilepsy, hypoglycemia, kidney disease, intracranial disease, infection, among several others. I would recommend that you discuss these possibilities with your vet and see what other testing can be done to look at these other systems.