High ALT Liver Test -

[staceypal]

I need advice.

I have a year and a half yellow lab.   Last year, when we had his bloodwork done, we noticed that his liver ALT levels were high.  (close to 500)   The vet at that time put him on clayamox for a few weeks and re-tested.  His levels only decreased slighty.   Out of concern, we had a ultrasound done.  Ultrasound results came back absoutley normal.   The vet pretty much said, lets play the "wait and see game"  

Since then, we have switched vets.   We recently had bloodwork done and again my dog's ALT liver levels are still high. (Everything else is normal in his bloodwork!)  My dog acts fine. He's very active, not lethargic at all, eats & drinks well, hasn't been throwing up, no jaundice or anything like that.   The vet now recommended to do a liver bx .   She says, the wait and see game could only lead to more serious things.  If we wait, years to come, if something came up, it may be too late to correct the probelm.  

I've done some research.   Most liver diseases the dog shows signs and symptoms.   I would think
if things were really serious with my dog, he'd be pretty sick. What do you think?

I am doing a liver bx in a few weeks.  

Any ideas on what this may be?  

[nancyheinl]

Just had to hospitalize my 8yr old boxer/bull mix. He was started on thyroid meds about 3 weeks ago during blood work was told  at was slightly high but probably due to weight and age.  He was given updated rabies/distemper and had to return for booster shot and also recheck of thyroid.  He had booster on Saturday ate food later that day and was fine. Sunday he quit eating, ate some on Monday by hand feeding and got him to eat Wednesday night. Thursday am he threw up twice. Took him to vet and now his atl is 1200.  Hesnhaving xrays and fluids and everything dog hospitalization brings.  In don't understand in 3 weeks time how things changed. He's been acting the same , heck more energetic since thyroid meds.  Now they're cheching for liver disease or possible mass. I don't know what to do or what caused this! Any insights or recommendations??

[rebhag1128]

I have a French Bulldog I've been going through high ALT issues with. What ended up being the issues with your frenchie? My Frenchie was diagnosed with demodex mange so we treated him with ivermectin at the vet's direction for roughly 8 weeks until it cleared up. He was then pre-neuter given a blood draw and his ALT level was 1121 and all his other levels were normal. We then did a bile acid test to rule out a liver shunt, that test came back normal. He was then put on Denamarin to help his liver after the Ivermectin. 2 weeks later blood was drawn again and his level was 953 so we are continuing the remaining 2 weeks of his Denamarin to redo the blood draw and maybe do an x-ray pending that result. He's not showing any symptoms and appears healthy. Does anyone have any similar stories to share or advice? We're really not sure what's going on. The vet said they could neuter him, but we opted to hold off given the risk.

[kawartha705]

sorry to hear...i know how sad it is...I've had 6 animals plus a horse put down due to old age (cancer, stroke etc) in the last 6 years. The oldest cat was 16 and the youngest cat was 8. The others were my dogs who had cancer, stroke and just general old age diseases. I put my horse down last week and my last dog who is 14 has kidney issues so its nearing the end again. I sympathize with you...its very difficult when they are your best friend and not that old.  You are not alone though as my neighbour had to euthanize her dog at four as he had some kind of inoperable issue and was suffering. She was very very upset about losing him. It sounds like you did everything possible for him. Even if they caught something early there is no guarantee it would have mattered. My neighbours dog was okay one day and the next week he was gone. Hang in there...you did everything you could.

[Scooterbug99]

ook my 10 year old dog in to have a mass removed from her right side on Jan. 2nd - it turned out to be cancer. When they did the pre-anesthesia screen her ALT was 108...I just had a full blood work panel done yesterday Jan. 22nd - CBC, Thyroid, Chemistry...her ALT is now 216 BUT the vet said that could be from the anesthesia still being worked out of her system, or the medications she took afterwards.

Other than her cholesterol being a bit high, everything else looked good. So is the jump in her ALT levels totally normal..or is something else going on?

Having her tested again next month. Trying not to think the worst...but seeing the lab report on the mass has me freaked out.  

:(

[Jfur]

I lost my beloved heart dog Brody this past Aug. The first symptoms were elevated liver enzymes. I had an ultra sound done and they found a tumor on his liver. I tried to have it removed, but it was inoperable. They called me with him on the table and said he probably wouldn't survive the surgery. They did a biopsy instead. I tried everything to save his life. I also had a special treatment done, called a catheter embolization to try and block the tumors blood supply to hopefully shrink it. I was originally told after the biopsy, that it was a benign hepatoma, but in the end, it spread and had gotten so large that they felt it was definitely malignant. I guess the biopsy was useless. The embolization didn't really help either. I lost my Brody about 8.5 months after diagnosis. I had to let him go. It has been almost 6 months, and I still can't get over the pain and sadness of his loss. He was everything to me. He was only 8 years old. He should have had 8 more. My advice is, if the liver enzymes are at all high, do NOT ignore it. Do additional tests, ultra sound… I had been told about a year before the tumors discovery, that his liver enzymes were "just slightly elevated", and I should have them retested "whenever". The vet didn't make a big deal about it at the time, so I didn't think it was. Usually my vet is all about testing, and a lot of times they are over cautious, so when they didnt make a big deal out of it, I forgot about it. If only I had known what it might have meant. Maybe I could have found out sooner, maybe I could have saved him. He wasn't retested until almost a year later, after he suddenly had diarrhea that wouldn't go away. It came out of no where. I never expected to find out he had a tumor. He seemed so healthy and happy. The only thing that was wrong was the diarrhea, which I had taken him to the vet several times for. They said the two weren't even related…I would have done anything for him, but there was nothing I could do. I had to finally let him go. I have not been the same since. I feel like a light went out in my life.

[KPDallas]

Phenobarbitol can seriously harm the liver in some dogs.