Elevated ALT Liver Enzyme

[bump]

My 2 year old, male, neutered rottie just had his annual at the vet's. She called back with the results - and he has an ALT reading of 732, about 7x what is should be.

He is fed a pound of turkey necks in the morning, about 1/3-1/2 pound of ground beef heart, gullet and tripe at night. He gets raw eggs a couple of times a week and frozen yogurt kongs.

He looks fine, shiny fur, pink gums, wet nose, bright eyes. Eats fine. Is his normal athletic self.

He's going back in on Tuesday for more tests, but I'm going to worry for the next for days.

Anybody have any experience with this? The result from my internet searches have been pretty vague.


Thanks.
Bump

[Trinitii]

Sorry I don't have more info but I wanted you to know I was thinking of you two and will hope for the best.

Trinitii

[Rott-Wiley]

Hi Bump, it's real hard to say what is wrong with your boy from the results of just one test. I'm sure that is why your vet wants him back for more tests on Tuesday. Your boy is young for having liver problems, I know B6 Phosphate can affect the results of ALT (SGPT) but I really don't know enough about it beyond that information. Keep us posted on how things go next week and best of luck to you both.

[moondog]

From what I've read about increased levels of ALT on a blood panel, the underlying cause can be from a variety of conditions and that its relationship to the levels of certain other components on the panel can provide some valuable clues for the vet. It could be a lot of things.

I'm sure you're worried, but think of it this way: You've got a bright eyed, wet-nosed, pink-gummed dog that's raring to go with a great appetite and a shiny coat. THAT'S when we want to catch these things! :D If he has something brewing, you just got in on the ground floor and any treatment he needs will be much easier than if it hadn't been discovered until he was showing signs of illness.

Good for your vet for doing a panel as a precaution and good for you for letting her! :)

[mmgy]

Make sure a thorough urinalysis is part of Tuesday's testing. Also, a valuable lesson I've just learned is to have all future testing done on a fasting basis, first thing in the morning, no breakfast. Sometimes certain meals can skew certain things, and this removes that possibility. Plus, throughout his life all testing will be equal.

Same thing applies to the urinalysis, but in my case I'm dealing with an old dog, and we live 14 miles from our vet. So our standard procedure is to let him pee once, then scoop him up into the car and take off.;)

Good luck, and keep us updated.

[Carina43]

Good luck with getting an answer, I hope you post what you find out, he is awfully young to have liver problems.

FWIW, all my dogs have eaten raw for about 3 years (at least 80% meat/ RMB), and I have a blood panel done annually...everything has always been within normal ranges.

[Judy Chrusch]

Bump, I don't see where you feed any veggies or much otherthan meats. I hope you researched before you started that diet bc it could cause many problems if the diet isn't thought out and balanced properly . I use to feed raw, can no longer do it bc of my dogs illness and knowing other people who have done it and found out they weren't balanced properly. When my boy was on it his protein level was waaay too high,with me better regulating his diet more carefully it came down so if I were you, I'd take a good look at what your feeding and perhaps feed a balanced diet then see if the levels changed.

Kibble is carefully regulated and proper amounts of each food group is added together, no guessing. Why not for now feed SOME kibble with the raw for a month then repeat bloodwork, you may be surprised;) .

What does your vet think about his diet?

Judy

[bump]

Got his blood test back today -

Full blood panel came back with the ALT enzyme still elevated. It's 413, which is still elevated, but half of what it was last week.

All othe blood work came back normal. The vet is recommending another panel in late October to continue monitoring the ALT level.

He's been off the all-raw diet for about 10 days. I'm not sure if that contributed, but I will continue him on kibble and Steve's until his next blood test.

[moondog]

Good news! :) It'll be interesting to see what the next panel shows. Please let us know! I'm glad things are moving in the right direction.

[Judy Chrusch]

That's fantastic bump, I'm so glad the levels came down. When he gets straightened out you can still feed SOME raw but it might be best if his main meal was kibble, a good quality kibble as well:D .

When my boy was on BARF his levels went real high in phosphorus, protein, etc. I adjusted it with increasing his veggies and it changed a bit, for the better, that's when my other vet said it was diet related;) , then come to find the elevations were possibly diet but definately kidney so do what you have too do to get your boy healthy and best of luck to you:) .

Judy

[mmgy]

Great! Keep us informed.

[Rott-Wiley]

That's really GREAT news.

I just got the annual panel back on my girl and everything is in the normal range. Her protein levels are at the upper end but still well within normal. She loves her veggies too so I think I will increase them for her.