Dog with abnormal liver enzyme levels?

[audrabolster]

After taking my three year old Boston Terrier to the vet for his yearly shots, I asked the doctor about his incessant thirst. The vet worried it could mean diabetes, and wanted to do a blood test. Everything came back fine except for his liver enzyme levels. A normal dog has around 150- his are 417!!! He did a bile acid test to see if it was a fluke, or if something is wrong. That test came back abnormal. Tomorrow he wants to do an ultrasound and a biopsy of the liver to pinpoint exactly what is wrong.

I'm so worried!! Has anyone been through something like this with their dog???

 

[Bella the Ball 360]

After taking my three year old Boston Terrier to the vet for his yearly shots, I asked the doctor about his incessant thirst. The vet worried it could mean diabetes, and wanted to do a blood test. Everything came back fine except for his liver enzyme levels. A normal dog has around 150- his are 417!!! He did a bile acid test to see if it was a fluke, or if something is wrong. That test came back abnormal. Tomorrow he wants to do an ultrasound and a biopsy of the liver to pinpoint exactly what is wrong.

I'm so worried!! Has anyone been through something like this with their dog???

I have with my dog 12 years ago. It did not turn out well. He lasted about a week but he was 10 years old and a big dog/ LAB/Shep mix. The dr gave him three months but he stopped eating and pretty much willed himself to die. Three days later we had to put him down. The dr told me that when dogs know it is hopeless they stop eating. If your dog is eating and acting normally then most likely they can work with him and help him. YOU are lucky because it seems to sneak up on the dog and is not noticable until it reaches a critical and often unfixable point. Most likely your dog will be okay b/c they caught it in time. We neverround out what the problem was b/c we did not have an autopsy done.

I will say a prayer for your fur baby .

 

[2BigKIdz]

My collie had abnormal liver enzymes, but his bile acid test came back normal. My vet also suggested an ultrasound but he would have to have gone to a specialist an hour away. He hated travelling in the car and he really hated the vet, he had like panic attacks when we had to take him in, as he acted normal in every other way we decided to wait it out. He lived 3 years after this and his death was totally unrelated to his liver.

Good luck to you!

 

[Lauralee131]

I'm so sorry! I had similar problems with 2 different results with 2 dogs...

Our chihuahua-mix started drinking tons and tons of water and panting a lot and we brought him to the vet and they did a blood and urine test and it turned out that he had diabetes...

Our greyhound had similar symptoms that eventually, after a series of tests, ended up being cancer.

Your vet will do thorough tests I'm sure to rule out all possibilities and work with you on whatever the diagnosis ends up being...

Fingers crossed for you, but realize that as scary as diabetes is, your dog can continue to live a long happy life with insulin...

Good luck!

 

[MickeyMouseGal]

Which liver enzyme? If it was ALP (Alkaline phosphatase), it can be elevated due to exposure to steroids. This can either be due to medications given (prednisone, dexamethasone, depo medrol, etc.) or because of a disease process such as Cushing's disease.

 

[audrabolster]

Which liver enzyme? If it was ALP (Alkaline phosphatase), it can be elevated due to exposure to steroids. This can either be due to medications given (prednisone, dexamethasone, depo medrol, etc.) or because of a disease process such as Cushing's disease.

I have no idea which. I don't think he's ever been given meds like that, but I could be wrong. I'll be sure to ask him tomorrow!

 

[Jockaroo]

You are doing the right thing getting the follow up. I have Scottish Terriers. For some reason this breed frequently has an elevated Alkaline Phosphatase level. My male Scottie's level runs in the 1200 range. He is 13 and his level was discovered at 7 when the vet began running the senior blood panel.

I adopted a rescue Scottie who was 4 and she had excessive thirst and urination. The vet ran blood work and found her ALKP level was elevated. We ran a test for Cushing's Disease since she had symptoms. It was negative. She was with us for nearly 7 years and her ALKP level was always elevated. She was in very ill health her last year and all her liver levels skyrocketed (got over 2000), but she was diagnosed with bacterial hepatitis. We found the hepatitis via a liver biopsy when she had bladder cancer surgery. She also had a very compromised immune system due to spleen removal surgery. She was a very sick little girl.

There are two liver support supplements I've used with my dogs in the past:
Denamarin
http://www.drugs.com/vet/denamarin.html
Denosyl
http://www.drugs.com/vet/denosyl.html

I hope you get some answers with the ultrasound and other tests. And I pray for encouraging news. If you've never had an ultrasound run on an animal before, just be prepared. They may need to shave him.

Oh, I'm including a good link about the causes of excessive thirst. There is information from a vet.
http://www.pets.ca/forum/showthread.php?t=52691

Good luck.

 

[MickeyMouseGal]

An ALP of 400 or so is high, but I've seen similar levels on normal dogs. How bad is the drinking/urinating? Is he able to 'hold it' overnight? The vet will probably want a urine sample (preferably the first one in the morning) so see if his kidneys are able to concentrate urine. That will tell your vet if he is drinking because he can't stop urinating or if he is urinating a lot because he is drinking more than usual, KWIM? What is driving the problem will tell a lot about the cause.

 

[Jockaroo]

Audrabolster, just wanted to check and see if you had any news about your sweet Boston Terrier. I've been thinking of you both today.