Liver Enzyme Test
Our 2 1/2 year old OES, Liberty Belle, had some blood work done a few weeks ago for pre-op to have her teeth cleaned. Her kidney test was elevated, but even worse was her liver test. So much so they won't do her cleaning. I'm not sure of what the exact test was, but the vet. said that the enzyme level should be 12-118 and she was 264. And that usually this shows some kind of trauma, like a car accident or being kicked by a moose. She suggested we re-test in a couple of weeks, which those results came back yesterday at the same level. She stated that if it were a trauma the levels would've lowered by now. She wants to do a test where Liberty would fast for 12 hours & they'd take blood, feed her & take more blood after 2 hours. At the same time do an ultrasound of the liver. Does this sound appropriate or would it just be better to get a biopsy of the liver? Has anyone else gone through this?? I have contacted the breeder to see if there have been any problems like this with her parents and the answer was no. She hadn't heard of any liver problems common to OESs. Liberty has put on about 7 pounds in the last year and seems to have become more protective and will bark at the door if someone knocks. Up until 6 months ago she would never get up when there was someone at the door. Not sure if any of this is relevant, but thought I'd just include any changes she's presented. Any help would be greatly appreciated. We had to put a cat down in April for kidney failure and I'm running a little nervous. Thanks! |
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| Your vet is taking appropriate actions to the situation. A biopsy is too dangerous for the liver, it bleeds too easily and too much for too long.
Liver problems are not as common as others in oes, but they do occur. I hope everything turns out ok for you and your pup. Kicked by a moose eh? Must be in Canada?  |
| Don't know if this is relevant to your situation, but I'll offer it.
I have a friend who has a 5 year old chocolate lab, and until about 4 months ago was perfectly healthy. All of a sudden he stopped eating. The liver enzyme tests came back for him severely elevated, too. As long as the dog was at the vet's hooked up to an IV, he ate and his levels went down. As soon as they took him home, he again stopped eating and his levels increased again. They were all at a loss to explain it, including the vet. The breeder did not have any other reports of a problem of this kind with any of her other dogs. either. One day while they were outside, her husband noticed the dog at the other end of their yard, eating something from the ground. He went over and found a bed of mushrooms that they had no idea were there. Could this possibly be the reason?? He immediately dug up the patch and threw them away. They called the vet, who couldn't say for certain, but said it was entirely possible that this was Echo's problem. They've been feeding him prescription food (cause he won't take the medicine) and since they've destroyed the mushrooms, his liver levels have returned to normal, and he's eating and playing as usual. Not sure if there is a possibility of mushrooms being around where you are, but thought I would offer it as a source to look for. Good luck, and keep us posted. Chris |
| Chris,
Thanks for your information. We don't have any mushrooms right know as it's 20 degrees and snow on the ground!! However, it makes me wonder about a month or so ago, before it snowed, we did have mushrooms as is was a wet fall. And we did notice Liberty was trying to eat at the grass when she never has before? I will let the vet. know though. She is eating normally, but does seem to drink more than usual. It's nice to just talk with someone. I appreciate your time. MaryBeth |
By the way, welcome to the forum!  |
| Thank you for the welcome Willowsprite!
How do you get the pictures under you name? Your puppy looks so much like Liberty. I wanted to put a picture of her with my name too. Please be simple, as I'm not very good with the computer. |
| You have to shrink a pic to 150x150 pixels and 12 kb or less and then you click on your profile button, scroll down to where it gives you the option of uploading an avatar, and it gives you instructions there. If you need help re sizing the pic you can email it to me and I would be happy to shrink it and send it back for you. Just click on my email button at the bottom of this message. |
| Maybe your vet can do an ultrasound of the liver rather than a biopsy first to check and see if anything is out of wack.
I have higher liver enzymes than a normal person and they did bloodwork first and then an utlrasound to make sure it looked okay. The ultrasound was clear. I did lose my spleen from a trauma back in the 80's so the higher enzymes might have something to do with that but some people do have fatty livers from being over weight and others just higher enzymes in general. There are different herbs that are good for the liver, like Milk Thistle (not sure if that is healthy for dogs) so if everything checks out alright, maybe you can talk to your vet about a homeopathic approach to work on getting the levels lowered a bit. |
VerveUp wrote: There are different herbs that are good for the liver, like Milk Thistle (not sure if that is healthy for dogs) so if everything checks out alright, maybe you can talk to your vet about a homeopathic approach to work on getting the levels lowered a bit.
I've heard of Milk Thistle being used on dogs (for this reason as well). I would go with the Vets suggestion of the Ultrasound and if needed I wouldn't hesitate to get a Biopsy done. |
tulipak wrote: I have contacted the breeder to see if there have been any problems like this with her parents and the answer was no. She hadn't heard of any liver problems common to OESs.
Please refer to the OESCA (Old English Sheepdog Club of America) for further information relative to Health issues of the breed (in particular Liver Shunts). There's a contact re: Health information that may be able to provide more information as well. http://www.oldenglishsheepdogclubofamer ... shunts.htm This site will also give you contact information for the ASPCA Animal Poison Control Center - who may be able to guide you and your Vet in determining possible poisonous causes to the problem. Kristen |
| In an attempt to offer some help, my dog (not an OES) had similar test results for her liver.
After a year on Science Diet l/d, her levels went completely back to normal!!!!! I do hope you hear some positive news about your baby. I know how I felt when I went through what you are going through right now. I have also discovered "Breathalicious." If you're looking for something to give your dog in the future as a treat, I totally suggest this bone. Rawhides/most dog bones 70-90%+ protein Greenies 52% protein Breathalicious: 32%!!!
Some people on here are against "Greenies" and a Breathalicious looks EXACTLY like a Greenie, so you will have to make your own judgement call on what's best for your dog. I always supervise my dog and take them away when there's only 1/4 left (which takes about 10 minutes), and have never had any problems. I love how healthy they are for her.
Good luck! |
| Hey Guys, I just found this site. I thought it was interesting. My dog, a longhaired Mini Doxie is a double dapple purebred with blue eyes. I knew when I got her there were problems and when she was about 10 months old we found out that her liver enzymes were at 400 so they could not so her spay. The vet thought she had eaten mushrooms because, by looking at her you would never know anything was wrong, so we tested it again in 6 months and it had gone up to 450. My dog will be 3 in April and when I took her to the vet last year it was up to 795 and my vet was stumped. She said normally they would do a whole bunch of tests but in my dog's case, she was the runt and had genetic abnormalites already so it was either a liver shunt or a malformed liver and doubtfull they could do anything as she really felt it was a birth defect. Well, as I said, she is now almost 3 and she does not go into heat and she does not have fleas (the vet told me that her blood in too toxic for the fleas) and she drinks water constantly. We have to have two bowls of water out at all times. But last March my husband and I switched to all natural and organic food for our health and our daughters and have been feeding our dog this food because we figure that at this point any food she eats is better than nothing. She has gained weight, has no signs of anything being wrong and has more energy than a Boston Terrier!! Becasue she drinks so much water she has to go out every two ours so we have litter trained her and when we are home she is in a diaper. The vet is stumped because she said with her levels being this high she should have already displayed symptoms and she hasn't. My husband says she'll outlive him! |
| My dog's liver was showing some problem in a blood test and my vet started her on Sam-e. It has done wonders and it is down to normal levels. Hope this helps |
my ten year old yellow lab had high liver enzymes last year. She did not want to eat ( a lab not wanting to eat  ) and the whites of her eyes were yellow. Blood work was done and her enzymes were elevated. When they did an ultrasound of her liver they saw a mass in her spleen (totally unrelated) they needed to biopsy the liver, and yes it is done quite often, and needed to do more than a needle aspiration. They had to anesthize her and take a large piece of tissue . Her spleen needed to be removed due to the mass so the biopsy was done at that time. She has chronic active hepatitis and had to take prednisone for a short while and is now maintained on denosyl(which can be ordered without a prescription , made by cosaquin)and ursodiol(which is a prescription med) I have heard milk thistle works too. Her levels are now fine. The question is why is your dogs level high. Hopefully it is the mushrooms and they will go down with some supplements for a short period. I hope your sheepie feels better!!
Cindy 4 dog night |
| Hi!
My briard went off her food about 3 weeks ago. Just got the lab work back and her liver enzyme is 1400 (?!) Vet put her on SAM-E, a multivitamin, if she improves, vet wants to recheck in 10 days, if still not eating, bring her back sooner. She seems fine, just not hungry! After reading your posts, I'm getting the feeling that this just happens sometimes and no one knows why, it may clear up forever or it may come back. Is that right? Any advice? Thanks so much, Linda and Vera |
| We have had two older oes with liver enzymes going up to around 1300. We put them on Ester C - Milk Thistle - Fish Oil. These once a day additions included with their food made a huge difference. Both dropped to around 350. Not quite what we were looking for but exceptable. It took around 3 months to get there.
The nice part was that they took it themselves laying on top on their food. Zach |
| Our 5 year old Chihuahua/Silly Terrier cross has his teeth cleaned on Thursday evening. His name is Kinsey. On Saturday evening he stated drinking massive amounts of water. Monday evening we noticed his belly swollen and we took him in to the vet right away. Xrays showed is stomach swollen filled with food 6 times the regular. Blood tests were done the next day and showed his enzyme to be 800 (extremely high) suggestion liver failure. The vets suspsions is some sort of infection or cancer. He is having an utra sound done this afternoon. We lost his dad Q (only one letter name) a beautiful long hair Chihuahua only 9 years old 5 months ago. Our dogs have eatten only the best foods available. Many pure breed tend to have immune system problems and are prone to illness. I am wonder right now if Kinsey could have inherited the cancer cels from his dad. Of course I will find out what the results are from the ultra sound this afternoon to determine whether it's an infection or growth. He has been hospilized for the past 3 days on IV fluids and is not interested in food right now. According to his Vet he is showing no signs of pain but I felt I needed to let anyone out there know that Terriers tend not to show any health problems until it is way to late. Please pray for our little Kinsey; we suffered the loss of Q and this would be too much to bare. Our dogs are our kids as is for many people. Blessings to all who have an ill pet. We know what you are going through- believe me! |
| London had the same problem last year and had us worried. We couldnt figure out why it was so high until i received a newsletter about other dogs having the same problem from eating a bad batch of Nutro dog food!! We got him off from it and his liver enzymes went down.
Maybe it's the dog food? |
| Portage gets his liver values checked every six months.
When he nearly died of bloat it was discovered that his liver was hyperplasic. It was explained to us by the emergency vet (who didn't know what it was at the time) as a really ugly looking liver that had grown, gnarled to a much larger size. At the time she thought it might be cancer (she was a new vet, starting out) and took a "chunk" (her words) to biopsy. It was one cubic centimeter (a huge chunk, by biopsy standards) and came back completely benign. His liver numbers were 1200+ at that time, and when we got him to our regular vet a few days later he was put on a liver med, which I thought would be for life. Turned out it was for a week. It brought his numbers down to just above "average." A year and a half later they've crept up slightly, but just over 200. Our vet says that's not a big deal all things considered. I have no idea what your dog's cause is, but I shared this to let you know that there can be some really benign causes to this, so don't panic yet. I would, however, push for further testing to be sure. In Portage's case he has nodular hyperplasia of the liver, and many dogs get it. It's rarely diagnosed because you need to go looking for it, and it doesn't cause death, so it usually just trucks along on its own indefinitely. We found out because he was opened up so his tummy could be emptied. Good luck to you both. We're all keeping our fingers and paws crossed that it's something easily resolved. |
| I can only add that when we first rescued Wilby his liver enzymes
(*alkaline phos) was over 1400. He was on a special L/d diet as mentioned before, we also gave him Cholodin. His enzymes went down significantly but, Wilby was a dog you could not do anythitng wihtout sedation.(he was down to 246) If I had an easy boy I would certainly recommend the Bile Acid Study your vet is talking about. A lower protein diet is the best for liver problems but, you have to make sure and keep up the muscle mass with protein! That's a good question?? How do you do that? I am asking...I would like to know for the future.. |
| Hi, all:
Our cocker spaniel, 9 years old, also has had three liver tests in the past 3 months with readings of approx. 700, 600 and 800. After the first test, the vet put her on Sam-E and an antibiotic. She had suffered what seemed to be a small stroke prior to going to the vet. One side of her face had dropped and she was drooling non-stop. The lab test after a month dropped about 100 points but was still high. With the vet's agreement, we put her on 1/2 capsule of milk thistle during the 2nd month; her reading escalated higher than the first lab test results. Now, the vet wants to run a thyroid panel of tests, ultrasound, and a bile acid test. The total cost on these tests will be over $800. Since she is 9 years old, the drooping and drooling have stopped, and she is exhibiting only a voracious appetite, we are reluctant to go forward with additional testing. A tentative diagnosis of Cushing's Disease was considered at one point; now the vet is unsure. I think we might try the Science Diet d/l and the Ester C/fish oil/milk thistle for a couple months to see what happens. |
| My Pooh Bear has been diagnosed with high liver enzymes a few months ago. He has been put on Science Diet l/d formula. At the last blood work his level has gone down, but is still elevated. I had asked the vet about Sam-E and she said the l/d formula contains the same ingredient as the Sam-E. What dosage of the milk thistle and fish oil is used on these dogs? My Pooh is 10 years old and we have managed to drop his weight from 135 to 122 is 3 months. (no table scraps!) My vet wants to do an ultra sound and then a biopsy to find out what is wrong. Pooh is totally unbothered by these counts....eats normal....acts normal....drinks normal |
| I have two basenji mixes that got into gum with xylitol a couple months ago. We rushed them to the doggie ER and they induced vomiting and put them on fluids. Two weeks later we took them for a follow up and their liver enzymes were still elevated. We put them on fish oil and something else (sorry, cant think of the name) for two weeks and today I had their lives checked again. Their levels had dropped but were still high and we are going to continue the meds. The vet is confused and says they should have gone down by now. Our dogs are acting just fine though. We are about $1,700 deep and just really don’t know what to do. It is getting expensive going to the vet every two weeks for these tests and if we go back in 2-4 weeks and their values are still high they want to do a more in depth liver test or ultrasound. Any help or insight would be greatly appreciated. |
| How old are they, and what are their levels?
Our old guy has had high levels for years. It's not uncommon in older dogs. It could mean that there was an underlying cause before the gum incident, and they have just reverted back to the "normal" higher levels. |
| They are both young. Willow is going to be 3 in two weeks and Barkley is 1.5 to 2 years old. We just recsued him in Feb. We are really at a loss, esp since the vets seem to be also with xylitol being such a new discovery. |
| My Schipperke-mix...
Annual blood work on February 28th- ALT slightly elevated at 148. The high end of normal is 107. Retested mid-May- 1,231!! This was about 10 days after applying a flea product I'd never used. She had no symptoms. X-rays, bile acids study. Smaller than normal liver and something definitely going on. Ursodiol for one week and Denamarin one hour before her morning meal to 60 days. Oil supplement, Hill's Prescription l/d food... the only food given. Fed 3 meals a day. We retested every 2 weeks, then every 3 weeks. Levels started to drop and were at 171 last Wednesday. So it's now 2 months later. She's still not normal but definitely a heck of a lot better. We stopped the Denamarin and will put her back on regular food later this week, then test again in 3 weeks. Just one situation... each dog is different and causes/conditions are different. Xylitol is on the list of things poisonous to dogs  -
http://www2.aspca.org/site/DocServer/ve ... ocID=10462 Hoping your babies make a full recovery. |
tulipak wrote: I just found this site and was hoping someone might be able to enlighten us. Our 2 1/2 year old OES, Liberty Belle, had some blood work done a few weeks ago for pre-op to have her teeth cleaned. Her kidney test was elevated, but even worse was her liver test. So much so they won't do her cleaning. I'm not sure of what the exact test was, but the vet. said that the enzyme level should be 12-118 and she was 264. And that usually this shows some kind of trauma, like a car accident or being kicked by a moose. She suggested we re-test in a couple of weeks, which those results came back yesterday at the same level. She stated that if it were a trauma the levels would've lowered by now. She wants to do a test where Liberty would fast for 12 hours & they'd take blood, feed her & take more blood after 2 hours. At the same time do an ultrasound of the liver. Does this sound appropriate or would it just be better to get a biopsy of the liver? Has anyone else gone through this?? I have contacted the breeder to see if there have been any problems like this with her parents and the answer was no. She hadn't heard of any liver problems common to OESs. Liberty has put on about 7 pounds in the last year and seems to have become more protective and will bark at the door if someone knocks. Up until 6 months ago she would never get up when there was someone at the door. Not sure if any of this is relevant, but thought I'd just include any changes she's presented. Any help would be greatly appreciated. We had to put a cat down in April for kidney failure and I'm running a little nervous. Thanks! Start putting a shot of apple cider vinegar in your dogs water and see if that helps the liver,it wont hurt to try! |
| Our 12 yr.old Lab mix stopped eating anything for 4 days (including steak that we tried) took her to vet. on the next monday. He said her liver enzymes where really high and he doubted if she would make it another day or two. He also said the X-ray showed there was "maybe" a tumor on the liver and would like to do a biopsy and keep her on IV's. Other wise we should "put her down now" We couldn't afford the above, but told him we were taking her home. If going to die it would be at home. I immidiatly started her on home made food. Water,broccilli, green beans. Not sure if put white rice in it then or added it later. Gave her Milk Thistle (250 mg) 4 times a day. Also 2 Maitake mushrooms 2 X a day. Tried Burdock root capsuales also, but she seemed to get worse when added the burdock root, so got Burdock root and made a tea and added it to the food. Note the burdock and mushrooms are for the "maybe" tumor. We give her the homemade food morning and night with 1 milk thistle,Pet vitiamin and a pro-botic. At 10.00 she gets a couple of tablespoons applesauce with 2 mushroom capsules (opened and put on applesauce) Noon gets 2 scrambled eggs with water and 1 Milkthistle. 3:00 she gets cottage cheese and 2 mushroom capsulas (opened and on food + B-12 6:00 she gets the soup and another Milk thistle. At bed she gets yoguart & Milk thistle. Its been 6 weeks come Monday. She is doing great. In fact she is like a young dog. Arthritis seems to be gone. Chasing the other dog around. Jumps on the bed, which she couldn't do for the last year or so, and is hungrey all the time. Right under my feet in the kitchen. She is diabetic and on insulin. First signs of the diabeties was she was drinking water like mad and couldn't hold it and would pee wherever she was. Hope this helps. My husband and I are going to start taking Milk Thistle 2 X a day and see if it will make us feel younger. Good Luck. |
| My dog, Pooh Bear has elevated liver enzymes also. He has had a ultra sound done that showed a mass that has taken over half his liver. This was done last year. He is 11 and will be 12 in February. We opted not to do a biopsy due to risks at his age. He has been on Hills L/D formula since then and I supplement him with milk thistle daily. He has been doing fine. His liver counts go up at times (but not alot) go down and at times remain the same. This summer he had a large cancerous mass removed from his skin and luckily was encapsilated and had not spread. What a brave trooper he is. I would recommend doing the liver enzyme and bile test. It shows how well the liver processes the food. Pooh had this done and passed his test. His test took longer since he got stubborn and refused to eat his food while he was there! They had to bribe him with some extra food. Sounds like your vet is doing everything right. I cried like a baby when I found out about Pooh'sliver, but with proper maintenance they do well. Pooh is a good example. He still looks like our little puppy he was when we got him, just gets up slowly now. He had an ACL repair a couple of years ago and did well after that, too. So, I think he just may have some arthritis settling in his lower back now. |
| I wrote about our 12 yr old lab mix. She weighs 55 lbs. What I forgot to mention is she not only had high liver enzymes, but was in liver failure. Shes still doing well, still on homemade food and the other things as well as the 4 Milk Thistle a day. I would suggest that anyone with a dog with any type of problem get them off bought dog food., including the expensive brands. We were told with her diabeties that Hill's (what the vet prescribed) was one of the worst we could give her. And it seems all brands, dry & canned use dead animals, many that had cancer or other terrible disease and also uthenized. One other thing I did as soon as got her back that day from the vet. was to put "Bach's Rescue Remedy" behind her ears. This is amazing stuff. Don't know how it works, but we have used it on injuried geese, cats. I seems to take all the stress and tension off so they can heal faster. |
| ok = our dog has no symptoms of any problem.. we took her in for spaying and they said the enzyme levels were too high and can't do surgery. No clue what the problem is, or if there is a problem, and gave some meds to try and get the number to come down.. subsequently she went in to heat and now they said it will be a month before we can do surgery... I'm going crazy with all the we don't know, let's try this, and more and more charges. I certainly don't want to injure or cause harm to our beautiful dog, but this is driving me crazy. |
| Have a pup who was kicked and is suffering from sudden kidney failure. After a week of IV fluids and antibiotics, she is still needing nausea shots to eat (but she has been eating after the 3rd day). Dr's took 2 full days to finally figure out why a 5 yr old pap was so sick and to run the chem tests which came back with BUN 133 Creatinine 3.2, ALT (GPT) 81, alp 418. After IV/Antibiotic treatment, BUN 53.8, Creatinine .9, ALT(GPT) 315, ALP 314. PCV for all three test flucuated from 50 - 48 - to 56% on the last test. This morning she wouldn't eat, I ran her in for a nausea shot and have gotten her to eat some ground turkey I fried up. She has never been an aggressive eater. The vet tells us we won't know if she is coming out of the woods until after Friday's test when we will get a true read on how she is doing without intervention. We are on pins and needles... this dog is Lassie in this household.. best companion, defender of people from garden snakes... is this sort of up and down to be expected? Should we just go now and get an ultra sound? Are we losing ground we can't make up by waiting for the next set of test results? I am preparing all of her food, which is primarily being meat but trying to sneak some carrots, peas and beans in on her with some degree of success. Am thinking about going to get the supplements that have been suggested here. Omega 3, vit b&c. This blog has done so much to help me understand what the numbers mean.. blessing or curse I'm not sure yet but if anyone has dealt with a trauma caused kidney/liver issue, I would appreciate hearing what worked. |
| BUN back to 21.9 from 53.6, ALT down to 162 from 315 4 days ago. Dynamic of injury? For those who have a dog suddenly "fail"... I strongly advice that injury NOT be discounted. We are out of the woods so to speak and will do followup testing in a month but full recovery is expected. The lagging liver numbers are not unsuspected. My advice to anyone whose pet suddenly gets sick ... run the blood tests... learn where you are right away so you can start appropriate treatment. As it was, we spent 2 days trying to treat this dog before we ran the blood test. A few more days of inappropriate action might have killed her. If you suspect smoke.. act like there is a fire. |
| My small dog has high liver enzymes and is iunable to have his teeth done under anesthetic. There is a woman nearby who cleans dog's teeth without, but naturally she can't do extractions or cleaning up under the gums. This worries me. Furby's enzymes have much improved since I started adding milk thistle to his food and giving him SAMe on an empty stomach. I have also started preparing his food myself. They have found that protein isn't a problem if you go for good quality protein. Furby gets a side of cottage cheese. His diet consists of pre-cooked lean ground beef and/or turkey, vegetables, a couple of apples, barley, rice, oatmeal, broth, vitamins, Italian seasoning and a bit of coconut oil. I boil a huge batch and puree the heck out of it (a really messy, hated job) then package it up and freeze. he normally hates veggies but the boiling with broth (low sodium or home made from the turkey carcass) infuses the veggies (celery, squash, carrots, cauliflower, broccolli...whatever is on sale) with the broth taste. It comes out the consistancy of baby food. Sometimes I cheat a bit and throw a can of Natural Balance into the mix before I puree but this isn't necessary. Furby used to have monthly cramps with mucousy green diarrhea but rarely has an upset any more and I am thrilled that his enzymes are coming down. |
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