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Another Blood Work Question


Wonder

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Greyhounds are not abnormal when it comes to ALT. I may be able to find the values...

 

On Turbo's last bloodwork, the normal reference range is 12-118 U/L


Meredith with Heyokha (HUS Me Teddy) and Crow (Mike Milbury). Missing Turbo (Sendahl Boss), Pancho, JoJo, and "Fat Stacks" Juana, the psycho kitty. Canku wakan kin manipi.

"Those who can make you believe absurdities can make you commit atrocities." - Voltaire

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I can't find my answer on Dr Stack's site so anyone know what the range for a hound for ALT is?

 

thanks

Funny, I just got Neyla's blook work back and the ALT level is the only thing that's really out of range (on the high side) for her.

 

I think the normal ranges depend on the lab, but from what I can tell looking at this and previous blood work, it's around 5-118.

 

Anyone know what a high ALT indicates? I haven't researched yet b/c they had a problem with their machine and I'm waiting for the actual results to come back from the lab. These results show hemolysis, which can affect ALT levels apparently. :dunno

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Jen, CPDT-KA with Zuri, lab in a greyhound suit, Violet, formerly known as Faith, Skye, the permanent puppy, Cisco, resident cat, and my baby girl Neyla, forever in my heart

"The great thing about science is that you're free to disagree with it, but you'll be wrong."

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This is from the OSU site:

 

 

<H3>Liver enzymes

The liver enzymes alanine transaminase (ALT), aspartate aminotransferase (AST), and alkaline phosphatase (ALP) are all used to evaluate the health of the liver and can be increased in association with various liver diseases. ALT is an enzyme found inside hepatocytes (liver cells) and in muscle fibers; damage to hepatocytes or muscle by toxins, trauma, or inflammation causes increases in ALT activity (values) in serum. As a general rule, high ALT activity is suggestive of ongoing liver damage (of which there are many causes, such as hepatitis and ingestion of toxins or drugs); however, trauma (e.g. a dog hit by a car) or extensive muscle damage (e.g. rhabdomyolysis) can cause increases in ALT activities. AST is less liver- specific than ALT; high AST activity usually occurs in cases of severe muscle or liver damage, in addition to liver disease. In most dogs with extensive muscle disease, another enzyme (CK or creatinine kinase) is also markedly increased in serum. Greyhounds have slightly higher ALT, AST, and CK

activities than non-Greyhound dogs.

 

ALP is less liver-specific than ALT. When increases in ALP are due to liver disease, the bile pigment (bilirubin) concentration also increases, and the dog may be jaundiced (yellow). ALP activity can also be mildly increased in young growing dogs, and markedly increased in association with reactions to certain drugs (corticosteroids, barbiturates) or adrenal gland disease (hyperadrenocorticism or Cushing’s disease). Additional information on the liver can be gained by evaluating the cholesterol, albumin, BUN, and bilirubin concentrations. Decreased concentrations of cholesterol, BUN, and/or albumin (see below), and increased concentration of bilirubin can be seen in dogs with some types of chronic liver disease. Changes in some or several of these values may be an indication for your veterinarian to assess liver function or morphology. A bile acid blood test before and after feeding is one of the tests used to evaluate liver function, and is normally not included in a standard biochemical profile; abdominal radiographs and ultrasonography are noninvasive techniques used to image the liver.

 

</H3>


Meredith with Heyokha (HUS Me Teddy) and Crow (Mike Milbury). Missing Turbo (Sendahl Boss), Pancho, JoJo, and "Fat Stacks" Juana, the psycho kitty. Canku wakan kin manipi.

"Those who can make you believe absurdities can make you commit atrocities." - Voltaire

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I did a quick search and hounds have a higher ALT than other dogs (isn't that almost the case with other stuff on blood work??)

 

I found this but didn't see a range listed

http://www.greyhound..._Greyhounds.pdf

Edited by Wonder

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Kari and the pups.
Run free sweet Hana 9/21/08-9/12/10. Missing Sparks with every breath.
Passion 10/16/02-5/25/17

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Hm. Looks like slightly higher values are not out of the ordinary.

 

 


Meredith with Heyokha (HUS Me Teddy) and Crow (Mike Milbury). Missing Turbo (Sendahl Boss), Pancho, JoJo, and "Fat Stacks" Juana, the psycho kitty. Canku wakan kin manipi.

"Those who can make you believe absurdities can make you commit atrocities." - Voltaire

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Hm. Looks like slightly higher values are not out of the ordinary.

 

 

 

I still can't find anything listing a range though

gallery_2213_3086_11460.jpg

Kari and the pups.
Run free sweet Hana 9/21/08-9/12/10. Missing Sparks with every breath.
Passion 10/16/02-5/25/17

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:censored I doublechecked and these are the for real results. Neyla's ALT is significantly increased and her AST is up a bit. Looks like we may be looking at liver issues. Time to send this off to our oncologist. :(

 

Hm. Looks like slightly higher values are not out of the ordinary.

 

 

 

I still can't find anything listing a range though

Did you see my post? Idexx range is 5-107, Antech is 12-118, close enough that I think you can use those for comparison. But check for notes on hydrolysis as my lab work says it can cause an increased value as well.

gallery_12662_3351_862.jpg

Jen, CPDT-KA with Zuri, lab in a greyhound suit, Violet, formerly known as Faith, Skye, the permanent puppy, Cisco, resident cat, and my baby girl Neyla, forever in my heart

"The great thing about science is that you're free to disagree with it, but you'll be wrong."

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:censored I doublechecked and these are the for real results. Neyla's ALT is significantly increased and her AST is up a bit. Looks like we may be looking at liver issues. Time to send this off to our oncologist. :(

 

Hm. Looks like slightly higher values are not out of the ordinary.

 

 

 

I still can't find anything listing a range though

Did you see my post? Idexx range is 5-107, Antech is 12-118, close enough that I think you can use those for comparison. But check for notes on hydrolysis as my lab work says it can cause an increased value as well.

Yeah, I saw your post but for some reason was thinking those were for normal dogs :lol

 

Couldn't the increase be due to the meds she's taking?

Time for milk thistle?

gallery_2213_3086_11460.jpg

Kari and the pups.
Run free sweet Hana 9/21/08-9/12/10. Missing Sparks with every breath.
Passion 10/16/02-5/25/17

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Yeah, I saw your post but for some reason was thinking those were for normal dogs :lol

 

Couldn't the increase be due to the meds she's taking?

Time for milk thistle?

Yeah, they are for normal dogs. Sorry, you meant for a greyhound, my bad. Still, the link from Meredith notes only slightly increased. :dunno

 

Yeah, most likely from the Deramaxx. Not unexpected I guess, just kind of upsetting b/c we were looking for kidney issues all along, I just assumed her liver would be fine. :( Anyway, yes, we were considering adding milk thistle anyway so I definitely will. For all I know, this level isn't alarming, but it's much higher than her previous blood work and no longer in the normal range so I think it's fishy.

 

Anyway, sorry for the hijack here. :blush

gallery_12662_3351_862.jpg

Jen, CPDT-KA with Zuri, lab in a greyhound suit, Violet, formerly known as Faith, Skye, the permanent puppy, Cisco, resident cat, and my baby girl Neyla, forever in my heart

"The great thing about science is that you're free to disagree with it, but you'll be wrong."

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Yeah, I saw your post but for some reason was thinking those were for normal dogs :lol

 

Couldn't the increase be due to the meds she's taking?

Time for milk thistle?

Yeah, they are for normal dogs. Sorry, you meant for a greyhound, my bad. Still, the link from Meredith notes only slightly increased. :dunno

 

Yeah, most likely from the Deramaxx. Not unexpected I guess, just kind of upsetting b/c we were looking for kidney issues all along, I just assumed her liver would be fine. :( Anyway, yes, we were considering adding milk thistle anyway so I definitely will. For all I know, this level isn't alarming, but it's much higher than her previous blood work and no longer in the normal range so I think it's fishy.

 

Anyway, sorry for the hijack here. :blush

 

hijack away

 

I'm just asking for someone in my group and my vet is out of the country so I can't call him to ask :lol

gallery_2213_3086_11460.jpg

Kari and the pups.
Run free sweet Hana 9/21/08-9/12/10. Missing Sparks with every breath.
Passion 10/16/02-5/25/17

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Hello,

I just found out that Gracie's ALT scores are high too, so I'm interested in hearing from anyone else who has been through this what it might be. The vet suggested that since she is in good health otherwise, we try giving her some 'nutro-ceuticals' for a few weeks then retest the ALT result to see if it improves.

Has anyone else had experience with a high ALT score?

Thanks!

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