French Bulldog With High Liver Enzyme Levels? Please Help

[Guest LittleMissOdie]

Hi all,

We have a 6 month old little Frenchie girl who has been with us since she was 8 weeks old. We took her to the vet's 2 days ago for her spay operation where they ran bloodwork prior to the procedure and found that both her ALT and ALKP levels were high - ALT levels were around 997. The vet said this was slightly concerning because normal levels are around 100. She advised to put off the spay and we have done a bile acid test to make sure Odie's liver is functioning properly.

The vet mentioned it could be a number of things, but one of the possibilities was a liver shunt which is a congenital condition and very serious. The vet said not to jump to conclusions though, but obviously I am worried sick. The thing is, Odie is a happy, healthy Frenchie and I've not noticed anything wrong with her - she LOVES to eat anything she can get her paws on, very alert, loves to run, play and cuddle and is very energetic - she is either on or off, there is no in between! Furthermore her coat is shiny and beautiful, she is at a normal weight for a Frenchie girl her age (about 8.5 kilos) and the vet said her colour looks excellent. I've not noticed any abnormal vomiting or diarrhea, I have seen her vomit a couple of times right after a meal but I attributed this to her eating WAY too fast (like I said, she is a garbage guts) and her behavior at the time did not concern me, she's always very very bouncy and never acts 'sick'. Her stools are usually normal looking, a few times I've noted soft stools but I attributed this to changing up her food a few times when she was growing (we always tried to do it gradually over a week but she still seemed to be sensitive to the change) but they went back to normal after she got used to her food.

My question is has anyone ever had their pup's bloodwork come back with high ALT levels, and what did you find after testing? Should I be as worried as I am? Has anyone ever had a pup with a diagnosed liver shunt, and what were the symptoms?

We get the test results tomorrow but I just wanted some reassurance I guess, or hear some experiences as I'm not quite familiar with liver issues.

Edited October 28, 2012 by LittleMissOdie

[JulesP]

Try not to worry too much until you get the results.

I have a border collie with inoperable multiple liver shunts. Whilst she appeared 'healthy' she was always a very fussy eater. She is also very little. Poos were normal and she never vomited. When the problem got more advanced She displayed some neurological systems like tremors, walking strangely and rubbing her head on things. She also developed fluid in her belly. Amber's ALT actually wasn't that high - 268.

[Guest LittleMissOdie]

Try not to worry too much until you get the results.

I have a border collie with inoperable multiple liver shunts. Whilst she appeared 'healthy' she was always a very fussy eater. She is also very little. Poos were normal and she never vomited. When the problem got more advanced She displayed some neurological systems like tremors, walking strangely and rubbing her head on things. She also developed fluid in her belly. Amber's ALT actually wasn't that high - 268.

Thank you for your reply. Just out of curiosity do you have to feed her a special diet now?

[JulesP]

Yes Amber can only eat Hills L/D. Anything meaty or bones can cause her to have tremors. She is also on 2 sorts of medication.

Funnily she now scoffs her food! I tried every single expensive brand of kibble, raw, barf etc etc and she would barely eat. Now she has this crappy soy food and loves it!

[dancinbcs]

Don't panic until you have more information but if it is a liver shunt, the breeder has probably never run into the problem before. Frenchies have a long list of known hereditary problems but liver shunt is not one of them. It is actually pretty rare and usually not inherited in most breeds so even the very best breeders can have a puppy born with it. Only the handful of breeds where it is common are routinely checked for liver shunt.

Congenital just means the puppy was born with the problem because it didn't develop properly and does not mean the puppy inherited the problem from it's parents.

Hopefully all of this is irrelevant in this case and it isn't liver shunt, just a simple lever enzyme level hiccup.

[Guest LittleMissOdie]

Hopefully all of this is irrelevant in this case and it isn't liver shunt, just a simple lever enzyme level hiccup.

Thank you, the vet also mentioned that it could be due to her ingesting something toxic, I really hope this is the case as she is a garbage guts and will try to eat anything that looks edible