Fat In Blood Test Has Anyone Else Had This Before?

[SueM]

My 8 yr old chihuahua had his phenomav levels checked and also a general health blood test, he suffers from Epilepsy and the blood test showed that he had higher than normal fat in his blood, time for a change of diet? he also hadn't eaten before the blood test, he had the test first thing in the morning, at present he is on the VIP no grain dry food and a bit of natures gift canned.

Edited April 6, 2013 by varicool

[Mrs Rusty Bucket]

Is your chi a normal weight for his size or a bit on the cuddly side?

I can't remember which organ (liver, spleen, kidney...?) breaks down fats - but if he's skinny, maybe one of those is not working as well as it should?

What did the vet say about it? There's quite a bit on Dr Google about fat in blood stream for humans. Not sure about dogs.

[SueM]

His liver etc checked out fine, he is overweight, due to the meds he is on to control the epilepsy he is hard to get weight off. I had a good google but lots of different opinions, the vet rang me on the phone with the test results and I didn't really get a chance to have a good chat to him. I just looked at the kibble he is on and it is certainly not the lowest in fat, as I only recently put him on that it may not be the right thing to feed him. it's the first time he has had this show up in blood tests he gets them twice a year.

[Staff'n'Toller]

It really depends how far over the norm the levels are, and generally they are read in conjunction with other key indicators when looking for organ disease.

If you are concerned then query it with your Vet and ask them was there any mention of problems in the pathologist interpretation - if there isn't one they can add an interpretation for an extra fee. But for a phenobarb assay + liver levels we generally don't request an interpretation unless there is a problem.

Cholesterol can go up and down, and as I said at the top, should not be read as a standalone type of thing. :)

[SueM]

Thanks :-) He had the general health blood test as well and had everything checked. As well as the seperate Phenobarb one :-)

[Remarkabull]

I used my Dobe to donate blood for a clients dog at the clinic I worked at and I remember the vet being surprised by how fatty his blood was. He was not overweight at all and was very healthy and in his prime (abound 5 or 6 at the time)

Vet was not concerned about it and didn't suggest I look into anything unless here were other symptoms or problems, which there weren't. He was PTS at the age of 9 due to Lymphoma, not sure if there was a connection between the 2, I never thought to ask if there could have been.

[Mrs Rusty Bucket]

Another thing that can cause high cholesterol in humans - is low vitamin D.

So if his vitamin D is low (below the middle of the ideal range) you might want to consider supplementing that. Or getting a bit more sun in the mornings and afternoons.

Vitamin D + cholesterol = most of the chemicals a body needs to function eg hormones and etc.

[SueM]

Another thing that can cause high cholesterol in humans - is low vitamin D.

So if his vitamin D is low (below the middle of the ideal range) you might want to consider supplementing that. Or getting a bit more sun in the mornings and afternoons.

Vitamin D + cholesterol = most of the chemicals a body needs to function eg hormones and etc.

Thanks that's a good tip he is inside most of the time, will do my daily walks when the sun is out :-) I am trying a change in diet as well, he could do with losing some weight.