Elevated ATL levels

[Gus71]

Hello

our 2 year old French bulldog has elevated ATL levels. His level went from 160 to a recheck up to 980 in a month. During that month he was on a liver supplement which obviously didn’t work to well. Vet recommended doing a ultrasound and bile acidic test. What could cause his levels to be high? Is it possible he might need to go on a special diet? We are extremely nervous over this. 

[tdierikx]

Why was your dog on a liver supplement? Is he on any other medications? Was ALT the only abnormal finding in his blood test?

 

Other causes of elevated ALT can be intestinal inflammation and heart disease... and even dental disease can cause ALT to go up. In rarer cases it can be caused by muscle injury.

 

I'd definitely get the liver ultrasound done in order to see if there is in fact any liver disease happening. Bile tests would usually be advised if other enzymes were also outside the normal range, indicating possible pancreas or gallbladder issues, rather than specific liver issues. These organs can also be looked at during any ultrasound done on the liver - if only to rule out any obvious abnormalities there.

 

T.

[JulesP]

With levels that high and the breed it is possible your pup has a liver shunt. 

 

Is your pup small, fussy about eating and displays some odd behaviour (pressing head into a wall, shaking, arching neck and licking lips etc). 

 

The next step would be a bile test. 

 

Ultrasounds often do not pick up things like a shunt. The best test for this is a CT. 

 

I would suggest going on a prescription diet (Royal Canin Hepatic or Hills L/D) immediately to reduce protein load on the liver.