# Liver enzyme question - High ALP value - my friend's dog



## Maglily (Feb 3, 2009)

Hi, can anyone offer info on high ALP values? and what may cause this? (most posts seem to be about ALT values), 
higher than normal ALP in bloodwork all his life. ( up to 1600). Only at the last vet visit did the vet decide to do further testing and investigate the cause. This vet did treat him as a puppy ( he did have a serious infection as a pup and was hospitalized, not sure what the cause was) and has seen him since. But he has also seen other vets at the same clinic, so not exclusively this vet who is currently suggesting more testing. 
They found a heart murmur at the last visit also, grade 2 I think, and put him on a liver support supplement "Hepato support" and was on Zentonil Plus for a month , afterwhich the ALP really went up. So my friend took him off that. 
She'll do the BAT test next. Any thought are appreciated. Thanks


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## Chardy (Oct 30, 2008)

Brenda, Make sure you study the archives here as well to make sure that your vet knows how to do an accurate BAT, (trust me some are clueless) Dr Center has a protocol that I would copy and hand to your vet, and also read up on what some members suggest to feed for a more accurate result. 

An elevated ALP can be from so many things. If it were me I would have the BAT done just so you can rule out anything there first. I also would be getting a cardiologist involved as to why the murmur is there. Mitral Valve Disease as a rule in Maltese dogs doesn't show up until later in life, so there could be some heart issues there that could be related to the liver functions. Hope this helps.


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## edelweiss (Apr 23, 2010)

Brenda, here is a simple explanation of what you are asking (I think):

Liver Function Tests: AST, ALT, bilirubin, alkaline phosphatase, GGT


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## wkomorow (Aug 26, 2011)

Brenda, the webmd artcle is great. You might also want to look at:

Normal Dog and Cat Blood And Urine Chemistry Test Results

Follow the links and it will explain what effects each value.


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## Maglily (Feb 3, 2009)

Chardy said:


> Brenda, Make sure you study the archives here as well to make sure that your vet knows how to do an accurate BAT, (trust me some are clueless) Dr Center has a protocol that I would copy and hand to your vet, and also read up on what some members suggest to feed for a more accurate result.
> 
> An elevated ALP can be from so many things. If it were me I would have the BAT done just so you can rule out anything there first. I also would be getting a cardiologist involved as to why the murmur is there. Mitral Valve Disease as a rule in Maltese dogs doesn't show up until later in life, so there could be some heart issues there that could be related to the liver functions. Hope this helps.


Yes I think it is the fasting, followed by blood test, 2 hours later a repeat test. Good to know they don't all follow the same procedure. Unfortunately we don't have cardiologists here (I believe the nearest specialists are in PEI). I will definitely forward your advise to my friends.
thank you so much.


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## Maglily (Feb 3, 2009)

edelweiss said:


> Brenda, here is a simple explanation of what you are asking (I think):
> 
> Liver Function Tests: AST, ALT, bilirubin, alkaline phosphatase, GGT


thanks Sandi! I'll check it out.


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## Snowbody (Jan 3, 2009)

I thought it was Jodi at first!:w00t: Don't scare me like that, Bren.
Relieved it isn't and hoping your friends get help.


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## Maglily (Feb 3, 2009)

Snowbody said:


> I thought it was Jodi at first!:w00t: Don't scare me like that, Bren.
> Relieved it isn't and hoping your friends get help.


Oops sorry Sue! maybe I should change the title, if there is mod reading, feel free to edit the title and add "- friend's dog" to the title. 
He is Jodi's best buddy actually.

yes his 'parent's' are pretty stressed out, less so this week because his level has always been high all his life (with no action taken by the vet), and he's never been sick as an adult so they are hanging onto that.


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## Maglily (Feb 3, 2009)

wkomorow said:


> Brenda, the webmd artcle is great. You might also want to look at:
> 
> Normal Dog and Cat Blood And Urine Chemistry Test Results
> 
> Follow the links and it will explain what effects each value.


Thank you Walter, I know you have done a lot of research for Lucky and I've sent them this link. It explains a lot!


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## maggieh (Dec 16, 2007)

Maglily said:


> Oops sorry Sue! maybe I should change the title, if there is mod reading, feel free to edit the title and add "- friend's dog" to the title.
> He is Jodi's best buddy actually.
> 
> yes his 'parent's' are pretty stressed out, less so this week because his level has always been high all his life (with no action taken by the vet), and he's never been sick as an adult so they are hanging onto that.


Done!


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## Chardy (Oct 30, 2008)

Brenda, that is so sweet of you to help out a friend! Please let us know how all turns out.


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## Maglily (Feb 3, 2009)

maggieh said:


> Done!


Thanks Maggie:thumbsup:


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