What are the implications of increased liver enzymes in dogs?

Answer 1

Depends. Need more info to help answer any questions.

Answer 2

Ask your vet to go through the implications with you and the managment of whatevr is causing the increased enzymes. There could be lots of causes, and the implications will vary depending upon the cause

Answer 3

Depends on which ones?

http://lbah.com/liver.htm has some good information on liver disease in dogs, with sample blood panel results.

http://www.canine-epilepsy.com/liverdisease.htm also has information on liver enzymes, about a third of the way down the page:

Important Liver Enzymes:

Traditionally the medical practitioner has measured the relative concentration of several enzymes which may indicate alterations in liver health. The following enzymes typically change values in the face of liver failure:

Alanine Aminotransferase: ALT. Liver specific in the dog and cat. Cell damage will cause elevations of A-LT due to leakage. The elevation of the enzyme correlates with the number of cells damaged. Falling levels of ALT may indicate recovery or may indicate a failing number of functional liver cells. Rapid increases in ALT may indicate an acute process, while slow increases may indicate bile duct obstruction.

Aspartate Aminotransferase: AST, an enzyme seen in the liver, heart, kidney, skeletal muscle and brain. The half life of the AST in the blood stream is much shorter than that of ALT, therefore the values of AST tend to drop more rapidly once liver function is resumed. AST elevations and ALT elevations should parallel each other in liver disease.

Alkaline Phosphatase. This enzyme is present in many tissues, therefore it is not very specific in liver disease, but it appears very early in the progress of liver disease, therefore it is considered quite sensitive. ALP tends to be slightly more specific in the cat, but not quite as sensitive. A similar enzyme or isoenzyme is secreted as a result of high levels of cortisone, therefore an effort must be made to separate Cortisole induced ALP or CALP and normal ALP. Liver ALP is released from the liver when many anticonvulsant drugs are administered to the dog. A similar sensitivity has not been noted in the cat.. This must be taken into account when evaluating ALP levels. ALP levels typically are greatly elevated in the young, growing animal and therefore a veterinarian should not mistake any elevations as disease in a young animal.

Gamma Glutamyltransferase GGT: This enzyme is has it's highest concentration in the kidneys and pancreas, but it is also found in the liver and other organs. The major proportion of GGT in the serum seems to come from the liver. Elevations of GGT in disease seem to stem from new synthesis rather than leakage, therefore the changes seen due to disease are not spectacular. Large elevations of GGT are more commonly associated with pancreatitis and bile duct obstruction.

Answer 4

it largely depends on which enzymes, however, increased liver enzymes usually indicates that a radical change to the dog's diet is required if the dog is going to survive:lower fat intake, no chocolate or other sweet foods, in fact no other food other than proper dog food, oh and plenty of water, no milk whatsoever.