Anyone with veterinary knowledge?

[dilbertina]

My mixed breed 11yo recently had a couple of benign lumps removed under general anaesthetic, all went well and he is fully recovered. However the vet did a blood screen at the time and this showed a potential liver problem.

I am in France so language barrier a slight problem...his ALKP result was 1060 with 23-212 stated as normal. Everything else was ok. The vet put him an a 30day course of "Delursan" (acide ursodesoxoycholique in French if that helps!) and Zentonil+ which seems to be a dietary supplement.

The vet thinks he does maybe have some slight abdominal swelling on the left hand side. He had his blood redone today, including something that checks the spleen and has passed all with flying colours.

Vet has said they could do a scan type thing espec. of liver, but says it's not strictly necessary right now as he seems well and results are fine.

Any views or advice?

Many thanks

I can't help but Joolyjoolyjoo on here is a vet and is generous with her advice and very helpful. Perhaps you might like to pm her and ask her to look at this thread.

Wishing pooch all the very best of health and you a worry-free future. :)

Know nothing about dogs but the urso is also given to women with obstetric choleostasis which is a liver problem.

I am a vet. ALKP is just one of the enzymes that can be elevated with liver disease, but it can also be raised for other reasons eg. inflammation elsewhere. It really indicates cellular damage. With sudden liver damage, ALT would usually be up as well. If the ALKP has now gone back to normal and the ALT was never up, whatever the problem was may well have resolved. If both enzymes remain high, or rise again, it would be wise to think about further liver investigation - either other blood tests or a scan. Zentonil is indeed a dietary supplement which is meant to support liver function; I'm not familiar with Delursan. Anyway, it sounds to me as if your vet is taking a sensible approach; if you still feel your dog is really not quite right, asking for a scan might be a good next step to take. I hope he's feeling better soon.

Thankyou so much Alice15! Actually he hasn't been off colour at all at any point, he seems his normal perky self, keen to go for walks, eating, drinking and pooing fine.....

His ALT was less than 10 U/L both times so no problem with that. It is possible the slight swelling in his abdomen might be just another fatty lump anyway (he had one nearer the surface 1-1.5 inches across which was one of the lumps removed.) What sort of "cellular damage" could have caused the initial raised ALKP levels?

Presumably if he doesn't actually have a liver problem there is little point worrying about continuing supplements etc. Would it be prudent to get blood levels checked again in 3 or 6 months time?

Thankyou so much for your help, my French language skills are proving rather lacking when talking about potential dog illnesses, the vet trying to mime "spleen" and "burp" was a sight to behold!

Any sort of cellular damage; infection, inflammation, trauma (eg a road accident), tumours - it's a very non-specific finding which really on its own doesn't mean much more than "something's going on somewhere" - we'd interpret it together with other results to get something a bit more useful. It might be a good idea to check ALT/ALKP again in a couple of months, as you suggest - from what you say, I'd probably suggest that in the situation you describe. I'd go by your own gut feel, too, as normal blood results don't guarantee there isn't a problem - if you reckon he's not quite right, get him looked over again. Good luck.