NUTRITION
Article reprinted with permission of DVM360 - Sep 05, 2017
DVM360 MAGAZINE is a copyrighted publication of Advanstar.
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Elevated Liver Enzyme
Activity in a Dog
An Algorithm to Help you Determine “Now What?”
By David Twedt, DVM, DACVIM
VETERINARY MEDICINE
Whether a veterinary patient is symptomatic or asymptomatic,
use this guide to help you get to a diagnosis.
You just got your laboratory report, which shows ab-
normal liver enzyme [e.g. alanine transaminase (ALT),
aspartate aminotransferase (AST), gamma-glutamyl-
transferase (GGT) and alkaline phosphatase (ALP)] ac-
tivity. The frustration begins. How much do you need
to worry about it? The patient may have primary liver
disease, but a non-hepatic condition resulting in sec-
ondary liver problems is more likely. It’s important to
find the exact cause, but the path to a diagnosis can
be tricky to navigate - especially if the dog is asymp-
tomatic.
Use the following algorithm as a guide for working up
dogs with abnormal liver enzyme activities:
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