Molly had a Dental Today......

[Mollysmomma]

Molly did fine & we are home now. Vet removed a couple of skin tags off her lips, & checked her biggest fatty lipoma again, & also one on her leg.....she has many.....Only trouble is, when vet called me to tell me Molly was done & doing fine, she said that the bloodwork showed that Molly's liver values were elevated. It was the ALT--last year when it was checked, it was slightly elevated, but the vet didn't seem too worried--she said it was 174 & normal should be below 125, but sometimes there is a temporary increase for some reason, & we would keep a watch on it. I had forgotten about it--Molly seems fine, except for typical aging stuff. Well, today it was 234, so she said the fact that it has risen more indicates there is SOMETHING going on with the liver--it could just be old age related, some kind of scarring, possible tumor, infection, or trauma. She said we will start Molly on Denamarin, check her more often, say, in a month or so & see if the #'s keep rising. If they do, she might recommend sending Molly out for ultrasound & if this seems progressive we can put her on a special diet. I'm worried about my special old girl--she has always been so healthy compared to the Pugs.

Rugbysmom

[ZoeysMommy]

I am glad to hear the dental went well and sorry to hear about the elevated levels. Can they just do an ultrasound now and see if there is anything going instead of waiting?

[Berna]

How old is Molly? Is she on any meds that could cause the elevated ALT levels? Ask the vet about supplementing with milk thistle. It really does wonders for liver regeneration.

[SunDance]

Are you giving her MSM? I know that can cause benign elevated level reading.

[POPTOP]

Glad to hear the dental went well.

Potion had elevated liver levels due to Rimadyl use; she was one of those labs who reacted. Vet put her on Hepagen C (milk thistle) and salmon oil. They do not "cure" anything but support liver function. It took about 3 months but when the levels started dropping, they dropped fast back to normal.

[Annette47]

I believe Denamarin contains extract of milk thistle ... hopefully it will help.

[Mollysmomma]

Thanks, everyone! Will be doing some research.....do you have any opinions on food? She is almost 12 yrs old now. And would it be safe to put a flea treatment on her? I had given her Dasuquin for a couple of days, but I don't think it contains MSM. I have to stop in at my vet's today, so I can ask her about the flea treatment, also......

[labsnewfy]

I am glad that Molly is doing well after her dental. Bailey was on Denemarin for his liver too and did well with it, brought his levels back down in no time at all. Continued good thoughts for Molly.

[Mollysmomma]

Molly's liver ALT last year was 174, which was a little elevated, but the vet wasn't worried too much at that point because normal is less than 125 so it wasn't too much of an increase. Now it is 234, so she said that is still a slow increase, but does indicate something is going on. We're starting with the Denamarin. I'm wondering if there is any special food that would be better for Molly....vet said just make sure it isn't too high in protein. Other questions I have are, should I stay away from any flea & tick treatments now, & would it still be safe to give Molly supplements for her arthritis symptoms, name Glucosamine/Chondroitin? She is almost 12 yrs old.

[Berna]

I'd switch to a homemade diet, add milk thistle and goat whey. Certainly you can add glucosamine supplements but stay away from NSAIDs until the liver levels go down.