Same here. After routine blood work to prep for teeth cleaning, my 7 year old male basenji has 900 level for ALT as well as high levels for ALK, Globulin, and Total Protein. We did an ultrasound as recommended by vet, which did not find anything abnormal in terms of enlarged liver or masses. Vet has suggested to start him on Denamarin, water soluble Vitamin E, and omega fatty acids. Then to test blood again in 1-2 months. Vet says to still go ahead with the teeth cleaning since liver issues can also be a result of teeth issues. Please let me know how it turned out for you!
high platelet and ALAT levels
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Recently I made blood work for my girl. She's 4 y 9mo. I found some levels in her blood test are not at normal levels, but the vets just said nothing. And they really know nothing about basenjis. Here are the results which are not in normal levels for dogs:
-Platelet- 530
-hematocrit - 0,60- lymphocytes - 17,7%
- urea - 2,56
- alkaline phosphatase - 286 U/I
- ALAT - 82,4
And I checked her Thyroids too-
-TSH - <0,005 - fT4 - 5,35
- fT3 - 2,2
Cortisol - 45,3
If anyone can make any comments or has any suggestions, I would be very grateful.
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Have you asked your vet about the numbers? Basenjis are dogs so it's not as if there are special numbers. I am most definitely not an expert or even a knowledgeable consumer, but the numbers don't look that out of bounds (assuming I'm reading them correctly). I may be wrong but I believe every dog we've run blood tests on had at least one funky number. Usually not an issue. For example, the hemocrit number might be caused by your dog missing a drink of water. And sometimes the vet knows a lab comes up with odd numbers for certain tests. So again, talk to the vet about your concerns. The fact he/she wasn't concerned suggests to me that they didn't think anything was amiss.
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@donc
These are the numbers that I have ( if I got it right what you ask)
-Platelet- 530 (164-510)
-hematocrit - 0,60 (0,37 – 0,55)lymphocytes - 17,7% (12 – 30) urea - 2,56 (3,1 – 9,2) alkaline phosphatase - 286 U/I (1 - 85) ALAT - 82,4 (8 – 57)And this is combined with the fact she's putting on weight and has a huge appetite and bad breath. I am very much concerned about her but the vets said there is nothing to worry about.
P.S. I know nothing about normal levels of thyroids for basenjis. Please, somebody help with information. -
Regarding Thyroid Testing:
Everyone recommends Dr. Jean Dodds at Hemopet for complete panel Thyroid testing. Most vets and labs do not do a full thyroid panel test but Dr. Dodds Hemopet lab does. You need to have or find a veterinarian who will agree to allow you to send a blood draw to Hemopet. I ended up changing vets over this. First vet told me it was his lab (in house) or nothing. Second vet said "No problem." He even gave me a styrofoam lined box to mail the blood draw in. I had a very fat foster Basenji and needed to know if it was his thyroid (it wasn't) causing him to be so obese.
Go to www.hemopet.org and read about what you need to do to get the testing done.
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@senjisilly Thank you, I will check on it.
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Emilia - Peggy @ Colorado Basenji Rescue (if she has time), might also be able to give you some answers. It is through CBR that we rescued our beautiful little girl. Hope you find out soon. Thank you for the info on the online VEt Dr. Jean Dodds!. Had no idea.
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@emilia
The platelets are fine, so is the hematocrit. Urea close enough.Someone said all dogs, but different breeds do in fact have different "normals" on some.
Bad breathe.. means you really need to get a vet who puts her under and does a thorough teeth cleaning. Most dogs have dental problems by 3 but people think if the top looks okay, under the gums are. A vet who cleans without putting under is ripping you off and going against medical standards.
I'll run the numbers by my vet friend who has basenjis in her practice.
Most vets do full panels now, and they are actually fairly accurate, but it's better, in my opinion, to send into somewhere like Michigan. Not to say I don't trust Dodds, but when you have a pet peeve, you scratch it a lot. Have known several people whose dogs were well within normal limits and she claimed they had thyroid issues. If you absolutely have a dog with issues, yes, I'd run the results by her.
Your vet should be able to explain the results instead of blow you off. But in the meantime, I'll see if I can get a quick general answer.
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@emilia
Emilia, she said dehydration could cause the abnormal ones.That they really are not in a range of concern unless they are up again next time. -
@debradownsouth Thank you, Debra! Otherwise she's fine, she's active, she's running a lot. And we cleaned her teeth in April and she's collecting plaque very fast. I have to brush her teeth regularly. Thank you very much for your answer!
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@debradownsouth I should add something interesting found in BCOA Health booklet.
When testing your basenji, TT4 and
FT4 must be analyzed in conjunction
with TSH. Basenjis typically have a
lower reference range for TT4 than other
breeds. Research conducted by the
University of Sydney found that basenjis
and some other sighthounds have lower
normal levels of TT4 than other dog
breeds (Seavers, A.; Snow, D.H.; Mason,
K.V.; Malik, R. 2008. Evaluation of the
thyroid status of Basenji dogs in Australia.
Australian Veterinary Journal: 11, 429-
434). Given the difficulty of accurately
measuring TT4 concentrations that
low, TSH level measures are essential
to properly assess thyroid function.
Otherwise, your basenji may be
diagnosed as hypothyroid by the standard all-breed normal range and be medicated for no reason. -
@emilia
Yes sighthounds often but not always test low. If their coat is bad, low energy and other signs of hypothyroid, a trial of meds won't hurt. But as with anything it varies, and you can't look at ONE thing. That's why having the results analyzed by someone who knows look at it. But the other 3 are normal range, and a low t4 has always been an issue with vets in the old days only testing for it, then medicating. Jean Dodds helped tremendously to push for full panels.-TSH - <0,005 ............ Normal range: Thyroid stimulating hormone (TSH) 0 - 0.58 ng/mL
fT4 - 5,35....................Free thyroxine (FT4) 9 - 39 pmol/L
fT3 - 2,2......................Free tri-iodothyronine (FT3) 1.2 – 8.2 pmol/L
Cortisol - 45,3.............Cortisol, pre 15 - 110 nmol/L
