Gallbladder/liver issues

[Roux]

No experience with gallbladders to add, but I do have a tidbit of info I figured I should mention:
Roux's DNA testing results came back a few weeks ago and she's clear of all 219 genetic issues tested for, which is great news, but it did also find that she inherited a gene variant that may mean her ALT baseline is very low. The recommendation is to alert the vet to her idiosyncrasy because a normal range reading of ALT would mean high for her. I found that really interesting and makes me think about whether other dogs have this variant and the vets and owners just don't know that the testing could be off.

[elbrant]

@roux said in Gallbladder/liver issues:

she inherited a gene variant that may mean her ALT baseline is very low

I never realized something like this could be related to genetics...

[tanza]

@elbrant - You would be surprised Elbrant if you research the breed... but I have never seen this "gene" issue in Basenjis and not sure that I agree with the results.... Basenjis typically have different levels of blood results compared to other breeds, so I would not say this is could be normal for a Basenji.

[Roux]

@elbrant Indeed! It's fascinating! How much of us and our dogs is dictated by DNA!
@tanza You know, I was curious if this was accurate and also paranoid about her health in general, so I had her bloods done (the vet care in Taiwan is very affordable) and low and behold, her reading was below normal at 5! The "normal range" for ALT readings is between 12-120 according to the doc, who also said that this is a common genetic variant in some "old" breeds of dog, like huskies. He has no experience with Bs; I doubt any vet here does, but he was able to explain that she's completely healthy. The low baseline is just a thing to note for future reference so that if she spikes her ALT, it could read as just normal.
Check out this snippet of article: https://www.researchgate.net/figure/Association-between-ALT-activity-and-GPT-allele-frequency-by-breed-Mean-lnALT-activity_fig2_287483370 for more info! I just think about how many dogs who have this variant test "normal" or slightly high and then suffer from "mystery" symptoms! Poor pups!

@ChanningsMom sorry for the post hijack! I'll start another thread if people seem to be super interested in the GPT allele thing.

[tanza]

@roux - Just as an FYI, my basenji with blood work have always been low for ALT.... so not sure I would be too concerned about it, I would of course keep an eye on it...

[Roux]

@tanza Might just be that this is normal for Bs! Roux being my first one, I'm learning new things every day!

[tanza]

@roux - Always good to discuss with your Vet... and seems like you have a very good Vet!

[ChanningsMom]

@roux How did you test for this? I lost all of mines paperwork at some point while moving although I don’t think he had as extensive testing either… I would love to test mine for this

[ChanningsMom]

@roux This is helpful, thank you!

[Roux]

@channingsmom I went through Embark actually! They do testing for Basenji specific genetic markers like Fanconi, PRA, PKD, and Spinal Ataxia, but also 215 other possible issues, and also physical traits. Not super expensive considering I was VERY impressed by their kit, ease of use, and website detail. You can even get PDFs or direct send the extensive results to your vet(s) and OFA

Embark [link edited]

[ChanningsMom]

Not much of an update but he didn’t have much appetite. Trying other meds, ran blood again- no change. Since lex adjustments appear tire better - however he’s very very picky and what he will and won’t eat changes. He is getting enough to eat that he hasn’t lost weight

[ChanningsMom]

Since med adjustments*

[Zande]

@channingsmom said in Gallbladder/liver issues:

He is getting enough to eat that he hasn’t lost weight

That in itself is very good news. It can be very difficult to keep weight on a picky, elderly Basenji. Once they really start to lose it, often there is no putting weight back on.

Good luck !