Please help me understand these lab results. Potential liver problems?

carolineden11

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Hi everyone,

I have a six year old male Tonkinese cat named Dante. He just had his annual checkup with blood work and some of the results came back abnormal. His ALT=186 (reference 27-158), AST=95 (reference 16-67) and Creatine Kinase=746 (reference 64-440). My vet wants to change his diet to Hill's Science Diet L/D and give him Denamarin supplements as if this is a liver problem. However, I believe the Creatine Kinase is not related to the liver and indicates muscle or heart problems. Has anyone experienced something similar? I honestly don't really trust this vet 100%. I am going to redo the blood work with a different vet in November and I am going to get a second opinion on Aug 27. I just lost my orange tabby earlier this week at the age of 3 so I might just be over reacting right now. I am paranoid about having another sick cat. Any advice or support would be appreciated. Thank you in advance!!!
 

stephenq

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Hi everyone,

I have a six year old male Tonkinese cat named Dante. He just had his annual checkup with blood work and some of the results came back abnormal. His ALT=186 (reference 27-158), AST=95 (reference 16-67) and Creatine Kinase=746 (reference 64-440). My vet wants to change his diet to Hill's Science Diet L/D and give him Denamarin supplements as if this is a liver problem. However, I believe the Creatine Kinase is not related to the liver and indicates muscle or heart problems. Has anyone experienced something similar? I honestly don't really trust this vet 100%. I am going to redo the blood work with a different vet in November and I am going to get a second opinion on Aug 27. I just lost my orange tabby earlier this week at the age of 3 so I might just be over reacting right now. I am paranoid about having another sick cat. Any advice or support would be appreciated. Thank you in advance!!!
Hi,

High ALT and AST results both support liver issues, and a CK level as measured in the blood can support a lot of diagnostic issues, but if your vet suspected kidney issues he would run a creatine level on your cat's urine, which is much more correlated with kidney issues than a blood CK test.  You are correct that a high blood CK value can be related to heart and muscle damage, but it is for other things too.  See the link below for more info, and then i would discuss it further with your vet, or a vet you trust.

http://www.2ndchance.info/dxme-CK.htm
 
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carolineden11

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Thank you so much for your response. We actually did full blood work with creatine, BUN, Anion etc. There were 4 pages of test results! Some of the kidney results were on the high end of normal but they were still within the normal range. The only things that were above normal were the AST, ALT and CK. My vet said they were just slightly high. Do you know what is considered very high (especially for CK)? I have an appointment with another vet on Aug 27 but I am going to be a nervous wreck until this is figured out. Thanks in advance!
 

mewcatmew

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One of my cats is dealing with some liver issues right now. Their ALT was ~150 with normal being 100. The vet said they begin to be pretty concerned when the ALT reaches 300-400 range. I don't know specifically about your issue, but keep an eye out for jaundice.
 

mrsgreenjeens

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My cat's ALT values go up  periodically, for no known reason.  Each time, she goes on antibiotics and they go down again. We TRY to give her Denamarin too, since this helps heal the liver, but she is pretty much IMPOSSIBLE to pill


FYI, BUN can run high if your cat has eaten just before the lab values were run, especially if the food was high in protein.  Same may be true of the other kidney values in the CBC. 
 
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carolineden11

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Hi everyone,

I started my cat on Denamarin on Thursday. When I cleaned the litterbox I noticed an intact Denamarin tablet in his stool. It appeared to be the casing and the white pill. Any idea why this is happening? Has this happened to anyone else? I have not fed him within two hours before or one hour after giving the pill. Usually I wait longer than this. Any advice would be appreciated.

Take care,

Caroline
 

misterwhiskers

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Yikes!! This is troubling!! Have you considered contacting the manufacturer?
 
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carolineden11

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Yes, I did send them an e-mail and will ask my vet tomorrow. 
 

misterwhiskers

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Is your cat on anything that would affect the ph of his stomach or intestinal tract?
 
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carolineden11

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The only other thing he takes is Lysine powder. 
 

blueyedgirl5946

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I had a cat who took Denamarin. I understand the wait time for feeding. The pill should have been digested.
I think a conversation with the vet is definitely in order. To me it seems like for some reason this pill just was not digested by your cat. It came out the same way it went in, whole. That is troubling.
 
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carolineden11

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What do you think could cause it to come out whole? Why would this be troubling? I have contacted the manufacturer and I will call the vet tomorrow. I am just panicking. We lost my other cat earlier this week at the age of 3. 
 

blueyedgirl5946

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What do you think could cause it to come out whole? Why would this be troubling? I have contacted the manufacturer and I will call the vet tomorrow. I am just panicking. We lost my other cat earlier this week at the age of 3. 
C carolineden11 I am sorry you lost your cat earlier this week. Considering that, I understand that this is causing you worry. Let us know what the vet says. I don't know what situation would cause your cat's stomach not to digest this pill. Is he having any undigested food in his stool. It just seems like for some reason the coating on the denamin pill was not absorbed, therefore the pill was not digested. It could just be the condition his stomach was in at the time and probably not a major problem.
Has he had the pill this morning. Does he have a diagnosis as to what the vet thinks may be the problem with his liver.
 
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carolineden11

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I spoke with a vet tech who works for the manufacturing company. She said that this sometimes happens if things are moving through too quickly or if the cat is not able to digest the coating on the pill. She said sometimes it only happens once but if it continues then I can crush it up and give it with water. I am also going to let my vet know and see what she says.
 
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