Why are my cat's liver levels high? Is new food or herbs to blame?

It is unlikely that diet alone is the cause of significant decrease to liver function. I would agree that Royal Canin and Hill's are not very different in terms of dietary quality. I feel that starting on a liver diet at this point based on one blood test is very premature and that further diagnostics are likely warranted. Some possible causes of increased liver values including endocrine conditions, liver shunts, hepatitis, bile duct / gall bladder issues, liver / gall bladder tumors, or fatty liver disease. Depending on the nature and magnitude of the elevation, it may be insignificant as well if Maki's findings were not coupled with any clinical signs of illness. Some additional diagnostic testing to look into things more would be additional more specific blood work, radiographs, and ultrasound. Rather than dietary change, there are more target liver supplements. One that comes to mind is called Denamarin. There is a feline formulation available that would work fine. Hope this helps.

Hello, sorry to hear about Noa. Based on the information you provided, I would be most concerned with liver disease. This may require further diagnostics to rule out an infectious cause vs an inflammatory cause vs cancer. Most commonly in cats, we can see infectious and inflammatory causes for liver disease. Other diagnostics your veterinarian may offer is additional bloodwork, an abdominal ultrasound, and a biopsy of the liver. Hope this helps and best of luck!

Hi, yes in cats even small changes in liver enzymes can be significant and are worthy further investigations. An ultrasound will have a look at the liver structure and biliary tree and will definitely provide more useful information.

Although we can not prescribe treatment via an online method (illegal with our veterinary licenses), what i can tell you is that an ultrasound can not assess liver function. Ultrasound is just an image so it can tell you size and texture changes to organs and evaluate for masses, fluid, etc. Also the good appetite and energy level are not typical with liver failure. Your cat has elevated liver enzymes and total bilirubin but this does not always mean liver failure. I would try to get better clarification from your vet about what was seen on the ultrasound and were the other organs normal (pancreas, GI tract, etc.). More common causes of these bloodwork changes would include liver/biliary infection, pancreatitis, and underlying GI disease associated with the above. Cancer and certain infectious diseases such as FIP can as well. So options would include additional testing to search for a cause (such as pancreatitis testing, liver aspirates, etc.) and/or symptomatic treatment can be attempted for pancreatitis, liver infection, etc. I hope this helps and thank you for using Petco Pet Education Center, formerly Petcoach!

Hi and thanks for using PetCoach! Sorry to hear about Toby. Dehydration shouldn't affect creatinine. It affects BUN. Not sure what caused the slight rise in creatinine but that usually means there may be some kidney dysfunction. It's not that elevated and could be laboratory error also since the BUN is normal. Liver enzymes can become raised for many reasons. Liver inflammation, infection, pancreatitis, Inflammatory Bowel Disease, toxin exposure, among many other things. I don't think feeding a wet food is a bad idea, it forces the cat to take more fluids in since canned food has a high water content. I would also recommend a liver supplement to address the rise in the liver enzymes. I would advise checking out this website and the following products- https://vet.vrshealth.com/product/1157 Hepato TruBenefits and Cat and Small Dog Omega Benefits (fish oil) **Use Promo code “petcoach20” for a discount on your order. These two supplements can help the liver and the entire body repair. I would advise trying these and then have the bloodwork redone in 30-60 days to see if the values are better. Good luck

Hello and thank you very much for your question. Because the liver enzymes are increasing, even with liver protectant medications on board, I now believe it is time to perhaps consider a liver biopsy. It is possible that when the original ultrasound was performed, there was a liver specific disease that was not detectable on the ultrasound. So at the very least, I would repeat the ultrasound, as well as try to get a liver biopsy. Make certain that your general practitioner feels confident with this procedure. If they are not, please have them refer you to an internal medicine specialist. Thanks a lot for your question. I hope you find the answer.

Hello, thank you for using Petco Pet Education Center, formerly Petcoach. If Sancho's liver values are elevated due to the ingestion of some foreign material, be it a plant or other toxin, & he is eating with no vomiting or diarrhea, your veterinarian may be taking a wait & watch approach. Usually, we will administer emetics ( to induce vomiting ) & an intestinal absorbant such as charcoal if this was an acute issue. But often we do not see these elevations for hours to days after an insult to the liver has occurred. If Sancho is well, rechecking the values in several weeks is prudent. The values may change by this time. If not, we need to see if this is a chronic issue with the liver, or possibly even the gall bladder. Medications may be need ed at this time, including some neutraceuticals such as Sam-e and milk thistle. It is important that you stay in close contact with Sancho's veterinarian for any recommendations. Take care.