Is my dog's ALT of 82 normal? Will cephalexin hurt his liver?

Cephalexin should always be given every 12 hrs due to the half-life of the medication, and sometimes even every 6-8 hrs depending on the severity of the infection. There can be a build up of resistance to frequent use of antibiotics, so I would try to have a more in depth conversation with your vet about long term treatment options that can keep Bruno's skin barrier at optimal levels, such as daily fish oils, prescription diets, and medicated shampoo's. Bruno getting Cephalexin at the frequency that he has been getting it should no affect his liver in a negative way or reduce his lifespan, the main concern here is resistance to the antibiotics over time. Best of luck with your furry friend Bruno moving forward and managing his apparent skin allergies and skin infections. Take care!

Hello, & thank you for using Petco Pet Education Center, formerly Petcoach. ALT is an enzyme that is released when liver cells are damaged. The normal values are usually less than 100. Unfortunately, the presence of the enzyme does not indicate the cause or reversibility of the damage, nor does it tell us if this is recent, but temporary damage, or on-going problems with the liver. Toxins, including plants, medications, such as steroids, viruses, & endocrine diseases can all cause increases in ALT. If Kobee is not having any problems, then I would recommend retesting in 6 weeks. If Kobee is sick, there are many more diagnostic tests that can be conducted to try & get to the cause of the problem. Often, we actually never find this out, & dogs do very, very well with moderately elevated values. We actually do not even get concerned until the values are at least 3xs normal, or there are other parameters that are abnormal. If Kobee is well, then all I might recommend is discussing with your vet about putting him on a neutroceutical called Denamarin. It can help with oxidative changes in the liver. I hope he does well. Take care.

All labs have a different range of normal, so it's hard to say if 173 is a concern without having this reference. It can go from between 5-107, but a lab may have a higher range to normal. So depending on that range, this may be a slight elevation. I would speak with your vet about if this is a concerning level.

The normal range for ALT in dogs is 10-130; 185/190 is not really that high. We don't really considered the ALT as elevated until it is 2-3x the high end of normal. I personally, would not be worried about an ALT of 190. Yes, it could be slightly elevated due to anesthesia. I suggest you do nothing right now and just have the ALT rechecked (along with the other liver enzymes) in 6-8 weeks.

This is not a particularly high ALT, I usually don't get too concerned until the liver values are twice the high end of the range. This does not seem like a toxic dose of ibuprofen or paracetamol for a dog Ginger's size if only 2.5 ml of the liquid was ingested. If he still seems restless or you have more questions about his lab results you may want to check in with his veterinarian.

Elevated ALT does not mean certain death for your dog, many blood test come back with elevated ALT and it is eventually treatable in most cases. Denamarin can help liver function in general but not always. if Prednisone is suspected to be the cause it may need to be stopped gradually.

Using antibiotics is generally safe for pets with kidney failure, however Sofiya needs some aggressive treatment for her kidney issues. This could look like more testing, including an abdominal ultrasound, leptospirosis testing, checking for tick diseases, and other tests depending on what is going on with her clinically. It would also include treatment of IV fluids, anti-nausea medications, medications to lower her phosphorous levels, and others (again depending on how she's actually doing). In short, the Cefor isn't going to treat the issues in this bloodwork.