My dog's home liver test shows high bilirubin. Should I see a vet?

Bilirubin is a pigment found in bile. An elevated bilirubin level may indicate liver disease, a toxicity, infection, autoimmune disease or a rapid breakdown of red blood cells. If levels are high enough, your dog may appear jaundiced (yellowing of the mucus membranes or skin). It would be best to have Dahlia checked or rechecked by your veterinarian to diagnose the underlying cause.

Bilirubin can be present due to a liver problem or rapid destruction of red blood cells. Blood work and an abdominal ultrasound are the two most commonly used diagnostics. Treatment depends on the cause. Liver disease is managed with medication and diet. Red blood cell destruction is managed with medications (depending on the cause). I hope this helps and please feel free to post any additional questions.

Thank you for using Petco Pet Education Center, formerly Petcoach. There is no clinical significance to a low amylase, and I do not believe I would have been concerned with this finding. That bile acid result is high, but I don't see a fasting level. I'm not sure if the blood was obtained only once, or if you did a 12 hour fast and then offered a fatty meal and had another blood sample drawn. Regardless of how it was obtained, it is a high value, and I suppose it is hard to completely ignore. There are a couple different ways to approach this. Recommending ultrasound and biopsy is not wrong, but you could be a little more conservative and simply recheck the bile acids in 2-4 weeks. I would definitely recommend a 12 hour fast for the pre-prandial blood draw, and then feeding a fatty meal, and then obtaining another sample two hours later. A single bile acid level is not enough information. If upon recheck the findings are abnormal, then you can feel more justified in pursuing ultrasound and biopsy. I hope this helps.

The bilirubin is a bit high, as is the ALP (alkaline phosphatase) but neither of these values is super specific in terms of what the cause or the best treatment is. We can see the ALP be elevated with stress, age, and sometimes even normal cell regeneration within the liver. The bilirubin can be slightly elevated when the blood sample is what we call "hemolyzed," which can sometimes happen when blood is spun down for a blood test to be run. Therefore, if he is still showing symptoms of illness, I would echo what Dr Ana said; it may be time to consider imaging. Either X-rays or an abdominal ultrasound maybe helpful in identifying the problem and therefore identifying the best way to treat it. Take him back to the vet if he's still having troubles, as he probably is in need of some more fluids as well. Thank you for asking Petco Pet Education Center, formerly Petcoach, I hope he's feeling better.

Thank you for using Petco Pet Education Center, formerly Petcoach! When the liver suffers an insult (such as a toxicity) it can take some time for it to regenerate/repair and all values to return to normal. This process can take months. Typical supportive medications given to dogs with liver injury include Denamarin, Vitamin E, Acetylcysteine, and Ursodiol. A prescription hepatic diet (such as Hill's L/D or Royal Canin Hepatic) may also aid in decreasing any ongoing liver injury. Ursodiol is an oral medication, available by prescription only, that can add in reducing bilirubin by stimulating bile flow from the gallbladder through the biliary tree. It cannot be used if there is underlying gallbladder disorder, such as a gallbladder mucocele (gallstone). Your veterinarian will prescribe this if they feel this will benefit Tasha's recovery. You can certainly schedule a recheck with Tasha's veterinarian to discuss any additional medications or treatment options that may benefit her. The liver is a highly regenerative organ, and if given the proper support can make a complete or near-complete recovery.

I would be suspicious of a few things to cause these elevations, including: liver disease, or cholestatic disease (involving the gallbladder). Neoplasia also can't be ruled out here. I would highly recommend the next step here to be an abdominal ultrasound and a bile acid test to check the liver function. The ultrasound is valuable here b/c we can get a good look at the gallbladder and check for a mucocoele. I do hope that Bear's condition is able to be managed well moving forward. Best wishes and take care.

Hello, I am sorry to hear about Ginger. Based on the recheck liver values I would be concerned that Ginger has a problem in her biliary system, such as a GB mucocele or potentially a biliary duct obstruction. I would recommend rechecking the ultrasound to look for either of these developments. One thing that is interesting is that the other values are improving. Did your vet have any concerns about the blood sample when he ran/submitted the bloodwork. If there is a large amount of hemolysis (or breakdown of red blood cells) secondary to a traumatic blood draw or mishandling of the blood tube, this can lead to a false elevation of bilirubin. Although this value seems quite high to be due solely to sample error, I wonder if it may be contributing somewhat. If Ginger has a repeat ultrasound it might also be wise to recheck her total bilirubin level. Hope this helps, good luck!