My dog has high liver enzymes. Is anesthesia safe for dental cleaning?

Thanks for using Petco Pet Education Center, formerly Petcoach! Yes, it is absolutely ok to go forward with anesthesia. A high ALT should be monitored and if persistent should be worked up to try to find out the cause. Sometimes a high ALT can be transient in which case it may resolve on its own. Other possible reasons include hepatitis, an infection, among other reasons. That number is not that high so monitoring would be appropriate. They could extend the panel to look for liver function tests to make sure that the liver is working completely fine just to be extra cautious. This would entail measuring bile acids. Good luck!

I recommend a veterinary exam to check how infected the tooth is. If they listen to her heart and it is fine and her blood work is stable they may be able to do light sedation only and remove the infected tooth. Bad teeth are very painful and also the dental infection can worsen the liver problem so extracting it if it can be done safely would be my recommendation. Thanks for using Petco Pet Education Center, formerly Petcoach to help you care for Daisy.

Hi, thanks for using Petco Pet Education Center, formerly Petcoach! I personally don't think age is a major risk factor for anesthesia. Most of the problems or deaths under anesthesia are unpredictable and can happen to any age. Doing blood work and checking for any underlying issues like a heart murmur before surgery is great. Anesthesia is monitored closely by the veterinary nurses: blood pressure, oxygen levels, EKG, animals are intubated and are on oxygen and on IV fluids. There are health risks to leaving diseased teeth in the mouth as well. Overall if Angel is a healthy senior I think she will do fine! Good luck!

If the liver enzymes are elevated but liver function is normal there is probably not a significant increased risk under anesthesia. You could talk to your veterinarian about checking bile acids if it seems like this might be helpful; bile acids can help determine whether or not the liver is functioning normally. Sometimes a biliary mucocele is surgically corrected so you also may want to talk to your veterinarian about rechecking the mucocele if liver enzymes are still elevated.

Thank you for submitting your question regarding Thomas. Your question seems to have gotten cut off. I will answer it as best I can, but you can re-post it if you have further questions. Your dog was diagnosed with an elevated liver value on baseline bloodwork. What I believe your veterinarian meant was the dental surgery was not an emergency. It still needed to be done, but you need to investigate the elevated liver value first. I assume a bile acids panel was performed next. This is a liver function test that indicates if the liver is functioning appropriately or not. This came back normal meaning the liver is working. Therefore it is safe to proceed with the dental procedure. The elevated liver value is an enzyme in the bloodstream. It can be artificially elevated due to factors outside of liver disease. This was the point of the liver function test. I hope this information helps!

I’m very concerned about that high an ALT value. Personally a TTA surgery for a torn CCL is not as much a priority as diagnosing the reason the ALT is so high. I would postpone the surgery and get an abdominal ultrasound and needle aspirate of the liver to make sure all is normal. Certainly if she has liver disease the risk of anesthesia is much higher since many drugs are metabolized in the liver. Not having normal liver function could result in the drugs staying in the body longer so she may not wake up as quickly. Thanks for using Petco Pet Education Center, formerly Petcoach to help you care for Mae.

Hi, Sorry to hear Dolly has this heart issue. Anesthesia is always risky, even for perfectly healthy pets. It puts a lot of responsibility for the heart to maintain adequate blood pressure and anesthesia is generally more risky with any heart issues than normal anesthesia. I would recommend that if the teeth just need a general cleaning, to not undergo the procedure and just maintain good dental health by brushing with doggie tooth paste and giving dental chews. If the teeth have a major issue such as a fracture or extraction that is necessary to address, it becomes balancing the risks of leaving a tooth inside that should come out, versus the risks of anesthesia. To fully assess the heart you can get an echocardiogram performed by a cardiologist and consult with them about anesthetic risks. Although if the teeth are fine otherwise, I'd say just maintain vigilant dental health and Dolly will be fine. Hope this helps! -Dr. Gordon