My 11-year-old dog's rheumatoid factor is high. What should I do?

Hi, thanks for using Petco Pet Education Center, formerly Petcoach! Dolly is precious! I don't think the elevated rheumatoid factor is from the fall. It doesn't usually increase suddenly. It is not a perfect test and has false positives. Regardless it doesn't fit her history at all. Just be sure that the Vet evaluated her knee well, they may need to sedate her. Even though her X-rays were normal she could have torn a ligament in her knee. Cruciate tears are the most common injury in the back leg of dogs. Also little dogs can have luxating patellas. Rheumatoid arthritis is usually treated with immunosuppressants, like prednisone. I hope this helps and I wish Dolly the best!

Great question! Yes, I would recommend having the blood test done on Blazer. Even though you are aware of the side effects, there could still be effects on her organs from the medication that are not seen symptomatically. It's very important to have her organ function checked to make sure there hasn't been any damage done to her organs from the medication.

I can certainly understand being concerned about Bear! It could be that he is painful and has arthritis. Arthritis is common in older dogs. I would take Bear into the vet for an exam. The vet can diagnose if he is suffering from arthritis, and can give him some pain meds for it. Rimadyl (an NSAID) is a good drug to give to help with the symptoms of arthritis. I also recommend giving him glucosamine or chondroitin sulfate supplements. They provide the necessary nutrients for cartilage repair and function. Use of them helps relieve some of the symptoms of arthritis, and you can use it in conjuction with Rimadyl to help maximize relief from his symptoms.

Hi there and thank you for using Petco Pet Education Center, formerly Petcoach to address your concern. Unfortunately ALP is such a vague value and does not tell us much in the way of specific diseases that it is not a very useful value. In older dogs with a high ALP, this may be a normal finding not related to any disease. Cushing's disease can cause an elevated ALP along with many other causes. If the ALP continues to rise or does not resolve, I would consider testing for Cushing's disease and have an abdominal ultrasound performed. Bronchitis and a tooth infection generally would not cause an increase in this value in my experience. I hope this helps! Please let me know if you have any other questions or concerns and I would be more than happy to help you further.

I suggest your vet take a fine needle aspirate (FNA) biopsy of the tumor to find out what kind of a tumor this is. He would be taking a little bit of tissue from the tumor painlessly with a fine needle which helps determine what kind of a tumor this is. As for the elevated Alkaline Phosphatase level: this could be a sign of liver disease/gall bladder disease or bone cancer in your dog. However, if your dog had bone cancer, it would likely have some bone pain somewhere. 51% of dogs over 8 years have a high ALP. Because there are so many causes of a high ALP, many of which are benign (harmless) processes, determining the cause of an individual dog's high ALP is difficult. Your vet may want to refer you to a veterinary internal specialist. Joint pain can also be caused by arthritis, and the lethargy could be caused by pain or disease

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.

Thank you for using Petco Pet Education Center, formerly Petcoach! Diamond is adorable! It does sound like she is somewhat painful as she is hesitant to do normal activities. This can be caused by arthritis - pretty much any joint can be affected as well as the spine. Your vet can perform a thorough orthopedic exam and x-rays to isolate the signs to a particular part of the body. Certain conditions such as Lyme disease and autoimmune disease also cause generalized joint pain and can be ruled out with bloodwork. I hope this helps and am happy to answer any other questions you have about Diamond!