Liz Buchanan BVSc MRCVS
Keymaster
Hello! A high elevation in liver enzymes would be in the thousands. Double the normal range might be seen as a relatively mild increase. Unfortunately, it is simply not true that when liver enzymes get above a certain level, it might be cancer. Some cancers cause a very mild increase in liver enzymes, some a huge one, some no increase at all. The same, however, is true in liver infections, liver failure, liver inflammation..... the numbers are not representative of the diagnosis. Sometimes, liver enzymes can increase just because the liver is working hard, e.g. digesting some drug. I have seen liver enzymes in the thousands in dogs that been normal not long afterwards and would often regard liver enzymes doubling above the normal range as a mild to moderate increase, depending on the case. Hopefully, you have by now had some feedback from the emergency team regarding whether you need to be seen as an emergency or not (I say this because you mentioned some signs that might have suggested pain). I think this is the most important thing to establish at the moment. Hopefully one of the vets responsible for the case will talk to you soon as regards the possible diagnoses (they are in best position to explain the differentials (possible diseases) to you, and how far they are with ruling things out from it). I realise that I may have worried you by using the word tumour as an example earlier; please rest assured, this really was just an example. Many, many things can cause liver inflammation and I have no way of knowing what your vets think it is in this case.
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