"Buddy" 13 year old, male neutered, Jack Russell Terrier, presented to us on 11/17/11 for routine annual exam and vaccines. During the exam Dr. Steele noted severe dental disease, abscessed teeth, with severe gum recession. Dr. Steele recommended "Buddy" have a dentistry, with tooth removal.
On 11/22/11 "Buddy" came back in for his dentistry. We preformed a pre-surgical blood work panel which revealed " Buddy" had elevated liver enzymes. These could be elevated due to numerous things. "Buddy's" Alkp (Alkaline Phosphate) was 73 (normal 23-212), ALT (Alanine Aminotransferase) 475 (normal 10-100). "Buddy" was receiving IV fluids during his procedure so we decided to move on with his dental, because one the reasons his liver enzymes was elevated could be due to bad teeth. We ended up removing one tooth, placed "Buddy" on antibiotics and pain medication. We recommended we recheck liver enzymes in 6-8 weeks.
On 2/6/12 we saw " Buddy" back to recheck the liver enzymes. Today the Alkp 80, and ALT 160. This is a great decrease previous to the dental cleaning.
Dental disease can cause liver disease/failure, kidney disease/failure, heart disease, and even other systemic issue due to all the bacteria entering the blood stream at the gum line. February is National Dental Month, you can receive 10% off your pets dental during this month. Please call to make an appointment.