# High AST and low potassium



## mel boschwitz (Apr 23, 2010)

My working female bloodhound came up slightly sick last week-assuming stomach virus, but she's extremely stoic and was vocalizing her discomfort. She's fine now, but had her checked out by vet, because she NEVER shows pain. Pulled a blood panel, as I do yearly bloodwork on her so we had something to compare it to.

I guess I have been too trusting, and never really looked at her bloodwork, just went with "everything is WNL". Turns out her potassium is "WNL" but as low as it can be and still be that way. Has been past 2 yrs (only times I have done bloodwork on her). It went just below normal when she was ill, but only by a little and could easily be contributed to her loss of appetite/loss of nutrients. 

She's very active, hard working. Coat and skin look great. I looked up hypokalemia in dogs and she doesn't show any symptoms. Vet recommended supplementation, but couldnt give info as to what would be appropriate for a raw fed dog. She said to give an electrolyte powder, which has sugars and carbs. Like I said, she's raw fed, so we avoid sugars and carbs as much as possible, and because shes a bloodhound, we avoid sugars, which can contribute to production of yeast. 

If it would help her work better or make her healthier I am all for it. But what and how much? I am thinking there are better things to give than a generic electrolyte powder.

Sodium, creatine, other values WNL and pretty much right in the middle..EXCEPT "AST". I unfortunately didnt realize my regular bloodwork didnt include this, so I dont know what it has been when she wasnt sick. It was only just a little above normal. ALT was right in the middle. Vet said high AST usually meant liver or muscle inflammation. Since all her other bloodwork except Potassium was quite normal, vet doesnt think liver issues. Could low potassium lead to enough muscle issues to increase AST values?

She did get her first dose of rattlesnake vaccine apprix 10 days earlier. There did not appear to be any side effects, but vet was unsure if that could be part of it.

Any ideas?


----------



## mel boschwitz (Apr 23, 2010)

Forgot to add, her diet consists of various meat sources and types, including fish and tripe. She is supplemented with 1 egg daily, fish oil (gelcaps), actiflex 4000, and a low carb veggie mush with yogurt, because I have one dog who wont eat organ meat unless its disguised, and its easier to mix up all the organ meat into that and give it to them all, rather than try to feed organs seperately to the rest of the crew.

She's 3 years old, had her since 3 months.


----------



## Maren Bell Jones (Jun 7, 2006)

So no one on here, vet or non-vet, is really going to be able to help you because bloodwork is not interpreted in a vacuum on numbers alone. I don't know what color shirt you are wearing let alone what your dog is looking like clinically. We always look how the patient is doing with physical exam and other diagnostics. Also dogs on the low or high end of normal can be totally normal...for them. Another thing to to remember is that lab values can be incorrect, so sometimes if I have a single value that does not always make clinical sense, I take another sample and test just that value.

Sorry it's not more help, but I think you need to have a more detailed discussion with your vet or seek a referral or second opinion with another who can examine your dog.


----------



## rick smith (Dec 31, 2010)

Mel
sounds like you are a raw feeder
so am i
i've always tried to feed balanced, like you have
my problem has always been how to check that it IS balanced and what kind of "check ups" would confirm it

i've done the same bloodwork panels you have described
got the same vague answers from three diff vets as to how to interpret the values
- knocking on wood - i have had healthy dogs 
- i have also decided annual blood tests are a waste of my time and that it is impossible to test that a raw diet is properly balanced with blood panels 

still waiting for a better way but not holding my breath and given up on searching for the best way to check this 
.... of course i'm probably doing it all wrong .....


----------



## Gina Pasieka (Apr 25, 2010)

The high AST with a normal ALT would likely be muscle. We would not even think twice unless this number is twice normal usually. Any episode of trauma could do this. There are some primary muscle diseases that could do it...but would be very rare. I would just plan to recheck it in a few weeks to make sure that the values either goes down or at least stays stable.


----------



## Craig Snyder (May 7, 2012)

You might want to think about adding some banana to your dog's diet if you think think potassium is an issue. It's often recommended to people to raise potassium levels and is a favorite amoung athletes. 

From what MINIMAL research I looked at, there are no issues with banana's for dog. Here's one article of several:

http://wendtworthcorgis.wordpress.com/2010/02/23/bananashealthiest-mood-food-snack-dogs-love-them/

http://www.sarahsdogs.com/qa/can-dogs-have-bananas/

So it looks like you can't hurt your dog by giving some banana in their diet. But they are high in sugars, (see the article) so if you have specific caloric targets, you might need to reduce something else in their diet. On the upside, banana's are cheap, available year round, easily digestible, the dogs like them, and they can be prepared in numerous ways. Dried for training treats, fried, mashed or raw.

I have shared a banana with mine with no ill effects in the past but not as a daily part of their diet. (I've often shared my dried banana from some trail mixes I use when out).

Craig


----------



## mel boschwitz (Apr 23, 2010)

Craig,
Thanks for the info! I had always thought that dogs dont digest raw fruits and veggies well. I didnt see anything in those articles that talked about whether or not there was any measurable affect. BUT, since its non toxic, if I try it, it's not going to hurt her. 

Bloodhounds are prone to yeast issues, which the feeding of excess sugars can exacerbate, so I do have to be careful on that account. 

But thanks for the info. I think I will try some mild potassium supplementation with something like the bananas or some meat that I have read to be high in potassium. I will retest her in a bit like Gina suggested. If her potassium levels go up (and hopefully AST down), then great. If, as Maren suggested, she is just one of those dogs that her normal is a low level, then I will discontinue.

Gina, thanks for the info about the AST level. With it only being a few ticks over normal and everything else being normal (except potassium) I wasn't TOO concerned, but of course, I only want the best for her.


----------



## Craig Snyder (May 7, 2012)

No problem. I hope in a few months you bring this post current and let us know if you saw any changes. And at what levels.

Craig


----------

