# Raw diet & Liver Damage??



## flipgirl (Oct 5, 2007)

Hello,
I feed my dog Nature's Variety Frozen Raw. I just had a wellness done for her and her ALT was high. Not significantly but I did a fasting ALT and it was even higher. So then I got her bile acids tested, which were high enough to not ignore it. So my vet has suggested that either I treat for liver disease or do an xray/ultrasound with fine needle aspirate and then if those are insignificant, do a surgical biopsy. The biopsy would cost $1800 but I get a discount since I work at this clinic. 

I asked my vet if she thought that my raw diet was damaging her liver. She said I could take her off it and then test it again and see what happens. She said she has seen other dogs on raw with high liver values and they've since switched from raw. She said, especially with the prey model diet, that domestic dogs don't have the same nutritional requirements as dogs in the wild. Wild dogs need to be able to reproduce quickly and abundantly so they require higher protein and energy food whereas domestic dogs don't need as much. 

What do you think about this? I agree, this makes sense. So, in your opinion,do you think I should take her off raw (in which case I would feed her Canine Life which are homemade muffins baked with fresh ingredients) and test her liver or do the xray/ultrasound and possible surgical biopsy? Do you think that feeding my dog raw could damage her liver? I guess that is a stupid question...

I would absolutely and sincerely appreciate your wisdom.


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## Northern_Inuit_Luv (Aug 26, 2009)

I'm no expert, but I do know that if you have a dog with liver disease, adding heart into a raw diet is beneficial due to the amount of taurine in it. Google Taurine and liver function to get a better idea as to why it's helpful.

I would suggest talking with a vet who is more experienced in raw diets and natural remedies before taking that advice as the cure all. In almost all cases, raw diet is better. Period. The only way it could be harmful is if the diet isn’t balanced enough (and I mean over time, not necessarily in each meal).


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## Pawzk9 (Jan 3, 2011)

flipgirl said:


> Hello,
> I feed my dog Nature's Variety Frozen Raw. I just had a wellness done for her and her ALT was high. Not significantly but I did a fasting ALT and it was even higher. So then I got her bile acids tested, which were high enough to not ignore it. So my vet has suggested that either I treat for liver disease or do an xray/ultrasound with fine needle aspirate and then if those are insignificant, do a surgical biopsy. The biopsy would cost $1800 but I get a discount since I work at this clinic.
> 
> I asked my vet if she thought that my raw diet was damaging her liver. She said I could take her off it and then test it again and see what happens. She said she has seen other dogs on raw with high liver values and they've since switched from raw. She said, especially with the prey model diet, that domestic dogs don't have the same nutritional requirements as dogs in the wild. Wild dogs need to be able to reproduce quickly and abundantly so they require higher protein and energy food whereas domestic dogs don't need as much.
> ...


I think I would follow the vet's advice and see if that makes a difference before going for the expensive testing (if it doesn't, THEN I would do the testing) Ultrasound shouldn't cost that much, though. Also are you familiar with Dr. Dodds' liver cleansing diet?


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## Mr. V (Jan 28, 2010)

Were there any other elevations in the chem panel? CBC?


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## Willowy (Dec 10, 2007)

I'm going to assume that the "muffins" you would switch her to probably have similar ingredients as the raw food you're using? If so, I don't think anything would change. Cooking doesn't change the properties of the food that much. Probably the vet is suggesting that you switch to kibble. Whether you're comfortable with that or not I don't know, but I really don't see why a balanced raw diet would cause elevated liver values.


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## flipgirl (Oct 5, 2007)

Pawzk9, no I haven't heard of Dr. Dodds' diet but I will look into it. Thanks! 

Willowy, yes that makes sense. Im not really comfortable feeding kibble. My vet reccommended the muffins because she knows my aversion to kibble. I have fed them before I switched her to raw. My vet did say something about pre-made raw having bacterial contamination which could be affecting her liver (i just dewormed her before doing the bile acids test). So feeding cooked fod would reduce that. I was going to switch to homemade raw but now that this has come up, I don't know. If her liver values dont change after the diet change then I can switch back to raw. 

Mr. V, her other values were normal,though her triglycerides were a bit high but not significantly. Shr is about 3 lbs. overweight due to me being lazy during the winter and not taking her for walks. I am very strict about the amount I feed her but she does sneak into things. My mom (her grandma) gives her little caesars and she somehow finds them. But if I kniw she had one then I don't feed her her next meal. 

Northern inuit, yes I agree with you that raw is ideal. I will be doing more research into other raw diets. Another poster in my other thread talked about the NRC standards as opposed to those set by the AAFCO and I am looking into that. She said that NV is below the nrc"s limits in some nutrients.


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## sassafras (Jun 22, 2010)

How high was the ALT?

Honestly, it's hard for me to come up with a scenario where a raw diet would lead to a mildly increased ALT. The only thing I could even think of is if there were some kind of contamination, overgrowth and translocation of intestinal bacteria leading to hepatitis. But if that were the case the other liver values should be abnormal, too, and your dog should feel sick.


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