The Skinny on the ALP

Liver values. A year ago, I had no idea what they were. Today, it seems as though I'm all too familiar with them. At the peak of Heather's mysterious illness, her liver values were around 3,000 - with "normal" being less than 100 for ALT and between 100-200 for ALP. Her ALT normalized relatively quickly, with her last sample showing her score at 33 in September. Results from Saturday's test show us that her ALT is still normal but her ALP has yet to come down where we'd like it to be. That's not to say our little girl hasn't made progress, however, as her ALP has decreased to 513. That's over a 130-point reduction since we last tested her in September! Oh, and did I mention Heather now weighs 24 pounds? Now, no one can call her fat (nor should they have ever done so)! Thanks to the right diet and lots of walkies, she is perfectly fit and fabulous!

With test results in hand, Heather's vet has given her the okay to move forward with a dental. The reason for getting the dental is two-fold. First, we need to take care of those pearly whites - though the vet jokingly pointed out there really aren't that many teeth left to clean. In her "past" life, Heather obviously went through some kind of trauma, causing her to lose a good number of teeth and resulting in a beautiful albeit sometimes crooked smile. The second reason is to get rid of three benign tumors: one that has been growing recently on her back, another on her neck and a third, very tiny one on her eyelid. We opted to have that one shaved down, with the understanding that it will eventually grow back but something tells me this is not Heather's first dental, nor will it be her last so we will have the opportunity to shave it down again or fully remove it next time should it grow back quicker than anticipiated. All this for the lovely cost of $400-$600 (depending on whether extraction is necessary), bringing this Scottie Mom's total healthcare costs (not including heartworm medication and flea preventatives) to a whopping $7,000 this year. Alas, I can't complain. My girl is worth every penny and I am thankful to have her alive and (almost) well!