Has anyone's horse needed a liver Biopsy?

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Icarus

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My boy who is only rising four has had two blood tests three weeks apart to test his liver function and they have both come back with abnormalities. there is a score for the normal range being 3-9 and his is 8, i dont know if that is good or bad? They say he now needs a liver biopsy, it will be done the week after next. His blood cell are showing abnormalities also.
It is inconclusive as to whether it is poisoning or a virus and the test will tell me this.
Has anyone had to go through this? I am still ion shock and really worried.
 
What is the score for? Is it gamma gt or bile? My horse had slightly raised levels for both, but it was eventually put down to just "one of those things". The vet did mention that different labs will give different figures for a "normal" range so there is a lot of room for interpretation. I seem to remember he wasn't overly worried at the prospect of doing a biopsy, I don't think it is too invasive as these things go.
Hope your horse is ok, keep us informed.
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Try not to worry....the biopsy looks a lot more dramatic than it really is. Ive seen a few done over the years and its never been as awful as Ive anticipated.
 
He started to lose weight in oct, i increased his feed etc and it was not making any difference so brought him in to be stabled at night so he could get hay overnight, also he seemed to be a bit depressed and not his usual cheeky spirited self.
Once stabled he seemed to pick up a bit and start putting on some weight. I had the come out and get a poo sample and blood test, both came back clear. I then asked for his liver function to be checked and that came back with raised levels in the gamma, so i was told to put him on a low protein diet and take out oils and fat etc, to add vit B supplement. I have put him on milk thistle and liveaid supplements.They have now taken a second blood test three weeks later and all the levels seem to be more raised than before.
 
I hope they get to the bottom of it soon. Could he have had any hay with Ragwort in it?
I'm sure the liver biopsy will be straight forward. If it's anything like what we do with humans it is a very fine needle and is usualy done by ultra sound guidance.
 
Icarus - do they suspect ragwort poisoning? If so, I've got first hand experience of this in my rescued mare. If you want to PM me for more info, but I don;t want to clog this thread if its not ragwort. xxx
 
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