Muscle Enzymes

[Neddies]

My 12 years old Arab became very depressed on saturday had a temperature of 104 degrees and wouldn't eat anything. I thought it was another virus as he'd suffered from a nasty one at the beginning of October. The vet came out and said that yes it was most probably another virus gave him antibiotics and multivitamins and took some blood. By Sunday he had really picked up was eating again and his temperature was back to normal whereas the last virus he had he was really poorly and it took him a good few weeks to recover. Anyway I've now got his blood results which were normal (?) surprisingly, the white blood cells were normal whereas last time they were all over the place, the only thing the vet did say was that his muscle enzymes were slightly elevated. The vet said it was most probably a mild virus that he's picked up and to see how he goes, but what does the slightly elevated muscle enzmes mean, can anyone tell me, should I be worried?

 

[kildalton]

My daughter's mare did this once, her CK was elevated, and the vet wondered if she was tying up, but it was put down to a virus in the end.

 

[vicijp]

If the AST is up, it means she has tied up/is imminently prone to it. The CK rises with an episode, but can rise and fall within hours. Some horses cope with a naturally higher AST.
Could be getting over from a virus, just keep him warm and give him vit e/selenium.

 

[GreedyGuts]

I wouldn't worry about it at all, particularly if they were only slightly elevated. AST and CK are used as muscle indicators, but these enzymes are also contained elsewhere in the body. If he is not showing symptoms that suggest a muscular problem then I wouldn't stress.