Therefore, I will recommend surgery only if the risk associated with surgery is less than the risk of continuing with medical management. There is always a small risk the dog may not make it through anesthesia/surgery, is permanently worse, or never improves.
1 The blood tests most frequently used for liver disease are the aminotransferases (alanine aminotransferase or ALT and aspartate aminotransferase or AST). 2  Normal levels of ALT ranges from about 7-56 units/liter, and 10-40units/liters for AST.
LIVER FUNCTION TESTS. LFTs (liver function tests) are a group of blood tests that can help to show how well a person's liver is working. LFTs include measurements of albumin, various liver enzymes (ALT, AST, GGT and ALP), bilirubin, prothrombin time, cholesterol and total protein. All of these tests can be performed at the same time with a simple blood test.