Taking Carly To The Vet,

[Guest needlenoselover]

Ok, just got back from MY vet. They looked at the bloodwork, and said that from the levels that are elevated, it looks like something is going on with her kidneys. So they took a urine sample from her and will have the results back Thursday. I told her abut what the other vet suggested, biopsies, Pepcid. She said no way. Don't give her anything until the urine comes back. And as for the biopsies, she didn't quite know what to say. Except, no, she doesn't need that procedure done. Thank goodness!!! She didn't lecture me about the raw diet. Big plus. (She is a new vet to the practice) And she just loved on Carly! Telling me what a good girl she is and how pretty. That always makes you feel better! So I won't get any answers until Thursday, but I am ok with that. I feel much better going to the right vet and getting a more straight forward answer. And I like it better when they tell me what the next step is. Not, it could be this or that, and we could do this procedure and more bloodwork, and then xrays. Thank you all for your good thoughts. Keep them coming!!!

[Jackandgrey]

Okay! Sounds like she is at the right vet now. There is no excuse for your treatment at the last place. I hope all is well or at least easily treated, with your girl.

[silverfish]

Sorry you had such a bad experience.

 

It's worth remembering that dogs fed on a raw diet will have naturally higher levels of BUN and Creatinine due to the higher levels of accessible protein in their diet.

 

Raw Food Diet Study:

In collaboration with Dr. Susan Wynn, we investigated the basic clinical laboratory parameters of 256 healthy adult dogs of varying ages and breed types being fed raw food diets for at least 9 months. The same laboratory (Antech Diagnostics) analyzed the samples from 227 of the dogs. From this group, there were 87 dogs fed the classical BARF diet of Dr. Ian Billinghurst, 46 dogs were fed the Volhard diet of Wendy Volhard, and the remaining 94 dogs were fed other types of custom raw diets.

 

 

There were 69 dog breeds represented, including 233 purebreds, 16 crossbreds, 1 mixed breed and 6 of unknown breed type. The predominant breeds represented included: 28 Labrador Retrievers, 21 Golden Retrievers and 21 German Shepherd Dogs, 10 Whippets, 8 Shetland Sheepdogs and 8 Bernese Mountain Dogs, 6 Rottweilers, 6 Border Collies, 6 Doberman Pinschers, and 6 German Pinschers, and 5 Cavalier King Charles Spaniels, 5 Australian Shepherds, 5 Borzoi, and 5 Great Danes. Most of the dogs were neutered males (73) or spayed females (85), whereas there were 31 intact males and 32 intact females. Another 6 dogs were of unknown sex. The mean age of the group was 5.67 ± 3.52 years (mean ± SD); and the mean length of time fed a raw food diet was 2.84 ± 2.54 years. The data from this group of dogs were compared to the same laboratory parameters measured at Antech Diagnostics from 75 healthy adult dogs fed a commercial cereal-based kibbled diet. Preliminary statistical comparisons of results for the raw and cereal-based diets found them to be essentially the same with the following notable exceptions:

 

 

• Higher packed cell volume (hematocrit) in all raw diet fed groups (range of 51.0 ± 6.6 – 53.5 ± 5.6 %) versus cereal-based kibble (47.6 ± 6.1 %).

• Higher blood urea nitrogen (BUN) in all raw diet fed groups (range of 18.8 ± 6.9 – 22.0 ± 8.7 mg/dL) versus cereal-based kibble (15.5 ± 4.7 mg/dL).

• Higher serum creatinine in the Volhard raw diet group only (1.20 ± 0.34 mg/dL) versus cereal-based kibble (1.07 ± 0.28 mg/dL).

 

While a more detailed analysis of other parameters has yet to be completed, initial results indicate that dogs fed raw meats (natural carnivores) have higher red blood cell and blood urea nitrogen levels than dogs fed cereal-based food (obligate omnivores). Thus, the normal reference values for dogs fed raw food diets should probably be revised.

 

Source

 

Your Carly's values look higher, but there still may be less to panic about than with a kibble-fed dog. Greyhound creatinine tends to run higher and total proteins lower than other breeds -

 

Greyhound Bloodwork - Suzanne Stack DVM

 

so it would be worth checking that the lab is using greyhound reference values, and that your vet is aware of their differences.

[Guest vahoundlover]

Sending prayers Carly will be getting better soon!

[Guest needlenoselover]

The vet called already! YEAH! She said that it looks like the urine concentration was good, and she wasn't losing any protein that way. But there were a lot of white blood cells in the urine, which could indicate a urinary infection. So she prescribed a course of antibiotics, and then they will recheck her urine again. If she still isnt gaining any weight, then they will do abdominal xrays and go from there. I am so relieved! I can't begin to explain how happy I am that it could just be a infection and nothing more!

[Guest bowiebears]

Prayers for you and Carly after all this!

 

A good vet who understands the people whom the animals own is very important.

I have been very lucky with all our vets, even at the e-vets over the last 8 years.

 

Have yourself a cookie (or whatever will help) to calm down.....agive skritches and doggie hugs to Carly!

 

--Isaac

[Rickiesmom]

Hope the antibiotics clear things right up for Carly

[Guest vahoundlover]

Hope the antibiotics do the trick!

[RobinM]

Hope the antibiotics do the trick!

 

Me too!

[Burpdog]

She didn't lecture me about the raw diet. Big plus

 

Remind the vet that dogs on raw diets have different test results. I'll see if I can find Bill's answer on this.

 

Do a urine culture

[silverfish]

Excellent news!

[Burpdog]

http://forum.greytalk.com/index.php?showtopic=54567&hl=

 

Two reasons for the BUN and creatinine to be high.

 

1. She is a Greyhound and they run higher BUN and creatinines than non-Greys.

2. You are feeding raw... and dogs fed raw tend to run higher BUN and creatinines. (http://www.antechdiagnostics.com/clients/antechNews/2003/jun03_02.htm)

 

Ask your vet to run a urinalysis and check a urine specific gravity. If the urine specific gravity is 1.020 or greater... the elevations in the bloodwork can't be from kidney disease. Elevations in BUN and creatinine occur when 75% of the kidney function is lost. The kidneys lose the ability to concentrate the urine though when 66% of the function is lost. Make sense? I'd be sure to recheck that ALT... it is not "that" high... but ALTs are not "normally higher" in Greys!!

[Guest needlenoselover]

She didn't lecture me about the raw diet. Big plus

 

Remind the vet that dogs on raw diets have different test results. I'll see if I can find Bill's answer on this.

 

Do a urine culture

 

 

What is the difference between the two? What does a urine culture look for?

[Burpdog]

It may grow things not visible in a urinalysis.

[Guest needlenoselover]

It may grow things not visible in a urinalysis.

 

 

I will ask for that to be done after the course of antibiotics. Since she will need a recheck anyway. Thank you for the information!

[Burpdog]

Yes, if she is on antibiotics, you have to wait a certain amount of time

[Jackandgrey]

The urine C&S simply takes the sample and grows it in a medium to see if there are any organisms that don't belong (C = culture) and then if there are, tests them to see what antibiotic kills them or that they are sensitive to. ( S = sensitivity).