Elevated Bun In Rawfed Pup

[Guest Cris_M]

Duncan had his yearly check-up and bloodwork on Wednesday. His BUN was elevated -- 32 mg/dl. Norm is 7-25. Everything else is normal. He is rawfed so I expected his BUN to be up, but I want to know what is normal for a rawfed dog. FYI, his pre-rawfed BUN was 17 (done 11 months ago). Our vet isn't worried about the elevated reading even though he doesn't know Duncan is rawfed, but he would like Duncan to be retested in 3-6 months.

 

Anybody have experience with this? Any advice?

 

Thanks so much.

Cris and Duncan (who would prefer not being stuck again if he doesn't need to be!)

[Guest spider9174]

do you have the pdf from Dr. Freeman on BUN/Creatinin ratios?

if not, pm me and I'll send it to you.

 

I can't remember what Gable's is off the top of my head...I think his Bun runs around 29 and his creatinin is around 2.0. These are elevated even for Greyhound. Have you had his urnine checked? If the Bun and creatinine are high, but there is nothing wrong with the urinalysis, there is likely nothing wrong with your pups kidneys.

 

Another consideration for feeding raw, is the phosphorous content. Bone is high in phosphorous content. The conventional wisdom is that high protein diets are hard on the kidneys. True in that there are more protein byproducts to remove. However, it is the phosphourus that is harder to remove and studies are showing that higher protein diets are not bad for odler dogs.

[Guest Cris_M]

do you have the pdf from Dr. Freeman on BUN/Creatinin ratios?

if not, pm me and I'll send it to you.

 

I can't remember what Gable's is off the top of my head...I think his Bun runs around 29 and his creatinin is around 2.0. These are elevated even for Greyhound. Have you had his urnine checked? If the Bun and creatinine are high, but there is nothing wrong with the urinalysis, there is likely nothing wrong with your pups kidneys.

 

Another consideration for feeding raw, is the phosphorous content. Bone is high in phosphorous content. The conventional wisdom is that high protein diets are hard on the kidneys. True in that there are more protein byproducts to remove. However, it is the phosphourus that is harder to remove and studies are showing that higher protein diets are not bad for odler dogs.

 

Thanks so much for the reply. I have PMed you for Dr. Freeman's paper.

 

Duncan's creatinin was in the normal range -- 1.3. Because of this, my vet wasn't worried. Since I don't quite understand it, the paper will be a big help. Thanks again.

[Burpdog]

The paper is general--not on raw fed dogs.

 

From this thread:

 

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

 

Dr. Feeman

 

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!!

[NeylasMom]

Here's a link to an article about raw fed blood values.

[Guest Cris_M]

Thanks so much for the responses.

 

One thing I know for sure is that Duncan's tree killer pee is being concentrated just fine!

 

I'm thinking that having him retested in a while won't be such a bad idea.

 

Thanks again!

[feemandvm]

There is an easy way to adjust for being rawfed and the BUN... next time you are going in for a blood draw... have it done fasting. No food for at least 12 hours prior to having it checked adn that will generally allow the BUN to normalize if it is only diet related. : )

 

 

[Guest Cris_M]

There is an easy way to adjust for being rawfed and the BUN... next time you are going in for a blood draw... have it done fasting. No food for at least 12 hours prior to having it checked adn that will generally allow the BUN to normalize if it is only diet related. : )

 

Very cool! I will remember that advice. Thanks so much.