Urine Protein Levels

[Guest EaglesMom]

Hi,

 

I took my boys to the vet last night for vaccinations and heartworm blood work. Chief, my 12 year old, has lost some weight so they ran a full blood and urine panel. His bloodwork came back fine, but the protein level in his urine is +2. She stated that at least 35% of his kidneys are affected and could be as much as 75%. The vet told me he would need to be on fluids (like an IV) and I could do it at home (they would show me how).

 

Chief will be 13 in July, eats fine, runs and plays in the yard AND the house and other than graying and loss of muscle tone in his hind legs, no one would guess his age.

 

One of my friends suggested that I have a sterile urine test done, where they place something up his hoohah to get the sample to rule out an infection before starting him on the fluids.

 

Does anyone have any advice or suggestions as to what to do?

 

Any help would be appreciated.

 

Becky

 

 

[CaliforniaGreys]

I was just at the vet today, my little girl has kidney disease which is controlled by meds and the "KD" diet. She had a kidney profile done today and they always take urine to check for protein. If they're just checking for protein, my vet lets me get the sample and I just make sure I get it mid-stream. But if they're checking for bacteria, they want a clean sample and get it with a needle.

[Trudy]

The only thing off is his urine protein level?

 

Ryan's is through the roof and he's not needed any IV fluids. If that is the only thing they have, I'd be wary of doing the fluids until you have more info.

[feemandvm]

You need a urine protein creatinine ratio. If the level is >1 then you will need to discuss treatment... but not fluids (see below). If it is 0.5-1 then I would recheck it in 4 weeks... no treatment needed. If it is <0.5 then no follow-up needed... the 2+ protein was a false positive on teh stick due to urine concentration.

 

http://www.VeterinaryPartner.com/Content.plx?P=A&A=1352

 

 

[silverfish]

You need a urine protein creatinine ratio. If the level is >1 then you will need to discuss treatment... but not fluids (see below). If it is 0.5-1 then I would recheck it in 4 weeks... no treatment needed. If it is <0.5 then no follow-up needed... the 2+ protein was a false positive on teh stick due to urine concentration.

 

http://www.VeterinaryPartner.com/Content.plx?P=A&A=1352

 

This is exactly what we have found (twice now ) with Jack. He's thirteen this summer and we've had two scares over protein levels. The second vet we saw was convinced that he had kidney disease but I insisted on the protein:creatinine test and guess what? It came back fine!

 

His bloodwork was fine too, but we'll have that done again soon, simply because he is a senior.

[Guest rubysdad]

You need a urine protein creatinine ratio. If the level is >1 then you will need to discuss treatment... but not fluids (see below). If it is 0.5-1 then I would recheck it in 4 weeks... no treatment needed. If it is <0.5 then no follow-up needed... the 2+ protein was a false positive on teh stick due to urine concentration.

 

http://www.VeterinaryPartner.com/Content.plx?P=A&A=1352

 

This is exactly what we have found (twice now ) with Jack. He's thirteen this summer and we've had two scares over protein levels. The second vet we saw was convinced that he had kidney disease but I insisted on the protein:creatinine test and guess what? It came back fine!

 

His bloodwork was fine too, but we'll have that done again soon, simply because he is a senior.

 

This always causes a lot of discussion but my vet suggested a low protein diet. You can go to KD but that's expensive. I went to nutra's dog food for overweight and less active dogs. It is a low rotein dog food. So far everything has been good.

 

[silverfish]

It's worth remembering that seniors can sometimes drop weight very very rapidly on low protein foods, so I don't go that route unless it's proven there's a problem.

 

Just in case anyone reading this doesn't know, 'feedmandvm' is a fully qualified veterinarian working at OSU.

[Guest tigger]

You need a urine protein creatinine ratio. If the level is >1 then you will need to discuss treatment... but not fluids (see below). If it is 0.5-1 then I would recheck it in 4 weeks... no treatment needed. If it is <0.5 then no follow-up needed... the 2+ protein was a false positive on teh stick due to urine concentration.

 

http://www.VeterinaryPartner.com/Content.plx?P=A&A=1352

 

 

Are there false readings with this test or is it overly sensitive?

 

Reason for asking...a friend has had several UPRO/UCREA ratios done on her greyhound over a years time.

 

At the initial ratio of 0.7 the vet put the greyhound on blood pressure meds....then nearly a year later he is almost where he started. Almost doesn't make sense.

 

He has also had an ultrasound many months ago and no concerns there.

 

From the most recent(0.4) to the oldest result on 3/13/07(0.7) here is the range of results over that year:

0.4

2.8

2.2

1.2

1.1---at this testing his protein was 3+ and that also concerned the vet

0.7

 

The 0.4 result was definitely tested from a sample taken before they left their home. The vet's office is 45 minutes away and this greyhound stresses very easily.

 

Guess my question or curiosity is..."is this test highly sensitive in some way... or too sensitive for greyhounds?"

 

 

 

 

[Guest EaglesMom]

Thanks everyone for your help and PM's, I really appreciate your imput!

 

I will post when I get the new results back.

 

Becky

[feemandvm]

Greyhounds do run higher UPC ratios than other breeds... but we don't know the significance of that b/c Greyhounds have a higher incidence of glomerulonephritis (GN) than other breeds. OSU is doing a fair amount of work on Greyhounds with GN so in the future they may be able to answer that question. There is also a significant variation in the UPC ratio from day to day.

 

The last value of 0.4 is somewhat surprising... but in a good way. I guess I'd recheck it in a month and see if that value was repeatable.

 

 

[Guest tigger]

Greyhounds do run higher UPC ratios than other breeds... but we don't know the significance of that b/c Greyhounds have a higher incidence of glomerulonephritis (GN) than other breeds. OSU is doing a fair amount of work on Greyhounds with GN so in the future they may be able to answer that question. There is also a significant variation in the UPC ratio from day to day.

 

The last value of 0.4 is somewhat surprising... but in a good way. I guess I'd recheck it in a month and see if that value was repeatable.

 

 

There is also a significant variation in the UPC ratio from day to day.

 

Is this due to the sensitivity of the test? Can the protein count be broken down to "attributable" versus "variance" factors?

Or could an average be taken of some sorts before diagnosing/treating?

Thanks for your help!